Even though the Walt Disney Company has made some believe that they are trying to distance themselves from Walt’s legacy, however, Disney went all in on legacy with their animated short “Once Upon a Studio” that aired last night on ABC.
The short paid tribute to Walt Disney and the legacy of the Walt Disney Company’s catalog of characters. One character in particular caught everyone’s attention, and that was Genie from Aladdin as he, like some other characters, had new lines in this short. But Robin Williams passed away in 2014.
Many worried that Disney used an AI-generated voice for the character, but that is not the case. They actually used dialog that was recorded for the animated film “Aladdin” after obtaining permission from his estate.
The Genie appears in Disney’s ‘ONCE UPON A STUDIO’ short with Robin Williams’ voice.
His voice bits are outtakes from Williams’ original recordings, with permission by his estate. pic.twitter.com/HdacVQK2dZ
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 16, 2023
Directors Dan Abraham and Trent Correy wanted to bring more than voice actors back; they also brought back some of the animators who worked on the legacy characters when the films were created to animate the characters for this short.
As someone who has been worried about Disney’s seeming desire to move away from Walt Disney and the Disney of the past, I have to admit I’m so incredibly happy to see that they went so far to make this special and to embrace those who made the characters people love today.
Dang it! These got me.
Here are some clips from the show so you can see why everyone is talking about it:
Mickey removes his hat for Walt Disney:
MICKEY TALKING TO WALT IN ONCE UPON A STUDIO 😭#Disney100 pic.twitter.com/1RcsshCyR2
— Drew (@DrewDisneyDude) October 16, 2023
Disney characters sing “When you Wish Upon A Star:
Once Upon A Studio ending pic.twitter.com/AD1EBhuXpV
— Colorful Networks Extra (@ColorfulNe16654) October 16, 2023
This is what people want Disney to be.
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