The grand opening of Stitch Live! today marks the latest step in a worldwide programme to bring these so called “Living Character” experiences to every Disney resort. Combining state-of-the-art animation technology with the unpredictability of the park guests, they create entertaining and truly immersive experiences where you can interact live with famous characters from the Disney universe.

For Walt Disney Studios Park, Stitch Live! replaces the former Television Production Tour attraction inside the Walt Disney Television Studios building, beaming live from outer space via satellite to bring another brand new experience — completely unique in Europe — to the second gate.

Part of the Imagineering team behind all this technology and magic was Laurent Cayuela, highly-respected Imagineer for the Parisian resort and all-round Walt Disney Studios Park expert. Jérémie Noyer talks to Laurent about the history and creation of the attraction and how guests can now truly meet, greet and interact with one of their favourite animated heroes…

You seem very enthusiastic about Stitch Live!

Oh, yes! I guess it’s becoming one of my favourite attractions!

Coming from a specialist like you, that needs an explanation!

In fact, when you’re thinking about Disneyland, you’re thinking about meeting characters, be it during the parades, the meet-and-greets or in the attractions. As for myself, I’ve always kept the child within and it’s always been kind of a frustration to me that the characters you meet in the parks are not exactly the same as in the animated films. They come into real life but we can’t actually go into their world.

In Stitch Live!, you’re gonna be in front of a screen and it’s the real character from the animated classic who’s talking with you! For me, here lies the true magic since it’s the true Stitch who’s in front of you, the Stitch that’s inside the TV, and the TV interacts! That’s amazing! And, even though there are some things that have to be done at the beginning and at the end of each show, the interactions are completely different according to the audience’s reaction.

That’s why you can do this attraction again and again: each time it’s different; each time the interactions are different, depending on the people that are in the room. That’s why I think it’s one of the attractions people are going to want to do again and again.

When Stitch talks to someone in the audience, it might be a little “uncomfortable” for the person at first, yet it creates unique moments. At one point in the show, the computer says that we’re all going to perish and one day, I saw a little girl in the first row who ran back to her parents sitting behind and I said to myself she was just like me, totally into that story! She really believed it!

I did that attraction for the first time two years ago. It was in Hong Kong Disneyland. Of course, it was in Chinese, I didn’t understand a word but despite that, I was amazed and I really enjoyed it! That’s why I think that our Spanish, or Italian, or other guests maybe won’t understand everything, but Stitch is so expressive that I’m sure they’ll enjoy the experience.

Just think about it: you’re gonna meet the real Stitch! That’s why, for me, the attraction is truly fantastic!

You were talking about Hong Kong Disneyland, where Stitch appears in Tomorrowland. Here, we are at the Walt Disney Studios. How does he find his place within this new setting, this new story?

In our story, it’s Disney Channel that opens their studios to present their very latest development in satellite broadcast technology. But suddenly, there’s a problem — because of a little, blue alien!

Something fun about it is that, in Sci-fi movies, we’re told that the more remote we are from the origin of the signal, the more there is a delay in the transmission. And yet, we have such an avant garde technology that there is no delay. Stitch talks with us from the other side of the galaxy and yet he reacts immediately!

Can you tell me about the collaboration between Walt Disney Animation Studios, where Lilo & Stitch was originally created, and Walt Disney Imagineering?

Indeed, the animation of Stitch comes from the Walt Disney Animation Studios. We also have a specific production company called Theme Park Productions that dealt with the backgrounds and all that kind of things. Remember, when we developed the animation of the characters in Crush’s Coaster, it was Pixar that took care of that. So, we always come back to the originals!

Whereabouts is Stitch Live! placed within the Lilo & Stitch saga?

Of course, Stitch Live! comes after the classic film and before Leroy & Stitch since Stitch is still chased by Gantu. So, somewhere within the animated Disney Channel series.

In the architectural spirit of Production Courtyard, the exterior look of Stitch Live! remains very “Art Deco”. But how did that style meet the futuristic design of Stitch’s universe?

Indeed, we kept with the Art Deco exterior with light colors, and when you enter the building, you see the big geometric shapes characteristic of that style, but a little darker, with futuristic furniture and screens. In a way, the feeling is close to the one of Discoveryland with the idea of designing a future that will never be. We’re not in an animated film but in an environment derived from an animated film. In that vein, color is very important.

That’s the reason why, for example, on the sides of the main screen, you can see dials that change color according to Stitch’s mood and according to the effects: blue for Stitch, red for danger, etc… It’s a whole wall that’s “animated” that way in conjunction with Stitch. The shapes remain very straightforward, very pure, like in Art Deco, but with more futuristic materials.

That way, Stitch Live! naturally found its place within this new setting of Production Courtyard.

Absolutely. Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street are part of Production Courtyard along with the Tower of Terror and the new version of Terrasse Perrier. In fact, when you’re at Disney Bros. Plaza, you have one side that remains traditional Art Deco and then all that was added with the Tower and Hollywood Boulevard is in a rather Pueblo Deco fashion.

We kept with Art Deco, yet in a more Californian way. So, the overall style is Art Deco but the Streamline Moderne style is only represented on two or three buildings, now. We added to it something richer, more decorated. It’s a big move and a great move, I think. But, you know, at the very beginning, Stitch’s attraction was not intended to be that big.

How’s that?

In fact, Stitch Live! was developed by the same team from Walt Disney Imagineering R&D department and by the same show producers who created Turtle Talk With Crush for Epcot and Disney’s California Adventure, and Stitch Encounter for Hong Kong Disneyland. Originally, it was only about meeting Stitch in a kind of little hawaiian house, with an interaction limited to a family of four. Tests were done in that frame and considering the unexpected popularity of the story and of the character, they decided to give the attraction a greater development. And that’s how both versions of the attraction were created, one for Hong Kong and one for Paris.

How did you choose to invite Stitch to France rather than Crush, whose coaster enjoys a huge success at Toon Studio.

For a multi-language audience like ours, Stitch had a physical language through animation that seemed much easier to understand than Crush’s, which makes the connection with the audience faster. Stitch is irresistible!

For the opening, there will be two versions of the show, in English and in French.

Yes. For the scripted dialogues, we stayed as close as possible to the style and the expression of the animated classic, and then we developed it for the interaction moments.

We’ve also heard about a Spanish version.

I’ve heard about that, too. For the moment, only the two versions I mentioned are operational. Nothing more is scheduled. That said, there’s always the possibility. It’s a question that has more to do with DLRP “operational” department than WDI!

The Walt Disney Studios is the only park in the world to offer an attraction like the Walt Disney Television Studios, with the idea of allowing guests to discover this world from behind the scenes. But it’s such a delicate concept that Stitch Live! is in fact the third version of this attraction. Can you tell me how you progressively built the specific identity of this place?

You’re right when you say that our park is unique, even regarding the Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida, and the way European guests see this world is far more distant than the Americans.

So, at the opening of the Walt Disney Studios, we started, maybe, with a concept that was too realistic with that visit to the Disney Channel studios and seeing a true soundstage, when they were shooting the daily French Disney Channel hit program, Zapping Zone. But the specificity of our park as a ‘Studio’ has become an advantage since it allows us to enrich the experience by exploring many different, new ways of approaching television production and filmmaking. With something too formal, too realistic and too technical, we couldn’t keep the attention of our guests.

That’s why Stitch Live! is perfect because there’s a lot of technology in this attraction, but it’s used to help tell a story and not to describe and teach things. This way, our guests leave the Walt Disney Studios with something unique: they’ve been in real television studios and they experience an extraordinary adventure with Stitch as well.

It’s that kind of moment that they’ll keep forever!…

With thanks to Laurent Cayuela.