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Main Street Electrical Parade
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The Main Street Electrical Parade was a regularly-scheduled parade, created by Bob Jani, famous for its long run at Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort most summers between 1972-1974, 1977-1982, and 1985-1996. It features floats and live performers covered in thousands of electronically-controlled lights and a synchronized soundtrack triggered by radio control along key areas of the parade route. The parade was also spun-off many other versions that ran or continue to run at Disney parks around the world.
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The Main Street Electrical Parade was a regularly-scheduled parade, created by Bob Jani, famous for its long run at Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort most summers between 1972-1974, 1977-1982, and 1985-1996. It features floats and live performers covered in thousands of electronically-controlled lights and a synchronized soundtrack triggered by radio control along key areas of the parade route. The parade was also spun-off many other versions that ran or continue to run at Disney parks around the world. Currently, the original parade runs at Disney's California Adventure as Disney's Electrical Parade and an updated version runs at Tokyo Disneyland as Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights.
The song is notable for its use of the vocoder voice effect, saying the lines, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Disneyland proudly presents our spectacular festival pageant of nighttime magic and imagination in thousands of sparkling lights and electro-synthe-magnetic musical sounds. The Main Street Electrical Parade!"
Origin
The predecessor to the Main Street Electrical Parade is the Electrical Water Pageant, a show made up of seven 25-foot (7.6 m) tall screens with electrical lights placed on them. The screens are placed on a string of seven barges that travel around the Seven Seas Lagoon in front of the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, beginning at 9 p.m. at Disney's Polynesian Resort or immediately after the fireworks if they are scheduled for 9 p.m. The Electrical Water Pageant still shows today. The Electrical Water Pageant has been showing since October 26, 1971, just weeks after the Walt Disney World Resort opened.
In 1972, when the Main Street Electrical Parade debuted, the engineers who helped create the parade also created the first show-control program in existence. This allowed the long parade route to contain multiple radio-activated "trigger zones." Using radio-activated triggers as each float entered a zone, the audience would hear float-specific music through the Disneyland audio system. Each zone was between 70-100 feet long, and the zoned system meant that every person watching the parade would experience the same show, no matter where they stood along the parade route. Until 1977, almost all of the floats were 2D and had to be pulled or pushed along the parade route. The Blue Fairy float was the only 3D float, and ran until closing. A 3D "Chinese Dragon" float was added later on.
The Main Street Electrical Parade had counterparts of the same name and layout at the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort, which ran from 1977 to 1991. It was replaced by a similar parade called SpectroMagic, which ran from 1991-1999. In 1992, the electrical parade from the Magic Kingdom went to Parc Disneyland at Disneyland Paris and ran there until 2003. It was then replaced by Fantillusion, a nighttime parade from Tokyo Disneyland that had earlier replaced the Tokyo version of the Main Street Electrical Parade, which ran from 1985-1995. Tokyo Disneyland's current night parade, Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights began in 2001 and it was a return to the style of the original with updated new music and floats.
The Main Street Electrical Parade closed in Disneyland in 1996 after a 24-year run. Light bulbs certified as having been part of the show were sold to collectors. The replacement show, Light Magic, opened in 1997 and was an immediate failure. Disney quickly cancelled Light Magic but held off in bringing back the popular Main Street Electrical Parade. However, the parade was refurbished and appeared at the Magic Kingdom in May 1999 for a limited engagement. The parade ended its run at the Magic Kingdom on April 1, 2001 and SpectroMagic was brought back the following day. The Main Street Electrical Parade floats were then sent back to California for the parade's return to Disneyland. These plans changed after Team Disney Anaheim saw the poor attendance figures for the spring break season at Disney's California Adventure and feared that the park would fail to attract large crowds during the crucial summer season, unless they had a big draw . So, on April 25, 2001, Disney announced that the popular Main Street Electrical Parade would be coming to Disney's California Adventure on July 2, 2001 in honor of the first summer of the park. The name of the show was changed from the Main Street Electrical Parade to Disney's Electrical Parade. Most of the 1996 parade floats returned, except for the Pinocchio Pleasure Island section and Snow White diamond mine float, which were sent to Parc Disneyland at Disneyland Paris in 1997. The parade has been offered during summer periods and selected weekends. It finished a nine-month hiatus during the 2005 off-season at the Disneyland Resort, which allowed replacement of lights on all of the floats and alteration of wording on the drum to "Disney's Electrical Parade, Presented by Sylvania." On the 2008 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade special, Disney announced that a Tinker Bell float would be added to Disney's Electrical Parade, which would make it the first new float to be added to the classic parade in 20 years, since the temporary Mickey Mouse's 60th Birthday float in 1988.
Music
The Main Street Electrical Parade's underlying theme song is entitled "Baroque Hoedown." The original version was created in 1967 by early synthesizer pioneers Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley. Originally, the parade's soundtrack had the same themes as the current recording, but was a different arrangement by Jim Christensen and Paul Beaver. In 1977, it was updated and arranged by electronic music artist Don Dorsey and Jack Wagner at Jack Wagner Studio, which is still used today. A remix created for Dream Lights is still used in the Tokyo parade.
The soundtrack to the parade has been released numerous times, here are a few releases that contain the multiple versions of the parade:
- Main Street Electrical Parade (1973 soundtrack) (Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort)
- Main Street Electrical Parade (1977 soundtrack) (Disneyland & Magic Kingdom)
- The Music of Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Epcot Center - medley of the parade
- Fantasmic! Good Clashes with Evil in a Nighttime Spectacular (1992) (Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort) - contains Return To Oz & Disneyland's 25th Anniversary floats
- The Main Street Electrical Parade (1999 CD) (Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World)
- Les Parades En Musique (2000 CD) (Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort Paris)
- Disney's Electrical Parade (2001 CD) (Disney's California Adventure, Disneyland Resort) - character voices included
- Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights (2001 CD) (Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Resort) - features both Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights and Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade, as well as character voices and sound effects
- Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights Show Mix Edition (2001) (Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo Disney Resort) - features two tracks, one with the character voices and one without
- A Musical History of Disneyland (Disneyland Park, Disneyland Resort) - character voices included
Don Dorsey used the following synthesizers to create the soundtrack: Moog Model III, Mini-Moog, Steiner-Parker Synthacon, Oberheim 8-voice, Sequential Circuits Prophet 5, Fender Rhodes Piano, New England Digital Synclavier II, Bode 7702 Vocoder, Roland MKS-80 Super Jupiter, Yamaha DX7 and Yamaha TX7.
Jack Wagner was the voice that was synthesized for the intro and outro to the parade, until Don Dorsey took over after Wagner passed away in 1995, as noted by Dorsey in a documentary about the parade: "From One Lightbulb To Another".
While the original soundtrack is played solely on Synthesizers, the Tokyo Disneyland version has a full orchestra with the synthesizers.
Remixes, samples and parodies
- A remix of the Electrical Parade (called the Retro Future Remix) was released on Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix, and contains audio resamplings from the Apollo 8 reading of Genesis.
- In Japan, Walt Disney Records released a CD called DJ Digs Main Street Electrical Parade which featured the theme music remixed by Japanese DJs.
- In 1998, a Disney Tribute Album entitled We Love Mickey ~Happy 70th Anniversary (Walt Disney Records), featuring covers of Disney songs by Japanese artists, included a remake by The Eccentric Opera. The track uses samples from Dorsey's arrangement and Snow White. Lyrics are from from an unknown source.
- A slightly remixed version was heard in the Main Street Electrical Parade's replacement Light Magic. Light Magic ran for one summer, never to return again.
Trivia
- The drive vehicles for the smaller units have four wheels and are called "whirlybugs". When they spin, the front and back wheels turn sideways while the side wheels stay straight.
- The lighted costumes that parade performers wear cost about five to six thousand dollars to make, many lights and fabrics were imported from France.
- During its run at Disneyland, the parade was put on hold so two other parades could be shown. America on Parade was shown from 1975 through 1976, and Flights of Fantasy Parade was shown from 1983 through 1984.
- If a parade float breaks down, a small tractor is used to pull the float to the end of the route.
- A new version of the Electric Parade was being worked on for debut in the year 2000, but the project was cancelled for unknown reasons.
Show facts
Main Street Electrical Parade
- Park: Disneyland
- Original Run: June 17, 1972 - November 25, 1996
- Sponsors: Energizer (1972-1985) General Electric (1985-1996)
Units
- Blue Fairy
- Casey Jr. Circus Engine
- Alice in Wonderland
- Cinderella
- Pumpkin Coach
- Ballroom
- Cinderella's Ball w/ Lady Tremaine and stepsisters
- Clock Tower
- Dumbo's Circus
- Hippo and King Leonidas Calliope
- Four Ring Circus with Dumbo and Clown (split into two parts before 1996)
- Bear Balancing on Barrels
- Elephant Bathing
- Pinocchio
- Funhouse Face and Pleasure Island Part 1 w/ Pinocchio, Geppetto and Jiminy Cricket]]
- Pleasure Island Part 2 w/ Foulfellow and Gideon
- Briny Deep
- Peter Pan
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
- Sleeping Beauty Dragon (1972) (later changed to Chinese Dragon)
- Pete's Dragon (1977 - 1996, replaced Chinese Dragon)
- Return To Oz (1985)
- Disneyland's 25th Anniversary (1980) (replica of Sleeping Beauty Castle)
- Mickey Mouse's 60th Anniversary (1988)
- It's a Small World (1972 - 1988)
- To Honor America
- Disney Neon Finale (1977 & 1978) w/ Mary Poppins, Bert, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck, Chip, Dale, Baloo, King Louie, Pooh, Tigger and Piglet
- Fox and the Hound (1980)
Disney's Electrical Parade
- Park: Disney's California Adventure
- Original Run: July 3, 2001 - Present
- Sponsor: Sylvania (2006 - Present)
Units
Main Street Electrical Parade
- Park: Magic Kingdom
- Original Run: June 11, 1977 - September 14, 1991
- Second Run: May 28, 1999 - April 1, 2001
Units
Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade
- Park: Tokyo Disneyland
- Japanese Name (in Kanji): ??????????·???????????
- Japanese Name (in Romaji): Tokyo Dizunirando Erekutorikaru Paredo
- Original Run: March 9, 1985 - June 21, 1995
Units
Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: DreamLights
- Park: Tokyo Disneyland
- Japanese Name (in Kanji): ??????????·???????????·???????
- Japanese Name (in Romaji): Tokyo Dizunirando Erekutorikaru Paredo Dorimuraitsu
- Original Run: June 17, 2001 - Present
- Sponsor: Nihon Unisys, Ltd.
Units
Main Street Electrical Parade
- Park: Disneyland Paris
- Original Run: April 12, 1992 - March 23, 2003
- Sponsor: Philips (1992 - 2002)
Units
New York City
- June 14, 1997. One of the outside presentations of the Electrical Parade outside of the Disney parks for the opening of the New Amsterdam Theater and Hercules movie. Called one day on Broadway - "The Hercules Electrical Parade". Disney arranged for the lights to be all turned off on about 8-blocks of Broadway up to the theater. All businesses complied--with the exception of Warner Brothers. It was lead by a custom Hercules title unit made for this one time only use. It was shown on national television on a one-hour promotional program featuring the music and making of Hercules. Rather than be run on battery power Disney opted to run the units on Generator power. This caused a host of problems, one being the 2nd Pinocchio unit went mostly dark before it even got on the parade route but they had no way to move the unit out of the parade, another being that To Honor America and Pete's Dragon went partially out along the way.
- New units included:
- Hercules and Pegasus (Lead parade title unit)
- Greek Temple
- Megara
- Hades
1978 Orange Bowl
- January 1, 1978 The other outside presentation of the Electrical Parade was presented during the halftime show of the the 1978 Miami Orange Bowl.
See also
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