This should be on everyone's MUST SEE list!
We got to watch one of my family's favorite movies acted out -on ice- right in front of us! This was a 2 hour performance and was entirely based on the movie plot. Disney always knows how to put on a fantastic show with the perfect music, the voices were the real actor's (from the movie), and the dancing and stunt ice-skating just made it electric! I actually was so drawn in that I laughed out loud during MANY parts and even teared up at a few parts (and I NEVER do that in movies).
John and I laughed so hard at Ken's performances (Barbie & Ken). Even though Buzz, Woody, and Jessie are supposed to be the main characters- Ken's performance was just friggin hilarious- he stole the show! He NAILED the character- remember the movie- the funny scene where he tried on clothes (modeling for Barbie) and was dancing and posing like a dork- he was SPOT on and just so funny to see a man doing it live! The chemistry between Barbie and Ken was so incredible too!
So Ken was our favorite (John and I), but Woody was Maletch's favorite. That is who Maletch 'plays' when we act out Toy Story. Just like with the Fresh Beat Band (see previous post) when Maletch 'assigns roles' he always assigns the same way: he is always Woody, daddy is always Buzz, I am Bo Peep, and Sariah is Jessie. So Maletch couldn't take his eyes off of Woody! Woody was played by an amazing actor/ice-skater who was very animated and VERY spot on! His voice was Tom Hanks just like the movie. Interestingly to John and I, many of the lines were straight from the movie (so they could have been dubbed) BUT... many were changed a bit- and only someone who has seen it 10,000 times like we have- would know.... but this means that they did an entire soundtrack with the 'big-name' actors (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and more) JUST for this Disney on Ice show- and we were impressed by that!
Disney also amazed with the stage 'scenery' changes (I really didn't expect that in an ice-rink arena, which is much different than a theater, but somehow they made it feel like one) and I was also surprised by some incredible scenes with army man troops (picture hundreds of army men taking the stage, marching on ice-skates) and again when tons of aliens took the stage and "The Claw" appeared and dropped from the sky!
Once the toys made it to "Sunnyside" (Day Care) things got bad when Lotso Bear made them prisoners- and I was amazed at the HUGE Dumptruck on the ice- I'm telling you- great show!! The movie was still followed as Lotso changed Buzz to Demo mode to control the toys- but all was restored when Barbie tied up Ken and got the manual to change him back- except he went into Spanish mode!
Somehow they made this show the perfect blend of mostly 'regular acting' with just the right amount of musical theater performing thrown in. I sort of expected it to be entirely a musical, but it wasn't, and having so much real acting I think made it better for storytelling especially for kids who would miss a lot of lyrics in songs- especially when singers often times go crazy with the vocals. I was surprised that it was as easy to follow as watching a DVD at home- but FAR more entertaining!
It was awesome all the way through to the very end where we got to watch the bitter-sweet ending: when Andy is going off to college and says goodbye to his toys, remembering the good times he had as he gives them away.
I was super pleased with how Disney handled the ending (which was sad on 2 fronts): the plot was sad, and the show was over- and just when I was worried that all the kids in the place might get emotional and cry (including my own)-- then out came a whole PARADE of Disney friends (that weren't in the show): Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and more came out from nowhere with high energy singing and dancing, and out followed the entire cast which FILLED the entire ice arena! They did a few numbers and then ended with a happy goodbye song and told the audience goodbye in a "good to see you friends, we hope to see you soon" kind of way- just perfect- everybody was happy!
Maletch was so excited to see the show that he couldn't take his daytime nap, and not only did he stay awake for the whole show- he was so excited he stayed up and wanted to talk about it all the way home (the whole drive back from Long Beach)! Sariah stayed awake for the whole show too, hehe- and she was also really into it! She won't be able to tell you about it like Maletch undoubtedly will, but she liked it too. I am sure Maletch will also be telling you about the souvenirs that he got- he just loves his new Disney On Ice (Toy Story) toys.
During the show, Maletch whispered in my ear, "Mommy, I want to go out there and skate with them, I want to say hi and talk to them, but we don't have any ice-skates." I thought it was cute that in his mind, not having ice-skates was the only reason we couldn't go out there. Although we couldn't go out there and skate and talk to his Toy Story friends, I assured him that we will see them (the characters) soon at Disneyland and he could talk to them about the show. He has mentioned wanting to go ice-skating now several times since the show, so I will definitely be looking into taking him soon. That is something I have always wanted to learn, and now I will have a skating partner, hehe, but undoubtedly he will be better than me within 5 minutes, but I think the whole family will have fun trying it! I already looked up a near-by ice rink too- looks like FUN!!
I will definitely be looking for future Disney on Ice events to go to- I saw some old info about Beauty and the Beast on Ice, but that show is not playing anymore- which is too bad since Maletch has a crush on Belle now, hehe. But I did see that they are doing a Disney on Ice "Dare to Dream" show which won't be like Toy Story 3 (where it follows one movie all the way through) but is a 'collage of scenes' from different Princess movies (including Tangled, Cinderella, and more) and I know he would love that since he has a crush on almost all of the princesses- and he acts out all of their stories (his favorite parts are the villain scenes with lots of action)! That show would ALSO be a little girl's dream- and I hope it will still be playing when Sariah is about 3! They don't have anything on the schedule right now in the L.A. area, so I will have to watch for when they will be here.
I will post photos and videos from 'Our Night with the Toys'!!
.....coming a little later today.....
Note: We took several short video clips during the show and rather than posting them all- I will chose a few at random to post for now-- BUT John is going to melt them all together and edit it in Pinnacle- which I think will be very cool to watch- but he probably won't get around to that for several weeks.
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