Extinct Attractions - Hello New York!
Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, I took a look back at a show from Tokyo DisneySea as a part of my Tokyo retrospective before going to the parks for the first time in a few weeks.
This week at CinemaCon, the annual convention dedicated to all things related to the theatrical movie experience, there was a look at upcoming films from each of the major movie studios. With the live-action Lilo & Stitch coming up next month plus two Marvel movies this summer, Disney had some fun things to share, with the next question being when they’ll appear in the Disney parks. The Japanese parks love a cute companion, so I’m sure that the tie-ins to Lilo & Stitch there will not take very long.
Via Spotify
In just twelve days, Tokyo Disney Resort will be celebrating its 43rd anniversary. It’s not a multiple of five, so there aren’t any huge festivities planned for it. I love that Tokyo makes a big deal out of its anniversary every time, usually with some kind of new show and/or parade. The 35th anniversary was no exception with Hello New York! replacing Steps to Shine on July 10, 2018. Located in the American Waterfront in Tokyo DisneySea, the show had the perfect backdrop of the massive S.S. Columbia cruise ship.
The show began with dancers emerging from the back of the stage, which was adorned with a giant 35th anniversary banner in the back, with the two performers who came to the front beginning to sing an original song in English. As the show progressed, there was some movement on the ship, with Mickey, Minnie and Pluto appearing before making their way down some steps to join the dance. But they weren’t alone as Daisy, Donald and Goofy popped out from the back of the stage and chattering away in Japanese.
After the opening number, some props came into play with a dancer wheeling a hot dog cart onto the stage followed by Donald out with some fishing gear for some reason. From there, it was Goofy time with the Goofster performing to a pop song along with a bunch of gymnasts. The song kind of bopped a bit and had some fun dancing performances in it though I am a bit confused as to how it tied into New York.
Chip and Dale made their first appearance next along with a statue of Scrooge McDuck. But they quickly weren’t alone as Donald and Daisy showed up along with Pluto who they seemed to be dogsitting. Given that it was Chip and Dale, they were on the hunt for acorns, with dancers bringing out at least twenty of what turned out to be basically acorn-shaped beach balls that they threw into the crowd. It was fun to see such an interactive element to the show to keep all of the guests engaged.
Via Disney Wiki
During the next part of the show, Mickey was strolling around looking very edgy and acting all sad until Minnie appeared and started singing. That immediately perked Mickey up as the show transitioned to a Broadway-style number with the performers singing “Anything Goes," a fitting song choice considering the show was all about New York with a cruise ship in the background. During the number, Mickey got the chance to showcase his dancing skills while wearing a pretty hipster outfit.
Mickey and Minnie then got a chance for a little power ballad closing piece to kill some time before everybody that we had seen reemerged for the finale, many of whom had made some costume changes. The closing number was also an original song, like the rest of the show, which did feel like a Broadway revue type of show. I know that it’s tougher to fully understand what’s going on in a show that is largely in Japanese, but nothing really stood out in the show to help it stand apart. Many of the shows I’ve seen from Tokyo had some kind of wow factor to them, but that was just missing from this one. It felt a bit haphazardly thrown together and not really representative of New York.
It’s not a surprise that when the 35th anniversary celebration ended after about a year that they removed the banner and refurbished the show, turning it into a Christmas version with a couple of new soundtracks for a few segments. Eventually, enough was enough though, with COVID certainly not helping things and the show closing with basically no warning on October 7, 2020. It was replaced by Jamboree Mickey! Let’s Dance! I’ll have to let you know in a few weeks if it was a worthy replacement.
Via Reddit
As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.
Thanks for reading and have a magical day!