MOSCOW---Following the success of the 2008 Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing and the much-talked about event that kicked-off this summer’s games in London, Russia is pulling out all the stops to make sure the opening ceremony for 2014 Winter Games in Sochi are nothing short of spectacular.

A fleet of ships under the command of Peter the Great, scenes recreated from Nikolai Gogol’s masterwork “Dead Souls” and a variety of Russian fairy tales will be part of a special effects-laden event that will also feature plenty of ice,...