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Pocahontas and her Forest
Friends
(photos below)
Camp Minnie-Mickey, the land of character meet-n-greets in
Animal Kingdom, is also host to a pair of live-action shows. Festival
of the Lion King, the immensely popular (and spectacular!)
show calls this land home, along with Pocahontas and her
Forest Friends, performed daily in the Grandmother Willow's
Theater. To access Camp Minnie-Mickey, just follow the trail
to the left of Pizzafari.
Pocahontas and her Forest Friends is geared toward the
interests of the younger set. It features Pocahontas
interacting with several live animals throughout the
performance. In fact, the production values are somewhat lower
on this show than on many at the Walt Disney World Resort,
leading many Guests to the conclusion that the
"show" here is merely a vehicle to display some of
the animals of North America.
Grandmother Willow's Theater is an outdoor stage setup,
with a canvas covering over much of the smallish ground-level
seating area. Despite this cover, the theater becomes very hot
during the warmer months! The seating consists of long benches
made of recycled plastic (of the type you might find at bus
stops and parks in cities), but they are "fairly"
comfortable seating for the 15-minute performance. The set is
a painted backdrop with a woodland theme, and there are
several tree trunk-styled chutes for the animals to use during
their appearances on stage.
In addition to Pocahontas (the only human in the show),
you'll see Grandmother Willow and Sprig--a sapling that can
talk and move. Sprig is an Audio-animatronic figure;
Grandmother Willow may be as well, though Aronda's team
suspects that this character is represented by a puppet
situation rather than a mechanical apparatus.
The show's theme is ecology--specifically conservation of
our wooded areas, as Pocahontas discovers that logging
activity is encroaching on the forest. With help from
Grandmother Willow, Pocahontas learns from the animals she
encounters how to protect the forest from the imminent threat.
Sprig, a youngster, provides a bit of comic relief during the
show.
The animals displayed during the show include the raccoon,
the opossum, the porcupine, the snake, mice and several birds.
Please keep in mind that Pocahontas does handle the snake
during the show, bringing it close to the front rows of the
theater where the children are encouraged to sit.
Even though it's not on the level of other shows in Animal
Kingdom (be sure to see Festival
of the Lion King and Finding
Nemo The Musical!), Pocahontas and her Forest Friends is
worthy of a visit, especially if any members of your party
would be interested in seeing several species of North
American wildlife up close!
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In Camp Minnie-Mickey
Sign in front of the theater
Stage setup
Pocahontas at the beginning of the
show
Grandmother Willow
Sprig interacts with Pocahontas
Opossum's appearance during the
show
Porcupine scurrying across the
stage
Pocahontas handles a harmless
snake during the show
The grand finale
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