The latest touring extravaganza from Disney's prodigious publicity machine is making tracks around Europe. Steve Moles stepped aboard in Brussels
Just before departing for Brussels to meet the Disney train took the precaution of calling Kim McCarthy, the show's production manager. "Kim, I'll be arriving in Brussels Thursday night. Should pop down to Station Midi that evening to sort out my pass for the exhibition tomorrow?"
His reply very aptly defines why the Disney organisation elect to use a train as a mobile exhibition platform to tour Europe. "Oh no,' he said, "I'll be in another city. We don't pull into Brussels until about 1.00am Friday morning."
"But that's the day of the show," I spluttered.
"Yep."
The whole process of getting this show on the rails began for McCarthy back in January 1997. "I'd done the Hunchback train the previous year, but this is by far the biggest one ever to tour Europe, both physically and in terms of the number of cities we've visited."
But despite the increased scale of presentation, the important lessons for touring this way had all been learnt the previous year. "The big concerns are about managing people, or 'guests' as we call them." Yes, the Disney ethos is strictly adhered to; punters are 'guests', backstage is concealed from all but those working the show and nothing is allowed to interfere with the perception that all of this is for real. For my sins, this was my first ever encounter, other than at the movies, with anything remotely Disney. Having arrived with a preconceived cynicism about the validity of such an ethos, I can now see its justification. Watching small children respond to, and interact with, fantasy characters as spontaneously as they would with any normal human, is enchanting to say the least.
