Having only seen clips…
- Is there/will there be a character on the first float (Woody Woodpecker? Marilyn?)
- Is it as hard to hear the music in real life?
- I wish some of the floats had animation (aside, obviously, from the T-Rex). The Orca and Jaws are particularly static, and I can’t really tell if E.T. himself moves. Things like the bikes moving up and down would have really added excitement, I hope that’s part of what is missing.
- The dancing is STUNNING.
- is there a character list? I’m not sure if I’m correctly identifying all of the Ghostbusters. That being said, I am OVERJOYED that there are some more obscure characters populating the float, and I hope they use some of them as walk around characters. These are my favorite parts of these kinds of parades.
- Is Gertie anywhere in ET? I guess she might be too young to convincingly portray, but conspicuously absent when you have the brother’s friends.
My main observation…
I really hadn’t considered how many of these classic movies center around white brunette male leads, but the parade really puts a point on it, at least for me! Not bad, just kinda funny. I WILL say that, although I can see this being a creative choice, the face characters need more consistent bits, animation, and movement direction. While they may have some moments planned and tied to their recorded dialogue, I feel like between the static floats and the static characters, the parade sometimes just feels very much like white men standing still: the parade. Perhaps they need more time to find their choreography?
While I know that Marty McFly doing kick-ball-changes would be stupid and cringe, there is opportunity to do a pantomimed “scene” on the float that I feel currently is halfway done: “WOAH! You built a Time Machine?!!?? > Aw man, I LOVE this song! > Yikes, what TIME IS IT? > Is my body disappearing?! > Phew, we’re good! > Love you, Doc!” It’s not “dance”, but it is choreography that is entertaining to watch. When they stop and stare idly at the crowd, the energy tanks. The great thing is that a lot of the characters have scene partners that they can interact with, which I think gives a great opportunity for more banter. A PERFECT example is Officer Brody and the Mayor, they’re doing it PERFECTLY.
I really, REALLY can’t wait to see this in person, I’m SO happy that this parade exists.