Joining the ranks of events like Immersive Van Gogh and Immersive Nutcracker, Immersive Disney, coming to Detroit in February, brings some of Disney’s most beloved films to life through projection, music and motion.
J. Miles Dale, Canadian producer and director who has worked on hit films like the shape of the water Y Antlers, is the executive creative director behind the experience. He wanted to create a story that brought the magic of Disney to life in a way that was more accessible than the parks.
“Not everyone has the opportunity to go to the [Disney] parks every year, or any year sometimes, so to be able to bring that to people was [one] inspiration,” he explains. “They can’t make it to Florida for a week, but if they take a couple of hours on a weekend, they can feel some of the Disney magic.”
It all started last year with an idea and a mutual friend with Corey Ross, co-founder of Lighthouse Immersive Studios, which produces the immersive experiences. After a conversation with Ross, Dale reached out to a contact he has with Disney Labs and found out that Disney was looking to do something special in honor of their 100th anniversary in 2023.
“We thought this was a great place to start because there are so many loved ones [Disney] characters of all our lives. There is something [Disney] movie or movies and songs that have really been pivotal to all of us,” Dale explains. “They also wanted to honor the entertainers and performers, singers, songwriters and everyone who had been involved.”
“Not only [the show] Feel like a Disney experience with several of your favorite characters and favorite songs that feels like a projected show, but also in our facility, we have created an environment where you can understand and see how the animation is made,” he adds.
Immersive Disney’s runtime is approximately 50 minutes and features a wide variety of Disney movies and characters, including classics like White as snow, 90s movies like The little Mermaid Y The Lion King, and of course, more modern movies like Frozen Y Delighted.
It also includes some of the most beloved Disney songs, either in full context or in a montage, along with elements guests can interact with.
According to Dale, there are three galleries that fill with bubbles of all sizes, including some filled with smoke, courtesy of the creator of the Gazillion Bubble Show. In it moana gallery, on the floor a lava field is projected that moves as the guest walks through it, and in the Peter Pan gallery, Tinkerbell will spray you with some pixie dust that forms around you.
“You stand there and wonder how that is happening,” Dale says of the pixie dust experience. “It’s magical, you’re surrounded by it Y affecting it”.
In addition to the movies, Immersive Disney also features character sketches and displays materials that audiences have never seen before because they have been stored in the Disney archives. Also, drawing tables where children can try to draw their favorite characters.
With Immersive Disney, “I think we wanted people to be entertained, but also leave smarter,” Dale explains. “They’re looking at all these character sketches and images and understanding how they’re done, and I think that’s what Disney really wanted. It is a celebration not only of art, but also of artists.”
Immersive Disney is coming to the Lighthouse Artspace at 311 E. Grand River Ave., Detroit, on February 9, 2023. It will remain open through May 14. Single tickets start at $39.99
For more information, visit lighthouseimmersive.com and find even more things to do in the Detroit metro area at HourDetroit.com.
About J. Miles Dale
J. Miles Dale is an Academy Award-winning producer and director who regularly collaborates with director Guillermo del Toro and has worked on such films as Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Antlers, Mama, The Vow, Endless Love, Y water Shape, which won an Academy Award for Best Picture.
As he tells it, Dale began directing and producing films because he was “fed up with school” and wanted to enter the job market.
“It was kind of ‘I started at the bottom.’ I started out as a runner and worked my way up,” she says. “I love the business. My father was a music director when I was growing up, and we moved to Los Angeles from Toronto when he was 8 years old. I grew up in the business and had a sense of it.”
She loves the business mainly for the creative aspects, along with the challenge of doing something new every day and working with different people on each project.
“I get bored easily,” he says. [The work] it’s kind of challenging and i can flex different muscles each time. That’s what’s fun to me. It’s exciting every time.”
And his greatest cinematic achievement to date? Obviously, his Academy Award, but also working on nightmare alley during the pandemic.
“[Shape of Water] it is the top of the mountain for us in the profession. We did not expect it: a love story between a lady and a fish was not expected to have that kind of outcome. It’s nice to have the recognition of my colleagues for whom I have so much respect, ”he explains. “In nightmare alleywe shot for six weeks and then we shut down for six months and I had to keep it together so as challenging as water shape was, nightmare alley It was also a challenge.”
To learn more about J. Miles Dale and his work, check him out on IMDB.