From Mickey to Elsa to Captain Hook, more than 500 Disney heroes come back to life in a short film in the form of a love letter to the animation studio, which celebrated its centenary on Monday against a backdrop of turbulence.
Titled Once upon a time there was a studiothis funny and touching nine-minute work mixing digital images, hand drawings and live shots completes the catalog of the Disney+ platform, four months after being acclaimed at the Annecy Animation Festival.
The fruit of two years of work, it shows 543 characters, from 85 feature-length and short films, emerging from the paintings displayed in the corridors of the group’s American premises where they gather for a family photo after the departure of the employees.
“It was like making the biggest puzzle of your life”, summarizes Trent Corey, co-director of this artistic and technological feat which mobilized more than a hundred people, as well as former hosts and 40 actors who returned especially for the occasion.
“We wanted all the characters to look like their original versions and have the exact same voice as in their original films,” adds co-creator Dan Abraham, who also relied on a previously unreleased recording of Robin Williams, the interpreter. of Engineering in Aladdin in the English version, died in 2014.
Pencil paper
Enough to restore its letters of nobility to traditional animation, definitively replaced by 3D for Disney feature films since Winnie the Pooh in 2011.
“Of the 543 characters in the film, around 450 are drawn by hand,” in pencil on paper, indicates artist Eric Goldberg (Aladdin, Pocahontas), who supervised the 2D portion of the film.
“We didn’t take anything from existing films,” whether in 3D or 2D, “so it was technically difficult,” he concedes.
The film also pays tribute to the nearly 70 years of home of animator Burny Mattinson, who died in February, as well as to the composer of Mary PoppinsRichard Sherman, who, at 94, revisited Walt Disney’s favorite title, Feed the little birds.
“Everyone wanted to be there!” » says Dan Abraham.
Concerts, exhibitions… The entertainment giant is stepping up its celebrations for its centenary, the highlight of which will be the theatrical release of the film in November wishinspired by Disney classics.
The release of the short film coincides with the date considered to be the founding of the Walt Disney Company.
The Californian company, which has grabbed the 21st centurye century on Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel, is going through a turbulent period.
Faced with the drop in the number of Disney+ subscribers, the big-eared firm has notably undertaken to cut 7,000 jobs to save money, while the historic actors’ strike in Hollywood continues.
Disney films resonate with everyone
And fierce anti-unionist, regularly accused of racism or misogyny, the emblematic founder of the eponymous group has lost his splendor.
But in all cases, “Disney films resonate with everyone,” believes Eric Goldberg, emphasizing that they are often the first seen in childhood at the cinema. “Their characters and stories gave a lot of joy and hope […] and, hopefully,” it will continue “for another 100 years.”