We all know that Herculesbut Disney Cruise Line’s newest ship—the Disney Destiny—reigns the classic film and story in more ways than one. Disney has been staging theatrical versions of its animated films for years, but Hercules aboard Destiny is not just another musical and differs from recent adaptations.
One way is that it’s a showcase for some of the most advanced projection, tracking and lighting technologies currently used in live entertainment, and it also uses exoskeletons – more on those later, though. One moment in particular, during Meg’s “I Won’t Say (I’m In Love),” pushes that technology further than you’d ever expect in a cruise ship theater.
During the number, the five mice stand raised behind Meg, their white dresses wrapped in bold, animated streaks of light. In one of our exclusive images, the projection lands perfectly across their bodies and the pillars below them. Yet Meg, standing directly in the projection’s path, remains completely unaffected.
There is no spillage on her dress, no faint halo of color around her, nothing to suggest that a projector is shooting right past her torso. To the audience, it looks like Meg is being “cut out” of the projection in real time – something you’d expect to see in film VFX, not on a live performer in motion on a moving ship.
The Walt Disney Theater achieves this by using a combination of real-time LiDAR spatial tracking, multi-projector pixel masking and theatrical lighting. Cameras and sensors around the theater constantly generate a 3D model of the stage environment. As performers move, the system tracks them and feeds this data to the projectors at the back of the house.
It’s essentially direct occlusion masking, the same principle used in mixed reality scenes and virtual production, but done with theatrical projectors in front of an audience of hundreds. And yes, the theater’s lighting – which Disney specially built – helps the effect a lot.
Disney Live Entertainment Producer Arin Dale explained the basis of the effect: “We have cameras all around the Walt Disney Theater that allow us to project on the walls, but also on the scenic pieces. We have LiDAR technology… to really create that immersive environment and that really fun moment for our mice.”
Of course, an effect like this is only as good as the surfaces it hits. The mice were dressed in bright white fabric that reacts predictably to projected light.
Dale recalled how early on the team tested the concept: “Our video designer said, ‘Hey, I’ve got this idea.’ And the executives loved it. We tested it in LA… We were working on it and going, ‘Is this going to work?’ And it was like, ‘Yeah, that’s what we’re doing.'” She added that the very first test garments were “makeshift costumes that we cut by hand the night before.”
Destiny, like the other Wish-class ships before it, was built with this level of projection technology in mind. Walls suited to environmental projection, scrim-based illusions and dynamically mapped scenic elements have become signature tools of Disney Cruise Line’s latest productions.
Dale noted that “Moana was probably the first one we used [this technology] in a really significant way. And then I will say Herculeswe’ve taken it and bumped it up even more. You learn new things every time.”
It’s a perfect example of how we can blend technology and storytelling to bring joy and wonder to audiences.
Arin Dale, Disney Live Entertainment Producer
But the scene is not just a technical flex. It’s a narrative choice. The muses appear mythical and stylized, and their glowing projections make them larger than life. Meg remains grounded, literally outside the light of projection—a human unlike the goddesses who counsel her.
Dale said it best: “The scene adds a whole new layer of immersion … and gives us a way to tell Meg’s story that we’ve never tried before. It’s a perfect example of how we can blend technology and storytelling to bring joy and wonder to the audience.”
It also works because the production itself is so strong. Like the Haunted Mansion Parlor experience at Disney Treasure—and even the new Olaf robot that will soon roam the parks—the technology here elevates the immersion and complements the storytelling rather than competing with it.
Hercules on the Disney Destiny is a modern retelling that takes classic songs and spices them up with new arrangements, pacing and an amazing cast that brings Hercules, Meg, Phil, Hades, Pain and Panic to life in fresh, engaging and truly entertaining ways.
It made me want to watch the classic on Disney+, one of the best streaming services, again.
Beyond the effects themselves, the Walt Disney Theater feels closer to a modern Broadway house than a cruise ship venue. It is equipped with technology designed to immerse the audience in the orchestra or up on the balcony. The Dolby Atmos soundstage is superb, the projection system can stretch images beyond the stage and onto the surrounding walls, and the theatrical lighting and tracked projections create a surprisingly expansive canvas.
Hercules was a standout of the voyage – tightly paced, thoughtfully staged and supported by a cast that delivers sharp, coordinated movements even while performing on a ship that is always in motion.
Specifically with Meg’s “I Won’t Say (I’m In Love)”, this effect puts her in perspective with the Muses and adds immersion to the dialogue as she moves in front of them and eventually into the audience with a single spotlight – all while the Muses continue to embrace the projection mapped across the scenic elements.
And that’s exactly what the effect does. It disappears into the moment and supports the narrative while relying on a level of real-time technical precision rarely seen in live theatre. If this is where cruise ship entertainment is headed, the next era of stage technology will be far more ambitious – and far more seamless – than most audiences realize.
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