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A32 FEATURE
Friday 18 January 2019
A peek at how Disney resort shows are made

By MIKE SCHNEIDER piece of Velcro in her purse
Associated Press at all times. When it's time
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) to test a fabric's durability,
— With excitement building she rubs the Velcro against
over a new "Star Wars" land the fabric. If it snags, "I
opening later this year at say, this doesn't belong to
Walt Disney World, as well us. It's not our friend," said
as at its California cousin, McChesney, a costume
it's easy to forget a slew of designer with big glasses,
new entertainment shows auburn hair swept up and
also are debuting in the large costume jewelry.
biggest year for the Florida Durability is a must since the
theme park resort in two costumes worn by danc-
decades. ers, singers and costumed
If the famous Disney Imagi- characters are washed ev-
neers provide the "wow" ery day. The department
factor with their fantasti- makes 10,000 costume
cal feats of engineering pieces with the help of 300
on rides and attractions, sewers and six designers.
it's the entertainment divi- McChesney works in a
sion that provides Disney room the size of a football
World's heart. field. Hundreds of bright-
Disney World recently invit- colored costumes and
ed The Associated Press for dozens of torso dummies,
an exclusive, behind-the- hang from racks along the
scenes look at how it puts In this Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019 photo, actors with giant puppets perform the show Finding Nemo- wall. On a recent day sew-
the shows together. The AP The musical at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. ers sat in rows of sewing
saw dancers rehearsing Associated Press machines near a dressing
in a studio, rows of seam- room where performers try
stresses stitching together Here's a look at the behind- ciding on which charac- up with can actually work. on their costumes.
costumes, a warehouse the-scenes people who ter or property to use for a "I am the rubber that meets McChesney was focused
full of parade floats and a produce the pixie dust. show, she pays attention to the road," said Cook, man- on the costumes for the
room where virtual reality Many of them started out what visitors say in surveys ager of theatrical design new parade in the Mag-
technology is used to help as performers and have and letters. and technical production. ic Kingdom park starring
build a new animatronic been at Disney World for She also considers the He is helped by a dark- Mickey and Minnie. The
show. decades. available space and how ened "pre-visualization" costumes were white with
The results of those labors THE BOSS the show would affect the room where two large colored confetti printed on
take stage Friday when Bettina Buckley oversees brand. screens and a virtual real- the fabric in a look that re-
Disney World unveils a new the entertainment division's "If a character resonates, ity headset help him see sembled vanilla cupcakes
Magic Kingdom parade, 6,700 workers in 100 differ- we stop and say, 'Hey, what shows will look like in with colorful sprinkles and
a Hollywood Studios street ent disciplines responsible maybe we should do a 3D model, and how they colorful trim that looked like
showing off the characters for more than 200,000 per- something,'" said Buckley, will be maintained, before icing.
from "The Incredibles" fran- formances a year at the vice president of live enter- they are built. Call it couture for Disney
chise, a Caribbean-style resort. tainment at the resort. "It's the hub of the wagon characters.
street band in Animal King- Putting a show based on a THE DREAMERS wheel, if you will. We pre- "There's a lot of stuff that
dom and the start of an arts character under the Disney Once a character or intel- visualize our entire show, people could use for the-
festival at Epcot. In a few corporate umbrella in Dis- lectual property is picked, soup to nuts," Cook said. "It ater that we can't use for
months, the resort opens ney World extends the life creative development di- allows us the opportunity theme parks just because
a new animatronics show of that franchise, ultimately rector Reed Jones, show not to have to build a real- of the durability and how
based on the "Cars" char- making it more valuable to writer Allison Hirsch and a world model." much use it's going to get,"
acter Lightning McQueen. the company. When de- team consisting of a pup- THE COSTUME DESIGNER McChesney said. "You want
peteer, a juggler, a musi- Harmony McChesney has a it to last a long time."q
cal theater pro, an improv
artist, technicians and mu-
sicians meet for weekly
brainstorming sessions to
figure out how to bring the
story into the three-dimen-
sional world through writ-
ing, costumes, music and
lighting.
No idea is off the table.
"It's a one-hour variety
show. We kind of can't let
people see it because it's
really wacky and funny,"
Jones said.
THE REALIST
In this Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019 photo, Magic Kingdom Enter- In this Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019 photo, workers paint part of a
tainment proprietor Carmen Kee looks over parade floats in a Joseph Greggory "GG" street scene that is based on the movie "The Incredibles" at Walt
warehouse at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Cook makes sure the ideas Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Associated Press that "the dreamers" come Associated Press