Over-Analyzing a Lone Piece of Concept Art to Guess What to Expect in New 70th Anniversary World of Color Show

We’re only a few months away from the debut of a brand-new edition of World of Color at Disney California Adventure as part of the 70th anniversary celebration of Disneyland Park at the Disneyland Resort. This completely new show is actually one of the few entertainment offerings of the celebration that is brand new, and not returning entertainment, like the highly touted return of the evening spectacle, the Paint the Night parade at Disneyland Park.

This all-new “World of Color" show is inspired by Walt Disney’s words from the opening day park dedication from seven decades ago: “To all who come to this happy place… welcome!"

This nighttime spectacular will explore “happy" through a kaleidoscope of emotions, hosted by Joy and the other Emotions from the hit Pixar Animation Studios films, Inside Out" and Inside Out 2. Along the way, the Emotions manifest music and moments from favorite Walt Disney Animation Studios’ and Pixar Animation Studios’ stories, including Turning Red, Tangled, The Lion King and so many more. Even Disney’s cult-favorite become cultural phenomenon 30 years later - A Goofy Movie.

Disney California Adventure promises that “World of Color Happiness!" will transform Paradise Bay with a brilliant array of signature fountains, dynamic lighting, colorful lasers, fog and dramatic flame effects, painting musical memories with all the wonder that only “World of Color" can create. Outside of this, we don’t know a whole lot about what this show will entail,  what effects will be where, what scenes will be recreated on the water. Will this be narrative like the ill-fated 60th anniversary edition of the show? Or will it be an abstract spectacle more akin to the original World of Color?

We can get a bit of a hint just by looking at the lone piece of concept art teasing the new show, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do here.

Let’s dive into the individual aspects featured in the art. I originally approached the highly publicized term “all-new" with trepidation considering Elsa is prominently featured in the art. Dating back to Frozen’s debut, the film was a key portion in the original “World of Color - Winter Dreams" and “World of Color - Celebrate! The Wonderful World of Walt Disney" (The aforementioned 60th anniversary show). Both prominently featured a moment with “Let it Go" that was largely identical in both shows, making the term “all-new" quite irrelevant.

However – taking a closer look at Elsa -  this is presumably, in fact, “all-new." Why? This is not her original Frozen look, but rather her appearance in Frozen 2, namely during the song “Show Yourself." This could play spectacularly on the record-breaking water screens, especially if we see the moment that Elsa sees her mother once again. Upon Frozen 2’s arrival in theaters, I remember seeing this moment thinking of World of Color potential, just based on the scale and depth the film sequence portrayed. You have potential for lasers in the different elements and the multiplane effect with the memories and Elsa’s mom. Take a look for yourself.

Based on the art, there will also be not one, but two moments featuring a high-energy concert from a film product. Both come from climactic moments in their films, Turning Red and A Goofy Movie. The art signifies that the 4-TOWN concert that was practically destroyed by Mei’s mom in panda form in Turning Red will be featured, possibly with the heartfelt moment where not only Mei and her friends and aunts save her mother (with a little help from the film’s boy band).

And, depending on how the show is blocked, this could line up with another significant concert moment featuring Powerline and his dancers from A Goofy Movie, where the now-classic song “I2I" is performed. While not pictured in the art, this is also the moment where Goofy and Max dance together on stage, performing the fishing move-turned-dance craze, “The Perfect Cast" - both leading to potentially happy moments involving family.

More Vague are a number of other characters who appear on the art. Each with their own quirks and traits. We have Star from one of the latest films from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Wish. Is this referencing a sequence featuring Star alone, or just signifying that at some point characters and moments from that film will be featured. Star does not have a song or specific moment of their own, so this one is harder to pin down.

Interestingly, Rapunzel is also featured, and it looks to be a moment when she is quite happy (appropriate, right?) after finally leaving the tower - likely from the ?When Will My Life Begin?" reprise. This is in the similar vein to the Frozen/Elsa bit - we’ve seen Tangled many times before not only in World of Color but other nighttime spectaculars - but it’s typically the lantern sequence / “I See The Light" from that film. This film, represented in a whole new way will be refreshing, with the prevalence of the lanterns again and again in nighttime spectaculars at Disney Parks around the globe has arguably been overdone at this point. Even EPCOT’s “LuminoUS" features the song, with golden lights to represent the lanterns considering there are no projections in the show, and neighboring (relatively speaking) Magic Kingdom prominently features the song and moment in “Happily Ever After"

Encanto is no stranger to World of Color, with Mirabel being a prominent character in World of Color - ONE, the Disney100 edition of the show. This time, it seems like her sister Luisa is taking the watery stage and we will likely see the song “Surface Pressure." Where and how it fits into the show remains to be seen.

She does neighbor a villainous duo in the art however, and we don’t quite know the relation other than coincidental proximity (and another placement theory a bit further ahead). While we’re here, let’s take a look at those villains.

Scar made an appearance in the original World of Color, serving as a transition point from Villains into the Wildebeest Stampede that ushers in the romance segment and eventually the finale. It looks as though his role might be larger here based on his prominence in the art. Lurking behind him is Ursula, seeming to cast a spell near the lime green villain essence of the era that also surrounds Scar. Will this be a medley, or indication that multiple villains will be featured in the show?

But you might wonder what villain arcs might have to do with “Happiness" - the name of the show. Well, “Happy" means different things to different people or characters, with the show promising that we will experience “happy" through the myriad of emotions as in the Inside Out universe.

Take a look at that art again. Could the very placement of the characters hint at where they will be featured in the show?

Disgust and Envy are right under Powerline, the concert that Max lied and said he was going to just to look important to his crush, Roxanne, and becoming the ENVY of most of the school.

Mei (in panda form) is above Embarrassment, fitting since Mei was constantly EMBARRASSED by her mother in various circumstances throughout the film before she finally showed up at the concert to bring her home — in the most disastrous way.

Star and Rapunzel are square above Joy, fitting both characters quite appropriately, especially at that moment in Rapunzel’s story. Elsa is above and between Sadness and Anxiety, which is oddly appropriate for her character, and seeing her mother once again would be pretty happy too, right?

Ursula and Scar are pretty much right above Anger and Fear, appropriate since villains are typically angry and strike fear in the film’s hero in most cases, which is happiness in the eyes of those characters.

A little more confusing though, Luisa is above Ennui. Her song is more about feeling the pressure of serving the town as opposed to her boredom while doing so, so this could be where my theory comes to a halt. Unless Luisa just indicates Encanto being in the show as well - out of everything she is the one that doesn’t quite fit just based on the art. We’ll find out soon enough. And one thing is for sure, there doesn’t appear to be anything Disneyland-related in the show celebrating the 70th anniversary of the park.

World of Color - Happiness is set to debut on May 16, 2025, with performances continuing through summer 2026 as part of the Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration, which will honor seven decades of happiness with limited-time entertainment, colorful décor, food and beverages, collectible merchandise and much more. For more information or to book your celebratory visit, be sure to reach out to our friends at Mouse Fan Travel who can assist with all your 70th celebration needs.