When the new fireworks spectacular, “Happily Ever After,” debuts at Magic Kingdom Park May 12, the show will encourage guests to grab hold of their dreams and make them come true.
One group of people that the creation of this show has been a literal dream come true for is a handful of seasoned Walt Disney Animation Studios artists who got to break out their pencils again in order to bring some of their favorite Disney characters back to life. That’s because in addition to the latest in fireworks, pyrotechnics, lasers and lights, “Happily Ever After” will also feature new hand-drawn Disney character animation sequences of Ursula, Aladdin, Princess Tiana and more.
“For me, it’s a thrill because ‘Aladdin’ was the first film I worked on and to come back and be animating Aladdin again after 25 years, I’m feeling that same sort of excitement again,” said Randy Haycock, Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Hand-drawn animation will be combined with innovative projection mapping technology that will bring these characters – as well as characters from more recent films like “Zootopia” and “Tangled” – to life as part of the show.
Check out the video above to hear Randy Haycock, Mark Henn and Eric Goldberg talk about their experiences creating animation for “Happily Ever After.”
