Home audiences will get their first chance to watch the cameo-packed Disney Animation centennial short film Once Upon a Studio next month, when the comically chaotic, nostalgia-filled romp makes its broadcast debut on ABC. The short will premiere October 15 as part of a special Disney100 programming event on the network. An official trailer for the film dropped with the announcement.
From ABC:
ABC is celebrating 100 years of Disney this fall with an evening of magical programming hosted by Kelly Ripa. ABC will begin the evening with an episode of AFV, followed by a lineup that will include exclusive moments featuring Ripa and sneak peeks at upcoming Disney projects. Featuring the broadcast world premieres of Walt Disney Animation’s new animated short film Once Upon a Studio and the beloved film Encanto, The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney’s 100th Anniversary Celebration airs Sunday, October 15 (8:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. EDT/PDT).
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 Disney characters from more than 85 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.
The short is directed by Once Upon a Snowman co-helmers Dan Abraham (Baymax!) and Trent Correy (Zootopia+) and produced by Yvett Merino and Bradford Simonsen.
Bringing their iconic characters to life are original voice stars including Princess corps Idina Menzel (Else, Frozen), Jodi Benson (Ariel, The Little Mermaid), Auli’i Cravalho (Moana), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana, The Princess and the Frog) and Paige O’Hara (Belle, Beauty and the Beast); Frozen‘s Jonathan Groff (Kristoff), Josh Gad (Olaf) and Santino Fontana (Hans); The Lion King‘s Nathan Lane (Timon); and current voices of classic characters Mickey (Bret Iwan), Minnie (Kaitlyn Robrock) and Goofy (Bill Farmer).
The short also makes use of archived recordings of Verna Felton and Barbara Luddy (Flora and Merryweather in Sleeping Beauty), Bobby Driscoll (Peter Pan) and Sterling Holloway (Winnie the Pooh). In addition to the animated stars, Once Upon a Studio features interview footage with Disney Legend animator Burny Mattinson, who passed away earlier this year just months before what would have been his 70th anniversary of working with the studio — a Disney record.
Once Upon a Studio premiered at the Annecy Festival in June, and is scheduled to screen in a Disney studio spotlight at Animation Is Film in Los Angeles (Oct. 18-22).
