What's going on with World of Color?

[TP2000]

What a joke of a show designer. He had a few good shows in the 2000's but was losing his touch by World of Color.

The nail in the coffin for me was his redo of Fantasmic, which pulled elements from World of Color and his Tokyo iteration of Fantasmic- taking a show that was basically entirely original and turning it into one of his generic 'clip shows' that somehow missed the spark that made the original a classic.

I had a fun conversation with someone who used to work in entertainment stage management at one point, and I'll never forget talking about Disneyland's newer stuff and them turning and saying "Man, Steve Davison has got to go" and proceeded to rant about how lackluster his stuff has become.

I've seen Tokyo's bizarrely huge Fantasmic! exactly twice. Once from a prime viewing spot after exiting a fabulous and slightly boozy dinner at Magellan's. And once from a very nice balcony room at the Hotel MiraCosta. Both times from those prime spots on either side of the lagoon, either slightly boozed or dead sober, the show was a mess.

I gave it two tries, and it failed both times. I no longer care about watching Fantasmic! at DisneySea and instead now use that time to go on rides. As God probably intended.

 

[waltography]

Speaking of rusting old machinery, whatever happened to Steve Davison? Is he still on the payroll?

He was the wunderkid who could do no wrong in the 2000's and 2010's. But you don't hear about him any more. What happened to that guy? Did someone finally realize the parks don't need another spectacular built solely around Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Toy Story, and Lion King?

Unfortunately, he very much is still on the payroll and was a talking head for Harmonious promos.

 

[Dear Prudence]

Unfortunately, he very much is still on the payroll and was a talking head for Harmonious promos.

and THAT was a cringe fest

 

[Californian Elitist]

“We are more alike than we are different?” No, not really. Basic stuff, maybe, but people differ from each other and that’s that. That can and should be acknowledged.

 

[Squishy]

Speaking of rusting old machinery, whatever happened to Steve Davison? Is he still on the payroll?

He was the wunderkid who could do no wrong in the 2000's and 2010's. But you don't hear about him any more. What happened to that guy? Did someone finally realize the parks don't need another spectacular built solely around Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Toy Story, and Lion King?

I don't think the blame should be put on him, it should be put on the current executives. His shows were amazing before Staggs left & Chapek stepped in.

 

[Disney Analyst]

He is still in charge, and created Harmonious for Epcot. He describes the show in great detail at 18:29




On a personal note, I was a big fan of his during the RDCT and early WoC days. I reached out to him on Facebook back then and he was very kind, would answer questions I had, would check in when I was doing theatre and stuff. He's a nice guy, and has created some spectacular stuff.

But in the creative world there will always be misses. Especially at a company like Disney with a lot of... other voices in the mix.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Speaking of rusting old machinery, whatever happened to Steve Davison? Is he still on the payroll?

He was the wunderkid who could do no wrong in the 2000's and 2010's. But you don't hear about him any more. What happened to that guy? Did someone finally realize the parks don't need another spectacular built solely around Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Toy Story, and Lion King?

He's now in charge of parades and spectaculars for all of the Disney parks around the world.

 

[TP2000]

He's now in charge of parades and spectaculars for all of the Disney parks around the world.

Maybe it's because he's no longer trotted out regularly to talk about Disneyland stuff, but you just don't hear about him any more like we did a decade ago.

I think the last time he did his onstage schtick was at the media frenzy for Disneyland's 60th.

Also... he apparently has embraced the Keto diet or something. Good for him! But at first in that video above he was totally unrecognizeable. At least to me.

 

[jmuboy]

Harmonious at Epcot falls veryyyyy flat ( and I was not an Illuminations super fan).
As for WoC I’d be happy if the debut year / original version of WoC comes back when the show returns in 2022.

 

[SuddenStorm]

On a personal note, I was a big fan of his during the RDCT and early WoC days. I reached out to him on Facebook back then and he was very kind, would answer questions I had, would check in when I was doing theatre and stuff. He's a nice guy, and has created some spectacular stuff.

Man, this reminds me that the guy who was in charge of the Disney Park Soundtrack releases used to post on the Disney music forum. He hasn't been active in years though (I wonder if he still works there?).

The last thing he shared I thought was noteworthy was that the Legacy Collection Disneyland release was not intended to be the 60th music release that it ended up being. They wanted a proper 60th release that would have included the new entertainment soundtracks but it never happened.

 

[drizgirl]

Harmonious at Epcot falls veryyyyy flat ( and I was not an Illuminations super fan).
As for WoC I’d be happy if the debut year / original version of WoC comes back when the show returns in 2022.

Ooh I hadn’t thought about WOC. I’d lay money there’s a new recent IP soaked version when it returns.

 

[jaxonp]

So this won't be returning in 2021?

 

[Disstevefan1]

Was it stopped in the name of COVID but really just another cost cutting measure never to return, or was it stopped before COVID as a cost cutting measure never to return?

 

[SoCalDisneyLover]

So this won't be returning in 2021?

Zero chance of it returning this year. Not even sure if it will be back in 2022.

 

[milordsloth]

I asked a bartender at Lamplight Lounge the other day if he had any inside knowledge on when the show would be back and he said "could be anywhere from 6 months to 2 years."

 

[beachlover4444]

I find it amazing and sad they didn’t upkeep the parks better during the shutdown. Upkeep is key to saving yourself millions. don’t we teach our children to take care of their toys or we won’t buy them new ones? Come on Disney learn from your mistakes, maintainence is key.

 

[truecoat]

I asked a bartender at Lamplight Lounge the other day if he had any inside knowledge on when the show would be back and he said "could be anywhere from 6 months to 2 years."

At least he locked it down to a timeline no one else could.

 

[VJ]

I asked a bartender at Lamplight Lounge the other day if he had any inside knowledge on when the show would be back and he said "could be anywhere from 6 months to 2 years."

I asked a bus driver and they said that the show would be replaced by "World of Chapek," a heartstring-tugging nighttime spectacular highlighting all of Bob Chapek's achievements as CEO so far, concluding with a Chapek character rising out of the water and single-handedly defeating a costumed COVID-19 in a stirring allusion to the havoc the pandemic has wreaked on the Disney company.

 

[TheDisneyParksfanC8]

i am going to peg late 2022-mid 2023 as to when WOC will return. I wonder what they will do for nighttime entertainment at DCA in the meantime while this is down.

 

[wdrive]

i am going to peg late 2022-mid 2023 as to when WOC will return. I wonder what they will do for nighttime entertainment at DCA in the meantime while this is down.

My bet is continue with the current nighttime entertainment lineup