‘Once Upon a Studio’: 100 years of your Disney favorites assemble for an Oscar quest

Disney is turning 100 this year, so what better way to celebrate the studio’s undeniable impact on the magic and artistry of animation than its acclaimed new short film “Once Upon a Studio,” an emotional reunion of hundreds of beloved Disney animated favorites coming together for the first time. It’s very possible the movie will join the ranks of past Oscar-nominated Disney classics as a likely Oscar contender next year and possibly Disney’s next short film winner after “Bao” won back in 2019.

In “Once Upon a Studio,” an all-star ensemble of characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios reunite to pose for a group photo in front of the legendary Roy E. Disney Animation Building on the Disney Studio Lot in Burbank, CA. Written and directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy and produced by Yvett Merino and Bradford Simonsen, the 12-minute short commemorates Disney’s 100th anniversary, featuring 543 characters from more than 85 feature-length and short films, bringing together heroes, villains, princes, princesses, sidekicks, sorcerers, aliens and monsters, in all-new hand-drawn and CG animation, celebrating 100 years of storytelling in a truly joyful and emotional reunion of classic characters and fan favorites.

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The glorious walk down memory lane had its world premiere at the Annecy Film Festival in June and made its broadcast debut on October 15 as part of ABC’s “The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney’s 100th Anniversary Celebration!” Disney campaigners have high hopes that the short might score an Oscar nomination in the Best Animated Short Film category, having given “Once Upon a Studio” an Oscar-qualifying run in September during a special “Decades of Disney” week-long event at the El Capitan in Hollywood.

The filmmakers were steadfast in approaching the film as an entirely new film. All of the animation is brand new, staying true to each characters’ original hand-drawn or computer-generated designs, with numerous Disney alum animators returning to the fold to lend their artistry to the project. Remarkably, the film meticulously recreates each character’s dialogue with a combination of inviting each living original voice actor to record new dialogue, or where voice actors have passed away, either casting new voice actors or (where possible) incorporating vocal clips recorded by the original actors over the years that were then polished in post-production.

Disney has won a staggering 140 Academy Awards over the years, with 32 won by Walt Disney personally, a record that nobody is even close to matching. The first Oscar ever bestowed on a Disney production was for the animated short film “Flowers and Trees” (1931-32), and the last (to date) were at this year’s Oscars, where “Avatar: The Way of Water” won Best Visual Effects and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” won Best Costume Design. Perhaps not surprisingly, Disney has been most dominant in the two animated categories. Since the inception of Best Animated Feature in 2002, of the 21 winning films, 15 have been from Disney. In Best Animated Short Film, the studio has garnered an impressive 50 nominations and 15 wins. Count on “Once Upon a Studio” to add to that tally next year.

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