Changes

The film for Mickey’s PhilharMagic took over three years to complete, largely due to the fact that many characters had to be re-rendered in 3D. 3000 3D elements had to be molded, painted and animated in order to create the show <ref name= "cgw"/>.Due to the partnership between Imagineering and Feature Animation, many of the artists who worked on the characters in their original movies contributed to both the storyline and animation process of Philharmagic. For instance, Disney animator Glen Keane returned to render Ariel in 3D<ref name= "cgw"/>, while Nik Ranieri the supervising animator of Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, re-rendered the candelabra <ref name= "cgw"/>. Disney also tried to use the characters original voice actors as much as possible (either through re-recording or archival recordings), although some characters required new voice actors to be brought in. Perhaps most significantly, archival recordings of Clarence Nash (the original voice of Donald Duck) were used in the new film <ref> https://books.google.com/books?id=nEGaj75GhXcC&pg=PT224&lpg=PT224&dq=Clarence+Nash+Mickey%27s+Philharmagic&source=bl&ots=Dq7dKDoaVd&sig=mGc87khrSLrv2ZFUtHzV2r552mg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjEvOC4pv_JAhVMq4MKHSGOAM0Q6AEISjAI#v=onepage&q=Clarence%20Nash%20Mickey's%20Philharmagic&f=false </ref>. According to George Scribner (the animation director of Mickey's PhilharMagic) Donald Duck was chosen as the films main character because he showed his emotional extremes quickly <ref name="cgw"/>.

Disney announced the creation of PhilharMagic in a press release issued on January 31, 2002 <ref> [[Mickey's PhilharMagic Press Release]] </ref>. The show replaced the Legend of the Lion King in the Fantasyland Theater (the theater located next to [[Peter Pan's Flight]]) which had closed on February 23, 2002 <ref> https://www.mouseplanet.com/guide/681/Walt-Disney-World/Magic-Kingdom/Fantasyland/Mickeys-PhilharMagic </ref>, and construction began in March 2002 <ref> http://www.wdwhistory.com/wiki/Mickey's_PhilharMagic </ref>. On October 3, 2003 Mickey's PhilharMagic officially opened <ref> http://www.florida-project.com/walt-disney-world-photos/magic-kingdom/fantasyland/mickeys-philharmagic </ref>. Since its opening, the show has not experienced any significant changes.

To read Disney's press release announcing Mickey's PhilharMagic click below:

[[Mickey's PhilharMagic Press Release]]