Peter Pan Neverland

Universal Studios Japan | Osaka, Japan | 2006

Universal Studios Japan wanted to introduce the Japanese audience to the age old tale with a nightly production on their Lagoon.

What It Was

Universal Studios Japan wanted to introduce the Japanese audience to the age-old tale with a nightly production on their Lagoon. The 30-minute show was presented a Proscenium Theater style to one side of the Park with 3 major scenic islands representing Captain Hook’s Ship, Never-Never Land, and the Indian Village. A front apron was used for Peter’s House and transition scenes. Incredible technology allowed characters to be flown at 10 feet a second, 100 feet in the air between 2 towers spaced 400’ apart.

What We Did

The lighting design utilized existing 4kw NAT fixtures along with 10 followspots incorporated into hydraulic lifts. Custom lighting was built into the scenic islands including moving lights, LED spots, LED pixels, incandescent PARs and traditional footlights. A custom, Tinkerbell effect designed by Kevin “Fuzzy” Furry allowed the invisible character to be realized in light. 78 versions of “Tink” were developed from a spherical module that could be attached to the actor, placed in a lamp or jug. The battery powered, wireless module contained different color LED’s that had preprogrammed sequences activated via IR triggers from the lighting console.

Why It Worked

By utilizing existing fixtures mixed with custom integrated lighting the design for Peter Pan captured the flavor of the show beautifully and efficiently. The lighting had a magical quality that appeared to emanate from the sets and characters. By day the lighting disappeared from view so that the sets looked like giant props and not an empty stage.