'Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along,' 'Awesome Planet' and 'Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360' all to open January 17 2020

Dec 04, 2019 in "O Canada!"

Forum Forums Tweet Share Tweet Share

Posted: Wednesday December 4, 2019 9:33pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Epcot will be debuting three all new films on the opening day of the 2020 Epcot International Festival of the Arts - January 17 2020.

Canada Far and Wide poster

“Awesome Planet” in The Land pavilion showcases the Earth’s beauty and diversity in a 10-minute film featuring spectacular imagery, in-theater effects and an original musical score from Academy Award-winning® composer Steven Price.

“Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along” in the France pavilion is directed and produced by Don Hahn, producer of the animated and live-action “Beauty and the Beast” films, and invites guests to participate in a twist on a tale as old as time. It also features narration from Angela Lansbury, who played Mrs. Potts in the original film. The new sing-along will run in rotation with “Impressions de France,” which will receive an upgrade to 4K projection.

Finally “Canada Far and Wide in Circle-Vision 360” in the Canada pavilion is an update to the previous “O Canada!” film with new scenes, a new musical score by Canadian composer Andrew Lockington and new narration by award-winning actors Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy.

Discuss on the Forums

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

DoleWhipDreaOct 31, 2021

The Mulan controversy is significant, especially for Disney - many government officials have been grilling Disney and specifically Chapek for their partnership with China. And that's ignoring the significant backlash they've gotten from the general public. I found this article from the LA Times helpful: How Disney’s ‘Mulan’ became one of 2020’s most controversial movies

EPCOT-O.G.Oct 28, 2021

I think you all need to look at the broader picture here. Iger was cultivating a relationship with the Chinese leadership for years for his crowning achievement, Shanghai Disneyland. Virtually every Disney product is produced in China. Their films and movies are heavily reliant on China's box office. Perhaps all the inward focus on decades-old films and attractions is out of shame due to the blind eye they're turning to atrocities they enable now.

lazyboy97oOct 28, 2021

I have not fallen for anything. You are the one who tried to downplay the issue by claiming it was just a matter of a single thanks to the local film board, which it was not. Now you are trying to spin your distortion as some sort of acknowledgement of a larger issue.

MisterPenguinOct 28, 2021

You keep downplaying the role of all China leadership as if the officials of that province and those governing institutions don't have the stamp of approval of the top leadership, as if those regions can act autonomously. You've pretty much fallen for the top leadership's plausible deniability gambit.

lazyboy97oOct 28, 2021

The issue wasn’t over thanking Tulou or Zhangye. It was over the multiple thanks (almost half) to Xinjiang including the Turpan Municipal Bureau of Public Safety. You keep trying to downplay this into a single innocuous credit for an uninvolved group and that is not the case.

CreathirOct 28, 2021

Quite obviously, there are larger issues at hand regarding cooperation with the PRC on Disney's part, but you have to admit there is something quite distasteful in thanking the specific region for filming in said region where active genocide is taking place and thanking the local government, which is specifically facilitating said genocide... But at least we got Mulan yo, right?

MisterPenguinOct 28, 2021

What if they filmed at some place "safe" in China and they simply thanked the Chinese government that gave the OK and visas to shoot there? The genocide and oppression is countenanced by the top level of the Chinese government. So, would that mean Disney is condoning genocide?

CreathirOct 28, 2021

I suppose this would have been like Disney thanking Germany for allowing them to film during the early 1940s in southwestern German occupied Poland. It’s just standard practice to thank them after all right?

riorizOct 28, 2021

Don't know much, but do know this ain't dead...could debut anytime during the 50th..even into 2023

lazyboy97oOct 25, 2021

It is not just a single matter of fact credit for a simple establishing shot. Of the 17 China Special Thanks credits, 8 (47%) of those credits are for Xinjiang or areas within and the only area to have a Burea of Public Security thanked. Xinjiang is the most thanked region and that includes an organization that is not a film board specifically connected to the ongoing atrocities. And if it was a single, inconsequential shot it easily could have been shot elsewhere.

castlecake2.0Oct 25, 2021

Exactly

doctornickOct 25, 2021

The China update is still in the Odyssey Epcot Experience preview though, right? That would seem to indicate it is still being planned, even if delayed.

ChrisFLOct 25, 2021

The China film was not only going to be an updated one but a seamless experience meaning they would overhaul the whole theater...I have a feeling that was probably cut out of the budget. There's MANY tricky things going on right now in regards to China in general, so I don't have any hopes for this one happening anytime soon