Critically Acclaimed “Immersive Disney Animation” Announces Extensions in Eight Cities Including Nashville
Blockbuster Immersive Experience also Heading to Tokyo, with Additional International Presentations Soon to Be Announced
Following celebrated premieres in 10 cities and rave reviews from critics and audiences across North America, Lighthouse Immersive Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios have announced that Immersive Disney Animation is being extended by popular demand to Aug. 13, 2023 in Boston, Cleveland, Columbus, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis, Nashville and San Antonio, with Las Vegas, Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto continuing through Sept. 4, 2023. The production will also open in Tokyo on April 29 at Mori Arts Center Gallery, with additional international presentations soon to be announced.
Immersive Disney Animation was called “Jaw-dropping” by Axios, “a peek behind the curtain that you would just never otherwise get” by the Boston Globe, with Elite Daily remarking, “you really feel like you’ve stepped inside your fave film.” Tickets are on sale now at lighthouseimmersive.com/disney.
Creating iconic animated stories for all ages for nearly a century, Walt Disney Animation Studios has joined forces with North America’s top creator of experiential projection exhibitions (including the original Immersive Van Gogh, which never travelled to Atlanta, but opened in over 20 cities across North America) to present the music and artistry within Disney Animation’s canon of films—from hits of today like Encanto, Zootopia, and Frozen, to all of the classics including The Lion King, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio. Audiences will feel like they’ve entered the incredible worlds of beloved Disney characters and become one with them.
The status for each city is as follows:
- TORONTO (1 Yonge St.) | NOW OPEN through Sept. 4
- CLEVELAND (850 E. 72nd St.) | NOW OPEN through Aug. 13
- NASHVILLE (4416 Ridgefield Way) | NOW OPEN through Aug. 13
- DETROIT (267 E. Grand River Ave.) | NOW OPEN through Aug. 13
- DENVER (3900 Elati St.) | NOW OPEN through Aug. 13
- BOSTON (130 Columbus Ave.) | NOW OPEN through Aug. 13
- SAN ANTONIO (221 Burleson St.) | NOW OPEN through Aug. 13
- MINNEAPOLIS (1515 Central Ave. NE) | NOW OPEN through Aug. 13
- LAS VEGAS (3720 S. Las Vegas Blvd.) | NOW OPEN through Sept. 4
- COLUMBUS (940 Polaris Pkwy.) | NOW OPEN through Aug. 13
- DALLAS (507 S. Harwood St.) | April 20 – Sept. 4, 2023
- TOKYO (52nd floor, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower) | April 29 – Aug. 31, 2023
- ATLANTA (159 Armour Dr.) | May 1 – Sept 4, 2023
“We have opened Immersive Disney Animation in ten cities so far, with our Dallas opening right around the corner,” said Corey Ross, producer and founder of Lighthouse Immersive Studios. “And while we expected a positive reception, we have really been blown away by just how incredibly excited audiences are with this experience, a testament to the timeless legacy of Disney Animation’s worlds, stories and characters.”
“Like so many of us, I have a life-long love of Disney films,” said Ross. “And it has been quite a nostalgic rush seeing those films come to life in our venues across North America. I’ve grown up with these characters and worlds since childhood and so has my family. The work lends itself brilliantly to the immersive experience. Our team has created something truly special here.”
The creative team for Immersive Disney Animation is led by Oscar®-winning producer J. Miles Dale (Best Picture 2018, The Shape of Water) who said, “As a filmmaker, I am always seeking out ideas that can engage an audience in new and interesting ways, and to show them something that they have never seen before. Using the new technology that the immersive experience offers is exciting, but it’s important that it not interfere with the emotional investment that Disney fans have in the characters and storylines that audiences have come to cherish. This groundbreaking approach that Lighthouse Immersive Studios has created does exactly that by giving the viewer the sensation that they are actively sharing the space with the characters they most love from the Disney Animation library. Most of our guests have seen these films multiple times, but they tell me that they feel as though they are seeing them in an entirely new way, and that was always our goal.”
Mexico City-based Cocolab worked 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.
“Having been a part of Disney Animation for over 40 years, I truly consider this one of the great joys within my career, partnering with Lighthouse Immersive to bring our characters, stories and films to audiences in thrilling and new ways,” said McKim. “Watching the joy and delight the show brings to audiences is what dreams are made of.”
Beyond the unparalleled projection design that Lighthouse Immersive is known for, Immersive Disney Animation is further enhanced by expansive environmental design 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® for Grease Live).
Additional interactive features within the projection show include responsive floor projection design that moves with the audience and custom bracelets that light up in sync with the projections and based on the audiences’ movements through the galleries. In a particularly show-stopping moment, the Gazillion Bubbles special effects team fills the 500,000 cubic feet of galleries with bubbles.
Ross captures the excitement both Disney and Lighthouse Immersive feel for the project as he describes how it 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 Immersive Disney Animation takes you.”
Collaborating with Lighthouse Immersive is the Creative Legacy team of Walt Disney Animation Studios, helping bring their library of films to audiences in a manner never before experienced.
About Walt Disney Animation Studios
Combining masterful artistry and storytelling with groundbreaking technology, Walt Disney Animation Studios is a filmmaker-driven animation studio responsible for creating some of the most beloved films ever made. WDAS continues to build on its rich legacy of innovation and creativity, from the first fully-animated feature film, 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, to 2019’s Frozen 2, the biggest animated film of all time, to our 60th animated feature, the Academy Award®-winning Encanto. Among the studio’s timeless creations are Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Frozen, Big Hero 6, and Zootopia.
About Lighthouse Immersive
Lighthouse Immersive creates, produces and distributes innovative digital immersive art experiences through its experiential entertainment multiplex digital art galleries, aiming to cultivate community and creativity through large-scale events and exhibitions of all art forms. Lighthouse Immersive offers versatile spaces for creators to present their work while engaging audiences in unique art experiences that encourage dialogue and inspire new artistic creations. Lighthouse Immersive has produced the world premiere of Immersive Van Gogh, Immersive Frida Kahlo and Immersive Klimt: Revolution to more than 21 North American cities.
Recognized as the leader in immersive art experiences, Lighthouse Immersive custom designs each of their venues, named Lighthouse ArtSpace, to distinctly envelop the various architectural settings they inhabit, it operates galleries in a range of historic venues including refurbished industrial and retail spaces.
Since 2021, the company has opened or is opening 21 new galleries in North American cities including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Boston, and Denver, and is currently expanding into additional markets. To date, Lighthouse Immersive has sold over 5 million tickets to Immersive Van Gogh across North America, with Artnet calling it “one of the largest coordinated art phenomena of all time.”
