Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room
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Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room is an attraction located in
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
at the
Disneyland Resort The Disneyland Resort is an entertainment resort in Anaheim, California, United States. It is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences, Experiences division and is home to two theme parks (Disneyland and Dis ...
and in
Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park is a Amusement park, theme park at the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences, Expe ...
at
Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...
, and previously in
Tokyo Disneyland is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney park t ...
at
Tokyo Disney Resort The (local nickname ''TDR'') is a theme park and vacation resort located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, just east of Tokyo. The resort is owned and operated by the Oriental Land Company, the Oriental Land Co., a subsidiary of the Keisei Electric Rai ...
. First opened on June 23, 1963 at the Disneyland Resort, the attraction is a pseudo-Polynesian musical Audio-Animatronic show drawing from American
tiki culture Tiki culture is an American-originated art, music, and entertainment movement inspired by Polynesian, Melanesian, and Micronesian cultures, and by Oceanian art. Influential cultures to Tiki culture include Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia ...
. The Floridian version of this attraction, which was identical but with a different pre-show, was known as Tropical Serenade until 1998, when it was replaced with an updated version of the attraction called The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), featuring ''
Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...
''s Iago and ''
The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...
''s Zazu. That version operated until 2011, when it was damaged by a fire, which led to Disney reintroducing an edited version of the original Walt Disney attraction to replace it. The Japanese version of this attraction operated until 1999, when it was first redeveloped into a nightclub-style version of the show called The Enchanted Tiki Room Presents: Get the Fever!, before it was redeveloped again as The Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents Aloha e Komo Mai!, a partially ''
Lilo & Stitch ''Lilo & Stitch'' () is a 2002 American animated Science fiction film, science fiction comedy-drama film, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It was written and directed by Chris Sanders and De ...
''-themed version of the attraction.


History

The attraction opened June 23, 1963, and was the first to feature
Audio-Animatronics Audio-Animatronics (also known simply as AAs) are a form of Mechatronics, mechatronic animatronics puppetry created by Walt Disney Imagineering and Trademark, trademarked by The Walt Disney Company for use in designed shows and attractions at Disn ...
technology, a WED Enterprises patented invention. The attraction was sponsored by
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
for its first 12 years; in 1976, sponsorship passed over to Hawaii's Dole Food Company, which remains the sponsor to the present day. Dole also provides the unique Dole Whip soft-serve frozen dessert sold at a snack bar near the entrance. The show was originally going to be a restaurant featuring Audio-Animatronics birds serenading guests as they dined. The "magic fountain" at the room's center was originally planned as a coffee station (there is still a storage compartment in its base). The restaurant would have shared its kitchen with the now-defunct Tahitian Terrace in Adventureland and the Plaza Pavilion restaurant at the corner of
Main Street, U.S.A. Main Street, USA is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, USA is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20th centu ...
, since all three are actually part of the same building. Because ownership of the attraction was separate from the rest of the park, a nominal admission charge of $0.75 was levied. Because computers generate significant heat (particularly in their earliest forms) and played a central role in the attraction, the Tiki Room was also Disneyland's first fully air-conditioned building. It houses a Hawaiian-themed musical show "hosted" by four lifelike
macaw Macaws are a group of Neotropical parrot, New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful, in the Tribe (biology), tribe Arini (tribe), Arini. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation con ...
s whose plumage matches the flags of their implied countries of origin. "José" is red, white, and green and speaks with a Mexican accent voiced by Wally Boag. "Michael" is white and green with an Irish brogue voiced by Fulton Burley. "Pierre" is blue, white, and red and has a French accent voiced by Ernie Newton. Red, black and white "Fritz" has a German accent provided by Thurl Ravenscroft. Controversy over the use of
nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
-associated white rather than gold/yellow has led counter-antisemitic groups to press for a change in Fritz's color, a change of the character to a representative of another nation, or a wholesale abandonment of the national-representative theme of flag-based color schemes and stereotyped accents. The main birds have changed colors over the years. In 1965, the four host birds had almost identical plumage of white, green, yellow and blue. The four macaws and the other birds are plumed with real feathers, with the exception of chest plumage. The chests are covered in custom-woven cashmere which allows the figures to "breathe" in a lifelike manner. The choice came quite by accident; in a planning meeting, Harriet Burns noticed a cashmere sweater that
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
was wearing which moved at the elbows exactly the way the engineers envisioned.


Description

The presentation features a "cast" of over 150 talking, singing and dancing birds, flowers, the aforementioned magic fountain,
tiki In Māori mythology, Tiki is the first man created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond; she seduced him and he became the father of Hine-kau-ataata. By extension, a tiki is a large or small woo ...
drummers and tiki totem poles that perform the attraction's signature tunes, " The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room" by the Sherman Brothers and "Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing". The finale has every Audio-Animatronics figure performing a rousing version of " Hawaiian War Chant". The exit music diverges from the quasi-tropical theme: namely, an arrangement of " Heigh-Ho" from ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
'' with lyrics thanking guests for watching the show and hurrying them to the exit. So innovative was the technology by 1963 standards that an Audio-Animatronics talking " barker" bird (Juan, cousin of José) once located near the walkway to beckon visitors inside, drew enormous crowds of visitors trying to catch a glimpse of it. While waiting outside in a lanai area for the show to start, visitors are serenaded by Hawaiian music which at one time included that of
Martin Denny Martin Denny (April 10, 1911 – March 2, 2005) was an American pianist, composer, and arranger. Known as the "father of exotica," he was a multi-instrumentalist and could play a number of percussion instruments. In a long career that saw him per ...
and Bud Tutmarc. Polynesian gods are represented as well around the perimeter of the lanai, each with a rhyming legend to tell via Audio-Animatronics. Some of the gods depicted are Hina Kuluua, goddess of rain; Rongo, god of agriculture;
Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...
, who roped the playful sun; and Tangaroa, father of all gods and goddesses. A brief documentary of the history of the pineapple is presented as well. The story, filmed in the early 1960s and updated at the end with a Macromedia Flash presentation of a parade of Dole products, is shown on a screen on the rear of the roof of the Dole snack bar at the entrance to the lanai. In the main show, one chorus of "Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing" has José crooning like
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
, Fritz scat-singing in a gravelly voice like that of
Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
, and Pierre singing like
Maurice Chevalier Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor, and entertainer. He is best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", " Louise", " Mimi", and " Thank Heaven f ...
. After this, the birds cue a sing-along from the audience, and then a whistle-along, set to a wild can-can setting of the tune. By the mid-1990s, the Enchanted Tiki Room audio system was dramatically enhanced. Subwoofers were placed in the back rows. Modern mid-range speakers and high-range tweeters were placed throughout the room. For the first time, every instrument played in the 1963 recording could be heard clearly. Soon after, the attraction received another alteration: Nearly four minutes of the original 17-minute show were removed: a verse of "The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room", a whistling verse of "Let's All Sing Like The Birdies Sing", and the "Barcarolle" number from Offenbach's opera '' Tales of Hoffmann.'' Additional minor cuts and trims were made to voice parts to make the edits seamless. Another renovation came to the show in the following decade: The Enchanted Tiki Room reopened in March 2005 after a seven-month refurbishment, commissioned by new Disneyland management as part of its effort to restore the park for its 50th birthday. Prior to this renovation, feathers regularly fell from the Audio-Animatronics birds, the building's thatched roof was breaking away in broad daylight, and the Audio-Animatronic figures' movements were noisy and slow. Afterward, the original show and storyline remained, but were now enhanced with a digitally remastered audio track, a new sound system indoors and out, and completely new Audio-Animatronics figures that looked the same as the previous ones, but had a completely different internal apparatus. Updates in technology allowed
Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc.—commonly referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineering, or WDI—is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construc ...
, the descendants of WED Enterprises, to create a show to satisfy 21st century expectations while retaining its classic look. A few changes were made to the show itself after its refurbishment: In the pre-show in the lanai, rhythmic drums are heard near each god indicating who was going to tell their story next, and the order of the gods was changed. In the main show, the untitled instrumental interlude was cut and the four MC birds' dialogue was abridged. The original Tiki Room was controlled by a large roomful of floor-to-ceiling computers that operated the birds with data on magnetic tapes, located beneath the floor of the show room. Footage of the original control room is available on the 1965 10th anniversary special featuring Walt Disney and "Miss Disneyland 1965", "The Tencennial Special".


Walt Disney World

A virtually identical copy of the show, called Tropical Serenade, was installed at
Walt Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...
's
Magic Kingdom Magic Kingdom Park is a Amusement park, theme park at the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. It opened on October 1, 1971, and is owned and operated by the Walt Disney Company through its Disney Experiences, Expe ...
when that park opened in 1971. Although accompanied by a new pre-show, the main show was the same. Tropical Serenade was eventually renamed The Enchanted Tiki Birds in 1993 and replaced in 1998 with The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), featuring Iago from ''
Aladdin Aladdin ( ; , , ATU 561, 'Aladdin') is a Middle-Eastern folk tale. It is one of the best-known tales associated with '' One Thousand and One Nights'' (often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights''), despite not being part of the original ...
'' and Zazu from ''
The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...
''. The attraction was met with mixed reception from guests. On January 12, 2011, a small fire broke out in the attraction's attic, severely damaging the Iago audio-animatronic figure. It was announced at Disney's D23 Destination D: Walt Disney World 40th Anniversary Conference that the attraction had been refurbished and returned to the original show format. The attraction reopened on August 15, 2011 as Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room, a slightly edited version of Disneyland's original show.


Tokyo Disneyland

The attraction was once a clone of the original attraction until it closed for refurbishments in June 16, 1999, when it became ''The Enchanted Tiki Room: Now Playing "Get the Fever!"'', where the attraction was re-themed as a madcap Las Vegas-style nightclub show in the middle of the jungle. In January 27, 2008, it closed again and reopened on July 25, 2008, as The Enchanted Tiki Room: Stitch Presents Aloha e Komo Mai!, featuring Stitch from ''
Lilo & Stitch ''Lilo & Stitch'' () is a 2002 American animated Science fiction film, science fiction comedy-drama film, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It was written and directed by Chris Sanders and De ...
''. This version is the only Enchanted Tiki Room without the attraction's classic theme song.


Original show soundtrack

On the original sound recording of the Enchanted Tiki Room for Disneyland, most of the background birds were created by Purv Pullen (aka Dr. Horatio Q. Birdbath). Pullen was a comedy talent best known for his time with Spike Jones and his City Slickers. A D23 article published for the 50th Anniversary of the attraction in 2013 also cites contributions to the voices of the background birds from
Clarence Nash Clarence Charles "Ducky" Nash (December 7, 1904 – February 20, 1985) was an American voice actor and impressionist. He is best remembered as the original voice of the Disney cartoon character Donald Duck. He was born in the rural community of W ...
, Maurice Marcelino, and Marion Darlington. Nash voiced Pierre's impression of
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
in the Tokyo version of the attraction, which replaced the character's impression of Maurice Chavalier in the American iterations. The chanting of the tikis in the "Hawaiian War Chant" and the voices of Maui, Ngendi, Koro and Rongo in the waiting area were provided by Hawaiian musician Ernest Tavares. Ginny Tyler voiced Pele and Tangaroa-Ru and Anne Essex voiced Hina. Wally Boag is also credited as providing the voice for José the parrot. Longtime Disney collaborator Thurl Ravenscroft gave a 1996 ''Disneyland Inside Out'' interview to J. D. Roth, in which he pointed out all of the various voices he performed across Disneyland, including Fritz the bass-voiced German parrot.


Facts and figures

* Grand opening: June 23, 1963 * Designer: WED Enterprises * Sponsor: Dole Foods * Original show length: 17:23 * Current show length: 12:33 ** Pre-show: 3:58 * Show Type: Theater presentation with Audio-Animatronics According to the book ''Disneyland Detective'' by Kendra Trahan, the "cast list" breaks down as follows: :* 54 singing
orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...
s :* 4
totem pole Totem poles () are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large t ...
s :* 12 tiki drummers :* 24 singing masks :* 7 birds of paradise (the plant variety) :* 8
macaw Macaws are a group of Neotropical parrot, New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful, in the Tribe (biology), tribe Arini (tribe), Arini. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation con ...
s :* 12
toucan Toucans (, ) are Neotropical birds in the family Ramphastidae. They are most closely related to the Semnornis, Toucan barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful Beak, bills. The family includes five genus, genera and over ...
s :* 9 forktails :* 6
cockatoo A cockatoo is any of the 21 species of parrots belonging to the family Cacatuidae, the only family in the superfamily Cacatuoidea. Along with the Psittacoidea ( true parrots) and the Strigopoidea (large New Zealand parrots), they make up t ...
s :* 20 assorted tropical birds


In popular culture

* A version of the Enchanted Tiki Room appears in season 1, episode 12 of ''
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse ''The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation for Disney+. The series is a continuation and revival of the Emmy Award-winning 2013 ''Mickey Mouse'' shorts, uses the same ...
'', titled "The Enchanting Hut." When Mickey and Minnie are threatened by a tropical storm while vacationing on an island, the sentient flora and fauna assemble a tiki hut to shelter them. By the end of the episode, the interior of the hut closely resembles the park attraction, complete with singing tiki poles, flowers, macaws, and the central fountain. * The missing "Rosita", who became the centerpiece of the adjacent Tropical Hideaway eatery at Disneyland, is featured in the '' Jungle Cruise'' film as Nilo Nemolato's pet. * The ''Tales from Adventureland'' books by Jason Lethcoe would feature the Tiki Room as a key location in the first volume ''The Keymaster's Quest'', depicting it as a hidden sanctuary for talking birds known as the Akamai located on the Hawaiian island of
Molokai Molokai or Molokai ( or ; Molokaʻi dialect: Morotaʻi ) is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its g ...
. *
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
's Disney Kingdoms imprint published a five-part miniseries based on the Enchanted Tiki Room in 2016. It took the form of an ensemble comedy loosely inspired by the television series '' Fantasy Island'' with visitors to the island working through their personal issues in a fantastical way, while the friendship between the four macaws starts to strain from José's ego begins growing out of control.


Legacy

An experience at the Enchanted Tiki Room inspired
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...
co-founder
Nolan Bushnell Nolan Kay Bushnell (born February 5, 1943) is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He established Atari, Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre chain. He has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame and the Consu ...
to use animatronics as the center of a pizza restaurant concept that became Chuck E. Cheese.


See also

* 2011 in amusement parks *
List of Disneyland attractions Disneyland is a theme park, conceived by Walt Disney, within the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. As of June 2023, Disneyland has 52 attractions with 49 rides (The term "attractions" is used by Disney as a catch-all term for rides, show ...
* List of Magic Kingdom attractions *
List of Tokyo Disneyland attractions This is a list of attractions at Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan. World Bazaar * Former attractions * The Disney Gallery Adventureland New Orleans Square * Jungle Cruise: Wildlife Expeditions * Pirates of the Caribbean * ...


Notes


References


External links


Disneyland attraction
(official website)
Magic Kingdom
(official website) {{Authority control Amusement park attractions introduced in 1963 Amusement park attractions introduced in 1971 Amusement park attractions introduced in 1983 Amusement park attractions that closed in 1999 Amusement park attractions introduced in 2011 Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions Disneyland Magic Kingdom Adventureland (Disney) Audio-Animatronic attractions United Airlines Tiki culture 1963 establishments in California 1971 establishments in Florida 1983 establishments in Japan 1999 disestablishments in Japan