Disneyland developed a nighttime spectacular in 1987 that featured ghosts, skeletons and black widow brides escaping from the Haunted Mansion to entertain crowds along the Rivers of America five years before “Fantasmic” became a surprise sensation.
Disneyland consultant Don Dorsey discussed the history of the shelved Haunted Mansion-themed nighttime spectacular during the Magic After Dark panel at the D23 fan event at the Anaheim Convention Center.
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Dorsey was busy in 1987 working on the new “IllumiNations” nighttime spectacular for Epcot in Florida when the Disney entertainment team was asked to create a similar show for Disneyland.
The marching orders: Make an edgy nighttime show unlike anything ever seen before at the Anaheim theme park.
The shelved 1987 Disneyland nighttime spectacular revealed during the Magic After Dark panel at the D23 fan event at the Anaheim Convention Center. (Courtesy of Disney/D23)
After surveying the park, the team decided the Rivers of America would make the best location to stage the show since the New Orleans Square waterfront area offered the most viewing capacity.
The next challenge was to come up with a show concept that matched the thematic surroundings of New Orleans Square. Their big idea: What would happen if the 999 ghosts from the Haunted Mansion took over Tom Sawyer Island?
The shelved 1987 Disneyland nighttime spectacular revealed during the Magic After Dark panel at the D23 fan event at the Anaheim Convention Center. (Courtesy of Disney/D23)
Concept art developed for the Haunted Mansion-themed nighttime spectacular shows ghosts pouring out of the classic dark ride and flowing over the Rivers of America onto Tom Sawyer Island in a spectral rainbow.
Performers on river rafts handled fire rings as tombstones bobbed in the water and skeletons danced on a Tom Sawyer Island stage.
In a spooky castle scene, headless knights hoisted a coffin into the air as ghost brides lingered amid scattered skulls.
The shelved 1987 Disneyland nighttime spectacular revealed during the Magic After Dark panel at the D23 fan event at the Anaheim Convention Center. (Courtesy of Disney/D23)
Pirates fought with swords in the masts of a ghostly version of the Sailing Ship Columbia as fireworks exploded near the stern in another scene developed for the nighttime spectacular.
The finale featured the Chernabog villain from “Fantasia” looming overhead as flames engulfed the waters below.
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“Everybody thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be amazing,’” Dorsey said during the D23 panel presentation. “Then it got shelved for a period of time for Disneyland’s 35th.”
After the 35th anniversary celebration in 1990, attention turned to another nighttime spectacular involving water and fireworks that ultimately ended up occupying the same spot on Disneyland’s Rivers of America.
“Fantasmic” debuted in 1992 — but that wasn’t the original name of the show.
“The actual show was entitled, ‘Imagination,’” Walt Disney Imagineering Vice President for Parades and Spectaculars Steven Davison said during the D23 panel. “That’s why you heard at the very top of the show ‘I-mag-i-na-tion.’”
But the word Imagination couldn’t be trademarked — which sent the Disney creative team back to the drawing board.
“Everyone was throwing out names and Fantasmic was born,” Davison said during the D23 panel.
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Fantasmic is a play on the word phantasmic which refers to an illusion that only exists in the imagination — a fitting description for a show where Mickey Mouse brings Disney characters to life using his imagination.
Fantasmic also calls to mind the 1940 Disney animated film “Fantasia,” the word fantastic and the “mic” in Mickey. And most importantly, Fantasmic was unique enough to be trademarked by Disney Enterprises.
Dorsey, who worked on Disneyland and Disney World parades and spectaculars for decades starting in the 1970s, went on to design the sound effects for “Fantasmic.”
