Disney's Animal Kingdom gets ready for Christmas

Did you just hear a jingle in the jungle?

It's probably Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade!

In our quest to take you behind the scenes, we went backstage at Disney's Animal Kingdom® Theme Park to the actual holding area where the actual floats for the actual Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade are housed. It was cool— literally—because Walt Disney Entertainment Director of Creative Development Reed Jones, and Show Director Tara Anderson even turned on the snow machines for us!

TARA: People love the snow. I love to watch kids see the snow, trying to catch it, dancing in it. That's really fun.

ENEWS: What sets Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade apart?

TARA: Well, it's very different than doing a more traditional Magic Kingdom® parade. It's a little more "up close and personal" to Guests. What we have here is very unique and true to the Disney's Animal Kingdom spirit.

REED: It springs from the original idea of Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade, which we present throughout the year. The Disney Characters are on safari in these incredible vehicles, filled with all the things they've packed. There are so many details, you can see it over and over again and keep seeing new stuff every time.

TARA: The same brilliant designer who did all these holiday details for us, Michael Conrad, also designed the original parade.

REED: Everything you see in the parade has a holiday twist.

TARA: (leading us excitedly around the huge building) Our kangaroo drum—he's got his "hoppy holidays" sign! Our giraffe has wreath garlands. Our monkey has his Santa hat on. Oh, and we try to give them all bells. One of my favorites is our wildebeest—I love his plaid scarf! And I love it when we turn our parrot into a partridge and a pear tree! He likes it, too. We've got a gator reindeer, too. Santa Goofy needed a reindeer, but he ended up with a gator. I love his antlers!

REED: This was also was a great opportunity for Tara and Dan Stamper, the Music Director, to branch out and find some fun new ways to play holiday songs.

TARA: What's wonderful about this parade is that you hear the music come to you in layers. For instance, as Minnie approaches, the first thing you hear is the elephant—bells and percussion. Then comes the hippo with an instrumental layer and some vocals. By the time you get to Minnie, she's got a full-blown song going there with the chorus.

REED: This parade is also unique for its color palette. Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is so green, we put very little green in the floats themselves. You'll see a lot of colors that really pop out and if there is any green, then it's a green you don't see in nature.

ENEWS: What is it like when you see Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade in the Park with Guests?

TARA: Amazing. Honestly, you don't know exactly what you're going to have until you take the performers through the choreography and see what they do. Each is a little different and that's the beauty of it. There are things they pick up on, things they want to stress. To finally see that, and how it works with our Guests, that's really great. That's the exciting part for me.

Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade will be performed at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park November 27, 2009, through January 3, 2010.

Entertainment subject to change without notice.

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