World of Color - Season of Light debuts tonight

Disney Analyst

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Saw this posted on another forum and wanted to share:

The all-new, nighttime holiday spectacular 'World of Color-Season of Light'brings the magical spirit of the season to guests at Disney California Adventure Park. Fusing cherished holiday music by beloved artists with memorable moments from treasured Disney animated films, this sparkling winter fantasy is a joy for all ages. This fourth new production of 'World of Color' is more brilliant than ever with additional lighting, lasers and high-definition projectors to inspire sweet holiday emotions as the story unfolds on giant screens of water.
  • 'World of Color-Season of Light' plays out in chapters, each with a unique theme:
    • Opening: The last leaves of fall give way to the arrival of winter.
    • Home: Mickey and his pals decorate their homes for Christmas.
    • Snow: The Frost Fairies from 'Fantasia' bring a flurry of snowflakes, creating a winter wonderland where popular Disney characters skate, ski and play.
    • Romance: Some of Disney's romantic, fairytale couples take center stage, celebrating the holidays with the ones they love.
    • Family: From Andy's family in 'Toy Story' to a 'Mele Kalikimaka' with Stitch and his 'Ohana and a 'Feliz Navidad' from the Three Caballeros, the story demonstrates that nothing is more precious during the holidays than spending time with family.
    • The Nutcracker: Highlights from Tchaikovsky's 'The Nutcracker' ballet accompany hilarious visuals of gracefully dancing hippos, ostriches, elephants and alligators from Disney's 'Fantasia.'
    • Lights: Goofy goes all out in a spectacular ode to over-the-top holiday light displays - until his ode turns to overload and everything short circuits, leading to a 'Blue Christmas' with Sadness from Disney•Pixar's 'Inside Out.'
    • Peace on Earth: In a stunningly beautiful finale, the lagoon is illuminated with the light of hope, filling guests' hearts with the spirit of peace, joy and goodwill to all.
  • More than 120 characters from 30-plus Disney and Disney•Pixar animated films are included in 'World of Color-Season of Light.'
  • The show has been in development for nearly a year, and the production team spent 10 weeks working overnight in the theme park to program the new show.
Music
  • The score for 'World of Color-Season of Light' was recorded in sessions in London, Nashville and Chicago.
  • The soundtrack features some well-known musical artists performing popular holiday tunes:
    • 'The Christmas Song' by Nat King Cole
    • 'Let It Snow' by Dean Martin
    • 'Baby It's Cold Outside' by Michael Bublé and Idina Menzel
    • 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' by Amy Grant
    • 'Mele Kalikimaka' by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
    • 'Feliz Navidad' by José Feliciano
    • 'Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies' & 'Trepak Dance' by Pentatonix
    • 'Wizards in Winter' by Transiberian Orchestra
    • 'Blue Christmas' by Elvis Presley
    • 'Let There Be Peace on Earth' by Heather Hedley
Lighting & Projection
  • For 'World of Color-Season of Light,' the lagoon will be flooded with more light than ever as five newly installed barges erupt in a brilliant lighting effect to punctuate the grand finale.
  • More than 800 individual light fixtures are needed to illuminate the show.
  • Six laser projectors are deployed to create a variety of entertaining effects.
  • Nearly 20 high-definition projectors convey imagery to the screens of water.
Fountains
  • Paradise Bay lagoon serves as the stage for 'World of Color-Season of Light.' The lagoon covers 3.5 acres and contains approximately 15 million gallons of water, with more than 1,200 fountains.
  • The tables on which the fountains and other equipment sit comprise nearly one full acre of engineered superstructure, longer than a football field and capable of three position levels: one for performance, one completely submerged and one for maintenance.
  • A vast underwater grid contains more than 18,000 points of control. Each fountain has multiple points of control for lighting, color intensity, water angle, height and more.
  • Fountain heights range from 30 feet to 200 feet in the air. By way of comparison, Mickey's Fun Wheel reaches a height of 150 feet.
  • The show features one of the world's largest projected water screens - a wall of water 380 feet wide by 50 feet high, for a projection surface of 19,000 square feet.
World of Color Highlights and History
  • 'World of Color - Season of Light' is the fourth all-new production to take place on Paradise Bay at Disney California Adventure Park. Previous shows were:
    • The original 'World of Color' (2010)
    • 'World of Color - Winter Dreams' (2013)
    • 'World of Color - Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney' (2015)
  • In its history, 'World of Color' has also incorporated a number of pre-shows, enhancements or additions to keep the show fresh for guests, including a New Year's Eve pre-show (2010), a Fourth of July Independence Day pre-show (2011) and 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' (2011).
  • 'World of Color' received the 2010 Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) Award for Outstanding Achievement - Nighttime Spectacular, recognized by TEA as 'a visual and technical marvel.'
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VJ

VJ

Well-Known Member
Ultimately, it goes without saying that "Season of Light" is the most visually stunning and visually striking iteration of World of Color to date. It just kinda bugs me that there's no real tie to Christmas or the holidays in general; yes there's Christmas songs but the films shown during those songs really have nothing to do with the song or with the holidays in general. The show just feels.. jumpy to me, like it's choosing at random what to show.
 
TTA94

TTA94

Well-Known Member
Winter Dreams was better IMO, the original version that is. They should have went with all Trans Siberian Orchestra music lol, which was the strong point in Season of Lights.
 
FerretAfros

FerretAfros

Well-Known Member
Here's a video of the full show:

It surprises me that they decided to end the show with Let There be Peace on Earth (beginning at 19:00), since everything else in the show is so gosh darn secular. It seems strange to top that all off with a song that specifically mentions God

I'm also not a fan of the arrangement they used. Part of what's great about that song is how simple it is, and having the over-produced version with a soloist diva-ing on top of the flashy chorus just doesn't work for me. It matches the musical style of the other World of Color productions, but it just doesn't fit with the song at all

I hate to make comparisons between such different shows, but they're inviting it by using the same song; the Peace on Earth/WWIII holiday tag on Illuminations is much better done (I prefer the old version to the new one, but that's a discussion for a different thread) with a more straightforward arrangement and is one of Disney's biggest finales. I think the message of the song also fits the park a lot better and is much more in line with the show's overall message than the one that's awkwardly included in WOC
 
brb1006

brb1006

Well-Known Member
FerretAfros said:
Here's a video of the full show:

It surprises me that they decided to end the show with Let There be Peace on Earth (beginning at 19:00), since everything else in the show is so gosh darn secular. It seems strange to top that all off with a song that specifically mentions God

I'm also not a fan of the arrangement they used. Part of what's great about that song is how simple it is, and having the over-produced version with a soloist diva-ing on top of the flashy chorus just doesn't work for me. It matches the musical style of the other World of Color productions, but it just doesn't fit with the song at all

I hate to make comparisons between such different shows, but they're inviting it by using the same song; the Peace on Earth/WWIII holiday tag on Illuminations is much better done (I prefer the old version to the new one, but that's a discussion for a different thread) with a more straightforward arrangement and is one of Disney's biggest finales. I think the message of the song also fits the park a lot better and is much more in line with the show's overall message than the one that's awkwardly included in WOC
Click to expand...

What about the Goofy segment
 
GiveMeTheMusic

GiveMeTheMusic

Well-Known Member
I watched the show last night from a perfect vantage point, and found it to be just wonderful. The Goofy and finale segments were definitely the highlights, and it's a worthy successor to the first Winter Dreams (let's not speak of Winter Dreams 2.0). There was obviously someone chopping onions in my section judging by the tears that seemed to be flowing in all directions.
 
Nland316

Nland316

Well-Known Member
I actually really find this to be a vast improvement over Winter Dreams.. both versions as a matter of fact. I really dig the more straight forward Christmas theme with this show, versus how Winter Dreams I can say focused more on the season of Winter instead. I also feel that Frozen was implemented very well in this iteration, compared to Winter Dreams.. It just comes off as a higher quality show in my opinion, no fluff, and straight to the point in a very pleasing and stunning way. I actually would rate this show very highly.
 
Stevek

Stevek

Well-Known Member
Watched a couple of videos of it tonight...thought it was ok. Really doesn't feel overly cohesive, but WOC has always kinda had that challenge. Maybe I need to be more in the holiday mood, will hopefully give it a try in person.
 

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