Explosive Celebration of Summer Nights in New Disneyland Fireworks Show, 'Magical'

June 10, 2009

This post contains affiliate links and our team will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on the links.

Tinker Bell is helping Disneyland guests celebrate the nights of summer with “Magical,” the new fireworks spectacular presented by Honda. Tink’s sparkling touch will awaken favorite Disney moments and memories from movie classics such as “Pinocchio,” “Mary Poppins” and “Cinderella.” And, in a very special debut, Dumbo proves that elephants can fly as he joins Tinker Bell in a “Magical” flight over Sleeping Beauty Castle.

WHAT: “Magical” is a dazzling new fireworks spectacular in which colorful, precisely choreographed pyrotechnics burst and soar to a soundtrack of celebratory Disney songs. With a wave of her wand, an airborne Tinker Bell ignites the night with a myriad of light and sends guests on a journey of magical Disney celebrations. As beautiful beams of light dance in the sky, Dumbo the flying elephant appears for the first time in a Disneyland fireworks show, flying over Sleeping Beauty Castle.

WHEN: Nightly, beginning Friday, June 12, and continuing through Monday, Sept. 7, at Disneyland. “Magical” may be viewed from Main Street, U.S.A., the mall in front of “it’s a small world” and locations throughout the park.

A PYROTECHNIC SYMPHONY IN FIVE MOVEMENTS: “Magical” is composed of five sequences, each celebrating a different magical experience. It begins with “The Magic of Childhood,” represented by the appearance of Tinker Bell waving her wand to launch the fireworks. Next, Geppetto is heard wishing that Pinocchio could become a real boy; sparkles in the sky announce that the Blue Fairy is near to demonstrate “The Magic of a Wish.” The voice of Mary Poppins teaches “The Magic of Imagination.” Then “The Magic of a Mother’s Love” inspires little Dumbo to fly. Music from the tales of Disney princesses leads into “The Magic of Love’s First Kiss.” And the show concludes with a truly spectacular finale: “It’s Magical.”

THE “MAGICAL” VOICE: Broadway star Eden Espinosa is the soloist on the all-new soundtrack for “Magical.” Prior to a Broadway career that has included the role of Elphaba, the “Wicked Witch of the West” in “Wicked,” both on Broadway and at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles, Espinosa delighted Disneyland Resort guests in stage shows and special events at the parks. She attended Canyon Hills High School in Anaheim and Fullerton College. Eden’s performance on the “Magical” soundtrack features an original “Magical” theme along with versions of such beloved melodies as “Baby Mine” from “Dumbo,” “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” from “Cinderella,” “The Second Star to the Right” from “Peter Pan” and “Chim Chim Cher-ee” from “Mary Poppins.”

“MAGICAL” – FIREWORKS BY THE NUMBERS

The pyrotechnic devices are fully choreographed to “Magical’s” musical soundtrack, using 750 discreet digital control channels.
Guests see the burst of fireworks before hearing it because light travels roughly a million times faster than sound.
The Disney Air Launch system installed in 2004 creates less ground level smoke than the former system that used black powder.
Disney is recognized as the world’s largest producer of fixed-base fireworks shows, at its parks in the United States, France, Japan and China.

A SPARKLING HISTORY OF FIREWORKS AT DISNEYLAND

Disneyland opened to the public in July 1955. There was no fireworks show that year.
In 1956, after seeing fireworks tests in the Disneyland parking lot when the park was closed, Walt Disney said, “Let’s give it a try.”
Mickey Aronson, who worked in Disneyland Resort Entertainment for more than 50 years (originally as an outside fireworks consultant), began “shooting” Disneyland fireworks the summer of 1956. In those days, Aronson fired the show by hand, touching off the fuses with a flare.
Beginning in the late 1960s, Disneyland Entertainment developed a system for firing the shells electronically, synchronized to a musical soundtrack.
During this period, the fireworks “choreography” was storyboarded like an animated cartoon. At one time, the storyboard artist was Roy Williams, the “Big Mooseketeer” from “The Mickey Mouse Club.”
The current system, with its multiple fireworks launch sites, special lighting and lasers, and high-tech marriage of music and choreographed pyrotechnics, was first installed for the 2000 Bicentennial/Disneyland 45^th Anniversary show, “Believe…There’s Magic in the Stars.”