Wondrous Journeys

Last updated

Wondrous Journeys
Disneyland
Area Main Street, U.S.A.
Sleeping Beauty Castle
It's A Small World
Rivers of America
StatusRemoved
Soft opening dateJanuary 26, 2023 (2023-01-26) [1]
Opening dateJanuary 27, 2023 (2023-01-27) [1] (original)
March 22, 2024 (2024-03-22)(updated)
Closing dateAugust 31, 2023 (2023-08-31) [2] (original)
April 14, 2024 (2024-04-14)(updated)
Replaced Disneyland Forever (2022)
Mickey's Mix Magic (2023; 2024)
Replaced byMickey's Mix Magic (2024)
Together Forever – A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular (2024) (Pixar Fest only)
Ride statistics
Attraction typeMultimedia and pyrotechnic show
Designer Disney Live Entertainment
Walt Disney Animation Studios
MusicIt's Wondrous
Various Disney Soundtracks
Duration13:50 minutes
Wheelchair symbol.svg Wheelchair accessible

Wondrous Journeys was a projection mapping and fireworks show at Disneyland that debuted on January 27, 2023. It premiered alongside World of Color: One as part of the Disney 100 Years of Wonder celebration to commemorate the centennial of The Walt Disney Company. The show contains a large assortment of songs and characters from the entirety of the Walt Disney Animation Studios feature film canon.

Contents

History

The show was announced on September 11, 2022 during the D23 Expo. [3] It was developed by Disney Live Entertainment and Walt Disney Animation Studios as part of a collaboration. [4] The show's original run started on January 27, 2023 [1] and ended on August 31, 2023. [2]

However, on December 21, 2023, Disneyland announced that the shows will return on March 22, 2024, until April 14, 2024. [5]

Technical details

The show features special projection effects showcasing the tribute to Disney animation consisting of blank pieces of paper, pencil sketches, and transitions from black and white to finalized colors as well as featuring characters such as Mickey Mouse, Bambi, Ariel, Mirabel, and Winnie the Pooh.

The show has four viewing areas within the park: Main Street, U.S.A., Sleeping Beauty Castle, It's A Small World, and Rivers of America. [6] The projection mapping for the show was made by Medici Media (formerly Mousetrappe). [7]

Show scenes

Show summary

Wondrous Journeys is a multimedia show that was created to celebrate 100 years of Walt Disney Animation Studios and the entire company as a whole. It features a montage of all 61 films released by the studio over the last 100 years which pays tribute to Disney as well as moments featuring characters from films, such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , The Little Mermaid , The Princess and the Frog , Frozen , Encanto , Wish , and many other films. [8]

Opening

The list below shows complete scenes during the show. Due to differences in projection size, certain scenes are absent from the castle side and the Fantasmic! stage side.

Introduction

At the start of the show, an introduction welcomes guests with the following words:

For over a hundred years, Walt Disney Animation Studios has invited audiences to believe things never possible. And so tonight, we once again invite you to wish upon stars, to step into the unknown, and to join us on this: our wondrous journey.

Shortly afterwards, the music begins with Plio's opening narration from Dinosaur before the show theme It's Wondrous begins:

Some things start out big, and some things start out small, but sometimes the smallest thing can make the biggest changes of all.

During the introduction, the projection on the Fantasmic! stage shows lights with the same colors as Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, while other buildings just show blue searchlight-like lights.

After that, the original theme song of the show It's Wondrous plays, and features the line drawing and footage from the following shorts and films:

Act 1

After the introduction that contains the original theme song of the show, a transition occurs featuring the Philadelphia Orchestra's silhouette in Fantasia 2000. In this part, the instrumental version of When You Wish Upon a Star plays, then the first lyric of I'm Wishing sung by Snow White combined with the melody from I Wonder from Sleeping Beauty. After that, the reprise of When You Wish Upon A Star plays for the castle side, for it features a flyover of Blue Fairy that is accompanied by shooting stars of fireworks, while for the other buildings, it shows the films instead below:

Songs of Hope and Yearning

This is a segment that featuring the concept art and the characters sung from three films from Disney Renaissance era as well as Moana from the Disney Revival era.

In the Out There segment, all characters from four films sing together at the finale.


Act 2

This act begins with Tiana's father James telling her about her dream and the hard work. "Now you remember, that old star can only take you part of the way. You got to help it out with some hard work of your own." Upon the conclusion of the quote, the song Almost There plays with initially slowing-mode to depict the scenes of Tiana from The Princess and The Frog, Pocahontas from Pocahontas, as well as Simba and Mufasa from The Lion King. With the song becoming more upbeat, the scenes transition from The Lion King into featuring characters from many films from different locations:

It then switches into a footage featuring The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and therefore it transitions into a scene where Peter Pan is flying with his friends combined with the a snippet of You Can Fly taking the journey to depict the footage of ships from the following films:

For another part, For the First Time in Forever plays, and it features some scenes from the following films in different buildings:

Act 3

This act begins with a transition featuring Treasure Planet and Long John Silver's narration – "You got the makings of greatness in you, but you got to take the helm and chart your own course. Stick to it, no matter the squalls!" It then transitions to a scene of the Golden Bridge from Big Hero 6, the castle side features a flyover of Baymax, while other buildings and Rivers of America use projection animation of Baymax and Hiro Hamada. After that, the song Immortals plays featuring dialogues from Disney characters from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Big Hero 6. From these scenes, it combines with I'll Make a Man Out of You from Mulan and features movie's characters from the different buildings. In the climax, Casa Madrigal from Encanto collapses, with all related buildings except the tavern at the Fantasmic! stage area collapsing in the same way while Baymax breaks a hole in Krei's teleportation portal space.

Finale

Soundtrack

Wondrous Journeys contains a total of 18 songs. [9] "It's Wondrous", an original song created by Duddy Brown and Alex Geringas, is used as the theme song for the show. [9] The other 17 songs are from various Walt Disney Animation Studios films.

Songs in Wondrous Journeys [9]
SongFilm/Artist
It's WondrousDevon Garcia and Rudi
I'm Wishing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
I Wonder Sleeping Beauty
When You Wish Upon a Star Pinocchio
Belle (Reprise) Beauty and the Beast
Go the Distance Hercules
How Far I'll Go Moana
Out There The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Almost There The Princess and the Frog
You Can Fly! Peter Pan
For the First Time in Forever Frozen
Immortals Big Hero 6
I'll Make a Man Out of You Mulan
Mufasa Dies The Lion King
I Am Moana (Song of the Ancestors) Moana
Dos Oruguitas Encanto

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main Street Electrical Parade</span> Parade at Disney theme parks

The Main Street Electrical Parade is a nighttime parade, created by Robert Jani and project director Ron Miziker. It features floats and live performers covered in over 600,000 electronically controlled LED lights, and uses a synchronized soundtrack triggered by radio control along key areas of the parade route.

<i>Fantasmic!</i> Nighttime show at Disney Parks

Fantasmic! is a nighttime show at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show formerly operated at Tokyo DisneySea. It features fireworks, characters, live actors, water effects, pyrotechnics, lasers, music, audio-animatronics, searchlights, decorated boat floats, and mist screen projections. The narrative of Fantasmic! is a voyage through Mickey Mouse's imagination that culminates in a battle against the Disney Villains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Live Entertainment</span> Theatrical and technical live entertainment production division of the Walt Disney Company

Disney Live Entertainment is the theatrical live entertainment production division of Walt Disney Imagineering, the design and development arm of Disney Experiences, a division and business segment of The Walt Disney Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Goldberg (animator)</span> American animator

Eric Allen Goldberg is an American animator, voice actor, film director, and producer known for his work at both Walt Disney Animation Studios and Warner Bros. Animation.

<i>Disney Sing-Along Songs</i> Series of compilations of Disney songs with on-screen lyrics

Disney Sing-Along Songs is a series of videos on VHS, betamax, laserdisc, and DVD with musical moments from various Disney films, TV shows, and attractions. Lyrics for the songs are sometimes displayed on-screen with the Mickey Mouse icon as a "bouncing ball". Early releases open with a theme song introduction containing footage featuring Professor Owl and his class, seen originally in 1953 in two Disney shorts, Melody and Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom. Professor Owl hosts some of the videos, while either Jiminy Cricket or Ludwig Von Drake host others. Later volumes, as well as the two Christmas videos, do not feature a host at all. Scenes with Jiminy Cricket and Ludwig Von Drake were taken from television programs, including the Walt Disney anthology television series and The Mickey Mouse Club, which featured the characters in the 1950s and 1960s.

<i>Disney in the Stars</i> Defunct fireworks show at Hong Kong Disneyland

Disney in the Stars was the nightly fireworks performance at the Hong Kong Disneyland theme park in Lantau, Hong Kong.

<i>Disney Princess</i> Walt Disney Company media franchise

Disney Princess, also called the Princess Line, is a media franchise and toy line owned by the Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney, the franchise features a lineup of female protagonists who have appeared in various Disney franchises.

<i>Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic</i> 1995 box set by Various Artists

Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic is a five-volume compilation series, each containing 25 songs compiled from Disneyland and Walt Disney World, various Disney films in animation and live-action, and the Walt Disney anthology television series. Each volume was released individually on CD and cassette between 1995 and 1998. Volume I was released on March 28, 1995, Volume II on September 12, 1995, Volume III on July 2, 1996, Volume IV on July 15, 1997 and Volume V on September 22, 1998. In 2000, a box set was released containing volumes 1 - 3, followed by a box set containing volumes 1 - 4 in 2001, Finally, a box set containing all five volumes packaged in a slipcase was released by Walt Disney Records in Australia, Japan, North America and Europe in 2003.

<i>World of Color</i> Nighttime show at Disney California Adventure

World of Color is a nighttime show at Disney California Adventure in the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Conceived by Vice President of Parades and Spectaculars Steve Davison, and designed by Disney Live Entertainment, the show has 1,200 water fountains and includes lights, fire, lasers, and fog, with high-definition projections on mist screens. The show is inspired by Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color anthology television series, as evidenced by the use of its eponymous theme song written by the Sherman Brothers.

The heroes and heroines of most Disney movies come from unstable family backgrounds; most are either orphaned or have no mothers. Few, if any, have only single-parent mothers. In other instances, mothers are presented as "bad surrogates," eventually "punished for their misdeeds." There is much debate about the reasoning behind this phenomenon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Renaissance</span> Period of Disney animated films, 1989–1999

The Disney Renaissance was a period from 1989 to 1999 during which Walt Disney Feature Animation returned to producing critically and commercially successful animated films. These were mostly musical adaptations of well-known stories, similar to the films produced during the era of Walt Disney from the 1930s to 1960s. The resurgence allowed Disney's animated films to become a powerhouse of successes at the domestic and foreign box office, earning much greater profits than most of the Disney films of previous eras.

<i>Celebrate the Magic</i> Nighttime show at Magic Kingdom

Celebrate the Magic was a nighttime show at the Magic Kingdom park of Walt Disney World, that premiered on November 13, 2012. It replaced The Magic, the Memories and You display, a similar show that ran at the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland from January 2011 to September 4, 2012.

The Wonderful World of Disney: Disneyland 60 was a television special celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, which aired February 21, 2016. The special was largely broadcast from the Hollywood and Highland Center. It is the second episode of the re-incarnation of The Wonderful World of Disney, after returning as an infrequent series of specials in 2015.

<i>Happily Ever After</i> (Magic Kingdom) Nighttime fireworks and projection show

Happily Ever After is a fireworks and projection mapping show which debuted at the Magic Kingdom on May 12, 2017. Unlike its predecessor, Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams, the show includes projection mapping, lasers, and searchlights, in addition to pyrotechnics, featuring characters from a wide array of Disney films, and music arranged by Tim Heintz. The show's theme song of the same name was written by Adam Watts, Melissa Peirce, and Andy Dodd, and performed by Angie Keilhauer and Jordan Fisher; it is adapted from Hong Kong Disneyland's 10th anniversary celebration and Shanghai Disneyland's Mickey's Storybook Adventure.

{{Infobox attraction | name = MrCrayfish Forever | logo = | logo_width = | image = File:Disney Enchantment Fireworkshow.jpg | imagedimensions = | caption = | location = Magic Kingdom | coordinates = | status = Operating | cost = | soft_opened = September 30, 2021 | opened = November 14, 2017 (original) September 29th, 2023 (Updated)
January 11, 2024 (updated; Extended Version | closed = 2021

Wonderful World of Animation is a nighttime show at Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show is a celebration of all Disney animation, beginning with Mickey Mouse. It premiered on May 1, 2019, as part of the park's 30th anniversary celebration, replacing Disney Movie Magic.

<i>Once Upon a Studio</i> 2023 short film by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy

Once Upon a Studio is a 2023 American live-action/animated crossover fantasy comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios in celebration of the Walt Disney Company's centennial. Written and directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy, it was released by Walt Disney Pictures on October 16, 2023. In the film, Disney characters come to life from pictures hanging on the walls of the Roy E. Disney Animation Building following the end of a usual work day. The short's art style combines computer graphics, traditional animation and live-action, and features characters from the majority of the studio's works made up to that point, including all 62 feature films, numerous short films, and some live-action Disney films featuring animation produced by the studio such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941), Mary Poppins (1964), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), and Pete's Dragon (1977). The film was dedicated in memory of Burny Mattinson, the company's longest-serving employee, who made a cameo in the short and died eight months before its release.

References

  1. 1 2 3 MacDonald, Brady (January 27, 2023). "Review: 'Wondrous Journeys' is everything a Disneyland fireworks show can and should be". The Orange County Register . Retrieved February 11, 2023.(subscription required)
  2. 1 2 Michaelsen, Shannen (May 31, 2023). "BREAKING: Final 2023 Performance of 'Wondrous Journeys' Announced". WDW News Today. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  3. MacDonald, Brady (September 11, 2022). "Disneyland teases new lands, rides and nighttime spectaculars at D23 Expo". The Orange County Register . Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  4. Palm, Iman (January 27, 2023). "What guests should know about Disneyland's yearlong Disney100 celebration". KTLA . Retrieved February 11, 2023.
  5. "BREAKING: Return Dates Announced for 'Mickey's Mix Magic,' 'Wondrous Journeys,' and 'Magic Happens' at Disneyland - WDW News Today". wdwnt.com. December 21, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  6. Amezcua, Claudia (January 25, 2023). "Disney100: What to see at the Disneyland Resort". ABC 10News San Diego. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  7. "Nighttime Spectacular".
  8. "'Wondrous Journeys' Fact Sheet". Disneyland News. January 23, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 MacDonald, Brady (February 3, 2023). "All 18 songs from Disneyland's new 'Wondrous Journeys' fireworks show". The Orange County Register . Retrieved February 12, 2023.

Attribution: