An all-star ensemble of beloved characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios assembles in Once Upon a Studio for a joyful, entertaining and emotional reunion as they assemble for a spectacular group photo to mark Disney's 100th anniversary.
Featuring 543 characters from more than 85 Disney feature-length and short films, Once Upon a Studio welcomes heroes and villains, princes and princesses, sidekicks and sorcerers - in all-new hand-drawn and CG animation - to celebrate 10 decades of storytelling, artistry and technological achievements.
The short premiered on ABC yesterday evening as part of The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration and, in many countries, it's already streaming on Disney+.
There are heaps of surprises to be found and the emotional 13-minute love letter to Disney Animation demands multiple viewings. However, among the most special moments is the return of the late Robin Williams as Aladdin's Genie. Archival recordings were used to make that cameo a reality, and producer Bradford Simonsen explained what that entailed during a recent interview with Variety.
"We tried to take them on the journey with us to say, 'We’ve got this very special short that we’re doing. Robin as the Genie means so much to so many people and we would really love to involve him,'" he recalls. "So Dan listened to the outtakes from the original recording and he found those little bites that we could use."
"We went back to the estate and said, ‘This is what we hope to do.’ Eric, who originally animated the genie is on the show, and he’s going to be part of it.’ And it was wonderful to see that happen."
The creative team really went all out to make Once Upon a Studio as special as possible, going so far as to enlist legendary animators James Baxter (Belle, Beauty and the Beast), Nik Ranieri (The Lion King), and Ruben Aquino, who animated Ursula's final designs in 1989. Director Dan Abraham says, "He hasn’t drawn her in over 30 years, and he came out of retirement to do Ursula for us."
You can check out Genie's cameo in Once Upon a Studio below along with a closer look at that epic group photo.