Disney+ is bringing back ABC fantasy competition reality series The Quest with the exec producers of Queer Eye, The Amazing Race and The Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
The series is one of a number of projects unveiled by the streaming service at the Realscreen conference in New Orleans.
The Quest, which ran for one season on ABC in 2014, will now feature teen contestants and will feature more interactive elements. The series, which will once again be film at a castle outside of Vienna, Austria, is set in the fantasy world of Everealm. The contestants will encounter mystical beings and magical encounters and will be embedded in an immersive, 360-degree world complete with seamless technology, creature design, practical effects and scripted characters who interact dynamically with them as they take on a number of fantasy-themed challenges.
The series is executive produced by Court Five’s Mark Ordesky (The Lord of the Rings) and Jane Fleming, David Collins, Michael Williams, Rob Eric from Queer Eye producer Scout Productions and The Amazing Race co-creators Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri, who run New Media Collective with Mark Dziak.
Rob Eric, Chief Creative Officer at Scout Productions, said, “The Quest is a truly unique unscripted show as it takes contestants into a fully immersive world of magic and fantasy. There is no better partner than Disney+ for this type of enchanted storytelling.”
Elsewhere, the SVOD service has ordered adventure competition The Maze, also from van Munster, Doganieri and Dziak. The series takes five teams consisting of one adult and one teen relative on a journey to solve riddles and decipher clues that will guide them through European cities and fairytale villages. In each episode the characters will reveal information to participants pushing them onward and closer to their final destination where all contestants will convene, but only one team will solve the Maze.
In the documentary space, Disney+ has commissioned an untitled Pixar series from Chef’s Table producer Supper Club. The series will follow Pixar’s SparkShorts program, which offers a select group of Pixar employees the opportunity to make their own animated short film. Brian McGinn, Jason Sterman and David Gelb executive produce.
Finally, National Geographic’s Meet the Chimps takes viewers into the secret life of one of the largest and most unique wildlife sanctuaries in the world, Chimp Haven, a 200-acre refuge tucked deep in the forested heart of Louisiana, which is home to more than 300 chimpanzees. This six-part series tracks the ups and downs of this extraordinary group of chimps that are given a second chance at life. Meet the Chimps is produced by Meet the Penguins and Meet the Orangutans producer Blink Films with Justine Kershaw and Michael Welsh serving as executive producers, and Virginia Quinn as series director.
“These projects take people on epic adventures, immerse them in fantastical worlds and shine a light on extraordinary people and creatures, which are all important benchmarks of our Disney+ nonfiction content philosophy,” said Agnes Chu, senior vice president, Content, Disney+. “We are thrilled that we get to bring the groundbreaking The Quest back to life, and can’t wait for people to discover The Maze, our special subjects in Meet the Chimps and the innovation and wonder of making Pixar’s Sparkshorts.”
Must Read Stories
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.