Disney's ImagiNations Parade was a short-lived parade at Disneyland Park that ran from December 31, 1999 until March 2001.
Premise
Mickey Mouse and his friends set off on a globe-trotting adventure to discover the beauties of the six continents, crossing historical monuments, animal biodiversity and cultures from all over the world.
Parade Units
The parade had 7 units. A Mickey Mouse and Friends character represented the continents as a giant 11-meter tall float.
Mickey and the Magigolfière
Opening the joyful procession honoring cultures from all over the world is the Magigolfière, a giant futuristic airship piloted by Mickey Mouse in a silver aviator suit. The Magigolfière was designed to be a complete invitation to travel, mixing the different means of transport of yesterday and today: Hot Air Balloons, a Zeppelin, a selection of parachutes, a boat with a siren sculpted on the bow, an aeroplane and even a rocket. All of these form up a retro-futuristic ensemble, anchored to the ground by anchors to prevent everything from flying away.
Leading the way on foot was is Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto, with Donald Duck and Daisy Duck riding on the front of the float - all proudly dressed in costumes evoking the different continents like the floats that follow them.
Asia Unit
Represents Minnie Mouse.
Proudly enthroned above the crowd and protected by an umbrella with multiple colored lanterns, a Chinese princess, dressed in a huge orange and flowery burgundy hanfu on which a golden dragon winds, leads the way to the huge Minnie float accompanied by male and female dancers in traditional asian clothes.
The Great Wall of China wraps around the giant mouse, herself dressed up in a red dress with delicate golden patterns. Minnie also holds a traditional paper fan printed with flags from all the many countries in Asia. The Taj Mahal also slipped into the folds of her robe.
Africa Unit
Represents Chip and Dale.
Dale took the form of a sphinx of Egypt ruling over the Nile, Africa's largest river, and wasv topped with a blinding sun and an oriental palace. On the sides, small huts with thatched roofs are overrun with giraffes. Meanwhile Chip, wearing a giant African mask, is represented with a headdress made of banana leaves and a necklace putting on the honor the flags of many African countries including Botswana, Nigeria and Mauritius.
Drums accompany them, as well as a slew of wild animals such as a turtle, a hippopotamus and an alligator holding a red diamond in its mouth. In front, two ostriches and an antelope hidden in the African wilderness join the assembly.
Oceania Unit
Represents Daisy Duck.
Daisy is surfing on the traditional Australian seas not far from the palm trees, She is surfing among dolphins, turtles and a myriad of fish in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, with tropical flowers as her only ornaments.
She holds in her hand a dove ready to fly away. Daisy has put a seaside shell onto her ear so she can listen to the waves wherever she goes.
In the waves of the raging ocean, sperm whales and a whale make their way, crossing a leather rugby ball on their way. A kangaroo accompanies them at the back of the float while in front, a giant conch is placed on the shore, strewn with starfish, and serves as a trumpet.
South America Unit
Represents Donald Duck.
Donald sits on a llama wearing a Peruvian cap, and is dressed in a purple outfit, wearing a crown of multicolored feathers. Donald's facination to the contient shows with the major colours of the regions and even holding a pair of maracas.
It is perched on top of a Mayan temple in Machu Picchu, flanked by a soccer ball and a bird of paradise followed by its beautiful shimmering train.
In front, a Rio Carnival dancer is escorted by a few dancers in colorful outfits.
North America Unit
Represents Goofy.
Goofy has been Transformed into the Statue of Liberty, complete with her crown and torch. Under his new form, Goofy flies over the sandstone cliffs of the Rocky Mountains, through Mount Rushmore. A bear and a caribou, typical animals of North America, also stand proudly at the top of the monument.
Other striking elements also refer to certain states or famous cities such as a slot machine for Las Vegas, a rocket for Florida (Cape Canaveral) and Texas (Houston) or even skyscrapers, a true symbol of modern metropolises like New York or Chicago.
On the sides of the float stands a film director with his camera, and in the back, the American West is in the spotlight with the Grand Canyon, teepees, a cactus and Native Americans.
In front, three totems of Native American tribes, dancing cacti wearing sombreros and a giant guitar ridden by a cowboy precede Goofy.
Europe Unit
Represents Pluto.
Pluto, who ends the parade, carries himself away on a red and gold Venetian gondola and is adorned with a jacket on which are sewn the flags of European nations.
Paying homage to the culture of the Old Continent, he is accompanied by several emblematic monuments representing European countries: Italy is represented by the Tower of Pisa, France by the Eiffel Tower, Greece by the Acropolis of Athens and an ancient amphora, Denmark by the statue of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, the United Kingdom by Big Ben, but also various evocative symbols such as a high-speed train, a beer mug, a Dutch windmill, a football football, a bull and a muleta used in bullfights, a stork bringing a baby and a bunch of grapes.
Development
Disneyland Paris created this parade to celebrate the new millennium, and so it replaced The Wonderful World of Disney Parade as the main daytime parade for the park. The concept of the parade combined large colorful floats of Disney characters with the continents of the world. The main challenge was to produce a parade where the characters were less of a focus than the floats themselves, with only Mickey Mouse and his friends appearing at the beginning of the parade. The floats themselves were made to be as tall and attractive as possible, each rising at a record 11 metres high, and to this day remain the largest floats to be produced by the park. This would also end up causing the removal of the two turrets marking the entrance of Fantasyland.
The premiere of the parade on December 31, 1999 almost proved to be a failure, as the weather struck the parade right away, as a few days prior - Cyclone Lothar had hit France, and damaged the ImagiNations floats. However, they were able to be repaired within a few days and the parade debuted as planned.
However, the parade would end up meeting with a lukewarm reception, especially for it's lack of characters. The unpredictable Parsian weather only made things worse, as the large size of the floats made them almost difficult to repair if they were damaged. The floats themselves would also prove to be a problem for the ground at the park - especially the cobblestones on Main Street, U.S.A., which would begin to sink due to the weight of the floats, especially during the show stops. The Show Stops were later removed as well, putting more of the parade into limbo.
The problems with the parade led to it's 2001 run to be shorted, and the parade ended it's run in March 2001. The Wonderful World of Disney Parade was brought back afterwards to more fanfare.
The floats of the parade were never reused again despite the time and budget put into them, likely due to their large size, and have since been destroyed.
Show facts
- Theme song: "All Around the World"
- Other songs featured (Disney or otherwise):
- MICKEY MOUSE UNIT
- ASIA UNIT
- AFRICA UNIT
- OCEANIA UNIT
- The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room
- Hawaii Five-O Theme
- Aloha 'Oe
- Ta-Hu-Wa-Hu-Wai
- SOUTH AMERICA UNIT
- Under the Sea
- Part of Your World
- Tico Tico
- The Girl From Ipanema
- La Cumparsita
- La Bamba
- Brazil
- NORTH AMERICA UNIT
- The Virginia Company
- Steady as the Beating Drum
- Oh Susanna
- In the Mood
- Living In America
- New York, New York
- Cielito Lindo
- Ma Cabane au Canada
- I Got Rhythm
- Sing, Sing, Sing
- The Yellow Rose of Texas/The Star-Spangled Banner
- Summertime
- Oh, Happy Days!
- That's Entertainment
- There's No Business Like Show Business
- When You Wish Upon a Star
- EUROPE UNIT
- Be Our Guest
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
- Kalinka
- Bella Notte
- The Silly Song
- Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
- Symphony No. 9
