Review: Disney on Ice at the LG Arena

Take a handful of Disney characters, a host of favourite tunes and a pinch of the Disney magic — then perform the whole colourful concoction on ice.

What you get is a spectacular show with all the excitement of Disney and all the glitz of Dancing on Ice — but with people who can actually skate.

Disney on Ice's latest production, Disneyland Adventure, opened to a packed and excited crowd at the LG Arena in Birmingham last night.

• See more pictures from the show in our gallery to your right

The adventure sees Mickey, Minnie and their cartoon cohorts enjoying a day at a Disneyland theme park. True to form, the villain, evil fairy Maleficent, arrives to ruin the day and the big parade but help is at hand thanks to superhero family The Incredibles.

The dialogue, like the plot, is simple while the scene changes, action and skating are fast. Many of the popular characters make an appearance from Alice in Wonderland, to the Disney Princesses, to Jungle Book, Pirates of the Caribbean and Buzz Lightyear.

Accompanied by a bright, catchy musical score, the show has the perfect mix to capture the imagination of youngsters and had them singing and clapping along.

But beyond the colour and glitz, there is some true talent and superb skills to be appreciated on the ice. The speed, ability and beauty of the skaters as they raced, leapt and spun often with a variety of props — even cycling on ice — was quite hypnotic.

Special mention should go to The Incredibles for their skating performances which were, quite simply, incredible.

Disneyland Adventure runs until Sunday.