Currently, two new Walt Disney World Stage Shows present tech-enhanced storytelling. “Disney Villain: Unfair Ever After” and “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure” arrive on a daily schedule at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park, both featuring fresh special effects surrounding familiar characters.
The villain’s show begins with a flashy set surrounded by frames. It all plays the Magic Mirror as a central character, and a lot happens on screens within those amazingly placed frames, including 85 villains and appearances with sidekicks and crushing effects.
On stage, Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook and Maleficent are suing their lawsuits for being the most misunderstood. Magic Mirror, who has long appointed the “most fair of all of them” duties, is being asked to choose.
“They don’t know each other. They never met. They don’t know each other’s stories. And as long as they’re worried, they’re the most amazing, dark creatures in their world.”
Disney: Magic Mirror sings in the new villain show
The three main villains have the Solo appeal to Mr. Miller (“Ah, for the day only one villain summoned me,” he laments.) The stage/screen/frame reflects individual themes (Cruela like the fashionista; the appearance of the hook naturally, the city). There are some unexpected movements, but there is desperation between the 20+ frames surrounding the stage.
The show is being performed at the renovated Sunset Showcase, the former home of Lightning McQueen Racing Academy. Inside, the setting was inspired by the Biltmore Theatre in Los Angeles, said art director Matt Fyuza. He also studied the atmosphere of Spanish galleons, Gothic ruins, English mansions and American vaudevilles, he said.
It is built to impress. The audience said, “Chins need to hit the ground when they first walk,” Fiuza said.
“After all, it’s driven by performers. It’s driven by musical numbers,” Fiuza said. “And we needed to keep a whim and a sense of fun and lightness.”
The unfair sweepstakes are ultimately determined by applause despite the presence of a magical mirror.
“Remember, he can only reflect, so he needs to answer our questions,” Renflo said.
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The villain show was announced in September. For park visitors, it could stimulate the appetite for the villain’s land announced for Magic Kingdom a month earlier.
“They already love the villains,” Fyuza said. “And they’re going to love them even more.”
The Story of the Mermaid
“The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure” is a familiar story. Disney has produced two big screen editions, and Hollywood Studios was home to “The Little Mermaid’s Voyage” until 2020. The new show will move to the same theater, but there will be new tricks and favorite songs from “Mermaid.”
The new Procenium is lined with buttons, keys, bottles, bells and Singama Bobs, a sign of “part of your world.”
“The lens the show was written and created and the aesthetic that went down that path was really looking through her eyes,” he said.
Between the audience and the performer there is a transparent scrim with multiple projections from multiple angles. Sometimes people watch animated sea creatures, living actors, puppets, special effects at the same time.
“I think that inspiration was really the whole multi-layered concept. Multiplane was an animation created by (Walt) Disney,” Silson said. Walt Disney Studios developed multi-plane cameras and technology that brings the depth of cinema in the 1930s. It is famous for being used in the production of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
“I’ve always wanted to see Ariel as part of ‘Under the Sea’ and take part in that song and dance number. That’s the big production number for the show and you want a starlet in the middle of it,” Silson said.
The production includes “Kiss the Girl,” which was not found in the previous “Mermaid” shows.
And now, through hidden manipulation, Ariel swims.
“In the previous show, she sat a lot in her shell,” Silson said.
“I think the goal is to present it in a way that the audience feels… something they just couldn’t get from sitting at home watching the film,” Sylson said.
Both shows are presented multiple times daily at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Fast Track Technology supports Universal Mold’s new and epic universe experience
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Original issue: May 27, 2025 11:10am EDT
