It’s winter in Australia again and for Disney fans this can only mean one thing – Disney on Ice is back! This time, Mickey is bringing his friends in Disney On Ice: Mickey and Friends. One would think, if you’ve seen one Disney On Ice show, you’ve seen them all. But this is not true. In Disney On Ice: Mickey and Friends there are many new and exciting features never seen before that will interest even the littlest (or oldest) Disney fan.
This is the first Disney On Ice production I have seen with non-Disney character hosts where Disney friends, Alex and Isabella arrive early to hype up the crowd and interact with the tiny audience members. Equipped with a magic ‘Mouse Pad’ and only letting a selective lucky few in the audience touch it, the magic Mouse Pad is surprisingly the key item to the show’s narrative. Accompanied by a big screen displaying Walt Disney himself in a video montage to show the impact Disney has had on children across the globe, Disney On Ice: Mickey and Friends flows quite naturally with the Mouse Pad helping summon different Disney characters and performance segments.
Disney On Ice: Mickey and Friends showcases many characters from Disney and Pixar films such as; Toy Story, Finding Dory, Brave, Inside Out, Fantasia, Frozen and my favourite of this show, Moana. The audience participation in Toy Story with Woody, Jessie and Buzz enticing the crowd to clap along and do certain dance moves was quite fun and refreshing as I can’t recall the last time this has happened during a Disney On Ice performance. I also thoroughly enjoyed classic Mickey with his wizard hat conjuring brooms and making them dance in a neon-lit setting to classical piece “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by French composer Paul Dukas.
It’s not Disney on Ice show these days without some Frozen, with the audience the most silent and attentive to whenever Anna and Elsa would grace the ice with their presence, but for me, the best performance segment of this production would have to be Moana. Not only are the Lin-Manuel Miranda composed tunes perfect for Disney on Ice with “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome”, but the theatrics with the clever use of fire was most impressive and not like anything I have seen before in any Disney On Ice production, ever.
Disney On Ice: Mickey and Friends is one of the best Disney On Ice productions I have ever seen. Not for its story, but for its many changes that makes Disney On Ice feel refreshed, new and exciting; the use of the big screen, the interactive hosts, the fun audience participation, the captivating acrobatics by both Tangled’s Rapunzel and The Little Mermaid’s Ariel, the thrilling jumps and choreography, and Moana facing fire to restore the heart of Te Fiti. This production is so impressive, even the adults will be gobsmacked. If you haven’t been to Disney On Ice before, now is the time to go. And if you have, then this one will be really special.
Disney On Ice: Mickey and Friends is currently performing at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne until July 8 and will be touring Australia until July 21. For more information and tickets visit: https://www.disneyonice.com/au/en-au/disney-on-ice-celebrates-mickey-and-friends