Once Upon a Studio is a 2023 American live-action/animated crossover fantasy comedy short film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios in celebration of the Walt Disney Company's centennial. Written and directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy, it was released by Walt Disney Pictures on October 16, 2023. In the film, Disney characters come to life from pictures hanging on the walls of the Roy E. Disney Animation Building following the end of a usual work day. The short's art style combines computer graphics, traditional animation and live-action, and features characters from the majority of the studio's works made up to that point, including all 109 feature films (including the then-forthcoming Wish) at the time, numerous short films, and some live-action Disney films featuring animation produced by the studio such as The Reluctant Dragon (1941), Mary Poppins (1964), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), and Pete's Dragon (1977). The film was dedicated in memory of Burny Mattinson, the company's longest-serving employee, who made a cameo in the short and died eight months before its release.
Once Upon a Studio premiered at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 11, 2023, and had its first public showing in the United States on ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney on October 15, along with the linear television premiere of Encanto (2021). It was released on YouTube on December 24.
Synopsis[]
In Once Upon a Studio, an all-star ensemble of beloved characters from Walt Disney Animation Studios assembles to take a group photo in honor of The Walt Disney Company's 100th anniversary—making for a joyful, entertaining, and emotional reunion. Featuring 543 characters from more than 85 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.
Plot[]
Taking place in Burbank, California on October 16, 2023, when Walt Disney Animation Studios turned 100 years old, its employees are leaving the Roy E. Disney Animation Building as their usual work day is done and Burny Mattinson imagines about the walls of the studio coming alive after an intern, (Renika Williams), talks with him about the great history it made throughout the century.
Inside the studio, after the doors close, all is quiet when suddenly, Mickey Mouse, as seen in a production cel picture for Mickey's Birthday Party, comes to life, and calls Tinker Bell. Mickey questions if all of the employees have left, in which Tink replies yes with a nod. Excited, Mickey and Minnie jump out of the picture, and Minnie gathers many characters from the studio's filmography with her signature "Yoo-Hoo!" signal, whether traditionally or computer animated.
During that, several gags of the characters interacting with one another happen all over the studio;
- Sisu runs happily down the hall, followed by Jim Hawkins riding on his Alponian Solar Cruiser, Maui changes into his hawk form and flies into the hall while reminding Aladdin and Abu to meet in the lobby, and the former says he'll see them there while sliding down the railing with them ending up with the rock trolls, Vanellope von Schweetz and Dodger ride on the former's candy kart, Elliott takes Cody on a fun ride, Wayne and Lanny slide down on their ropes, and the Ocean drops Moana into the hall along with Flounder, who needed water.
- Moana searches for water for Flounder. She approaches Merlin (who was at the Snuggly Duckling coffee area with his sugar bowl, the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, Evelyn, Olivia, Jane Darling, the Pevensie siblings, Genevieve, Lucille Krunklehorn, Ricky the Crow, Rod, the Peepers, Mrs. Potts, Chip, and Cogsworth, who tells the others that they have no time for tea), and with his help, he casts a spell using the magic words, "Chapeaulius Bowlius" to summon water in the Mad Hatter's hat for Flounder to swim in, much to the former's pleasure, who then tells a passing Penguin Waiter with a plate of spaghetti and meatballs that "There's a carp in [his] cap."
- Gazelle, Daisy Duck, the Snow Queen, Ariel, Slue-Foot Sue, Madame Medusa, Hyacinth Hippo, and Georgette freshing up in the lady's restroom while Cruella de Vil inspects a shocked Georgette with a measuring ruler while looking at her with a malicious grin.
- After seeing an angry Stromboli trying to get a snack from the studio's vending machine, Elsa freezes Hans in his frame after Anna asks her if she thinks that all of the villains will be showing up (most likely because she would be worried about seeing Hans again after he tried to kill them in their film).
- Donald Duck steps into an elevator with Carl, Terk, Humphrey the Bear, Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore, Stuart, Jerry, Buff, the White Witch and Mother Gothel, when Flash calls from across the hall to hold the elevator as he slowly takes his time walking to them, much to Donald's annoyance.
- Olaf draws on an animator's office desk humming "Friend Like Me" while using a book copy of Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life to boost his height while the Robin Williams Lost Boy, Mr. Tumnus, Lacey, Maria, Timon and Pumbaa pass by, with the former telling him to shake a leg (in which Olaf replies that the leg won't make a difference because it's all in the wrist) when the Genie bursts out of the drawing, sending Olaf to pieces and he uses his magic to put him back together. They then TBD
- While Prince John, Thomas O'Malley, Aslan, Chicken Little, Edwin, Terry, Milo Thatch, Kenyon, Roy, Happy, the Headless Horseman, and Gaston, who sings about himself while doing so, are freshening up in the men's room for the picture, the Cheshire Cat appears in front of his face laughing. Then Minnie opens the door while covering her eyes and tells them to move it.
- [Scene involving The Snow Queen characters, Hansel and Gretel, and the Hyenas from The Lion King]
- Rutt and Tuke getting lost in the studio, with Luisa Madrigal picking them up to take them where they need to be.
- While Christopher Robin, Kanga, and Eeyore try to free Winnie the Pooh from his picture, Antonio Madrigal speaks with Cinderella's bird friends, Meeko, Cri-kee, Pascal, and Pua about meeting in the lobby while stopping Joanna the Goanna from eating Jaq and Gus before getting spooked by an angry barking Pluto.
- While MacBadger, Ratty, Mole, Mr. Beaver, Melissa, Victor, Ryder, Honeymaren, Catalina, Janiya, Destiny, Sven, and Kristoff walk by, Kristoff warns some Dalmatian puppies, who are watching "Night on Bald Mountain" on a TV, that they'll have nightmares when Chernabog pops out of the TV, scaring the puppies and they run away and, in the process, run over Scrooge McDuck, who had just came out from his picture, causing him to drop his money bags, which Robin Hood and Little John grab.
- At this point, Flash finally makes it into the elevator, much to the exasperation of the others, especially Donald who he thanked for holding the elevator. Baymax then squeezes into the elevator after he makes it, increasing Donald's frustration and resulting him to be thrown into a quacking fit when the fully-occupied elevator closes its doors.
- While Ursula is being followed and annoyed by a lovestruck Splat, Cinderella and Prince Charming follow down the stairs, where the prince is the one to drop his shoe, much to their humor. Max picks up the shoe and runs off with it. Charming calls for Eric while Cinderella cheers for Max.
- Mickey was amused by this when he sees Kaa leading Clarabelle Cow with his hypnosis. He desperately tells him to stop, but Rapunzel says she has it covered, hitting Kaa with her frying pan offscreen to save her.
While all of this is happening, Mickey looks up at a portrait of the late company founder, Walt Disney and takes his hat off to pay respects and fondly remember his legacy. Minnie reminds Mickey that everyone is in the lobby as Mickey speaks to the picture saying that he has to go and thanks him declaring, "On with the show.", foreshadowing The Walt Disney Company's bright future ahead.
Mickey flies down the lobby stairs amongst some of the other characters to the entrance on Dumbo. After Raya tells Mickey that the coast is clear, everyone goes outside to take the group photo. Everything is all set as Rafiki hands Goofy an old fashioned camera. However, things backfire as Goofy tries to find the timer button for the camera, he accidentally falls off the ladder, breaking it, shorty after Iago timed it with a three second countdown. Stitch chews on a part of the camera, but Lilo drags him away. Grumpy expresses a sarcastic comment saying "Well, that was fun." and Eeyore states that they might try again next century. Everybody prepare to leave in disappointment as the group photo is cancelled and ruined.
Just then, as everyone begins heading back inside, Alan-a-Dale plays "When You Wish Upon a Star" on his lute, joined in by Scat Cat on his trumpet, Mirabel Madrigal on her accordion, Jayda Rocks and Alana Lake on their rock guitars, Chasity on her flute and Hathi Jr. using his trunk as a trumpet as everyone returns to listen. As everybody sing, much to Hades' annoyance, the other characters help undo Goofy's mistake with the magic brooms sweeping up his camera in a pile, Fix-It Felix Jr. fixing it with his magic hammer, Hercules putting the ladder back in position with his super strength, and the Fairy Godmother using her magic wand to lift Goofy up over the ladder while he places the camera on top of it, and sets the timer. As the rest of the cast sing the last verse of the song and smile for the photo, Tinker Bell then uses her wand to cut from the scene to where the group photo on the wall is taken (most likely in the studio's lobby), and the film ends with the tagline, "To all who have imagined with us, laughed with us, and dreamed with us, Thank You."
At the end of the credits, a dedication to Mattinson appears that reads "For our pal Burny and his 70 years of legendary storytelling at Disney Animation."
Cast[]
Live-action[]
- Burny Mattinson as himself
- Renika Williams as herself playing a Disney intern
Voices[]
See List of characters in Once Upon a Studio
Because nearly 3-9 decades had passed since the debuts of their original Disney animated films, a new cast of voice actors are used for almost all the Disney cartoon characters created from the 1920s-1980s in this short, with none of the returning cast members from Walt Disney's lifetime reprising their roles (excluding archival recordings of their voice work) due to them being retired or deceased at the time this short was made. Meanwhile, most of the voice actors from Disney's animated franchises of the late-1980s to 2020s reprise their roles in this short, with a few exceptions.
- Scott Adsit as Baymax (Big Hero 6)
- Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck
- Jason Bateman as Nick Wilde (Zootopia)
- Kristen Bell as Anna (Frozen)
- Jodi Benson as Ariel (The Little Mermaid)
- Robby Benson as the Beast (Beauty and the Beast)
- Ravi Cabot-Conyers as Antonio Madrigal (Encanto)
- Griffen Campbell as Pinocchio
- Auli'i Cravalho as Moana
- Jim Cummings as Baloo (The Jungle Book) and Winnie the Pooh
- Ariana DeBose as Asha (Wish)
- Chris Diamantopoulos as Mickey Mouse
- Richard Epcar as Little John (Robin Hood)
- Rick Moranis as Rutt (Brother Bear)
- Dave Thomas as Tuke (Brother Bear)
- Bill Farmer as Goofy and Pluto
- Keith Ferguson as Prince Charming (Cinderella)
- Josh Gad as Olaf (Frozen)
- Ginnifer Goodwin as Judy Hopps (Zootopia)
- Jonathan Groff as Kristoff (Frozen)
- Jennifer Hale as Cinderella
- Jess Harnell as Scuttle (The Little Mermaid)
- Tom Hulce as Quasimodo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
- Jeremy Irons as Scar (The Lion King)
- Dwayne Johnson as Maui (Moana)
- Bob Joles as Cogsworth (Beauty and the Beast)
- Judy Kuhn as Pocahontas
- Nathan Lane as Timon (The Lion King)
- Luke Lowe as Flounder (The Little Mermaid)
- Idina Menzel as Elsa (Frozen)
- Jim Meskimen as Eeyore and Merlin (The Sword in the Stone)
- Piotr Michael as Iago (Aladdin)
- Mandy Moore as Rapunzel (Tangled)
- Paige O'Hara as Belle (Beauty and the Beast)
- Raymond S. Persi as Flash (Zootopia)
- Ian R'Mante as Thumper (Bambi)
- John C. Reilly as Wreck-It Ralph
- Phoenix Reisser as Mowgli (The Jungle Book)
- Kaitlyn Robrock as Minnie Mouse
- Anika Noni Rose as Tiana (The Princess and the Frog)
- Lea Salonga as Mulan
- Susanne Blakeslee as Cruella de Vil (One Hundred and One Dalmatians)
- Lee Slobotkin as Peter Pan
- Natalie Babbitt Taylor as Snow White
- Josh Robert Thompson as Grumpy (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
- Kelly Marie Tran as Raya
- Alan Tudyk as the Mad Hatter (Alice in Wonderland)
- Scott Weinger as Aladdin
- Richard White as Gaston (Beauty and the Beast)
- Harland Williams as Carl (Meet the Robinsons)
- Daniel Wolfe as Robin Hood
- James Woods as Hades (Hercules)
Archival recordings[]
- Stan Alexander as Flower (Bambi)
- Stephen J. Anderson as Bowler Hat Guy (Meet the Robinsons)
- Awkwafina as Sisu (Raya and the Last Dragon)
- Bill Baucom as Trusty (Lady and the Tramp)
- Peter Behn as Thumper (Bambi)
- Eric Blore as Mr. Toad (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad)
- Charlie Callas as Elliott (Pete's Dragon)
- Pat Carroll as Ursula (The Little Mermaid)
- Bobby Driscoll as Peter Pan
- Cliff Edwards as Jiminy Cricket (Pinocchio)
- Verna Felton as Flora (Sleeping Beauty)
- Santino Fontana as Hans (Frozen)
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jim Hawkins (Treasure Planet)
- Robert Guillaume as Rafiki (The Lion King)
- Sterling Holloway as the Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland), Kaa (The Jungle Book), and Winnie the Pooh
- Billy Joel as Dodger (Oliver & Company)
- Charles Judels as Stromboli (Pinocchio)
- Barbara Luddy as Merryweather (Sleeping Beauty)
- James MacDonald as Jaq and Gus (Cinderella)
- Bob Newhart as Bernard (The Rescuers)
- Clarence Nash as Donald Duck
- Adam Ryen as Cody (The Rescuers Down Under)
- Chris Sanders as Stitch (Lilo & Stitch)
- Sarah Silverman as Vanellope von Schweetz (Wreck-It Ralph
- TBD as Hansel (Hansel and Gretel)
- TBD as Gretel (Hansel and Gretel)
- David Spade as Kuzco (The Emperor's New Groove)
- Mark Walton as Rhino (Bolt)
- Frank Welker as Abu (Aladdin) and Joanna (The Rescuers Down Under)
- Robin Williams as the Genie (Aladdin)
- Michael-Leon Wooley as Louis (The Princess and the Frog)
- Alan Young as Scrooge McDuck (Mickey's Christmas Carol)
Songs[]
- "Love Is a Song"
- "You Can Fly"
- "Part of Your World"
- "Cruella de Vil"
- "Gaston"
- "Beauty and the Beast"
- "Friend Like Me"
- "Let It Go"
- "Night on Bald Mountain"
- "So This Is Love"
- "Trust in Me"
- "Feed the Birds"
- "When You Wish Upon a Star"
- "Steamboat Bill"
Production[]
Development[]
Animation[]
Music[]
Release[]
Once Upon a Studio had its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival during the opening day celebration on June 11, 2023. It was also screened for attendees at the Walt Disney Studios panel at Destination D23 on September 10, where it received a standing ovation, and as the BFI Special Matinee of the BFI London Film Festival Opening Day event on October 14. It had its first public showing on ABC on October 15 (as part of The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration, hosted by Kelly Ripa), before streaming on October 16 on Disney+ and Hulu, and aired on the same date on Disney Channel (as part of Once Upon a Monday Movie Marathon), Disney Junior, FX, FXM, and Freeform. The short was later released on YouTube on December 24.
There was a discussion of pairing it with the theatrical release of Wish (2023), but Disney decided to release it in a more accessible format. However, it was theatrically released alongside Wish in Japan on December 15, 2023. It was also screened in theaters with the theatrical release of Sidequest: The Lost World, a Disney100 limited engagement re-release of Moana (2016), and for one week at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, where public screenings were held to qualify it for the Best Animated Short Film shortlist for the 96th Academy Awards. It would ultimately make the shortlist on December 21.
Home media[]
Once Upon a Studio was released for digital platforms on January 23, 2024, which will be followed by a Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K UHD release on March 12, 2024, as a bonus features.
Reception[]
Critical response[]
The short received positive reviews from critics, who called it an "emotional and nostalgic experience."
Ratings[]
The short become a commercial success and premiered on ABC as a "sustainer" to the network television premiere of Encanto from 8:00pm to 8:11pm, in which it received 2.57 million total viewers in 1.736 million households, with a 1.39/4 HH rating. It also received a 0.45/4 adults 18–49 rating/share, which was equivalent to 0.587 million viewers watching in that demographic. Its premiere on Disney Channel on Monday, October 16, 2023 at 6:05pm (serving as a sustainer to a "Disney Channel Movie") received 0.349 million viewers, making the highest rated program on the network that week and the 343rd most viewed program on all of cable television. It received a 0.11 P2+ rating, and 0.10 rating with adults 18–49, equivalent to 0.131 million viewers in that demographic.
Accolades[]
Trivia[]
- This short was released the same year Burny Mattinson (who made a speaking appearance with Renika Williams at the beginning) passed away and was dedicated in his memory.
- The title refers to the common literary stock phrase, "Once upon a time..." which has been featured in many of Disney's animated films.
- Most of the music scores playing in the background in this short are a medley of various popular songs and music scores from numerous Disney animated films. Examples:
- When Mickey speaks to a portrait of Walt Disney, the music playing in the background is Walt Disney's favorite song: "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins. Richard M. Sherman used to play the song on his piano for Walt when he often visited his old office.
- When Peter Pan, Wendy, John, and Michael fly upstairs after Minnie tells Peter to gather the entire gang, the music playing in the background is "You Can Fly!" from Peter Pan.
- When Cinderella and Prince Charming show up at the same lobby where the portrait of Walt Disney is, the music playing in the background is "So This Is Love" from Cinderella.
- When the Genie comes to life from Olaf's drawing, the music playing in the background is "Friend Like Me" from Aladdin.
- The music playing over the ending credits sequence is "Steamboat Bill", the song commonly associated with "Steamboat Willie", the cartoon which Mickey made his official debut in 1928.
- The short utilizes entirely new animation for both its hand drawn and CG animated characters, rather than using reused footage, as confirmed by Eric Goldberg.
- Similarly, despite the short utilizing numerous music cues from various Disney animated films, it's entire music soundtrack is newly-scored from scratch by Dave Metzger, rather than reusing archival music scores from the animated films they originated from.
- According to Josh Gad, Genie's dialogue was sourced from previously unused audio recordings by the late Robin Williams.
- Directors Trent Correy and Dan Abraham make cameo appearances among the artists leaving work for the day holding the door open for Burny Mattinson.
- This marks the very first time Chris Diamantopoulos voices Mickey Mouse outside of the Paul Rudish Mickey Mouse shorts and its follow up series (and, to some debate, a brief appearance on DuckTales).
- This is the second Walt Disney Animation Studios production in which Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse have interacted, the first one being the Mickey Mouse short "Get a Horse!" released ten years prior.
- The two previously crossed paths in ancillary works, namely the Epic Mickey series and the Mickey Mouse short "Canned".
- Several characters are voiced by two actors: these being archival recordings from their respective films, and new dialogue recorded by present day soundalikes. Examples include Donald Duck (Clarence Nash and Tony Anselmo), Winnie the Pooh (Sterling Holloway and Jim Cummings), Peter Pan (Bobby Driscoll and Lee Slobotkin), and Thumper (Peter Behn and Ian R'Mante).
- While the Cave of Wonders is not among the characters in the short, a maquette of him appears in the office that the Genie first appears in.
- When Hans is frozen in his frame by Elsa, he takes the same pose as Han Solo after he is trapped in carbonite in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
- This is also a literal direct reference to the term, "freeze frame".
- While Hans doesn't appear in the photo due to being frozen, Elsa was right about not all of the villains appearing not just for that, but also because Kaa wasn't present in the photo due to getting hit by Rapunzel's frying pan, and because the Coachman, Monstro, Lumpjaw, Willie the Giant, Mr. Winky, the rest of Captain Hook's crew, Aunt Sarah, Si and Am, Diablo, Maleficent's Goons, Jasper and Horace, Fenris Ulf, Brutus and Nero, Amos Slade, Chief, the Cauldron Born, Bill Sykes, Roscoe and DeSoto, Flotsam and Jetsam, the Fates, the Titans, Shan Yu, Hayabusa the Falcon, Kron, Lyle Tiberius, Alameda Slim, the Willie Brothers, Dr. Calico, Dr. Faciler's Shadow, Lawrence, Yokai, and King Magnifico don't appear in the short.
- The dalmatians watch the seventh and final segment of Fantasia: Night on Bald Mountain.
- Prince Charming loses his shoe, as a reference to Cinderella when the main character loses her glass slipper.
- This short marks the first time Jeremy Irons voiced Scar since the 1994 version of The Lion King.
- Bob Joles is the first known voice actor outside of the late David Ogden Stiers to have played Cogsworth from the 1991 version of Beauty and the Beast.
- When Mr. Toad flies around on the Magic Carpet, he says "I'll show you the world," which of course is a reference to the song "A Whole New World", from Aladdin, in which the title character sings the first lyric to Jasmine, "I can show you the world!”
- Piotr Michael is the second voice actor to play Iago following the passing of Gilbert Gottfried in 2022. The first performer was Barrett Leddy, who voiced Iago for Disney+'s LEGO Disney Classics: The Castle Quest.
- This was the first time Tom Hulce reprised the role of Quasimodo since The Hunchback of Notre Dame II in 2002.
- Alan Tudyk’s casting as the Mad Hatter is a reference to his role as King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph, a role that was directly influenced by the late comedian Ed Wynn, who originally voiced the Mad Hatter in 1951's Alice in Wonderland.
- Lilo's older sister, Nani is seen in two different shirts. The first was a white beige short-sleeved belly shirt with red short sleeves when getting ready for the 100 year Disney Group Picture & the other was a pinkish beige short-sleeved belly shirt with a heart. Her pinkish beige short-sleeved belly shirt was seen reddish Pink when Fairy Godmother helped Goofy set up the camera. But at the end in a group photo, her short-sleeved belly shirt with a heart was seen in normal pinkish beige just like in the franchise.
- Ludwig Von Drake, Lanny and Wayne are the only characters in the short to have originated from the medium of television, as opposed to a theatrical project, having debuted in The Wonderful World of Disney and Prep & Landing respectively. Although Von Drake did appear in A Symposium on Popular Songs (which was released alongside In Search of the Castaways), while Prep & Landing: Operation: Secret Santa was featured on the "Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection" on Blu-ray.
- Similarly, Huey, Dewey, and Louie and Scrooge McDuck are the only characters featured in this short to have first appeared in comics prior to their respective animated debuts.
- When Scuttle tries to sing along with the others, he ends up being silenced by Baloo by holding his beak shut, which is a reference to a scene in The Little Mermaid when the same thing happens during "Kiss the Girl" when he is silenced by the flamingos.
- The scene where Flounder immediately shows up together with Moana after the ocean drops him in her hands is a reference to Flounder's brief cameo in amongst the tapa cloth fishes during Maui's musical number "You're Welcome" from Moana.
- Co-incidentally, both The Little Mermaid and Moana are directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, and both films' stories revolve around the ocean.
- Merida is the only official Disney Princess who doesn't appear in this short, due to the fact that she was produced by Pixar, and not Walt Disney Animation Studios.
- However, she did appear alongside other Disney princesses with Vanellope von Schweetz in Ralph Breaks the Internet, an animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
- All of the characters from the Mickey Mouse universe appear in certain designs from certain cartoons.
- Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar, and Clara Cluck appear in their designs from Mickey's Birthday Party.
- Daisy Duck appears in her design from Mr. Duck Steps Out.
- Pluto appears in his 1940s design with the red collar.
- Pete appears in his design from Officer Duck.
- Scrooge McDuck appears in his design from Mickey's Christmas Carol.
- José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles appear in their designs from The Three Caballeros.
- Figaro appears in his design from his debut film Pinocchio.
- Chip and Dale, Humphrey the Bear, and J. Audobon Woodlore appear in their designs from the 1950s.
- Spike the Bee appears in his design from Inferior Decorator onwards.
- Huey, Dewey and Louie appear in their outfits from DuckTales and their physical appearances from the 1950s onwards.
- Ludwig Von Drake appears as he did in his debut cartoon "An Adventure in Color".
- Similarly, some of the Disney Princesses appear in certain outfits from their respective films.
- Cinderella appears in her signature ball gown from her film's ballroom scene. In addition, her ball gown is silver in this film, without any blue hue like in the merchandise.
- Aurora appears in her peasant dress she wears during her years of hiding as Briar Rose.
- Ariel, in human form, appears wearing the blue peasant dress she wore during her time touring around Prince Eric's kingdom.
- Belle appears in her blue peasant dress.
- Fa Mulan appears in the yellow and green hamfu she wears at the beginning of her film before she encounters the Matchmaker.
- Tiana, in human form, appears in her blue princess ball gown she wore at Charlotte La Bouff's masquerade ball.
- Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff appear in their outfits from Frozen II.
- Oswald the Lucky Rabbit appears in black and white from his classic cartoon shorts rather than in color in which his shorts are blue.
- The Beast appears in his white shirt from near the end of Beauty and the Beast, but without his cape.
- Despite Jane and Danny from 2002's Return to Never Land appear in the short, Wendy appears in her younger self from 1953's Peter Pan rather than an adult like in the aftermentioned film.
- Tod, Cooper, Simba and Nala appear as their younger selves rather than adults.
- This is the first time Jim Cummings has voiced the Disney version of Baloo, having previously voiced the character in the 1990 Golden Films version of The Jungle Book.
- This short marks the first time Chris Sanders has voiced Stitch in animation since Leroy and Stitch. However, due to Sanders busy working on his upcoming second solo directorial feature film The Wild Robot from Universal and DreamWorks, the filmmakers improvised albeit via archival recordings from the original Lilo & Stitch film, after having been taken over by soundalike Ben Diskin in the international reboot adaptations.
- This is the first time Gopher has appeared in animation since Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year in 2002.
- All of the characters representing Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Disneytoon Studios, Disney Television Animation, Disney's video games, Studio Ghibli, The Muppets, 20th Century Studios, and the Disney Branded Television networks do not appear in this short due to them not being produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, as this short only focuses on celebrating the studio that began the entire Walt Disney Company.
- However, Tyler Bridges, Marky Tops, Master Hacker, Grady Williams, Lauren Johnson, Avery Hawk, Check Dog, Clarissa Bridges, Dixie Bridges, Stuart, Jerry, Buff, Alvina Freeman and Taylor Freeman from Tyler & Marky and Landin, Kicky and Licker Toontails from The Toontails are the only Disney Television Animation characters that appear in this short since Tyler & Marky reboot film trilogy and The Toontails: The Great Toon Caper are produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios despite being based on Disney Television Animation shows.
- Catalina, Kenyon, Synthia, and Lord Alistair are also the only Disney video games characters that appear in this short due to the 2014 Catalina film also produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios.
- However, Tyler Bridges, Marky Tops, Master Hacker, Grady Williams, Lauren Johnson, Avery Hawk, Check Dog, Clarissa Bridges, Dixie Bridges, Stuart, Jerry, Buff, Alvina Freeman and Taylor Freeman from Tyler & Marky and Landin, Kicky and Licker Toontails from The Toontails are the only Disney Television Animation characters that appear in this short since Tyler & Marky reboot film trilogy and The Toontails: The Great Toon Caper are produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios despite being based on Disney Television Animation shows.
- Asha is the only character from Wish to appear in the short, most likely because it was due to be released in theaters later in 2023.
- The only feature-length films not represented in the short are Song of the South (1946), So Dear to My Heart (1948), and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). For Song of the South, it's largely due to the controversial legacy surrounding the film.
- In fact, there are no characters from neither Laugh-O-Grams, nor even an appearance by Disney's very first character, Julius the Cat. This is due to the fact that those characters had been created before the current studio was founded in 1923.
- Additionally, characters from The Brave Little Toaster (and its sequels), The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, The Wild, Valiant, Enchanted, Roadside Romeo, A Christmas Carol, Mars Needs Moms, Gnomeo & Juliet, Strange Magic, Arjun: The Warrior Prince, and Frankenweenie aren't present as they were animated by third party studios not closely associated with Walt Disney Animation Studios.
- Furthermore, the Roger Rabbit shorts were animated by Walt Disney Animation Florida.
- The characters portrayed by actors in live action films, such as George of the Jungle and Inspector Gadget, are also not featured in the short.
- The order in which characters emerge both the botched first attempt at the group photo before Goofy falls off the ladder, and the second attempt during the new rendition of 'When You Wish Upon a Star' is left unclear. Some characters, such as Cinderella and Prince Charming, for example, may have been on their way to the courtyard during the first attempt, but paused to see everyone heading back inside, to their dismay, before everyone began singing, prompting them to continue. They may have even been outside, albeit offscreen, feeling sorry for Goofy and desperately wanting to help in any way possible. The unexplained order may explain why only certain characters were selected to sing solo parts, and also why the arrangement of all the characters in front of the studio building changed continuously during the course of the photo session, with characters often being shifted to different positions in the courtyard, with an inconsistent number of other characters around them.
- All of the characters are only seen together in the final shot due to these inconsistencies.
- In spite of Eeyore's resigned desire to postpone the photo for a full century, some of the more optimistic characters may have only intended to postpone it for a few days, planning further ahead and taking more preventative measures to reduce the risk of another failed attempt.
- However, a major mishap of some kind with the group photo may have been inevitable in any case, due to the air of both extreme excitement and slight anxiety everyone was feeling regarding the centennial milestone, which would necessitate the new rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star", to restore everyone's morale.
- When the Dalmatian Puppies are shown watching Night on Bald Mountain, the following books can be seen on the TV stand's shelves from left to right:
- Paper Dreams: The Art and Artists of Disney Storyboards
- Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons
- Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters: From Mickey Mouse to Hercules (1998 Edition)
- A Wish Your Heart Makes: From the Grimm Brothers' Aschenputtel to Disney's Cinderella
- Walt Disney Animation The Archive Series: Animation
- Tinker Bell: An Evolution
- Walt Disney Animation The Archive Series: Story
- The Art of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (seen twice on the shelves)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Art and Creation of Walt Disney's Classic Animated Film
- Fantasia 2000: Visions Of Hope
- The Art of Hercules: The Chaos of Creation
- The Art of The Lion King
- Hippo in a Tutu: Dancing in Disney Animation
- Brother Bear: A Transformation Tale
- A Pig Named Perrier
- Once Upon a Time: Walt Disney: The Sources of Inspiration for the Disney Studios
- Walt Disney's The Art of Animation
- Walt Disney's The Life of Donald Duck
- Disney Lost and Found: Exploring the Hidden Artwork from Never-Produced Animation
- Aladdin: The Making of An Animated Film
- The Art of Frozen
- The Art of Moana
- The Art of Encanto
- The Art of Wreck-It Ralph
- Winnie The Pooh: A Celebration of the Silly Old Bear
- The Art of Zootopia
- The Art of The Princess and the Frog (briefly seen when Cody and Elliott pass by)
- The Alchemy of Animation: Making An Animated Film in the Modern Age
- The Art of Meet The Robinsons (seen twice on its shelf)
- The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques, and Inspiration from Disney's Great Animators
- The Art of the Disney Princess
- The short was originally meant to be theatrically released with Wish, but that plan was ultimately cancelled following its public broadcast on ABC, its worldwide streaming on Disney+ and the fact it was instead theatrically screened with the Disney100 theatrical re-release of Moana, leaving Wish to be theatrically screened by itself. However, the short film was theatrically released alongside with the aforementioned Wish in Japan on December 15 in a special Japanese-dubbed version, due to Japanese dubbing for the short being complete, and will be included as a bonus feature on the movie's Blu-ray release.
- According to Eric Goldberg, this might be the first time we ever SEE Goofy do his signature scream on screen.
- There were some scenes cut but were storyboarded for the short, including...
- Timon and Pumbaa conversing with Snow White about her age, before Snow White pulls a frame out allowing the Lemmings, eating pawpsicles, to walk out.
- Mushu ringing the Gong to wake everyone up, only to encounter Scar.
- The Sheriff of Nottingham shaking Huey, Dewey, and Louie out their frame.
- Cogsworth also waking everyone up, with a Dalmatian Puppy jumping out of a frame to lick him, before the other Dalmatian Puppies jump out and pile on top of Cogsworth.
- Bambi & Thumper waking Anna & Elsa up (who would have been statues, rather than from a framed image). Sleepy (who is sleeping in Kristoff's Sled, beside Anna & Elsa) wakes up and asks what's going on, with Jaq and Gus appearing, Gus saying "Happy Birthday!" with Jaq correcting him.
- Captain Hook being chased down stairs by Tuk Tuk in homage to a classic scene from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- The order in which Genie and Olaf appear would have been switched, with Genie summoning Olaf from a computer screen.
- Having been woken up by Mulan, Pinocchio, Figaro, and Cleo try to climb out of their frame, with Rapunzel offering her hair as a line to them.
- Aladdin taking a bite of an apple from the canteen, tossing it behind him, resulting in it getting caught by the Evil Queen in her witch form. Additionally, Abu would have taken the other apples, King Louie would have taken the bananas, and Clawhauser would have taken a cereal dispenser.
- Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather enchanting the security guard to sleep through the photo shoot. Stitch would later be seen drawing on the security guard's head.
- Snow White and Pocahontas socializing, complimenting one another for how they haven't aged a day.
- Moana would have sung the lyrics "No request is too extreme" instead of Pocahontas.
- Cinderella, Anna, and Elsa would have sung the line "Like a bolt out of the blue", instead of Snow White, Mulan, and Asha.
- Yzma giving a wink to Hercules, which makes him squirm.
- This may be a homage to the Latin American Spanish dub of The Emperor's New Groove, where Yzma says "I was dreaming about Ricky (Martin)", who also happens to be the original Latin American Spanish voice of adult Hercules.
- Genie was also supposed to take selfies with many of the characters, with one shot showing him getting a pic together with Pinocchio, Cheshire Cat, Tramp, Gerda, Kay, Lucy, Edmond, Little John, Gurgi, Tarzan, and Rapunzel. This was cut, as it was felt that characters taking selfies would make the focal photograph of the short feel less special.
- After Goofy's botched attempt, Flynn Rider was supposed to ask whose idea it was to have Goofy take the photo, only for Rapunzel to cut him off by elbowing him.
- Ariel was originally going to have a non-vocal cameo, where she would be seen in the ladies' room, combing her hair with her "dinglehopper", but the directors didn't want Jodi Benson's voice to go to waste, so Ariel's role was expanded to have her sing during When You Wish Upon a Star.
- According to a post of an initial storyboard for the ending photo shot, Roger Rabbit, the Far From the Tree raccoons, and Yo Yo Flamingo were planned to appear but were seemingly removed at some point in production. The raccoons were cut because of difficulty in adding the CG characters onto the hand drawn moving trees from Flowers and Trees whilst they were down to the wire. The flamingo was also left behind (despite making a cameo in the credits of Wish).
- Olaf Meets the Caterpillar
- Some characters were originally going to appear in the short, such as Willie the Giant, but he ultimately didn't appear.
- Aurora and Jasmine are the only two Disney Princesses to have no speaking or singing lines in the short, aside from the final line of "When You Wish Upon a Star".
- Although the actors whose characters already had dialogue or a line during the song most likely recorded the final line "Your dreams come true!" (such as Jennifer Hale as Cinderella and Mandy Moore as Rapunzel), it remains unclear whether or not this was truly the case.
- Daisy Duck is the only main member of the Mickey Mouse universe to have no lines in the short.
- Peter Pan appearing as his original 1953 self in this short likely suggests (or possibly even confirms) that Sweet Pete in the Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers movie was an imposter and not the real Peter Pan, therefore dismissing the "Sweet Pete" character as non-canon.
- Similarly, all the characters from Disney Animated Canon franchises that received live-action remakes between 2010 and onward such as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, etc. appear in their original selves from their respective debut animated films, e.g. Ariel appearing in her original 1989 self instead of her 2023 live-action remake redesign in this short, contradicting the lore established in Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers where the animated and live-action versions of Disney Animated Canon characters being one of the same (as applied on Baloo from The Jungle Book in that film).
- Despite this, in the Italian dub version of the short, some characters were dubbed by the voices of the live action remake versions, For example, Cinderella is voiced by Letizia Ciampa (who dubbed her 2015 live-action remake counterpart) not by Giuliana Maroni or Monica Ward (who both dubbed her 1950 animated counterpart).
- If one does not count the 1966-1983 Winnie the Pooh featurettes characters as also representing both 1977's The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and the 2011 Winnie the Pooh film, these would be the only two Disney Animated Canon films to not be represented, as The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is an anthology of three previously released featurettes, and Christopher Robin uses his classic design rather than his unique design from the 2011 film while the sole character to debut in it, The Backson, does not appear (despite making a cameo in the credits of Strange World).
Archive audio re-usage[]
Active audio voice footage from various Walt Disney Animation Studios productions were used in this short to voice certain characters. Among of them include:
- Donald Duck short series (Donald's grumbling)
- Goofy short series (Goofy's signature holler)
- Pinocchio (Stromboli's cussing, Jiminy Cricket singing the penultimate line of "When You Wish Upon A Star")
- Bambi (Thumper: "Wake up! Wake up!")
- The Wind in the Willows (J. Thaddeus Toad: "Tally-ho! Whee! I'll show you the world! (laughs)")
- Cinderella (Jaq: "Zuk, zuk!", Gus' chuckle)
- Alice in Wonderland (Cheshire Cat's laughing)
- Peter Pan (Peter Pan: "C'mon everybody, here we go!!!", some of Peter's rooster crows)
- The Twelve Dancing Princesses ()
- Lady and the Tramp (Trusty: "I don't recollect if I ever mentioned Old Reliable before. He'd say uh-")
- The Snow Queen ()
- Hansel and Gretel (Hansel: Go on, have a laugh while you can!, Gretel: Let's go, Hansel!)
- Sleeping Beauty (Flora: "Make it pink!", Merryweather: "(groans) Make it blue!")
- Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (Winnie the Pooh: "Ooh! ooh, help, and bother")
- The Jungle Book (Kaa singing "Trust in Me", Kaa: Ooh!)
- Pete's Dragon (Eliott's muttering)
- The Rescuers (some of Bernard's screams)
- Mickey's Christmas Carol (Scrooge McDuck: "Whoa!")
- Oliver and Company (Dodger's howling)
- The Little Mermaid (Ursula: "Oh, no no no no no", some of Max's barks)
- The Rescuers Down Under (Cody: "Wow! Higher!", some of Joanna's growls)
- Aladdin (Genie: "Oy! I' haven't seen a fall like that since Rome! Oh, Much better", some of Abu's monkey chirps)
- The audio used for Genie in this short originates from an unused recording of Robin Williams as said character for the 1992 film, which was intended to be used in one scene in the film but ended up being unused.
- The Lion King (Ed's laughing, Rafiki: (chuckles) It is time")
- The Emperor's New Groove (Kuzco: "No touchy!")
- Lilo & Stitch (some of Stitch's growling)
- Treasure Planet (Jim Hawkins: "Whoo-hoo!")
- Meet the Robinsons (some of Bowler Hat Guy's grunts)
- Bolt (Rhino: "Awesome!")
- The Princess and the Frog (some of Louis' trumpeting)
- Wreck-It-Ralph (Vanellope von Schweetz: "Whoo-hoo!")