PDA

View Full Version : Disneyland's 60th Anniversary Special



wabby1
02-23-2016, 06:17 AM
My friends and family know of my love of Disneyland, so I watched with anticipation the Disneyland 60th anniversary special Sunday night. I looked forward to seeing a tribute to the park, including the attractions, history, food, etc. Instead I was provided an overall plug for all things Disney, including movie trailers and very little mention of the park’s iconic place in America and its 60-year history. Sure, a few nice tidbits in the mix, including a preview of the upcoming Star Wars Land….but for the most part it was a yawnfest. Some of the sentiment expressed at the end about how Disneyland makes one “feel like a kid again” is all true. But make no mistake, Disney is out for our dollars….and selling us a product. It’s getting to where “making your dreams come true” is making the pockets of Disney bulge at the seams. Not sure Uncle Walt would condone what his company has become. Sure, I’ll go back….I love it….because I believe I catch the vision of what Walt had in mind….but the milestone of the Diamond celebration deserved better than what Disney and ABC gave us Sunday night. Just sayin'.....

MidwayManiac
02-23-2016, 11:07 AM
Disappointing? yes

Surprising? not particularly


My kids are Walt Disney and DL history junkies. The references to Walt and park history were few and far between. We stopped watching about halfway through.

DisneyManders
02-23-2016, 02:11 PM
I agree... Hubby and I said it was like watching one big commercial. Sad, really. Was hoping for more of the history.

Nightwing
02-23-2016, 05:59 PM
Agree! Was very disappointing. Esp the ap they pushed hard.

deedee73
02-23-2016, 08:11 PM
Based on the previews I expected a lot more history & sneaknoeaks. What we got was not surprising - similar to the Christmas parade that Disney puts out there. Was happy I watched but the moments that held my interest were few. The highlight was the Walt quotes & seeing Dick van Dyke dance at 90.

Nightwing
02-23-2016, 08:29 PM
The behind facts and Dick Van Dyke were a highlight. Love the Elton John songs. But the rest could have been an award show boring mess.

danyoung
02-24-2016, 11:23 AM
I have the show DVR'd, but haven't seen it yet. But I'll bet the demographic for this show is not the same as online fan sites. In other words, Disney wasn't marketing to US, but to the average person who has a passing interest in DL and the Disney company.

Neverland Princess
02-24-2016, 11:35 AM
Agreed about the long commercial for everything Disney. I did like the part with Josh Gad at Disneyland but I thought that is what it was going to be more of, not a quick minute about star wars land before playing music and Elton John singing twice in front of the castle. Shouldn't have use the Disneyland at 60 in the title since there was so little Disneyland and more look at what movies we have coming and in case it's not in your head still, here's" Let it Go" again. LOL . However, did like the ending dance number which my friend knew the guy who choreographed it in High School so that's kinda cool. But, am I mistaken or was the audience paid actors? I'm sorry but that many people can't be so overly enthusiastic about every little thing like the audience at the theatre was. It was getting annoying.

danyoung
02-25-2016, 08:52 AM
Again, I haven't seen the show yet. But most Disney televised events I've seen in the past few years include these crowd shots where people seemed to be whipped into a frenzy. It becomes really odd after a few minutes when the crowd is still clapping and cheering, but absolutely NOTHING is going on! Very bad producing.

DisneyManders
02-26-2016, 05:54 AM
I have the show DVR'd, but haven't seen it yet. But I'll bet the demographic for this show is not the same as online fan sites. In other words, Disney wasn't marketing to US, but to the average person who has a passing interest in DL and the Disney company.

This is most likely true. They don't need to target us, in their minds, since we all love Disney and will plunk our money down again and again. Lol!

lilgwacie
02-26-2016, 08:55 AM
Agreed about the long commercial for everything Disney. I did like the part with Josh Gad at Disneyland but I thought that is what it was going to be more of, not a quick minute about star wars land before playing music and Elton John singing twice in front of the castle. Shouldn't have use the Disneyland at 60 in the title since there was so little Disneyland and more look at what movies we have coming and in case it's not in your head still, here's" Let it Go" again. LOL . However, did like the ending dance number which my friend knew the guy who choreographed it in High School so that's kinda cool. But, am I mistaken or was the audience paid actors? I'm sorry but that many people can't be so overly enthusiastic about every little thing like the audience at the theatre was. It was getting annoying.

The people in the audience at the Dolby theater were seat fillers, as well as most of the guests at Disneyland for the Elton performance and the Dancing with the Stars number. I had gotten emails from an Audience Casting and Fan Engagement agency that there were limited free tickets you can reserve to attend the tapings at Disneyland and the Dolby theater for the 60th TV special, so I assume that's where most of the people were from (I tried reserving for the theater one but got waitlisted). It's no different than those people in the audiences for TV tapings of sitcoms and other shows filmed at places like the WB or CBS studios. I'm sure before the cameras are rolling that they tell the audience to cheer, clap, etc. I know from my fair share of attending TV tapings that they prompt you to do so before filming. So it's possible some might be actual fans, excited over the offerings, and some were "excited" because that's what they were there for. lol.

sjhanksaz
02-28-2016, 06:31 AM
So we DVR'd it and watched it later but saw a couple of minutes in the middle and thought "is this some short of awards show?"

It had that kind of feel. And the Mickey goes to Elton for singing a song on the Lyon King soundtrack......

Nightwing
02-28-2016, 07:50 AM
So we DVR'd it and watched it later but saw a couple of minutes in the middle and thought "is this some short of awards show?"

It had that kind of feel. And the Mickey goes to Elton for singing a song on the Lyon King soundtrack......

Same here...

They did a better job for AP Days using the old World of Disney/Color shows! The bulk of that special had nothing to do with the park at all. And what they did include felt added on at the last minute.

danyoung
02-29-2016, 07:10 AM
OK, I finally got to watch the show over this last weekend (only a week or so late!), and I didn't have the reaction most people above had. I was THRILLED to watch a 2 hour Disney special. I didn't much care if it was actually about Disneyland or if it was about other things from the Disney company. I enjoyed seeing Elton John right in front of the castle, and I enjoyed the dance number on Main Street. I think it was a bit of a stretch to include the preview for Pete's Dragon, but I still enjoyed seeing it. So at the end of the day, if I was the one planning the show I would have included more actual Disneyland stuff. But that didn't stop me from enjoying a pretty good special!

sjhanksaz
02-29-2016, 08:43 AM
I don't think anyone really didn't have a hate for it.

I think we all were just expecting something different.

soccerlady16
03-01-2016, 10:42 AM
But, am I mistaken or was the audience paid actors? I'm sorry but that many people can't be so overly enthusiastic about every little thing like the audience at the theatre was. It was getting annoying.

I was thinking the same thing. Not because they were enthusiastic, Disney fans ARE enthusiastic, but because they where are good looking, clean cut and young.

I was also very disappointed with the whole show. It felt like a 2 hour long Disney promo. I was expecting Disneyland history, why its become a American icon, why/how has the park been around for 60 years. I guess I will stick with D23 for that kind of info and depth regarding the park.

sjhanksaz
03-02-2016, 06:11 AM
I was thinking the same thing. Not because they were enthusiastic, Disney fans ARE enthusiastic, but because they where are good looking, clean cut and young.



My wife and I thought the same thing about especially the people in the front rows that were on camera. They all looked too perfect. Actors or hand picked people for those rows????

BlkPearlCptn
03-02-2016, 11:12 AM
[QUOTE=sjhanksaz;1921053]My wife and I thought the same thing about especially the people in the front rows that were on camera. They all looked too perfect. Actors or hand picked people for those rows????[/QUOTE

They are hand picked. Back when I was still in The Industry, the crowds for Disney all came from Central Casting. And you had to fit a certain "look"and dress a certain way to be chosen. I did quite a few Disney gigs through them and even got on the pre-show film for the Great Movie Ride at WDW
which ran for years. Don't know if they still use Central Casting, but they are all hired audience.

jrsharp21
03-02-2016, 12:12 PM
I was also dissapointed in the show. I don't know why, but when I first heard about it, I was thinking (maybe hoping) it was going to be like the old Disneyland anniversary specials. My favorite was the 30th anniversary and I was just hoping to see something of the same. My daughter was watching it the night it was broadcasted and I didn't even know it was the DL special. I thought she was watching an awards show, like someone above mentioned it felt like. Then I watched it on the DVR and realized that it was the DL special she was watching.

Oh well. Off to watch the 30th special on youtube.