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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2004 Colorful cavalcade |
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It’s more than a meet-and-greet. It’s less than a parade. Perhaps you should think of it as a combination of a “mini-parade,” street performance, and autograph session. It’s “Mulan’s Chinese New Year Greetings.” |
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It all happens in the Golden State district of Yester California Adventure. A cast of eight performers emerges from a gate near the Mission Tortilla Factory at Golden State’s Pacific Wharf area. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2004 It’s Mulan and Mushu! |
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Accompanied by a recording of the “Honor to Us All” theme from Mulan, the procession makes its way across the bridge to the Golden State’s San Francisco area. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2004 More traditional than Mushu |
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Mushu isn’t the only Chinese dragon here. There’s a second one. Four performers manipulate a traditional Chinese parade dragon. |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2004 Bringing the dragon to life |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2004 Impressive dragon mask |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2004 Destination |
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The procession’s destination is the park’s version of San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, which serves as the entrance to Golden Dreams. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2004 Parked dragon |
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The performers “park” the dragon next to the Palace of Fine Arts. In the shade cast by the mighty rotunda, the procession turns into an interactive session with guests. |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2004 Learning ribbon skills |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2004 Drumming |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2004 Who wants to pose with Mulan and Mushu? |
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Photo by Tony “WisebearAZ” Moore, 2004 Autograph time |
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Photo by Allen Huffman, 2002 A third dragon |
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If just two Chinese dragons aren’t enough for you, head over to Pacific Wharf. There’s another dragon near the original Lucky Fortune Cookery. |
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“Mulan’s Chinese New Year Greetings” premiered in early April 2004 at Disney’s California Adventure. April? Isn’t Chinese New Year (also referred to as Lunar New Year) in January or February? Yes. In 2004, Chinese New Year’s Day was on January 22. It was the year of the monkey—year 4702 on the Chinese lunar calendar. Disney’s cavalcade wasn’t really a celebration of the Chinese New Year. It was part of an effort to add more Disney characters to the three-year-old park as the summer season approached. The cavalcade in 2004 was based on the 1998 Disney feature Mulan from Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida. In January 2004, The Walt Disney Company announced that it was shuttering the Florida animation studio. Disney’s Florida animators received their final paychecks on March 19, 2004—coincidentally just a few weeks before the launch of “Mulan’s Chinese New Year Greetings.” The small procession in 2004 should not be confused with the Mulan Parade at Disneyland Park in 1998 and 1999. The parks of the Disneyland Resort now have a Happy Lunar New Year Celebration each year. In 2012, it was at Disneyland Park. In 2013, it was at Disney California Adventure from February 8 to 11, ostensibly as part of “Limited Time Magic.” Mulan is part of the celebration, and so are Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese musicians and dancers. |
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© 2013-2014 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks Updated March 21, 2014. |
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