The directors of the latest short from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Once Upon A Studio, have taken to social media to share a list of legendary animators who returned to the studio for its 100th anniversary to work on the fan-favorite celebratory short film.
What’s Happening:
- A new reel from Walt Disney Animation Studios on Instagram features the directing duo behind the studios’ 100th anniversary animated short, Once Upon A Studio, Trent Correy and Dan Abraham, sharing some of the animation legends that returned to work on the acclaimed short film.
- The video appears simple enough, with the two directors standing alongside a screen featuring the final image from the short. However, it’s what they have to say that is the true star of the reel.
- They both explain that a handful of legendary 2D animators who contributed their efforts to the studio have returned for the short, and they start name dropping significant players in the world of animation and who they animated in Once Upon A Studio including (but not limited to):
- Nik Ranieri – Hades, Kuzco
- Ruben Aquino – Ursula
- Tony Bancroft – Timon, Pumbaa
- James Baxter – Rafiki, Quasimodo, Belle, Beast (and apparently Bambi and his friends too!)
- Will Finn – Cogsworth, Iago
- Eric Goldberg – Genie
- Correy and Abraham appear very excited to be working with people they once looked up to before they even got to the studio, and continue to name drop other artists who worked on their very special short film.
- An all-star ensemble of beloved characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios come together in Once Upon a Studio for a joyful, entertaining and emotional reunion as they assemble for a spectacular group photo to mark Disney’s 100th anniversary.
- Featuring 543 characters from more than 85 Disney feature-length and short films, Once Upon a Studio welcomes heroes and villains, princes and princesses, sidekicks and sorcerers—in all-new hand-drawn and CG animation—to celebrate 10 decades of storytelling, artistry and technological achievements.
- Once Upon a Studio is directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy and produced by Yvett Merino and Bradford Simonsen. Our own Alex Reif took a few moments to talk with Dan and Trent, and you can read that here.
- The short originally debuted as part of the Annecy Festival in June, where it was also announced that the short will be attached with the upcoming film from the studio, Wish. You can read more about that original screening plus a review of the short, here.
- You can spot all the characters and the work of the animators mentioned in the video above by watching Once Upon A Studio now, which is available on Hulu, Disney+, and the Walt Disney Animation Studios YouTube account, conveniently embedded below.
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