{"id":133471,"date":"2026-01-14T17:48:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T17:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/133471\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T17:48:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T17:48:07","slug":"disneyland-adds-john-williams-star-wars-score-to-galaxys-edge-pasadena-star-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/133471\/","title":{"rendered":"Disneyland adds John Williams\u2019 Star Wars score to Galaxy\u2019s Edge \u2013 Pasadena Star News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Star Wars fans will hear the iconic John Williams orchestral scores and themes playing as background music in Galaxy\u2019s Edge that have been missing since Black Spire Outpost opened at Disneyland in 2019.<\/p>\n

Movie soundtrack themes from the first six Star Wars films will play as background music in Galaxy\u2019s Edge at the Anaheim theme park starting on April 29 when Walt Disney Imagineering introduces new storylines in the themed land from the \u201cEmpire Strikes Back\u201d and \u201cReturn of the Jedi\u201d eras of the sweeping space opera.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe music is just an unbelievable addition,\u201d Imagineering Executive Vice President Asa Kalama said during a press briefing. \u201cThat iconic score, at least for me, immediately sends tingles and shivers through my skin. It really is going to help further ground and reinforce that notion that we\u2019ve stepped directly into the universe of Star Wars and really, truly feel like we\u2019re lost in this immersive, almost cinematic world.\u201d<\/p>\n

ALSO SEE: \u2018Disneyland Handcrafted\u2019 changes everything you think you know about Disneyland<\/a><\/p>\n

Disneyland visitors will hear the \u201cMain Title\u201d and \u201cForce Theme\u201d playing as they pass through the entry portals of Galaxy\u2019s Edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cHan Solo and the Princess,\u201d \u201cThe Desert and the Robot Auction,\u201d \u201cThe Emperor\u201d and \u201cLuke and Leia Theme\u201d will be heard throughout the Star Wars themed land.<\/p>\n

The infectious Benny Goodman-esque \u201cCantina Band #1\u201d by Figrin D\u2019an and the Modal Nodes will join the playlist inside Oga\u2019s Cantina.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a combination of new rearrangements of some of his classic work interwoven with new edits of some of his more iconic scores,\u201d Kalama said during the press briefing. \u201cSo this is all classic, original John Williams music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StarStar Wars composer John Williams received a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 2016. (Associated Press archives)<\/p>\n

Imagineering has been slowly introducing the classic Star Wars orchestral music into Galaxy\u2019s Edge at Disneyland after largely keeping the symphonic score out of the land since its inception.<\/p>\n

The \u201cFire of the Rising Moons<\/a>\u201d fireworks show in Star Wars: Galaxy\u2019s Edge featured projection effects and Williams\u2019 galactic soundtrack during the Season of the Force seasonal event starting in 2024.<\/p>\n

The 2025 Season of the Force event added the \u201cShadows of Memory: A Skywalker Saga<\/a>\u201d projection show in Star Wars: Galaxy\u2019s Edge paired with Williams\u2019 symphonic scores.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe \u201cShadows of Memory: A Skywalker Saga\u201d projection show in Star Wars: Galaxy\u2019s Edge at Disneyland. (Courtesy of Disneyland)<\/p>\n

Imagineering initially created an ambient soundscape for Galaxy\u2019s Edge in 2019 that was very different from the background music soundtracks heard in Fantasyland, Frontierland or any other themed land in Disneyland.<\/p>\n

Black Spire Outpost visitors heard in-universe music playing in the marketplace, rocketing spaceship sound effects and a droid DJ spinning alien cantina music \u2014 but not Williams\u2019 orchestral soundtrack \u2014 as they wandered through Black Spire Outpost.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in the story,\u201d Imagineering Portfolio Creative Executive Scott Trowbridge said in 2019. \u201cOrchestras don\u2019t just pop out of ferns. So there isn\u2019t really a background music track, but there is still music throughout the land.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FireworksFireworks explode over the Millennium Falcon at the Black Spire Outpost at Star Wars: Galaxy\u2019s Edge inside Disneyland. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register\/SCNG)<\/p>\n

The familiar Star Wars symphonic scores were reserved for soundtracks inside the two anchor attractions<\/a> and live shows in the land that were eventually cut from the budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis place is being occupied by real people \u2014 the people of Black Spire Outpost and the people that live on Batuu \u2014 and that doesn\u2019t have a soundtrack,\u201d Imagineering Executive Creative Director for Music Production John Dennis said in 2019.<\/p>\n

ALSO SEE: 3 unused Star Wars ride concepts dreamed up by Imagineering for Galaxy\u2019s Edge at Disneyland<\/a><\/p>\n

Now the Star Wars musical themes and motifs created by Williams that have been inseparably connected to the movies will be introduced throughout Galaxy\u2019s Edge as well.<\/p>\n

The Star Wars storyline expansion and Williams background music are only coming to the West Coast version of Galaxy\u2019s Edge at Disneyland. The Batuu East version of Galaxy\u2019s Edge at Disney\u2019s Hollywood Studios in Florida will maintain its current Star Wars experience, music and timeframe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Star Wars fans will hear the iconic John Williams orchestral scores and themes playing as background music in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":133472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[2223,163,165,164,7,2222,1341,611,420],"class_list":["post-133471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-amusement-parks","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-california","tag-disney-california-adventure","tag-disneyland","tag-orange-county","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}