Wondrous Journeys celebrates 100 years of the Walt Disney Company with songs from multiple musical genres. Billboard shared how all of this incredible music came together.
What's Happening:
- Wondrous Journeys is a 15 minute nighttime show that celebrates milestones.
- This fireworks spectacular features history projected onto Main Street, U.S.A., and Sleeping Beauty Castle.
- This is all set to the soundtrack arranged by Grammy Award-winning composer Christopher Lennertz, which features re-imaginings of Disney classics like When You Wish Upon a Star and other more modern songs like Almost There from Princess and the Frog and Dos Oruguitas from Encanto.
- "When the team sat down, we realized that the core theme that binds everyone together when it comes to emotion, is music," says Walt Disney Imagineering’s global head of music, Tricia Holloway.
- Developing the show's music components was the first step in what would become Wondrous Journey. "I really approached this project like a combination of a stage musical and animated feature," says Lennertz. "I wanted the music to be precisely clear about telling our story, with motivated singing and lyrics, but also be joyous, vivid, and colorful, like the great animated art that we were paying tribute to."
- "We started brainstorming [and] put together a list of vocalists that we thought would help inspire the show and take it to another level," says Holloway. "As we were looking to cast the vocalists, we were looking to people who perform in front of a live audience so that they could bring that energy and storytelling to the delivery of their vocals."
- There are many different recording artists that were thrown into the mix, including Tarriona "Tank" Ball from Tank and the Bangas, Tony Award winner Lena Hall, jazz and soul singer Shoshana Bean, Ty Taylor from Los Angeles soul-rock band Vintage Trouble, and pop duo Clyde and Gracie Lawrence.
- "Being a part of Disney’s Wondrous Journeys was a dream come true," says Ball, who, along with Taylor, jokingly referred to herself as "Disney royalty" after watching the show for the first time.
- The score was recorded over a year across California, Nashville, New York City, London, and Orlando. There was an 80 piece orchestra, 16 lead vocalists, and a 33-member choir.
- "I think It’s Wondrous is going to become part of the DNA of the Disney catalog," Holloway says. "It isn’t from an actual film or character, but it captures the feeling and beauty that you find within all the animation films."
- It’s Wondrous will arrive on streaming platforms beginning Friday, March 3rd.
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