Once Upon a Studio Directors and Producers Share Their Priorities For Celebrating Disney's 100th

Once Upon a Studio creators wanted the short film to feel like a "family reunion you would actually want to go to."

By Jamie Jirak

Walt Disney Animation Studios is officially 100 years old, and the company is celebrating this milestone in various ways. Tonight, October 15th, ABC is airing a new short film, Once Upon a Studio, which features 543 characters from more than 85 Disney feature-length and short films. In honor of the project's release, ComicBook.com had the chance to chat with the film's directors, Dan Abraham and Trent Correy, in addition to producers Yvett Merino and Brad Simonsen. We asked each creative what was most important to them when it came to honoring 100 years of Disney. 

"You know what we kind of said early on that we wanted it to be like a family reunion that you would actually want to go to," Abraham explained. "It was very, very important to us that the characters look and sound exactly like they did in their films. You get such a short amount of time with each one of them that we wanted people to be reunited with their friends. These characters mean a lot to people, and they have their favorites, and they kind of have ownership of who they relate to and why, and a core memory from their childhood and all that. So we just really wanted to do service to all the fans out there that we wanted to reunite with their friends." 

"And I would just add that we worked extremely hard to try to represent everything from Snow White to our upcoming Wish, coming up this year," Correy added. "And I think the goal of the short was always, we just want to bring eight and a half minutes of joy to the audiences. We just want to help remind them why they love Disney, why they love these characters, and kind of bring back that nostalgia."

"I think it's honoring the legacy, and there's so much that kind of goes into making any film, an animated film, and so knowing how much work has gone into everything over the years is really a moment to honor our characters. And then the voices behind them, our artists who created it, and really everyone who has worked in the studio over the past hundred years. I mean, there was a moment where the question was asked,'Can we credit everyone who's ever worked at the studio?'" Merino shared. "'Like, we'd love to, but that would be a 10-minute credit roll. So I don't think so.'" 

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"There's a privilege and a responsibility, I think, that comes with making a movie like this, and every day is a pinch-me moment, and you're excited and giddy and you feel like a little kid on Christmas morning," Simonsen added. "And at the same time, as producers, you're working for rights clearances and to make sure that everybody has what they need to be successful and to maintain that positive energy and magic on the show so that we all collectively produce the best we can to live up to the legacy. So yeah, it's a great question, and you do have it in the back of your mind the whole time that you are privileged in a good way to be part of this journey, and you are responsible for creating something that lives up to the legacy." 

Stay tuned for more from our interviews with the producers and directors of Once Upon a Studio, which will make its broadcast premiere during The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration! Sunday, October 15th on ABC. 

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