The Mermaid Lagoon Theater's "Under the Sea" at Tokyo DisneySea provides one stunning example of the heights to which theme park shows can soar. Literally. In this 14-minute performance inside Triton's Kingdom, Ariel gets aerial as the characters from Disney's The Little Mermaid "swim" in the air above the stage, thanks to acrobatic harnesses and a lot of creative staging.
Here's a promotional clip from Tokyo Disney that gives you a taste of what happens:
Fans have uploaded a few longer clips from the show, as well:
Disney's use of three-dimensional space here reminds me a bit of its staging in the Finding Nemo show at Disney's Animal Kingdom as well as the aerial work in Aladdin at Disney California Adventure.
Disney's tried several times to bring The Little Mermaid to its theme parks, with a show at Disney's Hollywood Studios and the new dark ride at California Adventure and the Magic Kingdom joining this effort. But I believe that the aerial acrobatics here come closest to matching the dynamics of swimming in Ariel's undersea world. In the Hollywood Studios show, you never lose the sense that you're sitting in a theater, watching a stage. But in Tokyo, you really can believe, at least for a moment, that you finally have found your way "under the sea."
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