Hercules Is the New Hero at Disneyland

He vanquished a multi-headed Hydra, the Ice Titan and the Lord of the Underworld. Now he’s putting the muscle on a gang of pixies.

In a summer season that was supposed to belong to Disneyland’s new megabucks nighttime street show, Light Magic, Walt Disney Co.’s new hit movie “Hercules” has inspired the hottest new parade at the Magic Kingdom.

On the Internet and through word of mouth, the Hercules Victory Parade is collecting garlands for its foot-tapping score and campy toga party style. Meanwhile, the high-tech Light Magic and its gaggle of sprites have shown some bright spots but haven’t exactly electrified the crowds.

“I saw Light Magic last night, and it was OK, but Hercules is a lot more fun,” said Leah Smith, a Disneyland visitor from Colorado enjoying the Greek revival on a recent sunny afternoon. “I loved the music, the floats. I laughed the whole time.”

Everyone loves a winner, it seems, including Disneyland’s marketing team. It’s no coincidence that heading into the critical July 4 weekend, “Hercules” is the new hero of the park’s print, television and radio spots.

“You gotta go with the hot hand,” one insider said. “And right now, that’s ‘Hercules.’ ”

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

Billed as the most technologically sophisticated live show ever performed at Disneyland, Light Magic was projected to blow the chicken wire and Christmas tree bulbs right off the lumbering Main Street Electrical Parade, which was retired last year after 25 seasons to make way for the splashy newcomer.

Disney spent about $20 million to create the hybrid parade and street show about the magic of dreams. In addition to more than 100 performers, including dancing pixies and pajama-clad Disney characters, the show boasts 2,500 miles of fiber-optic cable and four gigantic rolling stages rigged with projection screens, computerized moving lights, smoke effects and confetti blasts.

Light Magic was intended to be Disneyland’s heavyweight entry to lure the high-season crowds, with Hercules on hand merely to plug the movie and its merchandise. But as Hades finds out in Disney’s new animated feature, messing with a legend can be tricky business.

“The Hercules movie has stoked an incredible fire to see the Hercules parade,” said theme park consultant Jim Harmon of Management Resources in Tustin. “But when something with the history and mystique of the Electrical Parade gets replaced, it’s like following [football coaching giant] Woody Hayes’ footsteps at Ohio State. You kind of feel sorry for whoever comes afterward because expectations are so high.”

Indeed, Disneyland executives looked like geniuses last year when the going-away party for the Electrical Parade became the must-see event in the industry. Smitten with Blue Fairy mania, a record 15 million guests were estimated to have streamed through the turnstiles in 1996.

It would be a tough act to follow under the best of circumstances, because some fans considered the Electrical Parade an untouchable Disneyland icon on par with the Matterhorn or Sleeping Beauty Castle.

But management’s decision to extend the parade’s run past its originally scheduled going-away date infuriated many hard-core fans who felt manipulated.

With attendance running behind last year’s phenomenal showing, Disneyland is banking on “Hercules” to help lift the crucial summer numbers and has retooled its marketing efforts accordingly.

Promotion of Light Magic continues, but the park is pumping up “Herc” like his movie trainer Philoctetes.

Although industry observers credit Disneyland with attempting an original story and groundbreaking technology with Light Magic, a hit movie based on a familiar myth gives the Hercules Victory Parade instant audience acceptance, said Cincinnati consultant Dennis Speigel.

Stripped of schmaltz and technical wizardry, drenched with satire and Hellenic kitsch, the Hercules Victory Parade is the antithesis of Light Magic--which is why many fans seem to like it.

“Herc is the man,” said Jason Thomas, a 10-year-old from Arizona.

He is for this summer, anyway--or until the Main Street Electrical Parade makes its own triumphant return.