The making of the emotional ‘Once Upon a Studio’ Disney short

Walt Disney Animation Studios aims to inspire nostalgia for its 100-year history and vast archive of characters when the new short “Once Upon a Studio” makes its broadcast debut on ABC on Oct. 15. Here’s how it all came together.

At the historic El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on Sept. 21, 2023, Disney held a press event to share details about its upcoming feature-length movie “Wish” and “Once Upon a Studio.” On hand to discuss “Once Upon a Studio” were directors/writers Dan Abraham and Trent Correy and producers Yvett Merino and Bradford Simonsen.

The short film, which combines live-action backgrounds and both 2D and 3D animation techniques, will be a walk down memory lane for Disney fans. Viewers will glimpse the hallowed hallways and gathering spaces of the real-life Walt Disney Animation Studios campus in Burbank, California, which is the setting for the animated story. In the short, 543 characters — heroes and villains alike — from more than 85 of Disney’s animated projects leap out of the artwork adorning the studio’s walls to gather for a group photo to commemorate The Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary. 

See the short that got a one-minute standing ovation at #DestinationD23.“Once Upon A Studio” premiers on ABC during “The Wonderful World of #Disney: Disney’s 100th Anniversary Celebration!” on Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. eastern. #OnceUponAStudio pic.twitter.com/5grvMzFY98

— Attractions Magazine (@Attractions) September 21, 2023

Inspiration and Pitch for ‘Once Upon a Studio‘

After co-directing the Disney+ original short “Once Upon a Snowman,” Abraham and Correy were searching for opportunities to collaborate on a new project for the studio. In 2021, with Disney’s 100-year anniversary on the horizon, the two spent around eight months secretly developing the concept for “Once Upon a Studio,” including sketches and storyboards for their eventual pitch to Jennifer Lee, Walt Disney Animation’s chief creative officer.

“I had an initial idea about Disneyland rides coming to life.” said Correy, “but, to Dan’s credit, he said why don’t we do that at the Studio. We both felt that this would be a great opportunity to celebrate not only all the features in our library, but also the artists, the musicians, the voice actors and the incredible legacy.”

To craft the story for “Once Upon a Studio,” there was no shortage of inspirational source material for the writer-directors. Along with Walt Disney Animation’s many cartoons and TV and streaming series, its past projects include 61 feature-length films, with the earliest, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” dating back to 1937. 

“We knew from the get-go we wanted to represent everything from ‘Snow White’ to the upcoming ‘Wish’ … so we had a lot to choose from,” said Correy.

“It was super fun being able to draw those characters and anything that we wanted,” gushed Abraham. “We began doing beat boards and sketches, and we would pitch to each other over Zoom. We came up with something we would like to see. Nobody knew we were doing this. Nobody was really asking for us to do this.” Correy chimed in, joking, “It could have been a waste of time.”

Even Lee hadn’t known Abraham and Correy were dreaming up a project of this scale. Based on the typical pitch experience, the two assumed Lee would listen to the idea and thank them, followed by weeks or months before they knew whether or not the pitch had succeeded.

However, when the three met for a video conference, and Abraham and Correy described the concept of “Once Upon a Studio” to Lee, they were taken aback by her immediate and heartfelt reaction. “We saw tears from Jen,” confessed Correy. “She said, ‘I don’t know how, but we need to make this.’ And we called each other right after. I mean, if we were in the same room, we would’ve chest-bumped, hugged, and cried together. We were so happy.” Added Abraham, “I will never forget that pitch. It meant the world to us.”

Lee confirmed her enthusiasm for the project. “When Dan and Trent pitched me the idea for ‘Once Upon a Studio,’ I couldn’t talk, I was just crying,” she confessed. “I have never had more confidence in something. It celebrates the most important thing, which is these characters and what they mean to all of us. Dan and Trent came up with something incredibly special, and we knew we wanted to make it from the very start.”

Reanimating Disney’s Beloved Characters

Though “Once Upon a Studio” is packed with familiar characters, from Mickey Mouse to Mirabel Madrigal, audiences may be surprised to learn that every bit of animation in the short is new, but still stays true to the characters’ original designs, whether hand-drawn or computer-generated (CG).

Though Disney has changed with the times and primarily relied on CG animation for its feature films for the past decade or so, “Once Upon a Studio” reflects the studio’s proud legacy of hand-drawn animation. Around 80 percent of the short’s animation was hand-drawn, with Disney veteran Eric Goldberg (“Pocahontas,” “Fantasia 2000”) overseeing the small group of artists who brought the hand-drawn characters back to life. The team of specialists included beloved Disney animators Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Alex Kuperschmidt, and Bert Klein, among others.

Additionally, five of Disney’s most esteemed animation alums accepted guest assignments to reanimate their famous hand-drawn characters for “Once Upon a Studio,” including James Baxter (Belle and the Beast, Quasimodo, Rafiki), Ruben Aquino (Ursula), Tony Bancroft (Timon and Pumbaa), Nik Ranieri (Hades, Kuzco, Meeko), and Will Finn (Iago, Cogsworth).

Overseeing the CG animation was Andrew Feliciano (“Raya and the Last Dragon,” “Strange World”), who worked with his team to incorporate the studio’s most recent animated characters into each scene. Sharp-eyed viewers may spot CG character cameos from 2000’s “Dinosaur” to 2021’s “Encanto,” and every film in between.

Some of the more obscure or lesser-known hand-drawn characters include Susie the little Blue Coupe, Pecos Bill, Bongo, Dodger, Gurgi, Ferdinand the Bull, Johnny Appleseed, Peter and the Wolf, Alice Blue Bonnet and Johnny Fedora, the Reluctant Dragon, Casey at the Bat, John Henry, and the Robin character from “Back to Neverland.” The latter character, voiced by Robin Williams and featured in a film that was part of the animation tour at Disney-MGM Studios, was a sentimental favorite for many on the animation team.

But integrating hand-drawn and CG animated characters into live-action film sequences was a herculean task, according to producer Bradford Simonsen. “In some cases, we had to scan the room and environment to collect digital data so that we could rebuild the room virtually,” he explained. “Because technology changes so rapidly, we also had to rebuild CG character models, from ‘Tangled’ backward to ‘Chicken Little,’ so they would work in our current pipeline. It’s like a car that’s been parked in the garage for 15 years, and you expect to drive it like it was brand new. This short provided opportunities for us to all learn and grow together and get to experience things that were new to most of us.”

Lee praised the efforts of Disney’s production and animation teams, who worked tirelessly to ready “Once Upon a Studio” for the company’s milestone year. “All of the artists working on the film, including some of our very best who came back just to work on their signature characters, did such an amazing job,” she raved. “We are all connected through these 100 years in ways that are very personal. These films and those characters belong to everyone, and it’s the most beautiful, positive, and collective ownership I can think of.”

Past and Present Voice Talent in ‘Once Upon a Studio‘

As anyone who pays attention to the entertainment industry knows, SAG-AFTRA, the union representing film actors, is on strike at press time. One of the contract bargaining points that led to the strike concerns studios using AI-generated characters in place of live actors, which could have devastating effects on performers’ livelihoods.

The same AI technology can be applied to voice acting, and has been used to both comedic and chilling effect in online sound clips and videos. So, did the filmmakers use AI-generated voices to replace the vocal talents of deceased actors whose characters appear in “Once Upon a Studio”? “There was no AI in the making of this short,” Correy stated firmly. “Never even considered,” added Simonsen.

One of the key moments in “Once Upon a Studio” involves Jiminy Cricket, the kindly conscience of the title character in “Pinocchio.” Jiminy’s original voice actor, Cliff Edwards, passed away in 1971, and Eddie Carroll, who voiced him after Edwards, passed away in 2010, so Disney’s sound team pulled Edwards’ original vocal performance from “Pinocchio” and polished the audio for use in the new short. 

In the case of other deceased actors who voiced beloved Disney characters appearing in “Once Upon a Studio,” the filmmakers similarly incorporated original vocal clips or cast soundalikes from their current pool of talent.

Disney Animation’s commitment to honoring the voice actors of their past projects shouldn’t be surprising, given the entire production team’s evident enthusiasm for the studio’s legacy, including the many performers who breathed life into their favorite stories. Whenever possible, Disney cast the character’s original voice actor to record dialogue for “Once Upon a Studio.” Before their recording session, each actor viewed a storyboard version of the film to understand the context of their role.

“Dan and I were such fanboys of all of the classic Disney animated characters, and we were especially geeking out to be working with some of our favorite princess voices,” Correy recalled. “In the first version of the storyboards, Ariel was just fixing her hair with a dinglehopper in the ladies’ room and didn’t have a line or singing part.” But Correy and Abraham agreed they shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to meet Ariel’s voice actor, Jodi Benson. “She’s so famous for that voice, so we wrote her into the song finale. She amazed us because she still sounded like she was 16 and easily slipped into character.”

Paige O’Hara, who voiced Belle in “Beauty and the Beast,” also chimes in during the “Once Upon a Studio” finale. “It was fun to watch her step into the booth,” Abraham said enthusiastically. “She was so excited to be voicing Belle again, and by the end of the session, she sounded like the Belle we all know from 30 years ago. We couldn’t have been happier with the way it turned out. When we showed her the finished film, she got very emotional watching it.”

Several actors from the “Frozen” films reprised their roles for “Once Upon a Studio,” including Kristen Bell, who played Anna. “She would give us the same line in so many different ways and was really having a great time,” shared Correy. Josh Gad, who voices the childlike and hilarious snowman Olaf, also reportedly had a blast during his recording session, lending his improvisational skills to a scene involving the Oscar-nominated song “Friend Like Me.” Additionally, Broadway icons Idina Menzel (Elsa) and Jonathan Groff (Kristoff) recorded cameos for the film.

Talented triple threat (actor/singer/dancer) Ariana DeBose voices the lead character in Disney Animation’s upcoming film “Wish,” Asha, also appears in “Once Upon a Studio.” “She came in and was rocking out to the storyboards,” Abraham revealed. “She was so animated and was rocking back and forth as she watched. She impressed us so much with her pipes when it came to singing. She gave us all chills during that recording session.”

Classic characters also got in on the action, including Goofy, voiced by Bill Farmer since 1987. “My biggest memory of working with Bill was when we recorded the moment where Goofy falls off the ladder, and he has to do the classic Goofy scream,” Abraham shared. “He warned us that it was going to be loud, and, by gosh, it was loud.”

When actors were unable to record their lines in the studio, Correy and Abraham turned to Zoom. One of the actors who recorded his “Once Upon a Studio” dialogue from home was Jeremy Irons, who played the villainous Scar in “The Lion King.” Irons reportedly maintained his signature cool exterior as he viewed the story reel, but he threw his whole body into his recording session, repeatedly knocking his headphones off his ears as he imagined Scar dodging Mr. Toad flying by on Aladdin’s magic carpet.

Additional actors who reprised their Disney roles for “Once Upon a Studio” included Nathan Lane (Pumbaa), Ginnifer Goodwin (Judy Hopps), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana), and Lea Salonga (Mulan), among many others. And no Disney animated cast would be complete without the company’s most enduring and recognizable characters, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, voiced by Chris Diamantopoulos and Kaitlyn Robrock.

“All of these wonderful voice talents are such superstars, and they were so earnest in wanting to deliver the best performance they could,” Abraham concluded. “The characters meant so much to them, and they all seemed to be thrilled to be a part of this 100-year celebration. We were certainly thrilled to have them in the film.”

Adding to the magic of the film is a newly recorded track of “Feed the Birds” by Disney Legend Richard Sherman, who, in 2022 at age 94, returned to Walt Disney’s office to play piano exclusively for this short.

“Once Upon a Studio” will make its broadcast debut on ABC’s “The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney’s 100th Anniversary Celebration!” tonight, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023.