John Handiboe, Hey John! What’s Going On?
We're on stage with Hamm and Rex, the stars of Disney's newest cruise ship musical Toy Story. We're going to give you a front row seat.
“What about turning Toy Story into a musical?” said Anne Hamburger, the executive vice president for Walt Disney Imagineering.
After asking the question, the answer was yes. Disney debuted Toy Story The Musical, a show you can see only on Disney's Wonder cruise ship.
“This is one of the most elaborate shows on the high seas,” said Tom McAlpin, the president of the Disney Cruise Line.
To infinity and beyond after three years in the making, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and the rest of the Toy Story characters are putting on their dancing shoes for a Broadway-style show.
“Toy Story is all about creating a toys eye view of the world,” said Matt Almos, the creative director for Toy Story.
It’s a view that includes intricate costumes bringing the toys to life.
“Those are his angry eyes. Sometimes he gets so surprised that actually he starts to fall apart. Show them what you can do Mr. Potato Head, with your ears,” said Almos.
And you'll need to hang on to yours. There are seven new songs inspired from the original movie.
“Seeing these characters break into song, it adds a whole new layer of discovery and brings the story anew,” said Almos.
It's a new spin on a story that's been around since 1995 and the director of the first Toy Story, John Lasseter came aboard for the grand opening.
“When Anne Hamburger first came to me and said 'we are thinking about doing a show of Toy Story,' I was like 'OK. It’s going to be a musical, OK, ummm.' She is so talented and her group is so talented that I trust them but I was still a little, OK. But, when she started playing the music, it blew me away and I knew this could be great,” said Lasseter.
He also helped out during the creative process, making sure everything was ship shape.
I guess you could say Toy Story is cruising in a new direction.
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