Disney is nice on ice in ‘Toy Story 2’

Friday, Jan. 10, 2003 | 9:07 a.m.

What: Disney On Ice "Toy Story 2."

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18, and 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Jan. 19.

Where: Thomas & Mack Center.

Tickets: $11, $14, $17, $30 and $40.

Information: (702) 739-3267

Creating illusion is nothing new to entertainment giant Disney. Nor is slapping ice skates onto the characters of its animated classic fairy tales.

But when developing the cumbersome costumes for Disney Pixar's "Toy Story 2" on ice, designers grappled with the basics: ventilation, peripheral vision and balance.

The process called for a lot of trial and error, said Jerry Bilik, creative director for Disney on Ice productions.

"First of all, the story is about plastic things," Bilik said. "It was a real challenge for (costume designer) Frank Krenz to make something that looks believable, but that skaters could function in and not be in the hospital after each show."

The outcome can be seen Wednesday through Jan. 19 when "Toy Story 2" and its nearly 40-member cast of professional and competitive skaters take to the ice at the Thomas & Mack Center.

The costumes featuring the likes of Buzz Lightyear, Woody and Mr. Potato Head, are so well crafted (some weighing up to 50 pounds) it appears there is nary a person beneath.

"It made the costumes very expensive," Bilik said. "But the result is that you really feel you are seeing toys come to life."

The show, re-created with its own musical score, follows the similar storyline of the movie.

While Andy is away at camp, his mother holds a garage sale. In trying to rescue a neglected toy that had been set out, Woody gets stolen by a toy collector trying to complete his set of toys from the 1950s children's show "Woody's Roundup."

In Big Al's apartment Woody learns of the show and meets its other characters, Jessie, the Prospector and Bullseye. Woody struggles to find out where he belongs as Buzz Lightyear and the other toys from Andy's room begin their rescue attempt.

The show also includes characters Rex, Bo Peep, Hamm, Slinky Dog and the Green Army Men.

In keeping with the usual Disney dazzle, the production uses pyrotechnics and special effects. Sets are dramatically oversized to give the illusion that the toys are small in a world that is big.

"The audience has to believe they are looking at 6-inch-high toys when in fact they're looking at a 6-foot-high costume," Bilik said. "Everything is oversized. Cabinets are oversized. Televisions are oversized. Plates are five to six feet in diameter."

Building life-size cars for the big crash in the end of Act 1 (after the gang dons giant orange cones and attempts to dash across a busy street) wasn't as feasible as the decision to slip skaters into cars that are costumes.

"It's a wild deceit that we try," Bilik said."But it actually works. The skaters pull it off well. The speed, the frenzy."

Including such scenes in ice shows is essential, Bilik said.

"If there are things in the film people expect to see, then we deliver it (including) crossing the street and the scene from baggage claim."

"It took a lot of thinking and planning to make this work. From the very first story told by Disney classics, if we tried to duplicate Disney (films) it would be insane. We had to make something work in real time and real place and avoid scenes that would be stretching audiences imagination too far."

On the other hand, Bilik said, "What we've learned over the years is that the audience has much more imagination than the producers might expect."

Disney produced its first "Toy Story" on ice for a reported $8 million. Bilik said he didn't know how much was spent to create "Toy Story 2."