#shout out to paolo domingo for coming back 30 years later just to record like one second of dialog for aladdin haha

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Last month, I also watched the Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 100th Anniversary short film Once Upon A Studio, and I loved it.

It’s not the story I liked most; it was nice and cute, but nothing revolutionary or unexpected. What I loved was seeing and hearing all these familiar characters, especially the 2D-animated ones, again. I’m a fan of hand-drawn animation and really miss it, so I was happy to experience it once more, even if it was only for a few minutes.

I love traditional animation because it’s always felt more magical and “personal” to me. I missed seeing a character on screen and thinking, “I know who drew you”. Here, when Louis (The Princess and The Frog) appeared, I recognized his original supervising animator Eric Goldberg’s work. I also knew that impressive shot of Peter Pan and the Darling siblings flying around the building could only have been animated by James Baxter (his brain works in 3D; I don’t know how he does that but it’s always mind-blowing). And as a fan of Mulan, seeing her not only being animated by Mark Henn, whose style I think is unmistakable and who was her supervising animator in the 1998 movie, but also holding hands and singing with Snow White (the first Disney protagonist) and Asha (the latest Disney protagonist) was quite special and moving.

What’s also great is that you can tell they tried to remain as faithful as possible to each movie’s original visual style, which means characters, for the most part, really look like they’ve just come out of their respective films. Graphically speaking, the numerous protagonists all have their own identity (it clearly was the artists’ goal, and I think they achieved it), but the whole thing still looks surprisingly coherent. The vast majority of the original voice actors are back, which is a very nice touch as well.

I don’t know, I just think the care, skills, and passion of the people who worked on Once Upon A Studio were palpable, and that felt good. Their attention to detail is evident, and as someone who grew up watching hand-drawn animated movies and truly loves the artistry behind them, I appreciate that.

#I mean there certainly are things to say about disney as a company #but I think their artists are passionate and that you can feel that in the short film #technically speaking it’s really really good #once upon a studio #eric goldberg #mark henn #james baxter #too bad glen keane wasn’t here #mulan #they did you justice girl #you deserve it I’m so happy #disney #walt disney #traditional animation #today is hand-drawn animation appreciation day on this blog apparently #sorry with everything that’s happened with far cry (laserhawk not included) I almost forgot what it was like to feel respected as a fan :’) #even in french most of the original actors were back! they usually don’t care that much! #shout out to paolo domingo for coming back 30 years later just to record like one second of dialog for aladdin haha