Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends to Close September 27, 2008

[Figment!]

Pocahontas show at Disney's Animal Kingdom closing

Orlando Sentinel
Scott Powers |Staff Writer
July 10, 2008

After a 10-year run, the live 'Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends' show at Disney's Animal Kingdom will close Sept. 27, Walt Disney World announced Thursday.

No immediate replacement is planned for the amphitheater. The Pocahontas character will remain in the park, though three actors must audition for other shows.

The remainder of the 28-member cast and crew will be reassigned, said spokeswoman Zoraya Suarez.

[GrumpyFan]

Hmmm... can't say I'm too saddened by this. Of course, ashamedly, I must admit I've never seen it. But, then I've never heard anything overly positive about it either. I guess I'll never know. Oh well, here's hoping for something better.

[lockedoutlogic]

thank god.....

keep taking out the trash at AK.....

and let's get some bulldozers over there, huh?

and follow that up with some cranes and union tradesman....PRONTO!!!

[kakn7294]

My family actually likes this little show. It has a great message and the animals are cute. We'll miss it.

[Poolguy]

This really is too bad. Its a cute show. I've been reading on other boards how people don't like it for what ever reason but never had the courtsey to actually see it before they passed judgement. And yes, it is a kids show! And, as the phrase goes, for the kid at heart. But isn't that what Disney is all about? It is in my eyes. It's not a production like Lion King or Nemo, which can scare little kids with some scenes to the point of crying. This is a kids show with a great message. The times I have seen Pocahontas with my young daughters, they were completely caught up in it and we were able to meet Pocahontas after one show and got her picture and autograph. Pretty cool experience for a 5 & 7 year old. And I don't remember any scared crying children. I do remember when a dad just about ran out of the theater when Pocahontas had the snake for the audience to see. It looked like Pocahontas was trying not to laugh as the audience chuckled. Having a musical background personally, I can certainly appreciate the talented singers that are in Pocahontas. Yes, there are lots of good singers at Disney, but not many have the opportunity to be all alone on a stage and sing to an audience. I just hope Disney finds places for these girls to sing and perform. Another interesting fact I learned about the show was the Willow & Sprig are Michael Curry puppets. So for being a little show, it has some pretty high tech puppets. Just have to wonder where those will wind up.
But like everything else, things come and go, and shows are no exception. One day, Lion King and Nemo shows will close as well to make room for something new. And I'm sure there will be those who say it was time for them to close, it was not time for them to go, that the shows were there too long or they had seen it too many times and were tired of it. I guess my real point is that this show, as small as it is, has some great talent, a strong message and that it shouldn't be belittled by those who haven't taken the time to sit and watch it. Thanks for reading.

[tigmickey]

I have never seen it. That being said I was planning on seeing it in August with my DD4 and DS6. I think that they will like it. I hope they don't love it though now that it is closing...

[elmjimmlm]

We have not actually seen this and I am sad because now we don't have a chance to...I guess thinking that we will see it next time doesn't really work...Putting things off at Disney is not the greatest idea because it may not be there when you do return...

[brownie]

We've never seen this; in fact, we've never been in Camp Minnie-Mickey which means we haven't seen Festival of the Lion King either. It sounds like no one's losing their job with the closing, which is good. I hope they replace it with something soon after it closes. I guess we'll have to make getting to Festival of the Lion King a priority on our next trip.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Could this be the beginning of.... dare I say, Beastly Kingdom finally coming??? HAHAHAHAHAHA...

[Poolguy]

From what I understand the whole area where the Pocahontas show sits was suppose to be the entrance to the Beastly Kingdom. If you check out Google Earth, you can see a large area of land behind the show which is also behind the Rainforest Cafe restaurant. Lots of land back there for something to be built! (And I'm not going to even venture what.) Same is true just north of where Everest is in the park. A big open space just waiting for something to happen.

[Momof2boys]

We've also never taken the time to see the show so we're not too sad about it. Just one more thing that never appealed to our boys.

[faline]

It's a cute show but it's clearly aimed at those in the toddler age range.

[Crow]

Ive seen it a few times, mostly for Pocahontas
didnt think it was too bad.

[Young@Heart]

DD loves Pocahontas, so hopefully we can catch this in a few weeks, before it's gone for good.

[Altair]

We saw this show one time, but the problem with it was no animal interaction. All the animals did was run, very quickly, across the stage. If you blinked you missed them. This could have been a better show if the modeled it more after Flights of Wonder.

[Catzle]

My family did like it. It was a cute show for boys and girls as it had the animals in it. It wasn't girly at all. It was a good story relating to nature and keeping animals and nature safe.

[VolMickey]

Doesn't bother me. The movie was a bit too "tree-hugger" for my tastes. Never a favorite.

[tinksmom02]

I've never seen it, so I can't pass judgment, although it's never really appealed to us (hence, why we've never seen it!). Maybe we'll check it out in Sept., since we'll be there right before it closes.

[GoinGoofyPlanninThisTrip]

It was a quirky little show with trained animals one would never think were trainable. The little kids loved it.

[DNS]

We saw this for the first time on our last trip. I thought it was a very cute show for smaller children. Not something I would keep going back to see, but I could see why parents of little ones certainly would. I'm really glad we got to see it before it closed.