So, is anyone thinking the show will have another technical rehearsal tonight with the pyro? If not tonight, when?
Universal's Cinematic Celebration Night Show
- Thread starter Imperius
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It is all a guess at this point. I’ll bet that Aiello is unsure at times.
Visually it is a hell of a lot better than CineSpec. It's on par with Disney's newer shows like Pixar Fireworks, Ignite The Dream, Disney Illuminations.
All those shows have one major thing in common- they lack heart. Even Ignite at SeaWorld has more meaning and message than this show does. Overall a great show but I was hoping they'd do similar things to CineSpec and have a narrator and tug at the emotion strings. Visually stunning and will be a crowd pleaser, just comes off as very dry for what I was hoping for. It's basically like they took 2 minute scenes from movies and added an opening and closing song to the beginning and end of the show with nothing to tie it all together. Also don't understand how subpar movies like Secret Life Of Pets, Sing and Fast & Furious get mentions but American icons like Back To The Future, Jaws, Kong, Psycho don't...
Can't wait to see it with the pyro. The fountains are huge! Overall a huge upgrade.
All those shows have one major thing in common- they lack heart. Even Ignite at SeaWorld has more meaning and message than this show does. Overall a great show but I was hoping they'd do similar things to CineSpec and have a narrator and tug at the emotion strings. Visually stunning and will be a crowd pleaser, just comes off as very dry for what I was hoping for. It's basically like they took 2 minute scenes from movies and added an opening and closing song to the beginning and end of the show with nothing to tie it all together. Also don't understand how subpar movies like Secret Life Of Pets, Sing and Fast & Furious get mentions but American icons like Back To The Future, Jaws, Kong, Psycho don't...
Can't wait to see it with the pyro. The fountains are huge! Overall a huge upgrade.
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- Feb 28, 2015
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Why does a nighttime show need meaning or heart? What’s wrong with a cool show with neat effects?
Those properties were featured in the last show that nobody watched
Also, whoever the person was that said Rivers of Light has story structure....you get it
Unfortunately Disney lowered the bar with Rivers of Light, but yeah, I would say this is still on par with some of their other offerings. Definitely better than the DHS fireworks.
I got goosebumps watching the thing on YouTube, so I dunno. It's certainly got me by the throat. Maybe these people don't connect with the properties? Which is fine, but that doesn't really mean the show isn't well put together.
Personally (key word), I'd put this above RoL and Fantasmic even without the pyro. I haven't seen HEA, so I can't comment. But the only Disney night show I'd watch over this is IllumiNations, and god knows what's going to happen to that next year.
But again, the OG World of Color was my favorite nighttime show ever, and this hits a lot of the same buttons for me.
- Sep 15, 2015
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You know what, you are absolutely right! It needs something beautiful and touching, I have not watched trolls, httyd or minions but something emotional from an animated movie or something. One thing is clear, this is definitely a universal show in and out, high energy, chaotic fun! Still love it!
Because the last show system sucked. Totally horrible watching videos on small screens with little fountains going off on each side. This show system with the level of storytelling from the previous show would be amazing.
A night show doesn't NEED meaning or heart- but meaning or heart makes it a hell of a lot better. Let's look at what are considered to be some of the best nighttime shows of all time..
-Happily Ever After
-Wishes
-Illuminations
-World of Color
All of these tug emotion strings.. World of Color tugging the least but still having actual words that go with the theme song giving you somewhat of an idea as to what is going on. Hap, Wishes, Illuminations.. they're amazing because of the content.
Not saying this is a bad show, but it is just an IP fest with with a meaningless opening and closing song tagged onto each side. But like I said, it's visually stunning and will be a crowd pleaser.
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Just watched your POV. Clearly, this is the best of the POV's I've seen so far. After this viewing, my opinion is even stronger on how good this show is, and that's without all the effects, like pyro, present yet. The sound, clarity of the water screens, and even the building projections showed much better than my previous POV viewings. If the show looks this good on a video, I'm sure it's absolutely tremendous watching it live. There's really not a single segment I have an issue with. I like the longer times given to the prominent IP's. It gives the presentation a stronger story line. And the animated sections lighten up the show's mood, which is a nice offset. Ending the show with a highlight compilation is an excellent flourish to the finish. Some say they didn't feel emotion in this but I sure did. The stunning music from ET, JP & Potter with those ET, JP, Potter water scenes choked me up...............And, intentional or not, filming this POV with the young child watching the show, prominent & above the crowd, was artistic genius. Almost an ET wonderment moment.....I've been somewhat critical of Universal's lack of a Disney quality night time lagoon show in the past. This production, even though incomplete, is definitely Disney night show quality....Good job Aiello.:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Methinks he's deserving of another promotion, way higher up the Universal food chain, UC dino's notwithstanding. .
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Happily Ever After's theme song is ubber cheesy, as are most Disney fireworks songs...If Universal ever tried to sing a Disney song they would get trashed
Now, my only issues with the show are this....The JW clips they chose aren't exactly the most 'enchanting' if you will...I really really wish they would have gotten some original animation for that segment..
Also, F&F was a waste of my life haha
I actually liked the moments where just the fountains were dancing and no clips were shown...I actually think this show could benefit from less media
I don't think I've seen anybody making the case that the show isn't impressive on a technical level, even without the pyro.
It's just that some people don't connect on an emotional level to Fast & Furious, Minions, Trolls, Transformers, and the like.
Which, as you say, is fine. I'm totally okay with the show not being tailored to me.
- Apr 4, 2017
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Honestly, I'm glad they didn't try to insert Disney-like "meaning and heart" into this show. Maybe I've just grown too cynical, but I often find those elements of Disney's parades and nightime shows saccharine and cloying. Though I can appreciate the ideas of "happily ever after" and "dreams come true" in smaller doses, when blown up into huge spectaculars , it just rings hollow to me, especially when preached by giant corporations. I've always appreciated Universal's approach of leaning more into adventure and thrills over Disney's attempts to hit us over the head with sappy over-the-top sentiment.
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- Jan 24, 2015
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I don’t know about you guys, but the most satisfying part was when the music perfectly flowed into the Universal Theme and everyone cheered. Such a cool moment.
I was surprised at the big reaction Trolls got when it started. I think that property should be high on Uni’s addition list
I only watched the first minute before deciding I didn't want to spoilt this for myself. I know it was mostly bloggers watching but the amount of phones being held up annoyed me to no end. I wish Universal would put this photo at the entrance to the viewing area.
Now now... RoL is by no means perfect... or even that entertaining... but we have to give Disney credit for taking a risk, creating something in theme with the park, and using innovative technology. I think once they eventually do a new version of the show people will be blown away.
Disney at least does take risks at times and innovates. When Disney created WoC no one else had ever done a fountain show like that.
This show is a HUGE step in the right direction for Universal, but it isn’t industry defining the ways Fantasmic, World of Color, or even Rivers of Light could one day be.
But I love this show also, and can’t wait to see it completed. Obviously not everything needs to change the industry.
- Mar 25, 2010
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I think the scenes could be in better order. I'd start off a bit slower, jumping straight into jp is a bit much, but honestly I couldn't tell you what should go first. The blocking for each segment is very... Blocky. Needs to flow a bit better. I think adding a few more "music/no projections" segments and drawing the show out a lttle bit longer could be nice. Need to draw balance between the fountains and the screen segments. That's where woc excels and makes the fountain show concept extraordinary. The projections are the "Wow", but the fountains alone in certain musical segements are also the wow. Some segments have all the fountains going when 1/4 would be sufficient.
Some of the fountains scenes are very rigid. Lots of vertical fountains creating huge blocky walls when the music is implying more movement. The fountains should be a bit more kinetic in some scenes... I imagine the time it would take to create more nuanced scenes with each fountain head animating independently is something the team behind the show just doesn't have time for right now.
Jurrasic park is an iconic ip with some of the greatest and most iconic themes ever, they should be used more.
Despite my criticisms I'm highly impressed thus far and can't wait to see it fully finished.
Some of the fountains scenes are very rigid. Lots of vertical fountains creating huge blocky walls when the music is implying more movement. The fountains should be a bit more kinetic in some scenes... I imagine the time it would take to create more nuanced scenes with each fountain head animating independently is something the team behind the show just doesn't have time for right now.
Jurrasic park is an iconic ip with some of the greatest and most iconic themes ever, they should be used more.
Despite my criticisms I'm highly impressed thus far and can't wait to see it fully finished.
Live action looks terrible on water screens, it has a muddy look. That why World of Color (and Fantasmic) feature almost entirely animation, bright colors, more contrast easier to follow. I'm still against the format being to close to WOC even with fireworks added. But maybe i'll have to see it in person.
