Disneyland’s Newest Nighttime Show Completely Surprised Us

The Season of the Force Star Wars celebration has begun at Disneyland, and we were there on the first day when some brand new special offerings debuted, including a new nightly projection show in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

We had a feeling that this new show would be something special, but we were completely taken by surprise at just how incredible and creative it actually was. We actually think that Disney kind of undersold how amazing this would be! Keep reading for more details on this new show, including photos and why it's the top highlight of the celebration worth seeing…

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Disneyland's Impressive New Star Wars Show

The new nightly projection show in Galaxy's Edge is called “Shadows of Memory: A Skywalker Saga,” featuring projections on the spires of Batuu over the Millennium Falcon, a musical score of themes heard throughout the films of the Skywalker Saga, and special effects.

The show focuses on the story of Anakin, Luke, and Leia. It is narrated by Tohan Lege, the storyteller known as the Lore-weaver, through his droid Bard. This is the same narrator featured in the fireworks show Fire of the Rising Moons.

The show is a retelling of the story of the Skywalkers in the prequels and original films. It begins with a retelling of Anakin's life and fall to the dark side and tells the story of Luke and Leia growing up to become great leaders in the rebellion. They did a great job hitting all of the highlights with a particular emphasis on Anakin and his transformation into Darth Vader.

Perhaps my favorite moment from the show, and the one that Disney highlighted in the concept artwork, was this beautiful moment between Anakin and Padme. I heard many people watching the show audibly gasp at how stunning this was. 

Another highlight was, of course, the epic fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan on Mustafar. The lava effects here were truly brilliant.

The creativity of the projections was really a highlight. All of the different projection “scenes” really worked harmoniously with the rockwork of the spires. This wasn't just a projection show that happened to be on the spires—the spires were really an integral part of the storytelling, representing different natural scenery from across the Star Wars universe. They turned into rocks with streams of lava, beautiful lush mountains, cliffs of ice, and more throughout the course of the show.

There were also some cool moments featuring rocks crumbling from the spires and lightning effects. I particularly loved this moment portraying Leia's silhouette formed out of glowing purple lights.

The quality of the projections in general was incredible. Many of the scenes included some very intentional and evocative color combinations, especially in the moment you see below. This, combined with special smoke effects, just made the whole experience absolutely mesmerizing. If you're impressed by the pictures here, just know that all of it is even more spectacular in person.

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We had the opportunity to speak with Michael Serna, Executive Creative Director of Disney Live Entertainment, and Matt Martin, Senior Creative Executive of Lucasfilm, about the new projection show as part of a media event on the first day of the celebration.

Martin shared, “I'd love to have fans kind of come away with a sense of hope. The Skywalker saga in general is a story of hope, and I feel like the way that this brings it through, it's sort of this mythical storytelling way. Hopefully it really reinvigorates the spirit in, you know, this time where I think a lot of people kind of feel that they need it. So I hope it brings that sense of hope and real emotional resonance.”

We agree that this show has accomplished that goal. During the last few moments of the show, seen below, I definitely teared up a bit. This is such a spectacular new offering that honors the Star Wars characters, locations, and stories that we don't often see in this land that has such a heavy emphasis on the sequel films.

One of our biggest critiques of Galaxy's Edge is that it has adhered to a rigid timeline that limits representation of the prequels and original films, which is something that fans really want. We think this show is a smart and artful way to bring those stories into the land. We really hope they keep this show beyond the celebration.

Many fans have expressed their excitement over this new show, as you can see in our Instagram video sharing some of the highlights below.

 

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A post shared by Disneyland & Walt Disney World| Mickey Visit 🚂🏰 (@mickeyvisit)

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