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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 |
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When the stars of Disney’s classic family movies and current television series travel to a red-carpet Hollywood movie premiere, they don’t use boring, conventional limousines. They travel in cars that reflect who they are. That’s the premise of the clever Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade. So grab a water bottle and find a good spot. The parade route starts at the Backlot Express eatery, goes past the 12-story-tall Sorcerer Mickey hat, heads down Hollywood Boulevard, and disappears backstage at Sid Cahuenga’s One-of-a-Kind shop. |
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For the next 25 minutes, you’ll be treated to a cavalcade of Disney stars and their customized cars. Some stars ride in the cars. Others walk alongside them, often interacting with guests. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Toy Story car |
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The stars of Toy Story travel in a car that reminds them of Andy’s bed. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Mary Poppins car |
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Mary Poppins and Bert, wearing their “Jolly Holiday” attire, sit atop old-fashioned carousel horses. Dancing Penguins stroll down the parade route. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Jim Henson’s Muppets car |
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Sand bags tied to the side of the Muppets blimp-car keep Kermit and Miss Piggy from being lifted high into the air. Sweetums walks nearby, greeting park guests. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Star Wars car |
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Although the parade is presented by Chevrolet, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia from Star Wars ride in a bullet-nose 1950 Studebaker Champion Regal convertible. It’s okay that Studebaker was never a General Motors brand, because Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) isn’t a Disney movie. The car is influenced by Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder in that movie. The three jet engines suggest that this might be a very fast Studebaker. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Mulan car |
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Mulan’s car is topped by a Chinese umbrella. Mushu and the Chinese Warriors escort Mulan on foot. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Monsters, Inc. car |
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Mike Wazowski and James P. “Sulley” Sullivan ride in a simple red convertible with a front grill reminiscent of the one on Mike’s car in the Disney/Pixar short subject Mike’s New Car. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Aladdin’s dancers |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Aladdin car |
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It appears that the shape-shifting Genie has transformed himself into a Genie-colored car for Aladdin and Jasmine. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Evil Disney Villains |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Evil Villains car |
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Protect your children. The Disney Villains have ganged up! Only one of them gets to ride in a car. Hades from Hercules has a menacing black limousine decorated with flames. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Lilo and Stitch car |
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Lilo and Stitch have a “woody” surfer convertible with surfboards as back rests for comfort and attached palm trees for shade. The tiki hood ornament, hibiscus-print paint job, tiki torches, and mini-surfboard license plate leave no doubt that they drove here from the Aloha State. After all, there really are U.S. Interstate Highways in Hawai‘i. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 The Little Mermaid car |
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Ariel, Sebastian, and Flounder ride in a one-seahorsepower car. The shiny blue paint job looks like the bottom of a swimming pool on a sunny day. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Two of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Power Rangers car |
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When the Walt Disney Company acquired the Fox Family cable channel (now branded as Freeform) in 2001, Disney wound up owning the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as part of the deal. One Power Ranger stands guard while the other Power Rangers perform in the street. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Playhouse Disney car |
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The Bear in the Big Blue House towers over the driver. Stanley, Treelo, and P and J Otter are in the Blue House. JoJo and Goliath walk along nearby. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Snow White car |
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When you’re a princess, your car can match your dress. It appears that the Toy Story gang, Aladdin, the Playhouse Disney gang, and Snow White all had the same taste when it comes to the base model car. They’ve just chosen different option packages. |
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Photo by Werner Weiss, 2007 Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Minnie car |
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The biggest stars get the biggest car, a 1929 Cadillac. And that’s the end of the parade. |
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On October 1, 2001, as part of the “100 Years of Magic” marketing campaign, four new (or somewhat new) parades premiered at the four major parks of Walt Disney World. At Magic Kingdom Park, the new Share a Dream Come True parade featured giant snow globes with live Disney characters inside them. Cynics suggested it was a merchandising effort to sell more snow globes. In August 2006, the parade was transformed into the Disney Dreams Come True Parade, primarily by removing the clear acrylic globes from the floats. At Epcot, the old Tapestry of Nations parade from the Millennium Celebration was updated to become the Tapestry of Dreams parade. The music and many of the giant puppets were reused. The parade gained a new theme, “celebrating children, dreams and the legacy of Walt Disney.” The Sage of Time from Tapestry retired. In his place, three Dreamseekers—Leonardo Columbus, Elfin, and Cosmo—joined the parade. Each represented specific qualities, but it was unclear what they were unless you did your homework on the Internet before watching the parade. Tapestry of Dreams ran until March 2003. At Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the new Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade featured safari vehicles and large, colorful animal puppets, designed to look as if they were created by folk artists from found objects. Finally, as described in this article, the new parade at Disney-MGM Studios was Disney Stars and Motor Cars. According to Disney publicity copy, “5 cars and 3 motorcycles make up the cavalcade. 63 character performers and 18 drivers participate.” The actual number of cars and performers could vary. For example, if Luke Skywalker was unavailable, only Princess Leia would ride in the Star Wars car. When the Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade premiered, it included a Hercules car—a golden convertible decorated with clouds and Greek columns. Hercules and Megara rode as passengers, while Pain and Panic went along on foot. There was also a rather odd Atlantis: The Lost Empire car—a gray-green, Ketak-like convertible with Milo James Thatch and Princess “Kida” Kidagakash riding in back. The Monsters Inc. and Power Rangers units were not originally part of the parade. A pre-parade Grand Marshal car sometimes featured a character promoting the current Disney release, such as Chicken Little from Chicken Little (2005), Rémy from Ratatouille (2007), and Giselle from Enchanted (2007). You might be wondering where Disney found so many vintage cars. In reality, there are only two vintage cars in the whole parade—the 1950 Studebaker and the 1929 Cadillac. For all other cars, the parade’s creative team acquired “kit cars”—brand-new replicas of classic vehicles. This explains why some of the base cars look so similar; they started as the same kit car. The cars’ gasoline engines were replaced by electric motors. The final performance of Disney Stars and Motor Cars at the Walt Disney World’s movie studio-themed park—renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the beginning of 2008—was March 8, 2008. Block Party Bash, previously at Disney’s California Adventure, took over March 14, 2008. It was a street party with floats and characters from Pixar films. Disney Stars and Motor Cars crossed the Atlantic Ocean for a new parade route. Renamed Disney’s Stars ’n’ Cars, it replaced the Disney Cinema Parade at Walt Disney Studios Park at the Disneyland Resort Paris. |
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© 2022 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated November 25, 2022 |
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