The Magical-Market World of Disney

Monthly Review, April, 2001 by Janet Wasko

Closer to the release date, segments of the film were highlighted in the media, especially those channels owned by Disney. However, the hype accelerated dramatically during the weekend of June 1315 when Disney seemed to take over the island of Manhattan. "The Hercules World Premiere Weekend in New York" included a wide range of events scattered around the city, which were promoted widely and covered extensively by the media.

During the entire weekend, "The Hercules Forum of Fun at Chelsea Piers" (sponsored by Chevrolet) featured live performances, interactive games, and animation demonstrations. Exhibits included the "Baby Pegasus Playland," "Titan's Tattoo Parlor," and "Hercules' Arcade," featuring a sneak preview of the Hercules video game. As part of the festivities, sweepstakes tickets to win a customized Chevy Venture Minivan themed to Hercules had been distributed through New York-area newspapers on April 6. The company reported that "The response was overwhelming. All sweepstakes tickets have been awarded and mailed to excited Forum of Fun goers."

On Saturday, jugglers, dancers and other entertainers were featured outside the New Amsterdam Theatre (owned by Disney), where the "Heroes from Around the World" ceremony was held. The event featured Disney's head honcho, Michael Eisner, plus New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Robin Roberts of ABC Sports and ESPN, and a group of "world-class athletes known for their Herculean efforts." The world premiere of the film was followed by "The Hercules Electrical Parade," a nearly two-mile extravaganza that started on 42nd Sweet and continued up Fifth Avenue to 66th Street. The parade featured the new Hercules-edition of Disneyland's "Main Street Electrical Parade," including 103 marchers and thirty floats that had been outfitted with an additional 500,000 new bulbs added for the occasion. The Disney folks had arranged for the city to turn off street lights and requested businesses along the route to darken their shop windows "to allow parade goers to get a clear view of the leading characters." In addition, sixty -eight speaker towers were installed along the route to provide music for the event. While over a million people were expected for the parade, only "invited guests" attended an after parade party at the Forum of Fun at Chelsea Piers.

The festivities continued on Sunday with a "Hercules Breakfast with the Champions"--a news conference hosted by Robin Roberts and held at New York's Essex House Hotel, honoring five U.S. Olympic Gold Medal Decathlon winners (Bob Mathias, Milt Campbell, Bill Toomey, Bruce Jenner, and Dan O'Brien), who received hero proclamation certificates from the City of New York. Dr. Frank Zarnowski, claimed to be the world's foremost authority on the Decathlon, also participated in the event. The finale was the kick-off for "The Hercules Summer Spectacular at the New Amsterdam Theatre"--a twelve-day exclusive New York engagement of the film before its release, including a live stage show featuring a full orchestra and a cast of Disney characters.