For the last decade and a half, One Man’s Dream II: The Magic Lives On has been a live entertainment fixture at Tokyo Disneyland. Dancers, Disney characters, and a giant inflatable crocodile brought the show to life several times daily in Tomorrowland’s Showbase. However, today marks its final curtain call. After December 13, 2019, this particular show’s magic will only live on in people’s memories (and YouTube videos).
One Man’s Dream II was an update of a previous show that ran at Tokyo Disneyland from 1988 to 1995. The current version debuted in 2004 and stuck around twice as long. Guests have been experiencing this show in one form or another for a combined total of twenty-two years.
You could enter a free lottery to win tickets for the show at Tomorrowland Hall or you could line up outside Showbase beforehand. This same venue will host a new greatest-hits-style Minnie Mouse show, It’s Very Minnie, starting January 10, 2020.
The titular “one man” in One Man’s Dream II was, of course, Walt Disney. Featuring a mix of characters and scenes from Disney movies, the show explored the ways his dream has lived on over the years.
One Man’s Dream II Show
The show began with a black-and-white Mickey Mouse scene. A kiss on the cheek from Minnie would awaken the color in her flower bouquet and a surrounding world of imagination on stage.
Two primates in Hawaiian outfits, King Louie and Terk (from The Jungle Book and Tarzan, respectively) took the lead next. Their energetic dance routine at the Coco Banana nightclub soon gave way to the insect circus from A Bug’s Life. The highlight of this scene was its show-stopping chorus line of ants.
After that, you’d see Captain Hook, Mister Smee, and a band of Neverland pirates show up. Tick-Tock the Crocodile would eventually chase them off, leaving Peter Pan and Wendy to fly away on high wires over the stage. Villains like Maleficent then came out of the woodwork, followed by Sleeping Beauty and other waltzing princesses and princes.
Donald Duck starred in the penultimate segment. It followed his bid for movie stardom, culminating in a big Hollywood premiere and glittery gold-and-white finale with Mickey, Minnie, and all the other characters.
The Magic Lives On Forever
Though Mickey and Minnie changed their faces this year, other aspects of One Man’s Dream II did feel dated. The design of this show’s Captain Hook and Witch from Snow White, for instance, was weirdly inconsistent with the characters who have appeared in parades and Halloween greetings elsewhere at Tokyo Disney Resort. They almost looked like old knock-off versions. This is a natural byproduct, perhaps, of the show having originated in the late 1980s.
Having said that, One Man’s Dream II was clearly popular with guests, or else the powers that be wouldn’t have kept it around and kept the ticket lottery going for it as long as they did. Its closing marks another in a series of changes that have taken place in Tokyo’s Tomorrowland since 2017. That’s when StarJets and Grand Circuit Raceway closed to make room for the ongoing expansion of Fantasyland. Like those rides, One Man’s Dream II has also inspired memorabilia tagged with the word “forever.”
It’s always sad to see a beloved Disney attraction face extinction, but if it’s any consolation, the future is bright for Tokyo Disneyland. With a first-ever Beauty and the Beast ride and other new offerings on the horizon, 2020 promises to be a game-changing year for Tokyo Disneyland. Though One Man’s Dream II is gone now, the magic will live on in other ways.