User reviews

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.

This short exceeded my expectations! It was truly a love letter to Disney's animated films! Seeing so many characters interact, both old and new, was a treat! Hearing some of these characters' original voice actors/actresses reprise their roles was also very enjoyable! Two moments in particular made this short way more emotional than I thought it would be, but I won't give it away. I will say that by the end of the short, I was left in tears. This short also proves that Disney can still pull off 2D animation, and I really wish they'd start making 2D animated movies again.

For any Disney lover, this is a must watch!

It was a great short. Left me teary eyed especially after the nod to Walt.

To have all the characters together both 2d and 3d is incredible.

I also liked how they reused dialogue from the films but mixed it with new ones.

The fact that those who are still with us came back to voice their characters for like a couple of seconds or more of dialogue is phenomenal.

I was surprised and glad to see characters from Disney's flops like treasure planet and Atlantis.

There's much to love and it's filled with nostalgia.

Thank you Disney for finally giving the audience something it wants and didn't know it wanted it.

I loved everything about it, it's a very magical experience.

In honor of the Walt Disney Company officially turning 100 years old this month, filmmakers Dan Abraham and Trent Correy have put together an incredible tribute piece called Once Upon a Studio. Set entirely within the actual Walt Disney Animation Studios, the short focuses on nearly all of the iconic animated characters from the company's history coming together for an annual group photo. What sounds like a typical nostalgia based gimmick disguised as an anniversary present is actually more heartfelt and earnest than one might assume, as this short is a true love letter to the company's legacy.

As this short brings together an endless amount of characters from the company's history, both hand-drawn and computer animated, the amount of dedication the crew put into bringing these iconic characters together is nothing short of spectacular. Many fans of the studio's lineup will be thrilled to see at least one of their favorites from all 62 feature films produced there, let alone the likes of Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy. In addition, many returning cast members from the features today are included, along with appropriately mixed archival recordings and newer cast members to voice older characters. But of course, the inclusion of both animation veterans and the new generation of artists at the studio are what make the short work so well, including the work of 2D animation trainees like Austin Traylor and Tyler Pacana. With the likes of legends like Eric Goldberg, James Baxter, Ruben Aquino, Tony Bancroft, Nik Ranieri, and Will Finn returning, the immense amount of craftsmanship and admiration shown on display can not be overstated enough thanks to these legends.

But in regards to why this short works so well as an anniversary present, it taking place at the Roy E. Disney Animation Building is not as heartfelt as the inclusion of Walt himself. It's easy to be critical of the intensely complicated history behind the company's run, but one must not forget how the studio started off as just two midwestern brothers going out to California to pursue their dreams in the motion picture business. To this day, it's hard to think of another animation studio that has lasted as long as the company itself, especially when it paved its own way for live-action filmmaking, theme parks, merchandising and so much more. The inclusion of veteran Disney composer David Metzger's score adds to the magic so well, not to mention this being the final film featuring Disney story artist Burny Mattinson, one of the few people to stay at the studio since uncle Walt's time there. There's something almost chilling to see Mickey and the gang come together for such a big hurrah, and having them perform the company's national anthem should remind us all that faith steps in and sees you through.

100 years going on strong, the Disney company could not have picked a better anniversary gift than Once Upon a Studio. With the short now being available on Disney following its exclusive premiere on ABC, everyone and their mother should absolutely see this short, regardless if you're a Disney fan or not. There's a reason the studio has continued to inspire generations and generations since its inception, and that answer can be found through reminiscing the timeless characters and features that we've appreciated forever. Thank you Disney for the magic that has influenced us for the better.

Growing up back in the 90's, I've been very fond of Disney especially in terms of animation. Many of their films I consider to be good/great (The Lion King being one of them considering it was during my childhood) even if some aren't quite my favorites. But when I heard that the studio was releasing an 100 anniversary short, I became very happy and watched it on Disney today. To my surprise, it filled me with complete nostalgia.

Not only was it hilarious and cute, but it's also a great loving tribute to the studio and Walt Disney himself. The way it blends both 2D hand drawn and 3D CG animation, it's reuse of old archive dialogue while creating new ones, the way it incorporates other characters from other Disney films (including the ones from particular flops like The Black Cauldron), and the new rendition of When You Wish Upon A Star that's sung very well.

Overall, this will go down as one of my favorite shorts in Disney history. If you love Disney animation certainly check this one out and you'll have the same nostalgia as I did.

I always say we get angry and hate on Disney, because we care most of the higher do not, but this short feels like it was the real people of Disney paying a love letter to the company and Walt himself I'm obsessed with Disney the OG real Disney and this brought me to tears, all the animated characters and many of the OG voices and taking a group picture being funny and charming in the real world it all just worked for me and especially Mickey seeing Walt, it all just works, I can't believe he's been gone for 57 years and I desperately wish he could still be here, it's very tear inducing, it was perfect 10/10.

A short made the celebrate the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Studios, Once Upon a Studio is a neat short film that is more respectful to the company's past than most of their current offerings.

In the short, after the studio closes up for the day, Mickey gets the other animated characters from Disney films up to this point to do a group photo for the occasion. That's basically it, as characters from almost every Disney animated classic, be they drawn traditional, computer animated, or even done in Flash, joins in on this celebration.

Seeing this, I am amazed that Disney would do something that gives respect to their legacy (especially in a time when they are trying to bury it by making live-action remakes of their animated classics. They even went the extra mile to make sure all the voice actors are in their roles, either the right ones, the ones who took over for the past actors, or even archival recordings (they even went as far as to get Robin Williams' estate to okay using unused dialogue for Genie, which adds to the nostalgia factor). This is a charming special that actually decides to be respectful and have plenty of neat in-character gags instead of the usual problems that plague Disney's films today, and it makes me think if Disney could make more stuff like this, maybe it would get back to being a good studio one day.

In all honesty, I must confess when this short was announced, I did not care that much about all the cameos from these obscure characters (I have come to dislike how many modern movies tend to use cameos and references as nothing more than a vapid nostalgia-bait tool) but I was somewhat enthusiastic about the idea of Disney making another traditional animation.

At least the technical aspect did not disappoint me: The characters are nicely animated, and the mixture between the two-dimensional characters was executed in a much more convincing manner than in that Chip and Dale 2022 movie.

While I'm not as enthusiastic about this as the other reviewers (I felt that the plot and characterization was a bit too thin, but then again, with such a huge cast there probably wasn't much room for a more complex story) I do think it was an okay short.

Definitely a much better way to celebrate the 100 years of Disney than the bland mess Wish turned out to be. A bit gimmicky, and a little bit overrated, but watchable.

I do agree it was better than most of the recent Disney movies.

I think this is what everyone wanted without knowing it. If you don't believe me, check the rating.

From Snow White to Asha, characters from every Disney era are involved in this special, and this special looks back at everything Disney has ever done. It reminds you of the magic and happiness Disney had brought you and all the magic and happiness it will continue to bring you... I hope the Walt Disney company is around for another 100 years.

Thank you Disney. You've really gone to infinity and beyond with this one. Thank you for reading my review, and I'm so glad that it's on Disney because I didn't get to catch it on TV last night (or October 15 2023 if you read this in the future).

Let me start off with the animation itself, it doesn't look like from their original film at all. Especially Princess Aurora, Prince Philip, Ursula, Cruella Devil and Gaston! Gaston looks VERY cartoony and not manly enough!

Secondly, the princesses should be singing together, they are like the ambassadors for Disney. Speaking of them, I cringe at Belle's singing and it comes to show that Paige O Hara's singing is aging rapidly! But on the other hand, I like how they are spread.

Finally, I was hoping that it would something like Snow In At The House Of Mouse when they would sing something original.

I'm so overwhelmed with emotions as I write this review just after watching this short. What a beautiful way to pay to tribute to Walt Disney Animation Studios and Walt Disney in general. Seeing all the characters from Snow White to Asha holding hands and singing together, interacting with one another and by the time the short ends I was moved to tears. Every frame contains Nostalgia and all those beautiful memories we had watching these beloved characters on screen. The fact that most of the original voice actors came back to record their respective lines is so amazing. It's just one BIG happy family which makes everyone smile and create sweet memories that are going to be cherished forever. Thank you so much Walt Disney for such a precious gift.

That's all I have to say about Once Upon a Studio. This is not just a short but nostalgia and emotions all coming together to create a beautiful 9 minutes tribute. If you're a Disney fan then you'll definitely cry watching it.

This was such a cute short, remembering all the Disney Classics to now thank you Walt Disney, and to all who made it possible Walt Disney will always be in my heart and the picture came out very lovely and to see Oswald there as well. This is truly one of the best shorts in the world and plus what a wonderful reunion to the Walt Disney animation studio happy 100 years and hope for many more to come. And the Disney animators. Including Pixar thank you for all you've done. Here's to wishing for many more dreams and wishes coming true. If you miss the Disney animation, then the short is just for you.

This definitely put a tear in my eye! An instant classic that will require mutliple viewings to pick out all the iconic characters (and voiceovers) from the century-long Disney catalogue. A perfect blend of new and unused dialogue brings the story to life in a way that is most believable and not at all contrived. There are plenty of in-jokes that pay homage to the various films, as beloved characters interact with others from unrelated movies that you would not expect to see together. So much thought and effort went into this, I hope it wins multiple awards. Other studios may try, but nobody does it like Disney...

I can't explain my feels, Disney is a great and recpetcted studio and it covers a huge part of my life,I grew up with his works,grew up and developed,I owe this studio and I wanna to thank all the people who played a role in making my childhood, past, present and future and many other people moment by moment.

I wanna to thank for all the laughs, all the tears, all the emotional moments... I really cannot describe my feelings with a series of words and letters. I am a great fan of animation and I am proud of myself in this regard and of course I'm also a painter,I have many picture of animation characters crossover type.. At the end,Once again, I would like to thank all the writers, directors, animators, videographers, voice actors, creators and all the people who were and are involved in the creation of animations and don't get tired.

Dnioli.

I can't express the excitement and gratefulness of watching this short Disney film with my family this evening. I've been so beyond disappointed by the recent Disney films, but that was replaced with happiness, nostalgia, laughter, and tears of joy upon seeing Once Upon A Studio. My parents went opening day to Disneyland in 1955 when my brother was 6 months old. Our family has been avid Disney fans since the beginning. My grandparents lived in Southern California and were around at the beginning of the Walt Disney Studio Company... it's part of our DNA. I'm so happy to see that Disney still has the ability to create pure, family friendly, engaging, and fun entertainment. I would love to see them bring back The House of Mouse or some kind of special series where they Incorporate all of the Disney classic characters from all the movies on a regular basis. I think the world is hungry for good, wholesome entertainment.

When I heard this year marked 100 years of Disney, I was curious to see how they would celebrate it and hoped they would do a decent job of it, especially since I grew up with Disney. Then when I heard about Once Upon a Studio, I decided to give it a shot and after I saw this, it was not just decent: it was outstanding and full of nostalgia.

Like when I say the team who made this special poured their hearts into making this special EXTRA special, I mean they poured every last drop. Seeing all the characters from 1923-2023 together onscreen to the resurgence of hand-drawn/2D animation and to the emotional nostalgic tone is what made this special in my opinion the best anniversary one to come from Disney yet and I applaud the team for their efforts.

Now I don't know where to begin on what made Once Upon a Studio outstanding, but it was definitely the elements mentioned above and here's what I mean specifically for each of them:

1. When I say this special has all the characters from the past 100 years, I mean it has literally 98% of them, and not just the popular ones from The Lion King, Aladdin, Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Cinderella, etc. Like even those from somewhat forgotten media or box office flops appear (i.e., The Black Cauldron, The Rescuers Down Under, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, Brother Bear, Meet the Robinsons, and even Home on the Range!!!). I was quite surprised to see them appear, but that actually made me happy to see that even if their movies didn't do good initially, Disney wanted to represent them and show they are still part of the Disney family (though some other characters, like Mufasa and King Triton among a few others, were absent, but again, they tried to include as many characters as possible and it was still impressive).

2. Although CGI animation was used for this, the sight of the hand-drawn animation was a breath of fresh air and was done beautifully. I'm glad they brought this back and didn't make it all CGI because I think I speak for everyone when I say we all grew up with the hand-drawn animation and seeing it here once again brought back our childhoods. Additionally, the way they made pretty much all the 2D characters look nearly exactly like how they did in their original movies was amazing too, especially since they were animated by the hand-drawn animators who have worked on them in the past (like Mark Henn, James Baxter, Ruben Aquino, Nik Ranieri, and Will Finn, all of whom had great artistic talents on the 2D films and I'm glad they had another chance to do what they do best in this special).

3. The emotional tone in this was on point, and there was a number of elements that made it up as well:

* For one thing, hearing a good number of characters being voice by their original actor (i.e., Paige O'Hara and Robby Benson as Belle and Beast, Jodi Benson as Ariel, Jeremy Irons as Scar, Tom Hulce as Quasimodo) brought a smile to my face and I'm glad they didn't replace them with someone new. Now for some characters, they did (like Iago and Cogsworth), but I guess they couldn't do it for all the characters, and they did what they could and I'm glad for other characters (like Peter Pan and Jiminy Cricket), they used old recordings of their voice actors to honor them. Also (and I'm sure those who haven't seen it yet have heard about this by now), hearing Robin Williams' voice as the Genie once again, via unused recordings from Aladdin, was such a blast of nostalgia and I almost cried during that part because it was so nice to hear his voice once again, even if he's not with us anymore. Thank you to Mr. Williams' estate for allowing the Disney company to use the recordings and for understanding how much Robin's work as Genie meant to us!!!

* For another thing, the scene where Mickey comes across the portrait of Walt Disney himself and stares at it while Free the Birds from Mary Poppins (Walt's favorite song) faintly playing in the background was quite emotional, especially when Mickey quietly thanks Walt. It was like watching a son thanking his dad for everything and that was nicely done.

* Lastly, and probably the most emotional nostalgic part of the entire special, the ending scene with everyone joining in with singing When You Wish Upon a Star from Pinocchio was the best way to represent celebrating 100 years of Disney. It starts off slow and one by one, each character joins in singing, and it was such a beautiful moment to see all of them together singing the song that best represents the Walt Disney Company, and its main theme song as well. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, I'm glad when it was Jiminy Cricket's time to sing, they used Cliff Edward's original recording of the song and did not recast him and that was a beautiful moment to honor Mr. Edwards as well, since he was the one who brought the song to life.

I wish I could go on more about what else made Once Upon a Studio outstanding, but I think I said pretty much everything here. The last thing I'll say is the tribute to Burny Mattinson was nice and heartfelt too as he contributed A LOT to the studio and this special was a nice way to honor his legacy, especially since up until he passed away, he was the longest serving member at the studio and we thank him for everything he contributed to many Disney films.

Now, I don't know if all this is enough to say that Once Upon a Studio is the best way to celebrate 100 years of Disney, but all I can say is you should give it a shot and I can almost guarantee you'll be reliving your childhood once again and it'll bring a smile to your face.

Also, thank you so much to the team behind the special for making Once Upon a Studio and for capturing everything that made the Walt Disney Studio a big part of all of our lives, and if this does make it into the category, I really hope this wins Best Animated Short Film at the next Academy Awards.

Last of all, Happy 100 Years of Disney!!!!