stint designing puppets for The Lion King on Broadway .
To create a cohesive vision for a stage story that could condense a 100-minute film into 40 , composers chose to highlight a particular theme from the movie : that the ocean , while dangerous and unpredictable , is beautiful . Through instantly memorable songs , such as “ In The Big Blue World ,” “ Just Keep Swimming ,” and “ Go With the Flow ,” brought to life by dazzling puppetry against a magical backdrop , Robert and Kristen — who also voiced Marlin and Dory in the show ’ s soundtrack album — gave chorus to a sentiment that audiences could resonate with . And it ’ s that overarching ethos , that there ’ s beauty even in our lost moments , that set the tone for Disney ’ s first Finding Nemo musical — one that would sing at Animal Kingdom for 13 years , until its closure for the COVID-19 pandemic .
TO INFINITY AND BEYOND After Disney World inched back into reopening throughout the summer of 2020 , stage shows remained closed , due
largely to the extra logistics entailed by safety protocols and mask mandates . It wasn ’ t until 2021 that they began their returns to Disney World , including Festival of the Lion King on the other side of Animal Kingdom . Later that year , Disney announced a reimagining of the Finding Nemo musical , to coincide with The World ’ s Most Magical Celebration in 2022 . Finding Nemo marked its return in June of that year , renamed Finding Nemo : The Big Blue … and Beyond !, now shortened to a breezy 25 minutes .
But despite the abbreviated run time , the show has never felt bigger .
Finding Nemo : The Big Blue … and Beyond ! is a Broadway-caliber experience that employs a dizzying array of effects , technology , and theatrical wizardry . This includes more than 500 lighting instruments ( including 89 moving lights ), 10 projectors , more than a dozen bubble machines , three hazer machines , and a new Times Square-sized LED wall that blends with physical props , oceanic sound effects , and kaleidoscopic sea life — and a steady indoor temp of 68 degrees — to