Stampede welcomes Disney’s immersive animation lighting up young minds

Stampede goers this year will have a chance to soar through the skies with Peter Pan and dive under the sea with Princess Ariel in a new Disney animation exhibit.

The Calgary Stampede is teaming up with Lighthouse Immersive Studios (LIS), the same company in charge of the immersive Van Gogh exhibit, to bring Disney’s vault of animated features to the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. The event partnered with Kids Up Front Calgary in hosting a preview for Calgary youth on June 11, 2024 in the newly renovated BMO Centre.

“We’re celebrating 100 years of Disney’s animated films, so we have everything from early Mickey Mouse, Pinocchio and Snow White all the way up to the modern fun shows that people love, like Frozen and Encanto,” said Corey Ross, producer with Lighthouse Immersive.

Before the main feature, guests have a chance to check out some of the pre-show features. There is a drawing station, photo ops, posters from all the Disney animated features, and sculptures of some of the popular characters.

The main event room is called the Disney vault, where 48 out of the 62 animated films by Disney are featured in an hour-long immersive presentation. Guests are given bracelets that let them interact with the projections created by more than 100 projectors inside the room.

“There’s a kind of a story arc. Basically our theme is that all of the characters, the good guys and the bad guys in Disney films, have dreams, and so does all of the audience,” said Ross.

The presentation even features a segment with Mickey Mouse introducing the presentation that was animated just for this exhibit. LIS worked with Disney through their computer animation production system (CAPS), which can find specific scenes from Disney’s archive through searching a phrase.

“So you say, ‘OK I want a scene of Snow White walking through the forest with her left foot forward,’ and if she’s walked through the forest in five different scenes with her left foot forward, you can get to all of that,” said Ross.

The presentation also features a bubble machine in the center of the room that adds another layer of interaction to scenes from The Little Mermaid and Frozen.

LIS saw great success through their previous exhibit, Immersive Van Gogh, which toured through 21 cities including Calgary. The event sold over eight million tickets during its run.

“With that wind at my back, I called up an executive at Disney, and we met at a Starbucks in Hollywood,” said Ross.

Disney at The Stampede

This event is not the first time that the Magic Kingdom has been part of the show. In 1965, Walt Disney himself led the parade as Parade Marshal. The Stampede has also had Disney on Ice and has featured Mickey and Minnie mouse on various occasions.

“We’re so excited to just add yet another new family friendly experience that everybody can participate in. It’s great for both young and old, and it’s going to be so fun,” said Meghan Kivisto, vice president, sales and marketing for The Calgary Stampede.

The Stampede has partnered with Kids Up Front Calgary for many years, through their Young Riders program, to make sure events are accessible to youth in the city that face barriers to accessing events like Immersive Disney Animation. The partnership includes the donation of tickets and access to amenities for the kids that are part of the program.

“I think Disney is always known for its magic and the same with Stampede. I think it’s such a good collaboration. For us, we’re really about bringing magic to kids’ lives via enriching experiences. So that’s what we hope to bring at this event,” said Nicky Nash, executive director with Kids Up Front.

Kids up Front provides opportunities to kids from 175 partner organizations. They had brought members from three of those organizations to the event, which included Ups and Downs Calgary, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and Area, and Heart Beats Calgary.

“All of these events are just really great about creating community. So being able to have an event where everybody’s here just to connect, especially as a mom, being able to connect with other moms, it’s something that’s so needed in our society,” said Amanda Weger with Ups and Downs Calgary.

The relationship with The Stampede is one of many that Kids Up Front use to build community for children and parents around Calgary who face similar challenges.

“A lot of the times we wouldn’t even know about events like this if it wasn’t other organizations that were like, ‘hey this is going on, you should check it out,’ Because we get so busy with our lives and often I don’t even hear about events until they happen.”

Calgary is the 22 city on the tour of this exhibit and it will be available from June 12 to August 18 of 2024. Tickets can be found here.