Extinct Attractions - Pecos Goofy's Frontier Revue
Welcome to Extinct Attractions. This week, I took a look back at a very Western but still Japanese show.
This past week, it was officially announced that ESPN would be officially purchasing NFL Media, and along with it channels like NFL Network and NFL Redzone. In a fascinating move, the NFL is receiving stock in ESPN as its sole compensation for the deal, creating an interesting dynamic where the league itself has a stake in one of its carriers. With the move, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a lot more Dallas Cowboys representation on the network as the most popular team in the country (still, I know). But luckily, Disney is no stranger to cowboys, with Frontierland a pivotal part of many of its theme parks, including Tokyo Disneyland, where the land is instead known as Westernland.
When the park first opened in 1983, it included the Diamond Horseshoe Revue, a staple of both Walt Disney World and Disneyland (well, Golden Horseshoe there) since their earliest days. But after nearly two decades, Westernland was looking for some modernization (ironic, I know), so it was time for Pecos Goofy’s Frontier Revue to entertain guests starting in 2001.
The Diamond Horseshoe’s design was clearly inspired by its counterparts in the other parks, which helped it feel like a nice piece of home. To start the festivities, some gymnasts dressed as cowgirls did some tricks for the crowd before a couple of singers came out to greet everyone, surprisingly singing in English. To this point, the show would have fit right at home in any of the American Horseshoes.
The singers teed up Goofy’s arrival, only for him to be nowhere in sight. They kept trying to cut to him around the stage, but no one could find him. Luckily, the curtain then rose up to reveal Goofy in a super fun cowboy outfit, with spurs and everything. As you’d expect, hijinks ensued soon after as Goofy did what he does best - chaos.
Things got so crazy that there was an interlude thrown into the mix where some chefs came out to play some music on pots and pans, though one of them kept messing up, so they had to bring in the big guns. The main man, Mickey Mouse, came out to show everyone how it was done, complete in a full-on chef attire (that I think he should have to wear at all character dining appearances).
After that, things calmed down a bit with a gentlemanly song that would have been right at home in The Sound Of Music. Basically, a finely dressed man was sorting through his many suitors because who wouldn’t want a dapper man?
Goofy popped back up again next in the most American way, waving a large flag all around the stage. His energy served as a nice jolt before the next song centered around a group of ladies looking forward to having a baby. To involve the crowd, the ladies went into the crowd to choose some random guys who all had to do their best rendition of “Twinkle Twinkler Little Star" while wearing a baby bonnet. I may not have understood it, but I was certainly there for it.
Goofy came back out to do a little lasso demonstration next and let’s just say that it went about exactly as you’d expect. He took out virtually the entire stage with his lassoing “skills" but what else could one hope to see?
Before the final number, we got to see a little can-can demo that was much more scandalous than I would’ve expected at a Disney Park, but Japan plays by different rules sometimes. In the finale, Goofy somehow was still allowed to lasso, but this time he did a great job because he pulled Mickey onto the stage in an awesome get-up of a suit covered in musical notes for the grand finale.
Via Flickr
Overall, Pecos Goofy’s Frontier Revue was a fine show, but not necessarily anything exceptional, especially by Tokyo Disney standards. There were some fun moments in there, but it missed the gravitas that so many of those shows had. Granted, I’m not a huge fan of the Western-revue shows, so it wasn’t really made for me, but I was hoping for a bit more.
However, it must have worked for the Japanese audience because it managed to stick around for twelve years before being replaced by The Diamond Horseshoe Presents “Mickey and Company." The Disney Parks are better with the Horseshoe Saloons full, so it was definitely a good thing to see it replaced so quickly.
Via All Day Disney
As always, don’t forget to check out my interactive maps of the Disney Parks throughout the years where you can watch or learn more about all the attractions from every Disney park around the world.
Thanks for reading and have a magical day!