World of Color - ONE Review: Disney's Newest Must-See Show

The colorful worlds of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars have become one. ComicBook.com was in attendance at Wednesday's world premiere of World of Color – ONE, an all-new nighttime spectacular debuting at Disney California Adventure Park. The latest version of Disney California's signature show, which opens to the public January 27th as part of the year-round Disney100 anniversary celebration at the Disneyland Resort, is already making waves: the reimagined World of Color – ONE is the resort's first nighttime spectacular to feature characters, stories, and music from the films of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel's The Avengers, and Star Wars in a single production. It's ONE you won't want to miss.

The World Is a Carousel of Color: Wonderful, Wonderful Color

Disney California Adventure Park's nighttime water and light spectacular is named after Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, the '60s Disney anthology series that network NBC presented in what it called "Living Color." 

Since its debut in 2010, World of Color has ebbed and flowed in more than half a dozen different versions, from the seasonal World of Color: Winter Dreams and World of Color: Season of Light to the 60th-anniversary World of Color – Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney and the Halloween-themed World of Color: Villainous! The latest limited-time offering is World of Color – ONE.

worldofcolorone-disneylandresort.jpg
(Photo: Sean Teegarden/Disneyland Resort)


A Wave of Change

In many ways, Walt Disney was the original wavemaker. Per Disney, World of Color – ONE "tells the powerful story of how a single action — like a drop of water — creates a ripple that can grow into a wave of change." 

Featuring a score composed of 18 musical compositions — including the original song "Start a Wave," written by Grammy-nominated artist Cody Fry with lead vocals performed by singer-songwriter Loren Allred — ONE incorporates music to tell stories of "courageous, loving, and inspiring characters who dared to be wavemakers and change the world." 

Throughout the medley, viewers will hear Marc Silvestri's heroic theme from The Avengers as Captain America assembles Earth's Mightiest Heroes, John Williams' sweeping Star Wars title theme as the Millennium Falcon jumps to hyperspace, jazzy tunes from Pixar's Soul, and more. 

By the end of ONE's 22-minute run time, the audience "will discover that it only takes one action to make an impact on the people in our lives and the world around us." ONE celebrates the storytelling legacy begun a century ago by Walt Disney, who in 1923 "started the wave that has continued to grow and inspire people around the globe for 100 years." 

worldofcoloroneencanto-1.jpg
(Photo: Sean Teegarden/Disneyland Resort)

Wavemakers

Each segment of World of Color – ONE is dedicated to the dreamers and doers who dared to be wavemakers throughout Disney's 100-year history. Among them: 

  • Pocahontas, who learns from Grandmother Willow that the smallest of ripples grow -- but someone has to start them
  • Mirabel of the magical Madrigal family from Encanto, whose true gift is change
  • Remy, the passionate rat who aspires to be a Parisian chef in Ratatouille
  • Joe Gardner, the part-time pianist who finds his spark after a life-changing trip through the Great Beyond in Soul
  • Jedi Master Luke Skywalker, whose heroism creates ripples throughout the galaxy -- and the destinies of Rey and Grogu, the mysterious Child from The Mandalorian 
  • The Avengers, the team that assembles Earth's Mightiest Heroes to save the world -- and change it
worldofcoloroneavengers.jpg
(Photo: Sean Teegarden/Disneyland Resort)

World of Color — One Show You Can't Miss

1,200 fountains create a 380-foot wide dancing water screen, where digital projections bring to life moments from Disney Studios films, including The Lion KingMulanCocoSoul, the Star Wars saga, and Avengers: Endgame. Using the waters of scenic Paradise Bay as a canvas, World of Color — ONE creates a dazzling display of fountains, lighting, lasers, fog, and flame effects as water, fire, light, and music move together as one. 

So says Pocahontas, "You can't step in the same river twice. The water's always changing, always flowing." 

So, too, is World of Color — ONE: each spectacular sequence is always changing, always flowing into the next, always different from what comes before. "Colors of the Wind" is a pastel-colored splash of ripples; "How Far I'll Go" from Moana is first empowering, then explosive as she faces the fiery eruption of Te Kā; as Joe Gardner realizes he was "Born to Play" soulful jazz music, his notes appear to be "played" by the fountains. 

Suddenly, glowing circles are conjured through mist and water. The stories-tall Mickey Mouse face overlooking Paradise Bay begins to glow, its colorful transformation evoking the imagery of a certain star-spangled superhero's shield. Then you hear it, "On your left." 

The sequence is inspired by a climactic and cheer-worthy sequence from Avengers: Endgame, where the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe step out of magical portals summoned by the sorcerer Doctor Strange. Featuring musical themes heard in the Avengers films and the bold, graphic style of end-credits sequences seen in Black Panther and Hawkeye, these marvelous moments are as cinematic as any Marvel Studios movie. In the end, a crackling lightning strike from the mighty Thor -- the Asgardian god of thunder -- signals thunderous applause. 

worldofcoloronestarwars.jpg
(Photo: Sean Teegarden/Disneyland Resort)

But the most thrilling sequence is not of this world. The iconic sounds of Star Wars -- the beeps and clicks of astromech droid R2-D2, the hum of igniting laser swords -- give way to shooting streams of green and red water that stage a battle between the Jedi and the Sith. John Williams' Star Wars title theme plays as mist screens present iconic moments from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, including the episodic Star Wars saga and The Mandalorian

A space battle between starships, the hyperspeed flight of the Millennium Falcon, and geyser fountains that appear to "duel" as the red lightsabers of the Sith and the blue lightsabers of the Jedi are among the most impressive effects ever accomplished by World of Color

"No matter who you are, or where you're from, you have the power to make a difference," says the show's ending theme. "It just takes one." For World of Color — ONE, one is not enough. This is one show you'll want to see again and again. 

World of Color — ONE opens January 27th at Disney California Adventure Park at the Disneyland Resort. 

0comments