Let's not mince words: I'm a Disney Junkie. Not as hardcore as some people out there, but I like to think I know more about the characters than your average prmary schooler. I'm familiar with their characters, from the Snow White era to the DuckTales period to the Atlantis saga.
I also remember watching the Disney on Ice performance when I was little, when the troupe performed in Jakarta. I don't remember much about it except it was colorful, it had ice skates and oh so memorable characters. And Pluto the dog was in the show. I love Pluto. I still have a Pluto stuffed toy that Dad bought me when I was five, and it's still in tip-top shape except for the missing collar. I used to take it with me everywhere, and I mean
everywhere.
So anyway, the Disney on Ice troupe performs annually all over the world, Singapore included. All these years here, yet I didn't watch any of them because, well, it's a family show, ergo you need a family with you to really enjoy it. This year, though, I was asked to go along with Fika,
Fanny and Risyad to watch them in the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Well, ok. Good friends count as extended family members, right?
I was nearly late for the show, however, thanks to a stupid academic briefing that caused me to stay back in campus. To make things worse, I went there in my friend's car to save time - but both of us have totally a inept sense of direction, and we actually got lost. Don't laugh.
So how was the show itself? To quote, "spectacular". You may think you're too old for Mickey and Donald, but watching it would make you feel otherwise (and like a 10 year old again). In any case, you'd be dazzled by the uber-l33t ice skating skillz of the performers. It's hard enough to do triple pirouettes, so doing them in an awkward rubber suit should be twice the challenge.
There was a good variety of familiar stories represented by actors gliding across a layer of ice. Quite a good selection of songs too. Obviously you can't have them
all - I would've loved to see Peter Pan and Baloo the bear, myself - but what's actually there is good stuff. Aladdin, The Lion King, The Incredibles, Beauty and the Beast, the It's a Small World cultural representatives, Pinocchio, Mulan, Toy Story, and Finding Nemo. Yes, Finding Nemo sounds bloody stupid at first, but it works. That two-man costume of Bruce the Great White Shark is especially hilarious in Plus cameos from the usual suspects and all the prince/princess pairings that Disney has (minus Sleeping Beauty, for whatever reason). The only glaring mishap was when Buzz Lightyear fell down after a somersault, but he recovered pretty quickly.
To recap: Spectacular, memorable, worth our money, etc etc. Go watch. Srsly. Oh english translation of Kingdom Hearts II, where are you now?