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] On December 21, 2023, Disneyland announced that the show 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.
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:
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:
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:
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.
Transition featuring Treasure Planet
Immortals (Big Hero 6)
During the scene of The Golden Bridge from Big Hero 6, the castle side features a flyover of Baymax, while other buildings use projection animation of Baymax and Hiro instead.
Casa Madrigal's collapse from Encanto, with all related buildings except the tavern at the Fantasmic! stage (Sleeping Beauty Castle, all shop buildings at Main Street, U.S.A. and the It's a Small World building) collapsing in the same way while Baymax breaks a hole in Krei's teleportation portal space.
Immortals (Big Hero 6, instrumental)/Mufasa Dies (The Lion King)
Dos Oruguitas (Encanto, refrain part); all related buildings transform into Casa Madrigal with the following contents appearing as Casa Madrigal's glowing door style:
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.
Wheelchair accessible