Disney on Ice

Disney On Ice is an ongoing series of touring ice-skating shows produced by Feld Entertainment, a company most famous as the current producer of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus tours. As with Ringling Bros., the shows perform in arenas; unlike Ringling Bros. the shows tour far beyond the United States.

Launched in 1981, each show features a variety of classic and modern Disney (and, since the late 1990s, Pixar) characters played by costumed skaters who mime to a recorded soundtrack. Most of the shows are structured in one of two formats:

1. A Massive Multiplayer Crossover usually linked together by Mickey Mouse and friends as they introduce a variety of other settings and characters in short segments.
2. A retelling of a Disney Animated Canon or Pixar film, in which case other Disney/Pixar characters may appear at the beginning and closing of the show.

The Other Wiki's entry includes a list of most of the shows over the years, as well as more detailed info about the currently running productions. At the Turn of the Millennium Feld Entertainment launched a sister franchise, Disney Live!, whose shows offer similar fare but tour proscenium theaters.

These theatrical shows include examples of:

• Audience Participation: Varies from show to show. There's usually one or two segments where the audience is encouraged to clap along to the music. Some shows allow families (or at least the kids) in the front row to ride out onto the ice on "boats", "mine carts", etc. during one segment. Finally, in the Aladdin show, instead of Aladdin being magically exiled, Jafar trapped him in chains...while the other characters were occupied, the hero quietly enlisted some kids in the front row to free him.
• Cash Cow Franchise: Eight different shows are running worldwide at any given time these days.
• Cut Song: At least two shows each used one from the films they were adapting — "Human Again" as an instrumental for a pairs skating routine in Gaston's tavern at the start of Act Two of Beauty and the Beast, and "Master of the Lamp" as a brief comic piece for Jafar in Aladdin.
• Disney Princess: One or more appear in most of the shows.
• Disney Theme Parks: The setting of the second and third tours, as well as the more recent Disneyland Adventure. This is only fitting, as these shows are along the same lines as live entertainment at the parks.
• Everything's Better with Motorcycles: An emcee rode out onto the ice on a flashy motorcycle at the start of the 10th anniversary show for no reason other than this trope.
• Everything's Better with Princesses: Indeed!
• Everything's Better with Sparkles: Especially on princesses and pixies, but even Mickey and Minnie break out the sequined duds on occasion.
• Everything's Better with Spinning: The skaters' choreography always includes plenty of spins.
• Incredible Shrinking Man: Don Karnage does this to Mickey and the gang in the Double Feature... Live! show.
• Long Runners: Via periodic updates, Mickey & Minnie's Magical Journey has been running since 1995 and 100 Years of Magic since 1999.
• Massive Multiplayer Crossover: As one of the wilder examples, the 10th anniversary show in 1990 brought Mickey and the gang, DuckTales, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Jungle Book, and The Little Mermaid together in one time-and-space traveling plot.
• The Merch: T-shirts, light-up wands, dolls, programs, reusable snowcone mugs, etc.
• Milestone Celebration: In The Eighties there were shows themed around Donald Duck's 50th birthday and Mickey Mouse's 60th. The franchise itself mounted a 10th anniversary show, and 100 Years of Magic marked Walt Disney's centennial.
• On Ice: One of the best-known real life examples of this trope.
• The Other Darrin: Prior to 1988, the characters were not voiced by their official voice actors.
  • The 10th anniversary show features a scene where Roger Rabbit gets Jessica and Eddie to help him cheer up Scrooge McDuck. The program for the show does not have Kathleen Turner or Bob Hoskins listed in the voice credits, so obviously Jessica and Eddie fell victim to this trope.
• The Rival: The Ice Capades, which started in 1940. Their revue format usually meant a segment or two based around a popular kid-friendly franchise (Disney characters appeared in the shows well into the 1960s); Disney On Ice came out on top when Ice Capades went bust in The Nineties.
• Screen to Stage Adaptation
• Title: the Adaptation: Disney's High School Musical: The Ice Tour, which actually adapted the first two films, one for each act.
• Two for One Show: The Double Feature... Live! show in 1991. The first half of the show focused on Mickey and friends visiting Cape Suzette and getting shrunk alongside an Indiana Jones Expy, and the second half had Roger Rabbit presenting short vignettes starring Chip 'n Dale and Darkwing Duck.