Walt Disney Animation Studios is reimagining three beloved musical sequences in American Sign Language. Disney Animation’s Songs in Sign Language debuts on Disney+ on Sunday, April 27 in celebration of National Deaf History Month.
The project features newly animated versions of “The Next Right Thing” from Frozen 2, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto, and “Beyond” from Moana 2. A behind-the-scenes featurette will accompany the songs on Disney+.
How It Was Made
Veteran Disney animator and director Hyrum Osmond led a team of more than 20 animators on the project. Osmond, whose father is Deaf, worked in collaboration with artistic director DJ Kurs and eight performers from Los Angeles’ Tony Award-winning Deaf West Theatre to reimagine the songs.
“Sign language is one of the most beautiful ways of communication on Earth. If ever there was a medium to showcase sign language, it was animation,” Osmond said. “The other big reason for doing this project is to connect with the Deaf community. Growing up, I never learned sign language, and that barrier prevented me from really connecting with my dad.”
Rather than a word-for-word transcription, Deaf West Theatre’s sign language reference choreographer Catalene Sacchetti and the team reimagined and choreographed the lyrics into ASL by focusing on concepts and emotion. In most cases, entirely new animation was created to be true to the original intention of each song.
“When Hyrum approached me with a potential collaboration involving the integration of ASL into the fabric of Disney storytelling, it was an immediate ‘yes’ for us,” Kurs said. “Disney stories are the universal language of childhood. The chance to bring our language into that world was a historic opportunity to reach a global audience.”
The Songs
- “The Next Right Thing” from Frozen 2
- “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto
- “Beyond” from Moana 2
Disney Animation’s Songs in Sign Language streams on Disney+ starting April 27.
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