Infos
From 1st April till 1st October the Chaparral Theatre at Frontierland will be transformed into a lug tropic scenery - the home for the new show "The Tarzan Encounter" that recreates the magic and adventure from the 37th animated feature from Walt Disney. Up to five times daily the guests can relieve the story of Tarzan, his ape-family and his love for Jane life with hilarious
jokes, incredible acrobatics and the hit-songs from Phil Collins. The story is carried by the acting and the main songs from the
movie, thereby reduces the need of dialogue to a minimum, thereby guaranteeing an equal satisfying experience independent from the guests
language.
As soon as the guests enter the Chaparral Theatre they leave the wild west and travel into the
tropic: on the stage a wonderful jungle grows and flowers bloom, birds sing and some unseen animals can clearly be heard from behind the trees - a perfect illusion - while high above the audience in mesh nets the tools of a expedition hang, boxes, mine
tools, ... - how did they come up there? Maybe the lonely tent that sits in the flowering jungle on the stage is the first
hint!
 Suddenly two big monkeys appear high in the nets and climb down onto the
stage, where now gorillas are revealed behind the thick vegetation - the show
starts, we are about to encounter Tarzan, who's story of a lifetime combining two worlds in one family will be recreated around the storyline of the animated feature in five scenes set in the heart of the
jungle: a tender female gorilla adopts the little Tarzan, who grows up in the middle of the family of gorillas to become the undefeatable hero of the
jungle. Then a expedition reaches his world and is up to destroy the natural harmony of Tarzan's world - but one of the expedition-members is the beautiful Jane, for which Tarzan falls at first
glance. In the end the love of Tarzan and Jane will tear down all frontiers between the human world of the expedition and the natural life of the
gorillas.
This story is told in an all new mix of song and dance, acting and acrobatics offering an unforgettable experience for
everybody. The exhilarating dance scenes will be contributed by four big
monkeys, while the 11 gorillas present never before at Disneyland Paris seen flying acrobatics high above stage and audience in the
nets, swinging from liana to liana, but also taking use of trapezes and
trampolines. In the meantime the little gorilla-girl Terk entertains the audience with her impudent jokes - resulting in big laughter in the audience as she drives the expedition-members into
despair. But the audience at the Chaparral Theatre is not only invited to watch the show - together with Terk it is going to ransack the explorer's camp just as in "Trashin' The Camp" from the animated feature "Tarzan" by tapping their
feet, clapping their hands, clicking their fingers or shouting according to the section of the auditorium they sit it in, while thirty kids from the audience are allowed to take the stage by storm and make incredible noise with the expedition-tools as spoons and hammers that fell from the nets high above onto the front part of the
stage. After this climax, the whole troop of 11 gorilla acrobats, 4 dancing monkeys and Terk gather on stage for the final scene of the
show, when Tarzan and Jane will leap through the air, to end up on a rock above the rest of the
troop, symbolizing how at long last two worlds are united. While the scenery is very realistic - a mix of real lush tropic
plants, trees, bamboo and some artificial flowers - and carries the audience into another world as soon as it enters the
auditorium, the costumes are partly stylized partly realistic, the later
e.g. for Tarzan and Jane looking as in the animated feature, while the apes do wear stylized ones that do not hinder them during the stunts and
acrobatics.
Music
The music is based on the hit-songs from the animated movie by Phil Collins and the score by Mark Mancina, also some new instrumental material has been written especially for the show. So far Disneyland Paris has released no tracks from the shows soundtrack - but the original versions of the songs by Phil Collins can be found on the soundtrack-CDs of the animated feature that are available usually in the French and the English version at the
Storybook Store and at Town Square Photography on the Main Street. Further versions (in German, Spanish, Italian, ...) are sometimes available at the same stores. Your local CD-store can order the soundtrack-CD of the animated feature in the English and Your local Version for
You.
Creative Team / Backstage
It took the nearly one hundred man strong team around Doug May (Artistic Director) and Reed Jones (director) six month to create "The Tarzan Encounter" for Disneyland Paris, as it is a brand new show, not comparable to the Tarzan-stage-show seen in the US-parks. For both, Doug May and Reed Jones, it is the first time that they work in Europe, also Doug May did do some work for Tokyo Disneyland. Here is what they say about their show:
Doug May "The most exciting thing was to create a totally unique show by combining a realistic and stylized approach, using American and European concepts."
Reed Jones "Our show recreates the atmosphere, the emotion and the storyline of the movie in a show which is original, bursting with energy through the talent of an exceptional troop of experienced acrobats and dancers."
An important member of their creative team was Kat de Blois - the american native now living in France for 18 years had to create a choreography bringing together exhausting dance-routines and the flying-acrobatic elements - the result is a unique creation of aerial and earth bound, energetic ballets and dances, that are performed by an international cast of 18, for which Sue Lecash created the costumes, that had to be practical on one hand, especially for the stunts of the 11 gorillas and the 4 for monkey-dancers, and enchantingly realistic on the other hand. So she decided to use only stylized costumes for the apes, while she was able to exactly copy the costumes for Tarzan and Jane from the animated feature.
Compact
| Director |
Reed Jones |
| Artisitic Director |
Doug May |
| Choreography |
Kat de Blois |
| Stage Design |
Bernard Arnould |
| Costumes |
Sue Lecash |
| Cast |
18 international castmembers (Tarzan, Jane, Terk, 11 gorillas, 4
monkeys) |
| Running time |
25 minutes |
Tips
The first rows in front of the stage in the middle section are reserved for wheel-chair-user and small children - if Your child is old enough to sit a few meters apart from You (as parents usually won't be allowed to sit in that rows), here it not only has a good view onto the stage but also the best chances to be chosen to participate in the show!
When entering the theatre try to find a free place in the two sections in the middle of the auditorium and be carefull, that the pillar's do not block to much of Your view to the stage. Usually it is best to choose seats in the third or fourth row upwards, not counting the rows reserved for children, instead starting counting with the first row above the ground level.
On busy days You should prepare to line up half an hour before the show starts, but there is plenty to see, e.g. a small pond where some ducks live or the view onto the
Rivers of the far West with Big Thunder Mountain in the center. As the
Cowboy Cookout Barbecue is only a few steps from the queue one member of Your party may fetch some drinks for the rest of You. If You are using a stroller, You will not be allowed to take it into the theatre - but You can park it in front of the large gate, through which the audience enter the theatre. Don't worry if You are not in the first part of the line waiting - the cast members do fill the theatre section by section and, if the line is long, will open a second entrance later to let more people enter the auditorium from the last
rows.
Performance Times
01.04.2000 - 01.10.2000 daily, up to 5 times at the Chaparral Theatre, Frontierland
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Tarzan - The Encounter
Fotos
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