Once Upon a Studio

Once Upon a Studio is a 2023 American live-action/animated fantasy comedy crossover short film written and directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy, produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Made in honor of the studio's centennial on October 16, 2023, the short film was described as a "love letter" to Walt Disney Animation Studios by Correy and Abraham. 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 almost all of the studio's works made up to that point, including all sixty-two feature films, 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 to Burny Mattinson, the company's longest serving Disney employee, who appeared 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 on ABC on October 15, 2023, as part of The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration, hosted by Kelly Ripa, along with the television premiere of Encanto. Plot The employees of Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California are leaving as their workday is done. A Disney intern converses with Burny Mattinson about the studio turning 100, Mattinson wondering, "If these walls could talk."