Today on the podcast, we are up to part three out of four in our story about the making of

Fantasmic. In previous episodes, we've looked at early influences, such as the Dixieland at Disneyland

at Disneyland show or the River Haunt. We've also explored some of the structural and political

dynamics that existed at WDI and Disneyland at the time,

that often placed imaginary and above other divisions related to the resorts such as entertainment or operations.

Lastly, we took a look at a separate nighttime show that was then being developed for the Florida

Resort, a musical production based on Noah's Ark to be overseen by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Today, we'll look at the actual making of the show in California and also touched down

on some of the political and cultural issues that we're moving through Southern

California in 1991 and 1992. Issues that ultimately will affect the opening of this production,

but we won't get deeply into how all of that works until our episode next week. So, if you're

all set to jump into our next chapter, I am too.

We'll begin by looking at how the music was created for the show,

a show that in 1991 was still called imagination and not yet phantasmic.

So if you're ready, here we go.

The musical composition assignment was given to Bruce Healy, a musician with a degree from Cal State Fullerton, who had risen up through the Disneyland band and into

central planning roles. When I started working at Disneyland, Healy said, I just hope to

continue work and get more better jobs, especially as an arranger. By the late 1980s, he was

being given opportunities to be a composer within Disneyland entertainment.

Fantasmic, a nighttime show that was still being called Imagination, was one of his first big opportunities

to incorporate the breadth of his skills for a highly visible, extremely expensive project.

The show's presentation would include many altered clips from Disney

...