A conversation with Chris Bailey!

 Hello everyone! I recently had the amazing opportunity to speak with Chris Bailey about his involvement with World Chorus! I made sure to be very respectful and basically asked him everything I could think of, so these are the questions and answers! We also chatted a little about my childhood memories very briefly, but the main stuff is here.

To be courteous to him and his privacy, I request that none of you try to message him any further. I’ve found out everything I can and I do not wish to bother him. We can deduce a lot of information from these messages, and I don’t want to disrespect or irritate someone because of a silly children’s attraction from 1992. Thank you!


  1. Question: What involvement exactly did you have with the project? Is there any behind the scenes information you can share?


Answer: I directed the animation on the show. The concept was largely in place, to have animated characters from around the world interact with each other using tech from France Telecom. What I did was help cement the exact actions for each window that ended with the characters singing in sync with the room’s soundtrack.


  1. Question: Is there anything you can tell me in particular about the animations? I know there were at least 15, so if you can recall any particular cycles or characters, these would be greatly appreciated. (A few have been lost to time for example and I don’t have access to them all)


Answer: Many of the animated scenes had characters dealing with their pets, ie, girl feeds her cat remotely etc…The bullfighter was waiting for the bull who overslept. At first, France Telecom was not happy and responded, “France Telecom does not communicate with animals.” But Disney convinced them that Disney humans do indeed communicate with animals, it was on point with the overall theme of Disneyland and they relaxed and it was OK.

  • He went into further detail about this bullfighter animation, explaining it wasn’t an actual bullfight but “just an angry little matador waiting for his bull outside the arena. Hah.”


  1. Question: Do you have any interesting facts about the development or history of the attraction as the director that you could share?


Answer: It was a fun show to do and the reviews and reaction of the crowd afterwards were very rewarding. It was almost like the post show commercial was an attraction unto itself. Dust was an issue at the beginning. The park was still under construction and dust would get inside the little 3D sets and on the inside of the glass making it almost impossible to see some of the animation. There was no way for the cleaning crew to clean them, they had to be taken apart and cleaned from the inside.

The Pepper’s Ghost effect was interesting to deal with. The sets were 12 X 12 as I remember. The brighter the color, the more opaque the character would be, so even the dark haired characters and costumes had to be brightened up or they would be transparent and ghost-like


  1. Question: In terms of the actual Pavillion, do you have any information concerning the physical components of the building, such as the construction of the landmarks or the small animatronic conductor doll present in the center?


Answer: This was all WDI (I was on land from Feature Animation). They had the whole thing planned and handed to me what buildings would go where. I had some input on the interior sets since that’s where the animated characters lived.


  1. Question: Would you happen to know what happened to the original components of the Pavillion after it closed and was replaced by the meet and greet area?


Answer:  No idea.


  1. Question: If possible, are there any old photos, videos or other forms of media you possess and would be open to sharing?


Answer: I’m sorry, I don’t believe I have anything to share from that time, art, photos, etc…I have a thank you letter from Michael Eisner and review article somewhere, but I’m not sure where to find it. 


  1. Question: (This one might be an unknown), I’ve seen on an archival video that there were 16 windows total in the attraction, and at least 1 Disc of animation. Do you know how many discs there were total, and if the 16 windows were solely animation or instead other features, as only 15 animations have been accounted for in the attraction that I have found?


Answer: Again, sorry. I didn’t deal with any of that. I directed the animation and the producer took care of the deliverables.


From these details, we can deduce a few things!


  • The lost animation we do not have access to is depicting a little matador and a sleepy bull, which is an adorable image

  • The insides of the building were likely hollow to allow the cleaning team to work, which we theorised on a previous post about the buildings!

  • The colour theory parts are interesting too, as it’s true that in person, the characters look far brighter than on the disc from Technology for Storytelling, where they look more dull, though using primary colours to help them stand out.

  • It’s intriguing to hear that France Telecom and Disney had small disagreements from the outset. I wonder if this is why sponsorship eventually fell through and they didn’t want to renew it? However, there is also the point that someone previously mentioned that France Telecom had considered updating the post show with the concept of ‘magic mirrors’, though this was abandoned due to the cost. It seems there were mutual moments of dissatisfaction on both sides, perhaps.

  • The sets measured 12 x 12. I’m not too good with numerics or measurements but this image somewhat illustrates the dimensions. They’re a lot bigger than they look, but they were very, very detailed!



Some bonus sourced images

I want to give my sincere thanks to Mr Bailey for giving me such a wonderful opportunity to speak to him. Though it may sound silly, this project he directed has really changed my life, and it still means everything to me. I was so lucky to visit it between ages 4 and 6 and it left such an impact, to the point that I’ve now made my own characters and stories based on it, along with countless arts. I’m so grateful for how many people support me and this blog, despite me just being an anonymous young person with a passion for theme parks, and I’m honestly so blown away by how much I’ve been able to accomplish. As they say in World of Colour: ONE, an ocean’s just a drop when it begins, but someone has to start it <3

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