REVIEW: 'Playhouse Disney' channels little viewers’ attention

By Rob Cline

Correspondent

CEDAR RAPIDS - Disney's decision to give Mickey Mouse a personality makeover has generated quite a bit of buzz lately. The company thinks today's youth might relate to the iconic character better if he were more mischievous.

That's certainly an excellent jumping off point for a philosophical conversation about whether the media we consume reflects society or shapes it. But let me offer up a bit of empirical data: The kids who attended “Playhouse Disney Live!” at the U.S. Cellular Center on Friday night seemed to relate to ol' Mickey just fine.

My two daughters happily joined the rest of a sizable crowd as they enthusiastically welcomed the world's most famous mouse to the stage.

The performance, which brings together the characters from the shows that make up the daily preschool lineup on the Disney Channel, seemed to please most of the little ones in the audience. They shouted out familiar lines, performed familiar actions and danced familiar dances. In that important sense, the show was certainly a success.

The performance also was impressive from a production values standpoint. The costumes for characters like Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pooh and Tigger were a cut above what is often seen in shows of this type and featured remarkably expressive faces. The set pieces, like Pooh's collection of honey pots, were worthy of a Disney park (though an inflatable portion of the set collapsed late in the show).

Still, “Playhouse Disney Live!” was disappointing in two ways. First, the segments based on “Little Einsteins” - an animated television show featuring four characters, their rocket ship and their love of music - starred human actors who vastly overplayed their parts. The exaggerated motions played false even to those of us sitting in the second level of the balcony.

Second, the choreography was quite weak. While the “Handy Manny” segment offered one of the highlights -a black light dream sequence featuring Manny's tools - it also included a production number that was strangely devoid of actual dancing.

The set features a huge screen that is incorporated into many of the segments. I was of two minds about the screen. On the one hand, it brought the look of the television shows to the stage and allowed for some features that would have been difficult to deliver any other way.

However, this live show was an opportunity to leave television behind for a bit better than an hour. That felt like a missed opportunity and contributed to the uneven feel of the performance.