A new short celebrating Disney’s 100th anniversary debuted during the opening of the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The short, which will be released in front of Disney’s upcoming animated feature Wish, is a celebration of Disney animation past and present. The short is directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy, the duo behind Once Upon a Snowman.
In Once Upon a Short, Disney Legend Burny Mattinson is showing a new recruit around and comments, “Boy, if these walls could talk.” Mattinson died in February and worked for Disney for 70 years, which was longer than Disney was alive director Trent Correy noted. After Mattinson and the recruit leave, the walls do indeed come to life as Mickey and Minnie hop out of photos and start bringing other characters to life that range from Princess Tiana to Peter Pan and Wendy, Moana, Maui, Merlin, Elsa Goofy, Winnie the Pooh and even Zootopia’s Flash Slothmore. These were just some of the 400 characters included in this nine-minute short.
To bring this short to life, Disney brought back over 40 original voice actors to bring the characters to life vocally. One of the voices that will be heard when fans see Once Upon a Studio will be that of Robin Williams as the Genie. This was done using dialogue that has previously not been heard by audiences. The Genie will be seen alongside Olaf, which actor Josh Gad was ecstatic about. Gad shared on social media saying, “So excited to finally have the world see what the @DisneyAnimation has created to celebrate the incredible 100 year legacy of the studio. I nearly cried when I was told Olaf would appear alongside the Genie, utilizing previously unheard audio from my idol #RobinWilliams”
Speaking of the Genie, Disney also utilized the incredible talents of Eric Goldberg, the original lead animator of Genie in Disney’s Aladdin. Goldberg headed up the hand-drawn animation for the short. On the CG side of things, Raya and the Last Dragon supervising animator Andrew Feliciano was brought in. This is a short that utilizes 100% brand-new animation throughout the course of the short.
“This is a love letter to the medium, to Disney animation, and really a thank you to anyone in the audience that’s ever connected with a film over the last hundred years,” said director Dan Abraham.
The short has been described as Night at the Museum meets Walt Disney Animation Studios. It continues the tradition of combining live-action and animation that goes back to the days when Walt Disney was innovating new techniques in movie making for films like Mary Poppins. Now, decades later, innovation continues as live-action, traditional animation, and CG animation come together to tell a new story that celebrates a legacy that now stretches back a century.
Once Upon a Studio is set to be released with Disney’s upcoming animated feature Wish on November 22, 2023.
Are you excited to see Once Upon a Studio in theaters later this year? What character are you most hoping to see in the short? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
