The Immersive Walt Disney Animation Experience will be premiering in Toronto and coming to cities worldwide starting this December.
Creating iconic animated stories for all ages for nearly a century, Walt Disney Animation Studios announced that it would be joining forces with North America’s top creator of experiential projection exhibitions, Lighthouse Immersive, to present the music and artistry within Disney Animation’s canon of films, including modern hits like Encanto, Zootopia and Frozen, as well as classics like The Lion King, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio.
Through this new projection technology, audiences will get the chance to feel like they’ve entered the incredible worlds of beloved Disney characters and become one with them.
The Disney Animation: Immersive Experience will debut at the Lighthouse ArtSpace Toronto in December 2022, before moving on to Cleveland, Nashville, Detroit, Denver, Boston, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and Columbus in the first four months of 2023. Additional cities are currently being scheduled, including Tokyo, which will be the first city outside of North America to receive the Disney Animation: Immersive Experience.
In a recent press release, Clark Spencer, president of Walt Disney Animation Studios and two-time Academy Award-winner (Encanto, Zootopia), spoke about the new experience, saying:
The collaboration with Lighthouse Immersive is a first for Disney Animation. It’s a dream to bring the best of animated storytelling together with the top experts in the immersive art experience. We can’t wait for audiences around the world, of all ages, to experience the great moments from our legacy of feature films in this incredible way.
Corey Ross, who founded Lighthouse Immersive in 2019, added:
Like so many of us, I have a life-long love of Disney films. I’ve grown up with them since childhood and so has my family. The work lends itself brilliantly to the immersive experience and I am confident this program will give our guests the opportunity to be engulfed in the world of Disney, making them feel like they’re standing next to their favorite characters and seeing the world through their eyes.
The creative team for the Disney Animation Immersive Experience is led by Oscar-winning producer J. Miles Dale (Best Picture 2018 – The Shape of Water), who talked about the potential this new technology has to enhance Disney’s library of films, saying:
Trailblazing in a new medium is always exciting, and this is truly going to be the most challenging and rewarding project of my career. Being entrusted with Disney’s rich archive of animation is a great honour, but also a tremendous responsibility. With such a wealth of material and a treasure trove of memorable characters, it will be a thrill to bring the work of all the great Disney animators and performers to life in a 360-degree immersive environment.
Mexico City-based Cocolab is working with Dale and the Creative Legacy team at Walt Disney Animation Studios to develop the program for Lighthouse Immersive Studios. Special Projects Producer Dorothy McKim (Oscar-nominated, Get A Horse!) is spearheading the project for Disney Animation.
The audience experience will be further enhanced by Lighthouse Immersive’s Global Creative Director David Korins, (Tony Award-nominee whose credits include more than 20 Broadway shows, including Hamilton, and an Emmy Award winner for Grease Live). Korins will develop never-before-seen interactive lobby elements that guests can enjoy before or after entering the gallery.
Corey Ross also spoke about the excitement both Disney, and Lighthouse Immersive feel for the new project as he describes how the experience begins:
Just imagine journeying through Zootopia with Judy Hopps, diving to the ocean floor with Ariel, flying on a magic carpet with Aladdin, and stepping into Casita with Mirabel and the family Madrigal. This is where the Disney Animation: Immersive Experience will take you.
Collaborating with Lighthouse Immersive is the Creative Legacy team of Walt Disney Animation Studios, who will be helping bring their library of films to audiences in a way they’ve never experienced before.
The schedule of openings, on-sale dates for tickets, and prices will be announced at a future date.