We just got back from watching Disney Interactive’s first ever D23 Expo Arena Presentation. The arena was full and the guests were excited to see more from Fantasia: Music Evolved, Blank: A Vinylmation Love Story, It’s a Small World, Disney Animated, and Disney Infinity. Here is what you need to know:
Fantasia: Music Evolved
Fantasia: Music Evolved is a motion game for Xbox Kinect, created by Disney Interactive and Harmonix (their credits include Rock Band and Dance Central). In the game, players can perform and remix songs for their friends, and even create music of their own.
With the help of an expert game developer, Chris Nichols (Disney Interactive) and John Drake (Harmonix) showcased a magical, underwater environment called The Shoal, then demonstrated some song game play with “Bohemian Rhapsody”. We saw the process of creating a unique remix, and watched the demonstrator create her own guitar solo to go with the song. (She scored 370,580 points, by the way.)
We were also the first to see “Night on Bald Mountain” game play and a sneak peek at how the game’s classic music was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra. Just when we thought things were wrapping up, we were treated to a performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (Spring) by the Disney Chamber Ensemble. It was magical and maybe we teared up a little bit.
Blank: A Vinylmation Love Story
We feel happy and magical every time we see something from Blank, and this presentation was no exception. After seeing some beautiful concept art, we watched a sneak peek video, followed by a new trailer for the show. We have to mention the wonderful music that underscored both, written by Alfred Montejano.
If you want to see more of Blank and Bow’s adventures at the D23 Expo, check out the awesome Blank Tumblr.
It’s a Small World
It’s a Small World is an upcoming Disney Interactive short based on the Disneyland ride. The series follows a magical hot-air balloon as it befriends a group of kids and embarks on an unforgettable adventure across the globe. Today’s announcement was a crowd-pleaser: the It’s a Small World theme song was written by Disney Legend Richard Sherman. We even got to see an animatic of the intro paired with a video of Richard singing the song.
Disney Animated
We’ve already told you about our favorite features from the Disney Animated app, and the demo today touched on all of those and more. In the presentation, Theodore Gray (the founder of Touch Press, the app developer) walked the audience through the astonishing amount of content available in Disney Animated, much of which is usually under lock and key in the Disney archives.
The attendees got to see some beautiful content from the Character chapter of the app, as well as the Animation Workshop feature where users can animate Vanellope von Schweetz, using the same technology used to animate Wreck-It Ralph.
The color map (one screen showing a color bar of all 52 Disney animated classics) got a particularly great reaction from the crowd, which we loved, since that’s one of our favorite parts too.
Disney Infinity
John Blackburn (Avalanche Studios) and John Vignocchi (Disney Interactive) closed out the panel with Disney Infinity. They shared a bit of the game’s back story—they were inspired by the limitless imagination of Andy playing with his toys in Toy Story—and made some big announcements.
Announcement #1: The next Disney Infinity play set will be… Toy Story (in space)! Players can play as Buzz Lightyear, Woody, or Jessie as they embark on an adventure to a new planet with the aliens. We don’t know much else, but we did see an appearance by the Evil Emperor in the teaser video they showed.
Announcement #2: John and John (or John Squared, as we call them) created their very own (awesome) version of Disneyland in the Disney Infinity Toy Box. When the game comes out next week, their creation will be available for download.
Announcement #3: New characters coming to the game include Jack Skellington, Rapunzel (the first princess to be in the game), Wreck-It Ralph, Vanellope von Schweetz, Agent P, Phineas Flynn, and Anna and Elsa from Frozen.
We also learned about two upcoming Disney Infinity mobile apps: Action, a video app that allows users to insert Infinity characters into their own videos, and a tablet app that allows users to edit and interact with their Disney Infinity Toy Boxes on the go.
Next, they showed us the seven-minute intro to the game, in which the player begins as a spark of imagination and evolves into a translucent figure that transforms into Disney characters as it travels through different Disney worlds. The intro began and ended with Sorcerer Mickey, which brings us to the next big announcement… the Sorcerer Mickey character will be available for Disney Infinity in January! (Everyone got real pumped at this part, naturally.)
HOWEVER, those who attended the panel got their own Sorcerer Mickey figurine, so those lucky ducks will be able to play with it as soon as the game comes out next week. Boom.
For more on the D23 Expo, visit D23.com.
