The “kiss goodnight” is an iconic part of the Disney Parks experience and with a panel at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event several of the mouse’s nighttime magicians pulled back the curtain on Disney’s Nighttime Spectaculars.

Here’s a look at everything we learned at the Magic After Dark—The Story of Disney’s Nighttime Spectaculars panel at the 2024 D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.

What We Learned

  • The panel was hosted by Graham Allan after a special introduction by voice actor JIm Cummings who narrated the intro for Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. Panelists included Steven Davison, Jennifer Magill, and Don Dorsey
  • Sorcery in the Sky in 1990 for DIsney’s MGM Studios is known to be the first firework show at Disney to specifically choreograph pyro with music. Dorsey wanted to use Disney tunes. Don mentioned trying to secure getting Kermit into the show but Jim Henson while the show was being developed.

  • Working on Wishes, Steve talked about how the various kinds of pyro had personality to them and thought about using them as actors to tell the visual story in the sky.

  • Many people know circus performer Tiny Kline originated the role of Tinker Bell for a show at the Hollywood Bowl which Walt loved so much and brought into Disneyland. Eventually Steve Davison would work on Remember… Dreams Come True to develop the then-world’s largest flight rig that allows characters such as Tinker Bell, Blue Fairy, Zero, Buzz LIghtyear, Baymax, and even the house from UP to not fly in and out from Matterhorn but allow them to move it up, down, left, right; switch it up like Nintendo.
  • Jennifer talked about the ambitious effort to take projection mapping to large scale for The Magic, The Memories, and You for both Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World (a very tall and vertical view) and also for “it’s a small world” at Disneyland (a very wide and horizontal view). You can see our 2011 video of the show here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U57IbVQ1pE

  • Steve also talked about the blessing and the curse of having projection mapping that opens up the opportunities for storytelling but also introduces the challenges of projecting on multi-colored surfaces.

  • Don talked about working on the short-lived A New World Fantasy (which showcased the challenges for creating a show on the World Showcase Lagoon) and Laserphonic Symphony (which ran for 3 years) which helped pave the way for Illuminations (which culminated their years of experimentation in this venue) and ultimately into the fan-favorite Illuminations: Reflections of Earth which ran for two decades.
  • Don recalled being asked in 1987 to create an edgy Illuminations for Disneyland. Using the idea of taking the ghosts out of the Haunted Mansion to create a night time spectacle that featured ghosts and a finale with Chernabog. The idea was shelved briefly for Disneyland’s 35th anniversary and eventually morphed into “Illuminations” which marketing rebranded as Fantasmic! Steve commented on the “pain in the…” it was to develop a Fantasmic! “in the round” for Tokyo but ultimately such a blast due to the intricate costume changes and barges that were crafted.
  • On the topic of World of Color, Steve commented that backstage for the show looks like NASA with racks and racks of computers to create the seamless ballet of water, projections, and special effects.

  • Skipping over Harmonious, Steve talked about Luminous: A Symphony of Us which he recalled being adamant about not having projections but instead wanting to inspire guests to paint their own pictures. He remembers Josh agreeing to want to try something new for the show that Steve called “a delight.” He also noted that the show was developed to be changeable – not that he’s saying anything is in the works but he advised the show can continue to grow and evolve.

  • Regarding drones in the use of nighttime spectaculars, Steve noted that they’d originally pioneered a lof ot different things with Intel many years ago to use them in the “water thing across the street we won’t talk about” but also that the laws with using drones are also quite tough. He said it just has a magical quality about it and that we’ll see a lot more of it in the future in “very clever new ways.”
  • User Bill Zanetti posted video of the full panel on YouTube.

Photos

The below photos are © Disney. All rights reserved.

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See it for Yourself

D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event took place in Anaheim from August 9 – 11, 2024. 

MORE INFO: Check out all of our coverage for D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event at MouseInfo.com/D23

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