Three new songs from Walt Disney Animation Studios will debut in American Sign Language on April 27th on Disney+. This comes in celebration of National Deaf History Month. These three animated musical sequences were directed by veteran Disney animator/director Hyrum Osmond. Osmond, along with producers Heather Blodget and Christina Chen, worked in collaboration with DJ Kurs (artistic director) and the team at Los Angeles’ Tony Award-winning Deaf West Theatre to create the new versions of beloved songs. The songs are:
- The Next Right Thing – Frozen 2
- We Don’t Talk About Bruno – Encanto
- Beyond – Moana 2
These three songs will be accompanied by a behind-the-scenes featurette that will show the collaboration that made these reimagined songs possible.
This new project came to be with Osmond leading a team of 20 animators. They worked with a sign language reference that was made for Disney Animation Songs in Sign Language. DJ Kurs, the artistic director for Deaf West Theatre, worked with sign language reference choreographer Catalene Sacchetti, along with a group of eight performers from Deaf West Theatre. Together, they carefully reimagined and choreographed the lyrics for these songs into ASL. They focused on concepts and emotions rather than a word-for-word description.
Osmond explains, “In the majority of cases, we created entirely new animation. There were a lot of adjustments that we had to do within the animation to be true to the original intention.”
This is a very personal project for Osmond, whose father is deaf. He shared a couple of reasons that he wanted to do this project: “One, sign language is one of the most beautiful ways of communication on Earth. If ever there was a medium to showcase sign language, it was animation. The other big reason for doing this project is to connect with the Deaf community. Growing up, I never learned sign language, and that barrier prevented me from really connecting with my dad. This reimagining of Disney Animation musical numbers helps bring down barriers and allows us to connect in a special way with our audiences in the Deaf community. I’m grateful that the Studio got behind making something so impactful.”
Kurs says, “When Hyrum approached me with a potential collaboration involving the integration of ASL into the fabric of Disney storytelling, it was an immediate ‘yes’ for us. Disney stories are the universal language of childhood. The chance to bring our language into that world was a historic opportunity to reach a global audience. Working on this project was very emotional. For so long, we have known and loved the artistic medium of Disney Animation. Here, the art form was adapting to us. I hope this unlocks possibilities in the minds and hearts of Deaf children, and that this all leads to more down the road.”
What do you think of Songs in Sign Language? Are you excited to see this when it arrives on Disney+? Which song are you most excited about? What other songs would you like to see them do? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
