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 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company. The show contains a large assortment of songs and characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios films.
History
The show was announced on September 11, 2022 during the D23 Expo. It was developed by Disney Live Entertainment and Walt Disney Animation Studios as part of a collaboration. The show's original run started on January 27, 2023 and ended on August 31, 2023.
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. The projection mapping for the show was made by Medici Media (formerly Mousetrappe).
Show scenes
Show summary
Wondrous Journeys is a multimedia show that created to celebrating 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.
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:
Shortly afterwards, the music begins with Plio's opening narration from Dinosaur before the show theme It's Wondrous begins:
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: Steamboat Willie (Mickey's footage origin)/Orphan's Benefit (Donald's footage origin)/The Whoopee Party (Goofy's footage origin) Line drawing from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with following support line drawing contents: Pinocchio/Lady and the Tramp Encanto/The Princess and the Frog Tarzan/Peter Pan Line drawing and concept art from Bambi The Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia Tarzan/The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh/Pocahontas/The Firebird Suite from Fantasia 2000/The Fox and the Hound Concept arts and animation from The Sorcerer's Apprentice/Aladdin/The Little Mermaid Concept arts and animation from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs/Frozen/Cinderella
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: Tangled Lilo & Stitch The Princess and the Frog Aladdin Chicken Little Peter Pan Cinderella 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. Go the Distance (Hercules) Belle (Beauty and the Beast) How Far I'll Go (Moana) Out There (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) In the Out There segment, all characters from four films sing together at the finale.