After breakfast I did some shopping for the last part of Genevieve's birthday present -- our picnic supper at the Hollywood Bowl. Made a quiche, salad, salmon spread and some shrimp, brought some bread, some Brillat-Savarin cheese and our meal was complete. The program at the Bowl was a collection of Disney favorites: a great overture of Disney classics, followed by "Bumble Boogie," a big band take on "Flight of the Bumblebee" adapted into an animated short (played on the screens at the bowl in perfect synch with the orchestra) in Disney's anthology feature Melody Time, followed by a suite of Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet, which was used as the music for the 1959 Cinemascope feature.

Other highlights included the orchestra accompanying Mickey Mouse in the classic Sorceror's Apprentice, appearances by Mary Costa, the voice of Sleeping Beauty, narrating a suite from Bambi; Alan Menken, who wrote most of the later-day Disney musicals; and the women who provided the voices for Belle, Pocahontas and Ariel. Most notable was Dick Van Dyke's appearance in the second half of the program singing a number of Mary Poppins numbers. For a guy his age (79!) he can still dance very well -- high-stepping, soft-shoeing, the whole bit, to great applause from the audience. The evening concluded with a suite from The Lion King accompanied by a great fireworks display shot off from the top of the Bowl's bandshell.

Genevieve and I enjoyed ourselves immensely! I got what I wanted when the encore featured all the guests for the evening leading the orchestra in "When You Wish Upon A Star," to me the archetypal Disney song.