Friday, 21st November 2008
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The television dreams of Walt Disney meet the technology of today.

Walt Disney was a television pioneer, introducing viewers to far-off lands, fantastical tales, his next big projects and - most importantly - Disneyland through his Sunday night televion programme.

The Disney studio was reponsible in no small part for the unstoppable take-up of television as a viable entertainment format in 1950s America, treating viewers to such hits as Davy Crockett, The Mickey Mouse Club and unrivalled backstage access to the making of many-a-Disney classic.

Walt Disney looked ahead by filming his television shows in colour long before the format was widely available for viewers, and broke new ground with such memories as having an animated Tinkerbell fly around his office.  The live opening day broadcast from Disneyland in California on 17th July 1955 was the biggest outside broadcast ever attempted at the time.

Now, the television legacy returns to the parks with a unique and groundbreaking "living character" appearance by Stitch in a TV studio setting.

  • Stitch Live! originates from Hong Kong Disneyland, opened on 13th July 2006 with the name 'Stitch Encounter' as one of the first new attractions at the park since its inauguration in September 2005.  In Hong Kong, the attraction is featured in the park's Tomorrowland, in the same building as Space Mountain, and is presented in Cantonese, English and Putonghua scheduled in various performance blocks throughout the day. Stitch Encounter is presented as a tour of Space Traffic Control, during which Stitch interrupts in his space craft - eventually revealed to be stolen from Captain Gantu!
  • The Stitch attraction is itself based on the same technology as Turtle Talk With Crush (at Epcot and Disney's California Adventure parks), replacing Crush with Stitch and modifying the location and events accordingly.

Turtle Talk with Crush

  • However, the concept of live interaction with Stitch - and the entire "living character" concept itself - actually stems from a small display at the old Innovations attraction at Disneyland in California. Here, guests could pick up a telephone to speak one-on-one with Stitch in Hawaii whilst watching fairly basic animations on a "picture phone" screen.
  • Other 'Living Characters' include the revoluntionary walk-around figure of Lucky the Dinosaur (seen at Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney's California Adventure and Hong Kong Disneyland) and Chef Rémy, the life-sized animatronic of the Ratatouille character that appears right next door to Stitch Live! at Rendez-Vous des Stars Restaurant.

You really want to know? OK, read on...

  • Stitch Live! works through a groundbreaking combination of real-time computer animation, similar to a very advanced computer game, live speech from an impersonator and the most important thing of all - audience interaction.
  • Both speaking Stitch's words in his recognisable voice and controlling his movements from backstage is a live human actor. From their control room, actually placed behind the windows of the pre-show room, in a booth no longer needed by the Disney Channel's playout team, they have a microphone to communicate with the audience and a joystick to control Stitch's movements and facial expressions. Several additional buttons and controls allow certain events and different games to be triggered during each show.
  • The real-time animation of Stitch means that his mouth moves perfectly in time with his spoken words. The actor backstage hears the audience through the microphone of the live host within the theatre, and can see guests to pick out unsuspecting stars via several closed-circuit cameras hidden overhead and all around the theatre.
  • Through this system developed in-house by Walt Disney Imagineering itself, Stitch Live! shows the power of live television to a degree you've never experienced before. For all intents and purposes, the little blue alien is truly live, right there, talking to you.
  • Rumours first appeared out of the blue (no pun intended) that Stitch Encounter may arrive at Walt Disney Television Studios in October 2006, and immediately became a viable future addition for the park. The rumours were confirmed to Cast Members at the old attraction later the same month, before an official announcement was made to all Cast Members during their January 2007 Rendez-Vous event.
  • Stitch Live! was publicly confirmed at both the Shareholders' Annual General Meeting of 21st February 2007 and the 15th Anniversary press conference of 1st April 2007.  The press conference also saw the release of the first concept art for the building's redesigned exterior.

Old Television Production Tour entrance

  • Television Production Tour at Walt Disney Television Studios officially closed for good on 16th April 2007, surrounded by blue construction fences immediately.  Prior to the closure, CyberSpace Mountain at the old attraction's post-show was closed in January 2007 due to its low capacity and poor accessibility. The CyberSpace games arcade itself was already closed for several weeks before the closure of the main tour.
  • On Friday 18th May 2007, an entertainment casting website announced a casting call from Disneyland Resort Paris for Stitch sound-alike comedians who could portray the character's voice and CGI movements in the new attraction.  The performers, aged 20 to 35, are required to speak at least French or English fluently, be capable of operating a joystick console and have good audience interaction skills with a solid experience in comedy and improvisation.  Auditions were announced for the week of 2nd July 2007, for an initial contract spanning from October 2007 to March 2008.
  • An online poll in June 2007 asked visitors to the official Disneyland Resort Paris website for their thoughts on possible names for the new attraction. The original 'Stitch Encounter' was not given as an option, instead users could choose from 'Stitch', 'Stitch Live' or 'Stitch Interactive'. A holiday brochure released in September 2007 confirmed the final chosen name to be Stitch Live!, including the exclaimation mark.

Concept art for exterior signage

  • The satellite dish was installed atop the building's existing tower in November 2007, followed by the completion of the signage in early December and the theatre entrance booth later that month. Cast Member previews began in late February, with Annual Passport Dream holders getting a chance to try out the new attraction over the second and third weekends in March.
  • Advertising around the resort - including billboard and placards along the moving walkways between the parks and the main parking lot - began in February 2008, with television adverts for 'The Celebration Continues... Big Time!' broadcast across Europe later that month featuring the attraction.
  • Stitch Live! officially opened on 22nd March 2008 with a morning ceremony at the attraction and a special Hawaiian fanfare as a pre-parade over in Disneyland Park. It was not officially inaugurated until 5th April 2008, when a joint ceremony to mark the extended 15th Anniversary festivities meant that, by a strange turn of events, it was inaugurated before The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (albeit by only a few hours) - despite opening three months later!
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