Once Upon a Studio

If you heard me describe this short in a sentence, you would probably dismiss it as another nostalgia-bait production where a giant corporation all but brags about how many IPs and characters they own. But as a commenter on Letterboxd pointed out: there is a major difference between "Look at all the things we own" and "Look at all the things we made". This here is very much the latter.

Once Upon A Studio, a Disney+ short film commemorating 100 years of Disney animation and featuring 500+ characters from across the Animated Canon (voiced by returning stars and some archive recordings, approved by the estates of all parties involved), is one of the most touching and genuine things we've seen from this company in some time. This isn't just a series of namedrops and fanservice moments; it is a sincere celebration of the creativity, artistry, storytelling, and magic of Disney that has, on some level, meant something to everyone on the planet, be it the new generation of Frozen fans, us Disney Renaissance kiddos, or my late grandfather who would often recount how his first visit to a "flicker show" was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and how it scared the pants off him.

Great care has been taken to include as many characters as possible -- including ones from such oft-ignored pictures as Dinosaur, Atlantis, and The Black Cauldron -- and mix the different animation styles in a mostly seamless way (the 2D animation is the real deal this time, thank Christ). We all know the issues with Disney, but it's hard not to be moved by this one, especially (in my case) when we get to Jiminy Cricket's portion of the "When You Wish Upon A Star" ensemble, still using the same Cliff Edwards recording that my fellow Swedes and I have heard on every Christmas Eve since 1960.

Of course, there are still some things that won't sit quite right with everyone. The part where Mickey says a few words to a portrait of Walt Disney should probably also -- or solely -- feature Ub Iwerks. Another issue is the fact that, despite how well this short film turned out, we're probably not getting a House of Mouse reboot.

Stray observations and neat details: In the group photo at the end of the short, Peter Pan is together with Pete's Dragon. The two different Rescuers kiddos are hanging out. Mickey Mouse says "after you" to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, as he should.