ABC News posted a 45-second promotional spot this week for “Disney Celebrates America 250,” Disney’s 24-hour July 4th live broadcast, and Disney Parks fans immediately noticed the soundtrack. The score playing underneath is from IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, the beloved EPCOT nighttime spectacular that closed in 2019 after a 20-year run.
ABC Is Using the IllumiNations Score to Promote Disney’s America 250 Coverage
IN THIS ARTICLE
- What the ABC promo features
- The IllumiNations score’s long history with ABC
- What “Disney Celebrates America 250” is
- When and where to watch
THE PROMO
The spot, posted by ABC News on YouTube, promotes the upcoming 24-hour non-stop live event. In the background is the unmistakable orchestral swell of composer Gavin Greenaway’s IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth score, which plays throughout. Imagery of American cities appears on screen alongside text reading “LIVE FROM ALL 50 STATES.”
“Disney Celebrates America” is a 24-hour, multi-platform broadcast highlighting America’s 250th anniversary events nationwide. The coverage spans Disney’s linear networks and streaming platforms. This includes Disney+, Hulu, ABC, Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic. It ends with a special evening fireworks broadcast from Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort.
David Muir, anchor and managing editor of “World News Tonight with David Muir,” leads the daylong coverage. He is joined by ABC News anchors and correspondents, ESPN commentators, and National Geographic Explorers reporting from across the country. Together, they spotlight top entertainers, athletes, explorers, and historians, all coming together to celebrate the wonder, achievements, and dreams that define the American spirit.
WE GO ON, AND ON, AND ON, AND ON
Before anyone gets too excited about a possible IllumiNations return, it’s worth noting that Greenaway’s score has a long and well-documented history of use beyond EPCOT’s World Showcase Lagoon. In fact, its use here by ABC is particularly fitting because ABC has leaned on this music before.
The score was first used by ABC for their 25-hour Millennium broadcast, ABC 2000 Today, which followed the New Year around the globe on December 31, 1999, and January 1, 2000. That broadcast also included footage of IllumiNations itself. ABC came back to the music again for their New Year’s program ABC 2002. They then used a version of the theme for televised coverage of both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. The network also used the music during coverage of Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration on January 20, 2009.
But ABC isn’t the only one who has found uses for the iconic score. The score has turned up in some unexpected places over the years. Perhaps the most widespread use of the score could be found in most US airports, embedded in a Customs and Border Protection welcome video called “Welcome: Portraits of America”, produced by Disney.
The point is that Greenaway’s IllumiNations score has spent 25 years being one of the most flexible and emotionally resonant pieces of music Disney has ever commissioned. Its use in the America 250 promo says something about the quality of the composition, not about a return of the show that made it famous.
We would not be surprised to see the song used throughout the broadcast.
THE COMPOSER
Gavin Greenaway is a British Emmy Award-winning composer and conductor. He wrote the full score for IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth, including the show’s signature songs “We Go On” and “Promise,” both performed by vocalist Kellie Coffey. The main score, entitled “Reflections of Earth,” was recorded at Abbey Road Studios.
IllumiNations ran at EPCOT from 1999 through September 30, 2019, closing to make way for Epcot Forever, and later Harmonious, and eventually today’s Luminous: The Symphony of Us.
DISNEY CELEBRATES AMERICA 250
The broadcast itself is part of a larger Disney Celebrates America initiative announced in October 2025. The effort spans every corner of the Disney portfolio, starting on Veterans Day 2025 and culminating on July 4, 2026.
The July 4th broadcast will run 24 hours across Disney+, Hulu, ABC, ESPN, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic. David Muir will lead the coverage. He will be joined by ABC News anchors, ESPN commentators, and National Geographic Explorers reporting from across the country. The day ends with a live fireworks broadcast from both Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort.
As we’ve covered, Soarin’ Across America is now open at EPCOT for a limited run tied to the anniversary. Additionally, Disney has been running special America 250 offerings for military families throughout 2026.
The music may not be a signal of anything coming back. But it is a reminder of just how enduring Greenaway’s IllumiNations score has become, and why Disney keeps reaching for it when the moment calls for something that feels genuinely epic.
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