5 Facts about the Film 'ONCE UPON A STUDIO', Disney Reunites 500+ Characters in Celebration of 100 Years!

Kapanlagi.com - Written by Vierda Safyra

For 100 years, Walt Disney has been with us, from childhood to now. Some stories are based on myths, mythological creatures, and legends, which are often created by Disney. Targeting young audiences, Disney presents unique animations with different characteristics.

The progress of Disney animation transformation changes as time goes by. Starting from Traditional Animation, 2D, 3D, Stop Motions, to Motion Graphics. In 1937, Disney released its first film titled SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. Providing interactive, appealing, and easily understandable cartoon films, each film always has its own messages that can be received by the audience as an educational medium.

In celebration of 100 years of Walt Disney, the film ONCE UPON A STUDIO was released (16/10). It tells the story of two new employees who stay overnight at Walt Disney Animation Studios, where they see all the Disney characters from the past and present come to life and gather to take a photo together to commemorate their 100 years. Curious about the facts behind this film? Let's find out below!

1. Reunion of 543 Disney Characters in the Real World

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This short film gathers animated characters from 100 years of Disney from the company's vault to take a photo together outside the Walt Disney Animation Studios headquarters in Burbank, California. The building, with its iconic blue hat shape belonging to Mickey Mouse, is filled with images from iconic cartoons that are a century old.

Created and directed by Trent Correy and Dan Abraham, this project involves a live-action exploration of the places where most Disney animated features are made. However, this time there is magic as 543 cartoon characters jump out of their frames and roam the halls where they were originally drawn.

The project also involves one of the studio's live-action mascots, Burny Mattinson. An animator and director of MICKEY'S CHRISTMAS CAROL, who passed away earlier this year after a 70-year career at Disney.

2. Soundtrack Richard Sherman 'Feed The Birds'

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Songwriter Richard Sherman pays tribute to Walt Disney with a special performance of FEED THE BIRDS from the movie MARY POPPINS.
One afternoon at the Walt Disney office, Richard Sherman came to sit in front of the piano he often played. He played Walt Disney's favorite song, FEED THE BIRDS, the meaning of the lyrics of this song is not about feeding birds but about how even the smallest thing can brighten someone's day.

Richard did this to be used in ONCE UPON A STUDIO, at a very important emotional moment for the Walt Disney family. This is something he could do for Walt Disney while he was still alive.

3. Voiced by Original Character Voice Actors

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Still using the original voice actors for each character, making the young audience's soul nostalgic. Disney has called back over forty original voice actors to record scenes for their characters that will be used in the short film. 

Some people have passed away, so those characters will be filled by others who resemble and match them. These characters will only appear for a few seconds, so they must look and sound exactly like they are remembered by the audience without altering their authenticity.

4. New Animation

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The animation used in ONCE UPON A STUDIO is new. All the animation is remade to have better quality, without sacrificing its authenticity. The scene of the Dalmatians characters sitting in front of the television is a new animation made to appear as if it came from 101 Dalmatians.

The filmmakers explained that they made a lot of effort with the cleanup team and animation team to ensure that everything looks as it should. Everything is new, but made to look like it belongs to the era when the cartoon was originally released.

5. Not Using AI

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Preserving the authenticity of characters, Disney does not use AI (Artificial Intelligence) in the making of ONCE UPON A STUDIO, and it was never even considered. There are some characters whose voices were taken from their original content. For example, they wanted Bobby Driscoll as Peter Pan so they drew the line they wanted from Peter Pan and adjusted it to make it look perfect.

Although times have evolved and are filled with AI assistance. The entire animation is recreated by animation editors, just like the re-recording of character voices. Inviting back the original voice actors, but for those who have passed away, Disney determines the authenticity of the character's voice by finding someone with a similar voice or taking it from the original content of the film.

(kpl/vrd)