How do you follow-up something like the 15th Anniversary? How do you adapt an overseas parade to suit a different park, and a different audience? Jérémie Noyer goes backstage to bring us answers, confirmations and new revelations about Mickey’s Magical Party, direct from the resort’s Creative Director, Kat de Blois!

Of American origin, Kat de Blois has been living in France for over 25 years and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the Boston Conservatory of Music.

Kat began by a New York career, which included working with modern Choreographers Twyla Tharp, José Limon, Anna Sokolow, Daniel Lewis, and Jerome Robbins, as well as Broadway Composers Leonard Bernstein and Julie Styne. She then worked extensively, in Europe, with The Really Useful Company as resident Artistic Director of “Cats” in Paris and Zurich. French Television credits include: “Salut les Mickey”, “Emilie Jolie” and “Téléfolies”. Kat is on the jury for the Fédération Française de Danse and has participated in numerous international dance and theatre conventions.

Kat became the Creative Director for the Entertainment Division in December 2005 after having joined Disneyland Resort Paris as a Choreographer for shows, events and parades a year before grand opening, in October 1991. She directed and choreographed “Disney’s Fantillusion”, “Main Street Electrical Parade”, “Rock Shock”, “Pocahontas, le spectacle”, “The Tarzan Encounter”, and “Disney Classics: the Music and the Magic” among many others. She has also been the principal creative force behind the Halloween Festival and created the Atmosphere Talent Program for the Hong Kong Disneyland opening.

How did you begin to plan Mickey’s Magical Party after the successful celebrations of the 15th Anniversary of Disneyland Resort Paris?

By doing something totally different! The 15th anniversary was a very important step in the history of the resort and we had to celebrate all these years of magic in a traditional and classical way.

With Mickey’s Magical Party, we wanted to spread the party all over the resort, out of the walls! Come, join the party! Mickey invites you to celebrate with him! All day long, at certain magical times, special events will happen in both parks. For instance, if you’re passing by Star Traders in Discoveryland, you’ll be able to see Stitch jumping in with his ship and his SciFi-styled dancers to invite you to the dance. The party will be everywhere!

In front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, we’ll present a brand new show, It’s Party Time… with Mickey and Friends, on this huge, new, 360° stage. Whether you’re passing by the Castle, or leaving Discoveryland, or going to Frontierland, or heading up Main Street, USA, the party is all around you, with lots of interactivity.

In the same way, Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars at the Walt Disney Studios Park will evoke the great Hollywood ceremonies like the Oscars, with extraordinary vehicles carrying the celebrities. Disney Characters will gather for a great production number before walking the red carpet for a unique meet-and-greet time with the fans. I call that “partytainment”.

All of our talents and know-how in timing, music, recording, choreography and showmanship is being put to use, yet this time around a festive concept: street party, nightclub party, Mickey’s party… all kind of parties.

So, Mickey is the centrepiece of the party. Is it also a way to celebrate his 80th birthday?

Not specifically, no. It is true that his birthday was an inspiration and that other departments are talking about it, but there are no candles and no cake. It’s a 365-day party. That said, Mickey will be not only present on the stage in front of the Castle, but also at Videopolis in Discoveryland.

The theater will be transformed into a big cinema, Cinéma Mickey. Be it in the stalls, or eating upstairs, you’ll be able to watch a bunch of Mickey cartoons that made him the star we know, introduced by himself. A new way to celebrate with him, this time as a cartoon character.

Is it a way to concentrate more on classic characters, at a time when Disney’s latest animated characters seem less in the spotlight in the parks?

It all depends on what you mean by “classic”. Stitch is a relatively recent character and he already has his own attraction, Stitch Live!, together with his new live show, It’s Dance Time… in Discoveryland where he’ll teach guest a new, exciting and up-tempo kind of dance. He even invited himself for Halloween lately!

In the same way, we’ve created a brand-new place dedicated to the Toy Story 2 characters in Frontierland, Woody’s Roundup Village. And don’t forget, you can meet Ratatouille‘s Remy at Rendez-Vous des Stars Restaurant in Walt Disney Studios Park, in a brand-new way of presenting a character, in its real size. It’s part of our creativity to find where, when and how to present a character.

But the most important thing is to listen to our guests. We’ve realized that the most important thing was not to gather dozens of characters all in Main Street USA. The most important for them is to see the “top 20″.

From It’s Party Time…with Mickey and Friends to It’s Dance Time… in Discoveryland and to Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars, it seems that you focused more on outdoor entertainment while indoor shows like The Legend of the Lion King and The Tarzan Encounter are being cut back.

As I said, we wanted the party to be everywhere – it’s the concept itself that demands we focus on street entertainment, and we are pleased to try that new challenge. You’ll know it’s very rare for a parade or a show to be cancelled due to adverse weather at Disneyland Resort Paris, and we did our best to anticipate those kind of issues to be able to perform these new shows in every condition possible.

But, most of all, instead of having just 400 people attending The Legend of the Lion King indoors, we’ll be able to gather up to 3,000 of them around Stitch! The idea is to allow the maximum number of guests to participate in the entertainment.

How do you share the task of creating an event like this with all your colleagues, partners and collaborators?

The Entertainment division is headed by Simon Opie, who is Vice-President, and as for myself, I’m the Creative Director of the department that develops all the shows. That includes the parades, the fireworks, the street shows, the stage shows and the special events, and it involves show directors, choreographers, scenographers, designers and CG designers all working together to create the right concept around a dream, an idea.

It can be introducing a new Disney film, or “how to make Mickey’s party magical?”. I collaborate with the Music Department and its Music Director, Vasile Sirli, along with the costume designers, headed by Sue Lecash, and the Entertainment, Strategic Development & Communication department. And all the directors report to Simon Opie.

As you can see, we’re one big, happy family! With all the directors, we have a meeting every Wednesday morning at 9am, as everybody has not completely woken up and our dreams are still fresh in our minds. During those informal meetings, we throw up ideas for projects without any constraint of time and budget, and that’s when certain ideas emerge, which have already been produced, or will be some day!…

If certain shows are original, others, like Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars or Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage!, were originally created for other parks. Using the original as a basis, how do you then manage to give them a feel unique to the Parisian resort?

That’s a wonderful question. Concerning Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage!, it is basically a strong show that works perfectly with little kids and that fits the spirit of the recent expansion of Walt Disney Studios Park in offering entertainments for the whole family. It’s show that comes from the US, yet here, we’re going to present it in three languages, for the first time in the world: English, French and Spanish according to the audience. In other words, we’ve completely adapted that show specifically to our audiences.

As for Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars, it is a creation of Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. Originally, it was a classical Disney parade with dancers and cars. We started from the cars of that concept and then we thought about the way we could produce that kind of show in France. Knowing it’s about cars, meaning vehicles that are closer to the ground than classical parade floats, we felt concerned about their visibility. That’s why we made it a “cavalcade”, a motorcade, and not a parade; a big arrival of stars, the Hollywood way!

The cars come along and gather at Place des Stars in Production Courtyard. The Characters step out, jump onto the stage for a production number and then go to join the guests for a meet and greet moment. You’ll see Mickey with his megaphone directing the shooting, with no need for words or language to understand the message. So, we imported elements from the States, but we created our own concept, very visual, very musical, to fit our very international audiences.

At Disneyland, California, this years’ concept is “What will you celebrate?”. It seems like the party is spreading all over the world!

What’s magical is that, even if you’re working on four different continents, there is a joint energy between all the Disney resorts — an ambiance, the idea that you’re going to participate in something unique, experience a classic story in 360°. I’m part of a group of creative directors of all the Disney parks in the world and we work together. We share ideas, inspirations, and everyone brings that back to their resort to adapt them to the culture of the country.

That’s the reason why shows, entertainments and messages are different from one park to the other. For example, the American parks tried to create something more intimate in pushing the guests to celebrate something that touches them personally, in their family – a birthday, a graduation, an engagement… That’s the American way, meaning you can celebrate an intimate event in a very outgoing, extravagant way. You share it with everyone.

In Europe, those kinds of event are celebrated more within the frame of the family, and not necessarily in public. That’s the reason why, here, it’s Disneyland Resort Paris that invites you to the party. You come here because it’s Mickey Mouse throwing the party!

• With special thanks to Kat de Blois!