How Disney Animation is using its Toronto immersive experience to ‘keep moving forward’

“Around here we don’t look backwards for very long,” goes one of Walt Disney’s more famous quotes.

“We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

That remark bolsters the narrative framework of one of the Walt Disney Company’s less famous treasures — 2007’s sweet and sentimental “Meet the Robinsons” — but it also aptly describes the culture at Disney Animation Studios. Sure, there’s nostalgia, but the ethos around the Mouse House is one of optimism and progress: “keep moving forward.”

Enter “Disney Animation: Immersive Experience.” Building on the widespread acclaim of Lighthouse Immersive Studios’ previous success stories — digital explorations of Vincent Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo and King Tut, for instance — this permutation of the experience brings to Toronto the entire Disney back catalogue, from “Snow White” to “Encanto” and everything in between. Situated on the first floor of 1 Yonge Street, the experience guides audiences from film to film, and of course, because it’s Disney, there are a few surprises in store for fans of all ages.

The immersive component of the project is a new angle for the Mouse — indeed, when it comes to experiences, the entertainment giant frequently upholds its motto to “keep moving forward.” But this extends beyond films, merchandise and theme parks into what’s still a relatively new space: “immersive” experiences which use ultraprecise video-mapping, projections and animation to craft a story. These experiences are easier to tour than a theme park ride or full-scale show — ultimately, organizers can save much of the experience on a flash drive. But the level of care put into the project is as high as ever.

J. Miles Dale, the Oscar-winning producer behind 2018’s “The Shape of Water,” serves as executive creative director on the project. When the deal between Lighthouse Immersive and Disney came through, he was ecstatic.

“Disney don’t tend to take on a lot of partners,” he said in an interview. “They tend to do things themselves. But they’re also innovators. From the beginning, from the first animated cartoons to the invention of the multiplane camera, they don’t want to be left behind. With Lighthouse being the global leader in immersive experiences, with double-digit galleries through the United States and Canada, it was easy for them to get in.”

David Korins, global creative director for Lighthouse Immersive and a highly sought-after set designer (read: “Hamilton,” “Dear Evan Hansen,” “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”), was equally amped to get to dig through the infamous Disney Vault.

“For me it always comes down to story,” he said. “What is so compelling is not just the worlds (Disney properties) conjure up, but the story and the narrative. It’s my job to create the environment in the world of the project. But as a creative director — in my other job, which is making experiences — I really am cast as the person who makes a pact with the audience member from the second they hear about the property. What are we? What is the story that we’re setting up for someone in 2022? Or 2023? And how are they going to experience this thing, which is only one small part when the centrepiece is the movie?

“One of the phenomenally interesting parts of this project is that we’ve taken two-dimensional worlds …and we’re doing the thing that the heads of the animation library and Disney Animation in general are excited about. We’re taking those worlds and we’re wrapping them around in 3-D. We get to be inside these worlds. So that’s a no-brainer.”

Bringing “Disney Animation: Immersive Experience” to life in Toronto would have been impossible were it not for Christopher Bond, creative consultant on the project and artistic director for Starvox Entertainment (and co-creator of “Evil Dead the Musical”!). Korins and Dale called Bond the “Ken Jennings of Disney” — and the designation couldn’t be more fitting.

“Chris knows more about Disney than most of the Disney employees we deal with who’ve been there for 40 years. I’ll say, ‘Chris, we need a guy with his right hand in this exact position,’ and he’ll go, ‘yep,’ and come back with something from ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at the 14-minute mark,” said Dale. “It’s incredible.”

“It’s such a treasure trove of assets,” said Bond. “There’s so much great content for us to explore … we dig deep. There’s the classics, the renaissance, the modern stuff, it’s all in there. A couple of deep cuts. And there’s a bit of an Easter egg hunt, which is a really fun part of the experience.”

At the end of the day, if there’s no animation, there’s no show. Oscar-nominated special projects producer Dorothy McKim might know a thing or two about that — she also produced, you guessed it, “Meet the Robinsons,” and like most Disney employees, holds a strong reverence for the man who started it all. The man who kept moving forward.

“Walt would absolutely enjoy this experience,” she said in an interview. “He was always a forward thinker in everything he did … and this experience with the immersive element is going into the future. And he was big on that — he was fearless. I truly, really think this experience will delight everybody.

“In the experience, people can be their authentic self. If they want to dance, if they want to jump, if they want to sing, if they want to cry. There’s nothing in that experience that’s ever going to stop anybody from doing that.

“Because really, that’s what our films do. They allow people to be who they are.”

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