Disney’s ‘Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge’ Park to Feature Original Score by John Williams

More details about the upcoming Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attractions for Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland are starting to emerge and in addition to fans getting to take a ride on the Millennium Falcon, they will also get to experience an all-new original score from John Williams just for the park.

The news of Williams’ special score was revealed by Disney at Destination D: Celebrating Mickey Mouse, a weeklong-birthday party for the iconic mouse, on Saturday. Williams’s iconic music has been a major part of the Star Wars franchise for over four decades, so much so that Mark Hamill has even said that Williams deserves the most praise for making the saga what it is, other than George Lucas.

“Aside from George Lucas, nobody deserves more credit for the success of Star Wars than John Williams,” the actor shared with Variety.

The actor went on to recall the experience of watching Williams compose a live recording of the score to Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

“It’s indescribable, how he elevates every scene. He’s got to understand the emotion of the scene, the dynamics of whatever conflict we’re trying to portray, as deeply as an actor does,” Hamill confessed. “In a way, that’s even more complex. As an actor, you’re only one person, one instrument in the orchestra. He’s the entire cast.”

The special score Williams created for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is described by Entertainment Weekly as “an alternately playful and majestic introduction”. It was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios as conducted by William Ross, a longtime associate of Williams. Williams, who was recently hospitalized but is on the mend for an undisclosed illness, is also doing the score for the upcoming Episode IX though that will be his final score in the series. Williams announced earlier this year that he plans to retire from the saga after closing out the last of the Skywalker trilogies.

In addition to Galaxy’s Edge having the sound of a Star Wars adventure, visitors will also be able to physically immerse themselves in the experience as well with the Millennium Falcon ride.

“You’re truly in control of the fastest and most iconic ship in the entire galaxy,” executive creative director of the ride Asa Kalama shared in the “Millennium Falcon: From Page to Park” featurette. “And Hondo, he’s gone ahead and added a couple extra seats so he can get as many of those flight crews through as possible. There are 200 some odd buttons, knobs, and switches on the inside of the cockpit and they all do stuff. If you’re the gunners in the center there and you don’t fire back on those TIE Fighters fast enough they’re going to riddle the hull with laser bolts. The engineers in back, it’s really up to them to keep the whole Falcon in working order so they’re back there furiously working away at their various systems.”

Are you excited about Galaxy’s Edge having a genuine Williams score? Let us know in the comments below.

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is set to open at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World in 2019.