Jerry Bilik has directed many a show for Disney on Ice, but then came “Toy Story 2.”
“I watched the movie and my first reaction was, `You’ve got to be kidding,'” he says. “That was an animated film and this was reality.”
John Lasseter, who directed the movie, had his computer-generated characters do whatever he dreamed up. When Woody, the cowboy doll, was kidnapped and the other toys, led by Buzz Lightyear, set out to rescue him, it was easy to create a giant, animated traffic jam as they crossed a busy street.
Bilik wondered how he could ever re-create the chaos on ice. If he turned off the lights and had the 16 skaters portraying the vehicles hold headlights, the audience wouldn’t be able to see the dramatic procession of the courageous toys in the dark. If he put skaters inside prop automobiles, they wouldn’t be able to see and keep their balance. Finally he had the skaters wear the cars around their waists. “It just so happens that all the cars are convertibles and the skaters are the passengers,” he says.
Although Bilik and the choreographer worked out all the movements on paper before they had the 21 skaters try them on the ice, that didn’t prevent collisions. “We had to become traffic engineers,” explains Bilik, “but our trump card was the energy and skill of the skaters.”
Bilik also knows that he can count on the audience to accept the differences between the film and the ice show.
“We have found that by suggesting things through lights and music and parts of scenery we can simply create the illusion, and the members of the audience are willing and eager to use their imaginations to make the adjustments.”
The strength of the story also helps to carry the show.
“There is a very warm human message about people helping people,” says Bilik.
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“Toy Story 2,” through Sunday, Allstate Arena, 6920 N. Mannheim Rd., Rosemont; Monday-Feb. 10, United Center, 1901 W. Madison St., $10.75-$50; 312-559-1212.
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