To encourage guests to move and interact with the show, Lighthouse Immersive used Gazillion Bubbles technology to transport guests to the bottom of the ocean during scenes from The Little Mermaid. Guests were also given Pixmob bracelets that illuminated in different colors and coordinated with the music and scenes as another way to make attendees part of the experience.Photo: Kyle Flubacker
The Immersive Disney Animation celebrated its colorful debut in Toronto in December 2022 and has since made its way to 11 other major cities throughout the U.S. The 360-degree, all-things-Disney experience artfully fuses high-tech and high-touch elements for an immersive event that transcends generations.
The exhibition most recently popped up in Atlanta at the start of May, taking over a 44,000-square-foot warehouse in the city’s Midtown neighborhood. Inside, 74 Panasonic projectors cast clips of 47 old and new Disney films onto 26-foot-tall screens (currently the event’s tallest projection), creating an hour-long show centered around a classic Disney theme: dreams and wishes.
“This year marks the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Animation Studios, so the idea was to create a project that would dig into the depths of the Disney library and come up with a show that would encompass 100 years of Disney Animation,” explains Corey Ross, producer and founder of Lighthouse Immersive. “We wanted the show to have this broad appeal that mirrors Disney. It’s a great date night, family outing, grandparents and grandchildren play date—it really was designed to do all of that because really that’s what Disney is.”
With an audiovisual project—and creative partnership—as big as Immersive Disney Animation, the planning was arguably even more important than the execution. In order to immerse guests in the world of Disney, Ross and his team first had to deep-dive into the archives, starting with months of analyzing films and, naturally, a trip to Disneyland.
“For me, I really immersed myself in reading and watching documentaries on Walt Disney himself—learning what his process was and what his experience was in creating the magical things we still love today,” says Ross. “[Scene selection] was very collaborative with Walt Disney Animation Studios. And it wasn’t easy! There are so many amazing films and songs and scenes and characters, but we captured 47 out of 60 films in our show.”
In addition to forming an experience that appealed to three generations of Disney fans, the Immersive Disney Animation posed another creative challenge for Lighthouse Immersive: taking widescreen-formatted movie projections and turning them into 360-degree moments.
To achieve this, the team thoughtfully uses all four walls of the venue—not always at once—to take the audience on an intentional journey that’s equal parts emotional and immersive.
“The Lion King, for example, is an amazing moment where we can go 360 and put you right in the middle of the savanna. Meanwhile, for The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Frog, we took a graphical approach to create that 360 treatment,” explains Ross. “Other times, like for Zootopia, where we wanted to capture a touching moment, we go to a small, focused scene. So it’s a process of moving back and forth between those views so you capture the emotional moments and keep the integrity of those scenes while also giving that 360-degree experience.”
Such a feat requires the best tech to back it up, so when it came to production equipment, Ross says his team looked for audiovisual technology that was equally as new and stimulating as it was stable and scalable—and they’re not done. “Our next city is Los Angeles, and we’re spending a month testing new technologies in-situ before opening,” he explains. “With every show, we look at what worked and what didn’t, and we watch the audience to see what they enjoyed. It’s a constant quest looking at new technology, always keeping the show innovative.”
Now, the team is focused on a worldwide rollout of the show, starting with Tokyo (opened this month) and London (up next). “It’s hard to understate what a big challenge that is to do, and it’s only the incredible team that we’ve developed that’s able to do it,” says Ross. He worked alongside a suite of top-tier creatives to bring the experience to life, including Oscar-winning producer J. Miles Dale, Tony Award-nominee David Korins of Hamilton fame, and Oscar-nominated special projects manager Dorothy McKim, among many others.
Keep scrolling for a closer look inside the nostalgia-inducing exhibition...
“Different people have their moment in the show," he adds. "As a producer, that’s what I’m about, I love the moment when the art and the people meet. I love watching the public’s reaction and seeing what they get excited about.”
