Disney and the Tournament of Roses have had a relationship that goes back to 1938, when characters from the just-released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were featured in the annual Rose Parade. In 1966, Walt Disney was the Grand Marshal of the 77th Rose Parade. And this year, a massive, three-part float called “Disneyland Diamond Celebration – Awaken Your Adventure,” will be a part of the parade. We got to head up to the warehouse where the float was being studded with flowers, bark and other organic materials, days before it’s big debut, to get a sneak peek and talk to some of the people behind this incredible accomplishment.

While it’s technically one float, there are three unique sections: the first is Elsa’s ice palace from Frozen; the second pays tribute to the Disneyland castle, decked out in its Diamond Celebration finery; and the third is a huge representation of the forthcoming Star Wars-themed land (construction begins in just a few days). The three sections are dazzling on their own; the Star Wars section in particular gives us our fullest, most dimensional look at the land, offering new insights to the concept art that debuted this past summer at D23 Expo and featuring a Millennium Falcon blasting off into hyperspace. It’s all just so cool.

While checking out the amazing float, we spoke to Scott Auerbach, a Disney art director who designed the float. “We really wanted to capture the theme of the Rose Parade, which is ‘Awaken Your Adventure.’ There are so many adventures at the Disneyland Resort,” Auerbach explained. “So we wanted to focus on two of our favorite adventures – Frozen and Star Wars.” Auerbach pointed to the upcoming Frozen musical, coming to Disney California Adventure, as well as the Season of the Force celebration currently happening at Disneyland, as to why these two properties were highlighted. As for the castle, Auerbach said, “It’s the Diamond Anniversary of the resort, so we wanted to celebrate that as well.”

Work started on the float “about six months ago,” Auerbach said. When viewers tune into the parade, viewers will be getting a micro version of the Disneyland experience. “We really want them to get a taste of what the Disneyland resort is all about: the great adventures we have at the resort, the shows and attractions and entertainment we have there now,” Auerbach said.

We also spoke to John Addis, Disneyland Resort Entertainment Director, who said that creating the float was a unique challenge. “For us, we wanted to show the world all the adventures you could find at the resort. That became a creative challenge: how do you do that for a parade?” Addis then gave us specifics about what will happen in each section of the float: in the ice castle palace, snow will fall on Elsa. “She’s going to conjure fun things,” Addis said. “We knew that our guests love those characters but we always wanted to show them what an adventure it really is to have fun with Anna and Elsa.” As for the castle, “We wanted to show the castle because it’s our 60th anniversary. There are little strobes; it’ll flash with light and since it’s the Diamond Celebration, we wanted to have that diamond feel.” As for the Star Wars section: “With Star Wars land coming and Season of the Force happening right now, that was a no-brainer.” Addis said that Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, Stormtroopers, Kylo Ren, and Captain Phasma (from Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will all be on the float as well.

Frozen director Chris Buck and producer Peter Del Vecho were also on hand, adding white and purple flowers to Elsa’s ice palace. “We got involved fairly early on in the process,” Del Vecho said. “Our art director worked with the float designers to capture the essence of Frozen.” “We were happy that they were going to portray Elsa’s ice palace,” said Buck. “And also that there are going to be characters on the float.”

Of course the fact that Frozen is part of the Disneyland float only solidifies the connection between the film and the parks (there will also be a brand new Frozen attraction coming to Epcot in Florida later in 2016). “It’s really exciting for us,” Del Vecho said. “We get to see bits and pieces along the way. We were just down about a week or two ago to see scenes from the Frozen musical at Disney California Adventure.” The musical, coming this summer, already has Buck’s seal of approval. “It’s going to be really emotional,” Buck said of the upcoming production. “The translation from film to stage is staggering and how they kept the emotion from the movie and amped it up in certain parts that we were unable to do.”

As to how much time all things Frozen takes up, Buck says, “It’s pretty much all day every day. It’s an honor to have created something that people have embraced so much and that it’s made its way into the parks and around the world. It’s nice to keep it going and keep the characters fresh. We look forward to seeing where it will go next, with the sequel.” “We jokingly say Frozen Forever,” Del Vecho laughed. “Frozen Forever!” Buck repeated.

You can watch the Rose Parade, live from Pasadena, California, on New Year’s Day on NBC.

Posted 5 years Ago