I’ve been jealous for some time of you left coasters. Not only do you have Disneyland in your back yard, but also you’re lucky enough to have the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood to enjoy new Disney films and classic re-releases. How cool would it be to enjoy Snow White or Pinocchio in a big old classic movie palace? I realize the home theater revolution has greatly improved the prospect of watching DVD’s in comfort with great picture and sound. Still, there’s nothing like watching a film in a big opulent theater with a full audience and great sound. It’s an experience. Disney has been pretty generous with the El Capitan. You Californians have been able to see exclusive engagements of classic Disney animated films on the big screen as they are released on DVD. An exclusive engagement of Dumbo is coming in January.
I’ve often thought that Disney should do the same thing in other major cities, especially my major city, the one and only Big Apple. We’ve got the Ziegfeld, Radio City Music Hall, and a few other choices right here in town that would be perfect for an exclusive limited engagement big publicity thing. I realize that Disney owns the El Capitan, so it’s a no brainer and cost efficient as well. Still, a two week showing of Snow White at The Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan before it’s DVD release? I’m sure it would have been a sellout. I know I would have been there at least once.
That said, I was thrilled to see that Disney was taking advantage of a classic movie house to premiere its newest animated film The Princess and the Frog, right here in NYC. To be fair, they are also putting this show on in California at The Walt Disney Studios lot, but at least this time we New Yorkers got a shot also. With that in mind, I scored some tickets for the whole family to check out the much-anticipated return of hand-drawn animation and see what the “Ultimate Disney Experience” would be. I opted for The Royal Package, which included an assigned seat, some Princess and the Frog Mardi Gras beads, and an exclusive Limited Edition Collectible Lithograph. Not a bad package really. A little steep at $50 per ticket, but it was a full-blown night out in the city for all of us, so I splurged and made it an event.
New York's Ziegfeld Theater. Photo by Chris Barry.
Arriving at the Ziegfeld we were ushered into two lines, given our bracelets for admission, and our very own Princess and the Frog Mardi Gras beads. Disney was obviously concerned with bootlegging as all cameras were checked at the door. I was hoping to get some shots of the inside of this great old theater but no such luck. Our seats were perfect; dead center, and not too far back. I did find it odd that I had trouble finding a showing with available seats. According to the ticket purchasing website, there were only 11 seats left for my show, and I got 6 of them. Yet there was an entire row empty in front of us. Ticket agencies? Maybe they were executive seats that didn’t show? It seems that people may have been turned away from the website, but there were some empty seats in the house. The show was pretty packed and was predominantly families and lots of little girls in princess dresses. I thought my boys would feel out of place until they sat down next to another boy their age, which assured them that they weren’t in for a full-blown “princess fest.” I’ll let Alex handle the movie review today, but I loved it and so did everyone I was with. As a Disney fan and as a lover of classic animation, I walked away with a big smile on my face.
Time for the experience. Photo by Chris Barry.
After the film it was a quick walk down Broadway to the Roseland Ballroom. I’ve seen many a concert at Roseland over the years. It’s a classic old dancehall and was the perfect room to handle the “Ultimate Disney Experience.” Which was what you may ask? Well, actually it was a fairly impressive event. Roseland was transformed into the bayou for the night. Lot’s of atmospheric lighting and green fabric draped everywhere. The entrance hall had great paintings of New Orleans street scenes covering the walls. It was a nice transformation.
In true Disney fashion the first and last thing you would see at Roseland was a gift shop:
Send them in and out through the gift shop. Photo by Chris Barry.
After that there were some carnival like games for the kids to play. No prizes, just for fun.
Disney's sanitized version of the throwing of Mardi Gras beads. Photo by Chris Barry.
My son Alex got his frog on the lily pad in one shot! That was pretty tough, actually. Photo by Chris Barry.
The rather bizarre “Throw a Dart at the Voodoo Doll” game. Photo by Chris Barry.
The main room of the ballroom was packed with Disney Princesses, each on their own rolling train car sort of thing. If your little princess wanted to meet her Disney idols, this was the place. Ariel, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Snow White, Mulan, Pocahontas and Aurora were all holding court and posing for photos.
Just about all the Disney Princesses were in Roseland's ballroom. Photo by Chris Barry.
Of course the main stage was reserved for the newest Princess and star of the evening, Tiana.
Tiana took center stage for the night. Photo by Chris Barry.
There were several cases with actual dresses from Pirates, Enchanted and Beauty and the Beast on Broadway.
Just think, this dress was drenched in that wedding scene from Dead Man's Chest. Photo by Chris Barry.
Belle's dress worn by Toni Braxton on Broadway. Photo by Chris Barry.
The Bayou Adventure was next. Basically a foam pit playground for the kids to expend their energy, it featured slides, tunnels, houses and lily pads to jump to and from. My kids had a blast in there for quite some time.
The entrance to the Bayou Adventure playground. Photo by Chris Barry.
Samantha leaning on a lilly pad in the foam pit. Photo by Chris Barry.
Tiana’s Crafts was an area for coloring and making tiaras and other simple crafts.
Arts and crafts in the bar section of Roseland. Photo by Chris Barry.
There were Xbox stations set up throughout the hall.
My guys playing Pixar's Up on the Xbox. Photo by Chris Barry.
Upstairs at Roseland was reserved for items from the Walt Disney Studios Archives. This was a great addition to the event. Props from Enchanted, Pirates, Narnia, Hannah Montana, Roger Rabbit as well as some vintage cells and collectibles were behind glass and able to be viewed.
A film can from Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Photo by Chris Barry.
The poison apple bike helmet from Enchanted. Photo by Chris Barry.
A handful of vintage Disney collectibles. Photo by Chris Barry.
My favorite prop…Jack's jar of dirt! Photo by Chris Barry.
There was also a Learn to Be a Disney Animator section upstairs. My daughter and her friend sat down and were taught how to draw Prince Naveen in his frog form, by a Disney animator in a manner similar to what goes on at Hollywood Studios.
Prince Naveen through the pencil of a Disney animator. Photo by Chris Barry.
My boys stood in front of a green screen and put themselves into a scene from the film featuring Louis the jazz singing alligator. The print is available for download when you get home much like Photo Pass.
Casey and Alex enter Hollywood. Photo by Chris Barry.
As we left, we showed our tickets and each received our lithograph, which was a nice rendering of Naveen and Tiana as frogs. That means we’ve got 5 of these in my house! Sounds like eBay or somebody's Christmas present to me.
The included Collectible Lithograph. Photo by Chris Barry.
All in all, the event was impressive. The staff they had, which I assumed were temporary for the two-week event, was extraordinary. They were happy and helpful. They engaged my kids at every turn. They would make good cast members if they were not already. It was a good dose of Disney magic. There was something for everyone. We were happy. The 10-year-old and her friend were happy. The 7-year-old boys had fun. So, it was a great night out on the town for all of us.
Here’s hoping this kind of thing proves worthwhile to the company because I would love to see this happen for future film releases. More importantly, I’d love to see this kind of thing happen for the classic re-releases here in New York City or in a great old movie palace in your city. In my eyes it’s a gift for the fans, and a great way to show my kids what the classic movie-going experience was like, and I’m sure it would sell tickets and DVD’s.
There should be a handful of performances left at the Ziegfeld and The Walt Disney Studios lot this weekend. If you’re in those two areas, see if you can get yourself some tickets and enjoy the experience.
