Winnie the Pooh and friends, too: adapted show

Anthony · January 04, 2006, 09:21:12 PM

Winnie the Pooh and friends, too
New Adapted Show for Disneyland Park, now at Fantasy Festival Stage

14th July to 27th August 2006
& 16th December 2006 to 7th January 2007

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Original Post

The new edition of the Annual Passport magazine, "Envie de +", includes a sneaky hint at a new Winnie the Pooh show currently being worked on for Disneyland. The show will be performed at Fantasy Festival Stage, confirming rumours from last year that Pooh Bear might make a move from the Royal Castle Stage to the smaller, but indoor venue (which was recently extensively refurbished, probably in anticipation of the new adapted show's arrival).

The confirmation comes from Katy Harris, who is interviewed in Envie de + about her work on the choreography for the upcoming return of the Kids Carnival season. She mentions that she is also working on auditions for The Legend Of The Lion King (which take place several times a year, as previous cast members move on and new performers are introduced) and an adaptation of the popular summer show "Winnie the Pooh and Friends, Too".

It seems likely that when the new show premieres, it will be a year-round entertainment feature. Previous rumours even suggested that the show could get Halloween, Christmas or Easter overlays to allow it to be used as a key feature of these seasons, but none of this has been confirmed yet!

It seems likely the show will premiere this year, so now we also need to ask - what will replace it on the Royal Castle Stage?

Is it good to see Winnie the Pooh moving, or should he stay where he is? The Royal Castle Stage is open and exciting, and there's a lot of seating - could the Fantasy Festival Stage be too small for Winnie's popularity? :?

Links
:arrow: Photos of the current show
:arrow: Download "Envie de +" #9 in PDF format

babybert · January 06, 2006, 07:34:35 PM

I heard about this too during the summer, from friends who were in the cast for the summer season just gone, and they said that the show was going to be moved to festival stage, with animatronic characters plus winnie etc.

Kristof · January 06, 2006, 08:44:27 PM

Animatronics like in puppets (as the previous Winnie show and Legend of the Lion King) or as in electronic machines (as in Pirates...)? :?:

babybert · January 06, 2006, 09:23:21 PM

I think both, like gopher is puppet, but owl is animatronic. But im not too sure, but apparently theres going to be dancers instead of just the characters, but that was a theory!

Kristof · January 10, 2006, 09:04:17 AM

According to DLRP.fr, the new show will be called: Winnie the Pooh and the Rainy Day.

They also claim that the whole stage, except for the seating area will be demolished and replaced by some decorations... :?

Patrick · January 10, 2006, 10:38:48 AM

Demolised Demolised :evil: , how can they demolish such a wonderful looking stage, it's really nice and deserves to gain a new show on it after Winniw The Pooh. Why not bring on Le Livre Magique De Mickey Mission 2 on it or something, even bringing back an old show would be a nice idea, even if certain people would not agree :wink: .

Kristof · January 10, 2006, 11:46:53 AM

Oh well, first see then believe... That site is becoming a new false rumour mill... I think they will demolish the Pooh decorations, rather then the whole stage.

Anthony · January 10, 2006, 01:55:54 PM

Quote from: "raptor1982"Oh well, first see then believe... That site is becoming a new false rumour mill... I think they will demolish the Pooh decorations, rather then the whole stage.

That's what I assumed too. I bet this year they just have it as a meet 'n' greet (maybe a dedicated one for the Princesses?), and then perhaps get a new show on there for the 15th Anniversary in 2007?

The stage is even better without the Winnie the Pooh decorations - if you watch the Euro Disney Grand Opening, you can see that it was clearly designed with the idea of giving you a great view of the castle through the gap in the columns at the back...

Kristof · January 10, 2006, 03:48:23 PM

Oh yes, Baloo! That's what I'm saying for a long time... Pooh doesn't belong on that stage, the princesses do! A meet 'n greet location for the princesses seems quite logical, since they always have big queues in front of the castle when they're doing sets.

Dlrpfan · January 10, 2006, 04:27:37 PM

As le noel de mickey will not be back next xmas. dose enyone know idf there ill be seasonal performances of winnie the pooh?

Anthony · January 10, 2006, 05:15:25 PM

Quote from: "raptor1982"Oh yes, Baloo! That's what I'm saying for a long time... Pooh doesn't belong on that stage, the princesses do! A meet 'n greet location for the princesses seems quite logical, since they always have big queues in front of the castle when they're doing sets.

And it works the other way round too - the Fantasy Festival Stage is just perfect for Winnie the Pooh - it's in the "British section" of Fantasyland, and the themeing fits much better.

Quote from: "Dlrpfan"As le noel de mickey will not be back next xmas. dose enyone know idf there ill be seasonal performances of winnie the pooh?

I think one of the main reasons for moving the show is certainly so that they can either run it all year round or for most of the year, so there is a strong possibility that the show could be running during Christmas/Halloween, etc. Whether they'll change the storyline of the show or anything for each season remains to be seen, but I think it'd be a great idea. A nice way to get more "Disney" back into the Halloween festival too...

Anthony · January 16, 2006, 07:02:30 PM

Some news from the ultra-reliable :wink: DLP.info forum:

Quote from: "Mr Entertainment"Official sources within entertainment confirmed today that "Winnie The Pooh" will be opening in JULY 2006 inside the Fantasyland Stage Theatre.
The décor of the stage will be reduced in size, due to the size of the stage.
As for the show itself, the storyline will contain minor changes, but will remain very close to the current script.

What is interesting with this brand new concept, is that the guests will NOT enter a THEATRE, but directly into the Hundred Acre Wood.
The entire interior of the auditorium will be transformed into the Hundred Acre Wood, with various statues and situations taken from the many tales of our friendly bear positioned around the theatre for photo opportunities.

Opening in July 2006, this will correspond with the HIGH Season 2006.

Anthony · January 23, 2006, 10:55:31 AM

According to official dates given to travel agents, "Winnie the Pooh and Friends, Too" will be performed from 14th July to 28th August 2006. So that's only during the high season Summer Magic... :?

I'll let you know if these dates are updated... :?

Anthony · February 01, 2006, 01:11:48 AM

DLRP.fr reports that the show will run from 1st July to 3rd September 2006. Whether you want to believe that is up to you. :wink:

http://www.dlrp.fr/actularge.php?id=373

They are quite believable dates, but then I would find it strange that they end the show on September 3rd after they've spent money redesigning it for a different, indoor stage. I had hoped it would become an almost year-round show.

Kristof · February 01, 2006, 09:32:07 AM

Maybe it takes like a month or so to transform everything in a Halloween Pooh show. :?: