Disney on Ice brings 'Encanto' and 'Frozen' to Oklahoma State Fair: What you need to know

Disney on Ice is combining the magic of two of the Mouse House's most popular Oscar-winning animated movies in recent memory into one hot ticket.

"Disney on Ice presents Frozen & Encanto" is skating into Jim Norick Arena on Sept. 14-19 during the Oklahoma State Fair, which runs Sept. 14-24 at the OKC Fairgrounds.

"Disney on Ice for years has been really doing things in a special way to bring the magic of the Disney Parks to your hometown," said creative director Adam Loosley, who performed as a skater for 11 years with Disney on Ice before moving behind the scenes. "This production is especially great at that, and I'm really proud of it."

How long has Disney on Ice been an Oklahoma State Fair tradition?

The Mouse House's icy extravaganza has been a state fair mainstay in OKC since 1987, when “Walt Disney's Snow White on Ice, featuring Mickey Mouse” glided into the annual Oklahoma event.

Oklahoma State Fair spokesman J. Scott Munz said ticket sales for "Disney on Ice presents Frozen & Encanto" have been much stronger than those for last year's "greatest hits"-style show, "Disney on Ice presents Road Trip Adventures."

"These two movies — 'Frozen' and 'Encanto' — are extremely hot commodities. In anticipation of their popularity, we increased from nine to 11 performances," Munz said in an email.

More: From parking to concerts: Everything you need to know about the Oklahoma State Fair 2023

Hosted by Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy, "Disney on Ice presents Frozen & Encanto" promises to transport state fair audiences to the fictional Norway-inspired kingdom of Arendelle to follow along with Queen Elsa and Princess Anna's first frosty adventure, adapted from the record-setting 2013 film.

The show then will take OKC ticketholders to Colombia and the enchanted Casita Madrigal, where the seemingly ordinary Mirabel must save her magical family and the miracle that has given them their powers in the Disney on Ice debut of the 2021 hit movie "Encanto."

The "Encanto" characters may not talk about Bruno, but Loosley talked with The Oklahoman by phone about adapting the two popular cinematic adventures into one Disney on Ice hit:

Q: These two stories are very different, how do you merge 'Frozen' and 'Encanto' into one show?

Loosley: I absolutely love that question, because when we were tasked with coming up with the show with those two heavy-hitters ... it was immediately a challenge because what do you do with that? Just like you said, they're very different. ... As I was looking for and finding solutions to how to merge these two beautiful stories together, I ended up just really leaning into the contrast — and artistically, that's really fun to do.

You can get a full first act of 'Frozen' in those blue, icy tones, and you're getting a certain style of movement. The costume design is completely different. Then, you get into 'Encanto,' and it's vibrant and it's warm. It's full of energy and light — this South American, Colombian light — that is so contrasting to Arendelle and its roots. So, leaning into the contrast ended up being our biggest strength.

Q: How does that work from a storytelling perspective?

Loosley: You have to find parallels in the message. When I was looking at both stories with the writer, we sat down and said, 'Well, look, the two main characters, both in "Encanto" and in "Frozen," there's a parallel there.' Princess Anna and Mirabel don't actually have any magic, but they're surrounded by magic within their stories. ... So, that was interesting to me that those two lead characters actually didn't have any magic themselves, but they really drive their stories home and create their own magic. ...

So, we really leaned into that, and Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy take us through a storyline that connects both of these beautiful stories and encourage people to be their own magic and to celebrate their own amazing story.

Q: This is the first time 'Encanto' has been part of Disney on Ice, so what are the keys to taking one of these beloved films and adapting it to an ice show?

Loosley: This show is for families, kids of all ages, so what do they want? ... They want to be able to sing along to their favorites songs that they see in the movie. So, we really start there and find the music within the film. What music is going to translate to a production number? We work with the choreographer to identify those production numbers, and then we start building the dialogue to get us from one song to the next, essentially. Otherwise, it'd be a very long show.

Then, the writer uses her talent to really cut down the story to make sure that we are getting the important story points. So, we can still get from point A to point B — production number to  production number, song to song — and at the end, still have a fully developed story and developed characters. So, there's a lot of people that have their hand in that.

Q: How do you make sure audiences aren't seeing the same thing every time?

Loosley: We really have some new technology that takes it up a notch for us. We have some new things in 'Let It Go.' It's really a popular song, obviously, and it lends itself so well to the ice — the whole story does and the characters.

So, we have found new ways with projection content, new special effects, lighting tricks, a lot of fun things that we're going to see that feel very different in 'Frozen' ... We've done 'Frozen' for years, and obviously, we can't have an ice show without 'Frozen' anymore. It's absolutely perfect, and kids still lose their minds with 'In Summer' and Olaf and 'Let It Go.' So, we have found new and exciting ways to get ourselves in and out of the story, and some new technology out there to really immerse the audience into the story.

Q: What are some favorite tricks that you have at your disposal to translate magical movie moments into Disney on Ice magic moments?

Loosley: When I am thinking magic — and to a lot of kids — flying equals magic. It's such a dream of so many people to be able to fly, and (for Disney), it starts way back with Tinkerbell and her pixie dust in 'Peter Pan.' But there are moments in the story of 'Encanto' that really call for that type of magic ... and one is Isabela.

Isabela's magic is flower magic. In her song 'What Else Can I Do?,' she's exploring all the different things that she can do, and she's actually soaring around in the movie on vines, on hanging vines of her plants that she's creating.

When I saw that in the film, I was like, 'Oh, there's my opportunity to get some flying in there.' So, we designed an acrobatic (aerial) strap act, so she is literally flying around on vines that lift up and down — even bringing her sister Mirabel along for the ride at the end.

Not only that, to elevate some of her magic, we have found that this flower petal confetti that is actually rice paper. And the reason it's rice paper is because, if we were to throw confetti on the ice, the skaters below would not be able to skate over it. But the rice paper confetti, while Isabela's soaring through the air, she can toss that, and we can skate over it (because) it dissolves when it hits the ice.

So, it's those little tricks that really elevate the visuals, they actually take performers up into the air, and it equals magic.

'Disney on Ice Presents Frozen & Encanto'

• Where: Jim Norick Arena, OKC Fairgrounds, during the Oklahoma State Fair.

• When: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14; 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15; 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16-17; and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18-19.

• Ticket prices: $20 to $75. All children 2 years and older need a ticket for their own seat. Children younger than 2 are admitted free but must sit in the lap of a paying customer. Tickets purchased on or before Sept. 13 include outside gate admission to the Oklahoma State Fair.

• Tickets and information: Go to the OKC Fairgrounds Box Office, call 405-948-6800 or go to https://okstatefair.com/activities/disney-on-ice.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Disney on Ice with 'Frozen,' 'Encanto' come to Oklahoma State Fair