Farewell Wishes! Bonjour The Enchanted Fireworks!
This additional year of celebrations for the 15th Anniversary of Disneyland Resort Paris really hits the “Big Time !” with this new pyrotechnic spectacular that will light up the skies above Disneyland park each day of the Summer season, beginning 5th July 2008.
For this new concept, the most romantic of show directors, Christophe Leclercq, takes us on a unique voyage through the different steps of a love story, via lights and music, to the magical musical accents of Alan Menken’s score for Disney’s hit movie from last Christmas, Enchanted.
Fireworks about love, music that’s Enchanted: we’re about to be twice charmed!
Our Media Magic host Jérémie Noyer met the director for an exclusive preview of the brand new fireworks show, ahead of its grand premiere performance in just over one week’s time…
The Enchanted Fireworks is the key event of this summer season at Disneyland Resort Paris. How was it decided to abandon Wishes and create a new pyrotechnic show?
I would have loved to direct Wishes again this year, but when Disneyland Resort Paris executives told me they wanted something different, I said “even better!”. I love doing new things and creating new concepts!
How was that new fireworks concept born?
It took me some time to find it. I started from the 15th Anniversary. There was Candelabration and Disney’s Once Upon A Dream Parade. And then I got the spark! We had the “Dreams of Imagination”, of “Laughter and Fun”, of “Friendship”, of “Power”, of “Adventure” and of “Romance”, and I said to myself that “Love” would be the perfect continuation to all these dreams.
At the same time, whilst listening to some Disney music, I listened again to Disney’s Enchanted soundtrack and I found a cue that I loved a lot and that fitted a fireworks show, the Enchanted Suite.
From that point on, I edited the cue in several “paragraphs” evoking, according to the different musical themes, various ideas dealing with the different steps you experience when you’re in love: Beauty, Seduction, Charm, Passion, Love and the Happy Ending.
How did you work on the music?
I worked with one of our sound engineers, under the supervision of Vasile Sirli, our Director of Music. We worked more particularly on the end of the cue since it wasn’t quite adapted to a “one more time”, the “bouquet finale”. It’s a short cue, but I prefer that people say “finished already?” instead of “not finished yet?”, so they can come back another time to enjoy the show again!
It wasn’t deliberate, but the use of this music created a kind of a synergy between several departments of the Walt Disney Company since our show takes place as the Enchanted movie is being released by Home Entertainment. And at Disney, we love synergy!
Within that frame, the interpretation of True Love’s Kiss is obvious, but what about other themes like Happy Working Song?
I treated it in relation to “Beauty”, that leads then to “Seduction”. It’s a very light and lively song, and at the same time, it is about a Princess doing housework in a unique way!
Then, I associated the other songs to the different steps of a love story and I realized it worked pretty well! From then on, I said: “ok, it’s nice to talk about love. But how to translate that into fireworks, shells, lights and pictures dancing in the skies?” That’s when I started to work with a lighting designer.
We still remember the beautiful lighting of Wishes, and the celebrations of the 15th Anniversary launch, or even the Enchanted Candleabration during the Christmas season…
Well, I did that with the same lighting designer, Jérôme Schmit, who is very talented and full of ideas. I edited each musical theme to the second –for instance, 45 seconds for Beauty, 35 seconds for Seduction, 1 minute for Charm, etc- then we listened to the music again together figuring out which colours would be the best for each section.
We noted each musical accent, like violins going up, and associated each move to another colour that would be projected on Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant. Then, once the lighting concept was set up, once we had a definite idea of what was going to happen, I began to work on the pictures that would be projected onto the Castle.
Wishes began that trend beautifully, which grew again with the launch night of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror!
I appealed to the same consulting artist as for the Tower of Terror inauguration, Marie-Jeanne Gauthé. I explained to her the concept of these “dreams of love”, these Enchanted Fireworks, and we exchanged ideas. She came back a couple of weeks later with images that happened to work perfectly.
For example, for the overture, I asked that there is an explosion of white flowers, something uplifting that leads to Beauty, with some projections of lace, like Calais lace, on the Castle. Something really fine, really lovely, almost unreal. The flowers evolve from the base of the Castle and go up to spread all over it. Then, all the towers are covered with lace.
Giselle unwittingly works her charm over Robert.
After that section, we go to Seduction. For me as a dancer and Cabaret fan, I immediately associated that to “feathers”. I wanted feathers in the sky! In order to do that, Marie-Jeanne suggested that we project white feathers caressing the towers while descending. Something very quivering, in fact.
Then comes Charm. To charm somebody, you can invite the person for a dinner with candles. Hence the idea to use the candles set on the Castle for the 15th Anniversary and add more of our own, spinning on the Castle, combining the flames of the 15th Anniversary and the flames of love.
Then, with Passion, suddenly, your heart explodes! Personally, I saw a rainbow then and Marie-Jeanne got the idea of projecting a very symmetric image, like an opening, yellow fan, with the Castle almost disappearing under it. It’s very impressive. Not only is there that opening, but also a magnificent use of the lights. And at the same time, we use new spotlights that we set behind the Château and that open the same way, creating a kind of an aura behind the Castle. All that will figure something huge that overwhelms your heart!
And then we come to… Love! And when you say love, you say “hearts”. For that, Marie-Jeanne created a very nice projection of intertwined hearts of different and splendid colours, from yellow to pink, going down from the top of the Castle to the base. And for the Happy Ending, I imagined that you could feel a little dizzy after all these emotions, so I imagined a spinning galaxy, somewhat like the one in Wishes, that takes you in a whirl of love, joy, tenderness, seduction and charm, all these feelings together!
And then, we wanted to calm things down in projecting a black matte with tiny stars on the Castle. It almost disappears while we launch the “bouquet finale”, so that we can focus more on it! That done, I added a little cue taken from the soundtrack of Enchanted, Girls Go Shopping, that brings a “pop” touch to the show.
Then, you can read words, all the subjects developed during the show, gently caressing the Castle from one side to the other, like a big and soft recap.
I noticed that the Disney characters don’t appear during the show.
I intentionally didn’t want Disney characters on the different projections. Rather an abstract concept letting guests imagine or dream freely of love….
Technically, how do you make these projections?
They’re more in the spirit of Wishes, yet whereas Wishes used four TP6 projectors, here we have two because we don’t need fading images.
Projections in Wishes (2005-2007).
How did you come to the idea of the rear spotlights?
Some were used during one special event [Disney’s Halloween Soirée, 2007], a fireworks show with six projectors like that. It was a beauty! So, I turned to our Conception and Operation Manager at the Lighting Department, Christophe Malmejat and asked him if we could have the same effect on The Enchanted Fireworks. He bought some and now, we can enjoy this brand-new lighting concept that really enhances our fireworks.
Machines are set a definite way, close to the launching pads, on the rooftops of the shops of Fantasyland and can provide three beams on one side of the Castle and three on the other side that can go up to the top of the Castle. These are no “searchlights” [like those at Walt Disney Studios Park], but it’s the same spirit, with an incomparable power and the possibility to change colours!
From now, we’re going to be able to play on that for upcoming events and concepts, and I’m very excited about that new opportunity!
After that, I guess you went to the fireworks themselves.
Exactly. I had to present the project to fireworks artists, which was not that simple. I did sketches to describe each “tableau” and tried to explain what I felt and what we wanted to present. The four companies that we contacted proved to be well receptive and proposed each one a test.
My task was then to choose one of them according to the spirit, the timing and the relation to music they featured. I chose a world-famous company that had great firework shells, original products that we had never seen here. I met with their young artistic director, David Proteau, who proved to be full of talents and ideas. We watched again their test and I noticed only five or six adjustments and four shell changes that needing doing to “plus it” according to what I felt.
And what’s funny is that the artistic director took notes, too, and they revealed to be the same as mine! At some points, the product was too intense colour-wise, or too powerful in its soaring. He and I were on the same page!
What’s new in the way of firework shells?
There’s an effect I loved and that we called “the cauliflower effect”! It’s a kind of a cauliflower that explodes in the sky, and after the explosion, there’s a detonation! I love it! It’s a true “finale”. It was a little too loud so I know that the fireworks artists are going to balance it, but I did want to have it! A kind of a wonderful “big bang”!
We also have a new launching concept: a fan of fire going from one side to the other at an incredible speed. The effect is magical! I set it at the beginning of the show and it really launches it as a big and innovative pyrotechnic show. And we have all sorts of new colours like a blue “gerb” from which pink sparkles appear going in every direction.
In fact, our fireworks artists are also the ones who fabricate their shells, which means that they have a considerable experience in the way of creating products and using them. They even work with the United States, and notably for Walt Disney World!
Another novelty: you associated Candleabration with The Enchanted Fireworks!
In fact, I changed my original concept so that Candleabration carries on directly to the fireworks. For the first time, Mickey & Minnie appear at the balcony of the Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, just above the drawbridge, on both sides of the 15th Anniversary medallion.
Mickey with light up the 15 candles before announcing the fireworks with Minnie. I think it will be a great addition for people who weren’t able to see Mickey & Minnie during the day. And it’s rather rare to see them together on the Castle. I hope it’ll make great memories for our guests!
True Love’s Kiss.
So, now all is ready for the celebration!
Everything was set for Tuesday, June 24. Everything encoded from lights to projections for the very first live rehearsal that night. Another test is done two days after, which allows us to make changes, if needed. Even though it’s always tricky to make changes like that, if we have to, we don’t hesitate, for the good of the show!
It sounds like you really enjoyed yourself on this project!
Oh, absolutely! I brought everyone into that dream of love with me and I think everyone was enthusiastic! It’s really about fireworks that are enchanted! But it’s not just in the title. Most of all, it’s about our guests hopefully being bedazzled by our show. I’m here to do so that people enjoy themselves while enjoying myself!
There definitely is a part of me in those fireworks. And that’s the reason why I put all my heart and time in this project. After all the fireworks I have directed, all these shells I have made dance in the sky, I do believe it’s certainly one of my favorite forms of art.
Hence the fact that you’re again directing the fireworks for Bastille Day, July 14!
It’s a new concept, too. I kept the same music as last year, these “flon-flons de Paris”, Parisian popular tunes played through a big orchestration. But, since we contacted a new fireworks company, it will be a brand-new visual approach. It’ll be huge!
– With thanks to Christophe Leclercq!
The Enchanted Fireworks premieres on 5th July at Disneyland Park and will be performed every night this Summer until 31st August 2008. Stay with dlrptoday.com and dlrpmagic.com for the latest news, photos and video of the new fireworks spectacular!
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