When it comes to magic, whether you are young or old, nobody does it like Disney and, with their current tour of Disney on Ice – Dare to Dream, the magic runs throughout like a mighty river of joy. From the moment that Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald race across the ice to greet their audience, the arena erupts with the sound of cheers, laughter, clapping, singing and even a few gasps of delight and admiration.
This year the show features just four movies, spanning 75 years of Disney princesses, with the opening scene transporting us to America’s Deep South to join Princess Tiana and Prince Naveen, from the Princess and the Frog, down in New Orleans. With the full company dressed in a dazzling array of colourful costumes, and jazz music filling the air, the atmosphere is authentic and the ice packed to give the production a rousing start.
From one of the newest in a long line of Disney princesses, Mickey and Co next introduce us to the Princess who started it all – Snow White. The entire film is condensed down to about 20 minutes, but still contains enough of the vital elements to ensure that it all makes sense. From the appearance of the Evil Queen, through the magic mirror and the Woodcutter’s change of heart after being instructed to kill Snow White it feels a bit like watching the original movie – but on fast forward.
The pace slows again as seven very familiar characters take to the ice, accompanied by their “signature tune”, Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho”. The singing from the audience is very audible despite the volume of the music and, as I look around the arena, I see just how important it is to stress that this is a whole family show for, no matter how your family is made up, having your nearest and dearest with you at magical moments like this is what makes Christmas so special.
Following the inevitable wake up kiss from her prince, we leave Snow White and head straight into another classic as our four hosts introduce a wicked stepmother and two ugly sisters together with their downtrodden stepsister, Cinderella. Again, the story passes by quite quickly until we get to the Fairy Godmother and then the brakes go on and we witness more magic as the pumpkin becomes a superb crystal coach and, as it should be, Cinderella goes to the ball.
After the interval the ice fills with a whole host of immaculately costumed dancers and, following some truly comic scenes between the Ugly Sisters and the Prince, Cinderella arrives and wins her Prince’s heart – shortly before losing a shoe as she runs off at midnight. Shoe and Princess are soon reunited and happiness reigns ever after.
Topping the bill, and the last of the four movies featured, is the 2010 blockbuster Tangled which tells the story of Rapunzel. Flynn Rider, the hero of the piece, makes his entrance from high above the ice as he is lowered gently, to steal the royal crown. As this movie is the highlight of the production the storyline runs a lot slower, leaving time to flesh out the story for the unfamiliar in the audience, and to allow for most of the special effects to be used to full effect.
There is also a spectacular aerial ballet with both Flynn and Rapunzel wrapping silk ribbons around their arms and then launching themselves skywards. This section also features Maximus, the horse of the Captain of the Palace Guard, who comes to life courtesy of some incredibly coordinated skating by two of the cast. He races around the ice at breakneck speed when he is chasing Flynn Rider, and again later when he changes sides in order to help him free Rapunzel.
Once Mother Gothel is defeated, and Rapunzel is revealed as the Lost Princess, we are all invited to join Mickey and Minnie, together with a few very special Disney Princess guests, at the Royal Wedding. Huge indoor fireworks complete the scene as, accompanied by rapturous applause from the packed arena, the incredibly hard-working cast get to take a well deserved bow and, until next time, the magic ends.
Luckily, the eager audience won’t have to wait long as 2014 sees a spring tour of “Worlds of Fantasy”, featuring Toy Story, Tinkerbell, Cars and The Little Mermaid and then, in the Autumn, 65 characters and 18 different stories feature in “100 years of Magic” heralding the return of the festive season and celebrating the unique genius of the Master of Magic – Walt Disney.
**** Four Stars
