News EPCOT's Harmonious to be replaced with new nighttime spectacular Luminous

Br0ckford

Premium Member
I’ve often wondered this-in all seriousness how high level do decisions like this go? Is the board really a part of this? Would this be Chapek? Josh? Or do we just always assume high level execs make these decisions? There’s a part of me that assumes, with how important parks are, that these decisions must be life or death ones made at the highest levels of the company but then the other part of me wonders if any execs even pay attention and are just approving numbers on a spreadsheet
Right?! Who gets to go back and say, oh the millions spent on Harmonious? Yeah, didn't work out so much. We're just gonna scrap it and go with something else. 😬
 

Vinnie Mac

Well-Known Member
I’ve often wondered this-in all seriousness how high level do decisions like this go? Is the board really a part of this? Would this be Chapek? Josh? Or do we just always assume high level execs make these decisions? There’s a part of me that assumes, with how important parks are, that these decisions must be life or death ones made at the highest levels of the company but then the other part of me wonders if any execs even pay attention and are just approving numbers on a spreadsheet
I've always imagined that executives make the decisions and then send it down to Imagineering. Chapek says "hey we need an Encanto land in Magic Kingdom and it's going to need xyz."

And then Imagineering takes that and turns it into a concept.
 

Cliff

Well-Known Member
Yes.

He also composed the Tapestry of Nations music for the millennium celebration. Oddly enough, I don't think TWDO used him for anything after those two. I genuinely wonder why.

Gavin Greenaway does work for Hans Zimmer's company. Gavin has conductued the orchestra for many of Hans Zimmer's recordings. It's my understanding that Hans Zimmer was the original RoE composer but had to back out for another project/movie. Hans then sent Gavin Greenaway to take over and Gavin wrote the whole thing and prestented it to the RoE team. They made changes together and boom...it was done. Gavin wrote the score and conducted the recordings in the UK and the rest was history.

I often wonder if Hans Zimmer was kicking himself on the rear for giving RoE away to one of his friends! Hehe. That's OK...Hans did perfectly fine anyway.

I absolutely believe Gavin Greenaway is a genious.
 

brb1006

Well-Known Member
Gavin Greenaway does work for Hans Zimmer's company. Gavin has conductued the orchestra for many of Hans Zimmer's recordings. It's my understanding that Hans Zimmer was the original RoE composer but had to back out for another project/movie. Hans then sent Gavin Greenaway to take over and Gavin wrote the whole thing and prestented it to the RoE team. They made changes together and boom...it was done. Gavin wrote the score and conducted the recordings in the UK and the rest was history.

I often wonder if Hans Zimmer was kicking himself on the rear for giving RoE away to one of his friends! Hehe. That's OK...Hans did perfectly fine anyway.

I absolutely believe Gavin Greenaway is a genious.
I wish Disney used Gavin Greenway more often for scoring shows and parades. My personal favorite was his composing the score for the Share A Dream Come True Parade for the 100 Years of Magic Celebration. It perfectly captured the relaxing daytime atmosphere of the Magic Kingdom.


 

brb1006

Well-Known Member
Yes.

He also composed the Tapestry of Nations music for the millennium celebration. Oddly enough, I don't think TWDO used him for anything after those two. I genuinely wonder why.
You forget that he composed the score for the Share A Dream Come True Parade that ran at the Magic Kingdom from 2001-2006.
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cookiee_munster

Well-Known Member
I’ve often wondered this-in all seriousness how high level do decisions like this go? Is the board really a part of this? Would this be Chapek? Josh? Or do we just always assume high level execs make these decisions? There’s a part of me that assumes, with how important parks are, that these decisions must be life or death ones made at the highest levels of the company but then the other part of me wonders if any execs even pay attention and are just approving numbers on a spreadsheet
Honestly, i could just image a room of suits just sitting there going over figures and charts and stuff and basically calculating the success of something by some kind of data collected online or whatever and then eventually green-lighting it.

This is why Frank Wells and Michael Eisner did so well because they were a little bit like Walt and Roy. There was the dreamer, the creative and the other was the realist and figures guy. There needs to be that balance.

Right now the company is lost at sea with a totally clueless captain. The ship looks amazing though. With all the pointless bells and whistles you could imagine...
 

180º

Well-Known Member
I wish Disney used Gavin Greenway more often for scoring shows and parades. My personal favorite was his composing the score for the Share A Dream Come True Parade for the 100 Years of Magic Celebration. It perfectly captured the relaxing daytime atmosphere of the Magic Kingdom.



Don’t forget BraviSEAmo!



The man gave the parks some great scores over the course of just 5 years.
 

brb1006

Well-Known Member
WOAH!!!! Dang,....this is bad-@ss. I love this and didnt even know that Gavin did that. Thanks for calling this out. Very nice. Gavin Greenaway is the PERFECT guy to get "that" Disney sound.
Gavin Greenway is the only composer who perfectly captured the "Timeless Disney feeling" on par with John Debney's score on Spectromagic. Compared to some of Steve Davion's scores and Disney's recent parades and shows.
 

Cliff

Well-Known Member
Gavin Greenway is the only composer who perfectly captured the "Timeless Disney feeling" on par with John Debney's score on Spectromagic. Compared to some of Steve Davion's scores and Disney's recent parades and shows.
Absolutely,...there are a lot of great composers but I have to say that Gavin Greenaway absolutely 100% knows the "formula" and knows how to crack that code. . The guy has his finger on the pulse of that "Disney-esque" magic heartbeat perfectly.

On a technical note....have you ever noticed how good his studio recordings and mixes are? Either he is a great audio engineer himself or he has great engineers working with him. His recordings just sound beautiful.
 
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TDLFan

Well-Known Member
The music in the parks should sound like something you don't hear everywhere, it's a huge part of what makes them special. I often think management forgets the reason we're going to these parks is to get away from the outside world. We have enough crappy music there, I don't need more if it. I'm looking at you Magic Happens.
 

brb1006

Well-Known Member
The music in the parks should sound like something you don't hear everywhere, it's a huge part of what makes them special. I often think management forgets the reason we're going to these parks is to get away from the outside world. We have enough crappy music there, I don't need more if it. I'm looking at you Magic Happens.
Todrick Hall doesn't hold a candle to Debney and Greenaway when it comes to scoring music for the Disney Parks. Sounds very out of place in a Disney Park. Same reason I can't get into Paint the Night due to being too modern for my taste.
 
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Vinnie Mac

Well-Known Member
Todrick Hall doesn't hold a candle to Debney and Greenaway when it comes to scoring music for the Disney Parks. Sounds very out of place in a Disney Park. Same reason I can't get into Paint the Night due to being too modern for my taste.
Idk, Magic Happens has a pretty good soundtrack. It doesn't sound out of place at all. Out of place for Disneyland in the 1960's? Sure. But we're not in the 60's, it's 2022. Sounds perfectly normal for Disneyland today.
 

brb1006

Well-Known Member
Idk, Magic Happens has a pretty good soundtrack. It doesn't sound out of place at all. Out of place for Disneyland in the 1960's? Sure. But we're not in the 60's, it's 2022. Sounds perfectly normal for Disneyland today.
I was specially referring to Walt Disney World's parade music. Not Disneyland.
 

ToTBellHop

Well-Known Member
DL has had a bit more of a party atmosphere with its entertainment for awhile. MK hasn’t gone there. They tried a DJ and we flipped. To be fair though, we have a castle at the end of Main Street. That alone demands a more formal atmosphere. I was at DL for 5 days and never actually found their castle although I understand it can be blocked by even a young cherry tree.
 

Father Robinson

Well-Known Member
Harmony was ok but you walked away not feeling emotionally attached it just felt like IP blender 🤷🏻‍♂️ I walked into it blind and just didn’t take anything away from it
It is not an EPCOT show, that's it's only real flaw. Some may argue it doesn't tell a cohesive story (I agree), but neither do the MK nighttime shows. The show belongs in a park that focuses solely on IP and fantasy. Epcot is not that park.
 

Father Robinson

Well-Known Member
My problem with Harmonious is not so much the content, but the way it absolutely destroyed the WS lagoon. My fear is even though they will dedicate resources to a new show, the barges and tech will have to remain to still justify the asset costs. They will extend the life or justify a small L on show production costs, but the sightline problem will not be solved.
Oh, I'm the opposite. The show is visually amazing, the content is the problem. I equate it to that really gorgeous person, that perfect 10, that you start dating only to find out they're the dumbest person you ever met.
 

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