Walt Disney Animation Studios recently announced that it is teaming up with Lighthouse Immersive Studios, the producers of the blockbuster Immersive Van Gogh, to develop Disney Animation: Immersive Experience, which is set to receive its world premiere in Toronto, Canada, this December. Later in 2023, the experience will debut across the United States and other areas of the world.

Walt Disney Animation Studios has been creating iconic animated stories since 1923. In a first-of-its-kind collaboration, Disney Animation will join forces with North America’s top creator of experiential projection exhibitions, Lighthouse Immersive Studios, to develop a sensory experience that will present the music and artistry within the studio's canon of films like it's never been seen before. From hits of today like Encanto, Zootopia, and Frozen, to all the classics, including The Lion King, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio, when the Disney Animation: Immersive Experience opens in December, audiences will feel like they’ve entered the incredible worlds of beloved Disney characters and become one with them.

"Like so many of us, I have a life-long love of Disney films," said Lighthouse Immersive founder Corey Ross. "I’ve grown up with them since childhood and so has my family. The work lends itself brilliantly to the immersive experience, and I am confident this program will give our guests the opportunity to be engulfed in the world of Disney, making them feel like they’re standing next to their favorite characters and seeing the world through their eyes."

Disney Animation: Immersive Experience Creative Team Led by Oscar-Winning J. Miles Dale

Disney Animation: Immersive Experience's creative team is led by J. Miles Dale, who won an Oscar for Best Picture in 2018 for The Shape of Water and recently worked on Nightmare Alley with Guillermo Del Toro, who said, "Trailblazing in a new medium is always exciting, and this is truly going to be the most challenging and rewarding project of my career. Being entrusted with Disney’s rich archive of animation is a great honor, but also a tremendous responsibility. With such a wealth of material and a treasure trove of memorable characters, it will be a thrill to bring the work of all the great Disney animators and performers to life in a 360-degree immersive environment."

Mexico City-based Cocolab is working with Dale and the Creative Legacy team at Walt Disney Animation Studios to develop the program for Lighthouse Immersive Studios. Also on the team for Disney Animation is the Oscar-nominated Special Projects Producer Dorothy McKim and Lighthouse Immersive’s Global Creative Director David Korins, who is a Tony Award-winner for Grease Live and whose credits include more than 20 Broadway shows, including Hamilton.

Disney Animation: Immersive Experience will debut at Lighthouse ArtSpace Toronto in December 2022 and will subsequently debut in the U.S. in Cleveland, Ohio, before heading to Nashville, Detroit, Denver, Boston, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and Columbus in the first four months of 2023. Additional cities are being scheduled, and Tokyo will be the first city outside North America to receive the Disney Animation: Immersive Experience. The public can sign up to receive more information at disneyimmersive.com.