Where Enchantment Went Wrong

Walt Disney World is well into into the year and a half long celebration of their 50th anniversary.  Although the pandemic has delayed the arrivals of some of the anticipated attractions for the golden anniversary, Disney has debuted two new nighttime shows: HarmonioUS at Epcot and Disney Enchantment at Magic Kingdom.  While HarmonioUS has been met with a mix of reviews, and with the exception of the Epcot purists, has been generally well received, the reception to Enchantment has been...... poor: 

Disney’s Enchantment is like the equivalent of when I effed off for 6 entire weeks and didn’t do my Bio225 project until the night before it was due.

— hotsauss (@DeusExHotsauce) November 9, 2021

All I’ve got to say is, I’m glad our fireworks special is not Enchantment 😝 #Disneyland

— Franco: DisneyVista (@DisneyVista) November 15, 2021

Disney Enchantment belongs in an after hours event. It’s not god awful to the point where it shouldn’t be shown. But it is NOT a worthy successor to Happily Ever After.

— Stormahee (@Stormahee) November 14, 2021

So where did things go wrong?  Given the enormity of this anniversary celebration and all of the buildup leading up to October 1, 2021, why does Disney Enchanted feel so meh?   To answer this question, you need to think about the previous Magic Kingdom shows Wishes and Happily Ever After as well as the Disneyland show Disneyland Forever.  We'll explain....

The Good

Let's begin with the good.  Not everything about Enchantment is bad.  The song You are the Magic is delightful.  Is it as memorable as Happily Ever After? No - but it's a great song that invokes themes of magic and incorporates small pieces of classic Disney movies.  

The fireworks also seem even bigger than we have seen in previous shows.  Having seen Enchatment from a few vantage points, I was struck by just how high the fireworks reached into the Florida sky.  

Finally, the castle projections have expanded to include the buildings on Main Street USA (a novelty for Magic Kingdom but a show design that has been around at Disneyland, most recently during Mickey's Mix Magic).  

And maybe the best part of Enchantment?  Tinker Bell is still flying! 

The Bad

Where do we even begin?  First, the show does not resonate the same way that Wishes or Happily Ever After.  Both of those shows told a story.  Happily Ever After spoke about friendship, love, and having the strength to overcome.  

On the other hand, Enchantment does not tell a story.  It feels like a mashup for Disney's most popular movies over the last 20 years.  We love Moana - but it is featured twice in the 15 minute show.  Into the Unknown from Frozen 2 accounts for 1/10 of the entire program - it's arguably not even the best song from that movie let alone the franchise.  

And unlike it's predecessors, Enchantment completely neglects to include any sort of reference to the Disney villains that are as well-known as their protagonist counterparts.  Instead, it's almost as if the show creators forgot about this and at the last minute said, "OK let's just drop in Night on Bald Mountain and call it a day."  

As for the narration, Angela Basset, who we love in Meet the Robinsons and Soul, is a little too over the top in her delivery.  Again, it's a poor performance compared to the Wishes narration from Jiminy Cricket and Jeremy Irons in Happily Ever After.  

Finally, there are numerous spots in the show where there appear to be "dead spots" due largely to the fact that the soundtrack either features a lull or is too quiet to hear with surrounding crowd and firework noise.  Perhaps the creators intended this to give the show some type of dramatic effect?  Instead, it just makes the show feel choppy - like watching a video online and seeing the refresh circle going around waiting for the show to resume.  

The Why

Perhaps the biggest question is to figure out how we got here.  How did Disney, a brand synonymous with high quality and cutting edge entertainment, sign off on this show?    How come Disney fans are so disappointed with this new nighttime show?  

The answer to that question can be found 2,183 miles from the Walt Disney World Resort  at the OG in Anaheim, California.  When Disneyland launched their 60th anniversary in 2015, they debuted a number of new nighttime shows including World of Color at Disney's California Adventure and Paint the Night.  That year, they also debuted a brand new show dedicated for the 60th anniversary called Disneyland Forever.  That show (which still plays today), paid homage to Walt and his vision for building Disneyland and hearkened back to the characters, movies, and attractions helped Disneyland grow.  

 

Although this show has endured, there is little question it was designed specifically for and with the 60th anniversary of Disneyland in mind.  It was a celebration of the history of Disneyland and a tribute to Walt himself.  

Enchantment, on the other hand, is not a show designed for the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World. There is no mention of the milestone anniversary or inclusion of any Disney World sites or attractions.  Enchantment could have been released in 2015 or 2025 - and the effect would have been the same. Enchantment may have debuted on the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World but it was not a show designed meant to honor the park's golden anniversary.  

Without knowing when this show was conceived or designed, our best guess was this was done as a cost cutting measure.  Following the pandemic and the worldwide closures of the Disney Parks, the company was probably not interested in designing a show that would only run for 18-months.  Unlike some who have speculated that Happily Ever After would return after the celebration of the 50th anniversary concludes, we think this show is here to stay for several years.  

Unfortunately, none of the entertainment in the parks honors the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World.   The 25th anniversary had an entire parade dedicated to the milestone.  For the 50th, they are  bringing back the Festival of Fantasy parade - which is really awesome - it just seems like a letdown after Remember the Magic was released for the 25th.  

Someone commented that Disney World did more to celebrate Disneyland's 60th anniversary than they did to celebrate their 50th.  At first I wanted to dismiss this sentiment, but the longer the celebration goes on with little to no fanfare, the more accurate it becomes.  Enchantment could have been special and honored the last 50 years of Disney World - but it fell very very flat.  

What do you think of Enchantment? Let us know in the comments below.