Are you ready to see the follow-up to the beloved Main Street Electrical Parade? Then find a spot along the traditional parade route for Light Magic. But don’t expect a parade. If you’ve picked your spot properly, one of four huge rolling stages will stop in front of you.

Now it’s time to watch the 14-minute show featuring step-dancing Pixies, Disney characters, video projection, and high-tech lighting effects. The score features a new original tune, “Dream our Dreams,” with plenty of old Disney favorites blended in—even a bit of music from the Electrical Parade.

Those step-dancing Pixies are sure working hard to put on a good show. The folks in Entertainment really hope you’ll enjoy Light Magic. Perhaps you should consider that Light Magic uses 4,500 miles of fiber optic strands, 1,520 strobe lights, and 23 computers. Or realize that each stage is 80 feet long and weighs 55,000 pounds. Or count the 24 performers on the rolling stage, multiply by four to calculate that 32 Disney characters and 64 Pixies are performing simultaneously.

And now comes the confetti, shot from 185 air cannons. Aren’t you glad you’re not responsible for cleaning up the mess?

Light Magic, Disneyland’s “streetacular,” ran from May 1997 through Labor Day 1997. Disneyland officials announced that Light Magic would be “on hiatus” until the year 2000.

The year 2000 came and went without the reappearance of Light Magic. It’s highly unlikely that anything resembling the 1997 edition will ever be back. And it’s doubtful that even the name “Light Magic” will ever be reused by Disneyland—for anything.

To put it nicely, guest reactions to Light Magic were mixed. The Long Beach Press Telegram (May 24, 1997) reported, “Disneyland’s Light Magic street show was unveiled Friday night to overflow crowds and a lukewarm reception.” The Los Angeles Times (Oct. 15, 1997) called it “the $20-million dud.” According to the Orange County Register (Oct. 16, 1997), “It failed to attract much of a following.”

For Summer 1998, Disneyland presented a new nighttime parade, “Mulan Parade,” based on Disney’s new animated feature. The movie Mulan is based on a Chinese tale about a courageous young woman who distinguishes herself in the army, disguised as a man, in the place of her ailing father.

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© 2007 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks

Last updated September 23, 2006.

Five photographs of Light Magic: 1997 by Allen Huffman.