Once Upon a Studio - Walt Disney Animation’s celebration of The Walt Disney Company’s 100th anniversary

[C to the J]

I wondering if anyone happened to watch this short recently. It came out on ABC on October 15th and it became accessible on Disney+ the next day. You can also watch it on the small screen at the Abraham Lincoln theater at Disneyland. If you want to experience it on the big screen, it’ll play in front of WDAS’s next feature, Wish. Keep in mind that it features characters solely made by this studio.

The premise is straightforward - characters leap out of their pictures and gather around for a 100-year group photo outside the studio. And yes, some of the characters who become deceased by the end of their movies also appear. It has many actors reprising their roles. Others are either archived or performed by actors who can do impeccable impressions. You’ll also notice in the credits that Mickey is voiced by Chris Diamontopolous in the short. Yes, the same Chris who voiced Paul Rudish’s WAHIMHO (weird as heck in my humble opinion) take on Mickey. To be honest, he actually does a better job on the short.

Anyway, check out the short if you haven’t already. It’s like House of Mouse, but way better. It even makes those D+ exclusive Simpsons shorts with Disney crossovers look pale in comparison. You’d be amazed to see who’s included.

 

[The Count]

Yes, I saw/watched this short when it debuted on ABC as I've been looking forward to knowing exactly which characters appeared. There are various websites who have full character listings available if you search for it on the internet. The only nitpick I have is that the characters from The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh are counted as double representing Disney's 51'st cannon animated film, Winnie-the-Pooh; which would have been better resolved if the Backson had been included to separately count both films to then credit the claim that all sixty-two animated cannon films are represented in the short.

Still though, I really liked the short. And the only thing I've seen in my lifetime that gave me equal feels as the end group photo when everyone's singing When You Wish Upon a Star is the Rainbow Connection finale from TMM (the moment where all existing Muppet characters up to that point in 1978 are gathered under the rainbow itself).

Not sure if the end group photo from Once Upon a Studio has been made available, but it's a great wonderful Where's Waldo who's who of Disney proportions to study for all us fans.

 

[C to the J]

I think the larger characters (Willie the Giant, Willie the Whale, Paul Bunyan and Babe, Tamatoa, to name a few) were left out because they’d have been too big to fit anywhere inside the studio and they wouldn’t have made their way out the doorway that’s big enough for the tree couple, Pedro, Susie the Little Blue Coupe, Col. Hathi & Winnifred, Elliott, Tantor, Aladar, and Tuk Tuk.

Of course, there is Chernabog, who makes his appearance on the TV screen.

 

[The Count]

Yep, but as I was thinking to myself after hearing other people mention characters that weren't included... That's what fanart's for. If you're talented enough, take the massive end photo as a file for whatever Photoshop manipulation programs exist nowadays and insert the characters you would personally want to add to the family.

 

[C to the J]

They’d have to be characters created at WDAS, though, which is fine by me. I know for a fact that Br’er Rabbit, Br’er Fox, and Br’er Bear were not in the short for reasons too complex for me to explain. If it were up to me, I would have included the following:

•Max Hare & Toby Tortoise (The Tortoise and the Hare)
•Pablo - the penguin who favors warm weather (The Three Caballeros)
•The Aracuan (The Three Caballeros, Melody Time)
•Casey Jones (The Brave Engineer)
•Prof. Owl (Melody, Toot Whistle Plunk & Boom) - that would’ve made a total of 5 owls in the photo, but I digress
•Some of the other Fantasia 2000 characters - the main 4 from Rhapsody in Blue are already featured
•That one clock with the little man on its head (Tick Tock Tale)

That’s all I can think of for now. I’ll post more if I think of more.

The one thing I’d also do is change the look of the five out of six Dalmatian pups who look like Patch.

 

[The Count]

If we're including WDAS and animated productions from Disney, would that then open the door for the inclusion of characters from the DTS (DisneyToonStudios) and/or DTAP (Disney Television Animation Productions) as well? Because if that's the case, I'd include:

Chernabog, from Fantasia, excluded from poster/photo print.
The Toy Bull, from Saludos Amigos.
Fisherman Bear, from Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
Luke and Ellie May Possum, Brutus and Nero, from The Rescuers.
Amos Slade, Chief, and Mrs. Tweed, from The Fox and The Hound.
Felicia, from The Great Mouse Detective.
Jenny Foxworth, Bill Sykes, Rosco and Desoto, from Oliver & Company.
King Triton, Ariel's Sisters: Attina, Adella, Alana, Aquata, Arista, and Andrina, from The Little Mermaid.
Duckworth, Mrs. Beakly, Webbigail, Gene the Genie, and Merlock, from Ducktales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp.
Prince Mickey and Pauper Mickey Mouse, from The Prince and The Pauper.
The Manhattan Clan: Hudson, Goliath, Brooklyn, Broadway, Lexington, and Bronx, and Ilisa Maza, from Gargoyles the Movie: The Heroes Awaken.
Max Goof and Roxanne, from A Goofy Movie.
The Flying Whale, from Fantasia 2000 as a reference back to why I personally think they turned Monstruo from Pinocchio into a similar interstellar threat/world in the Kingdom Hearts franchise.
P.J. and Barista/Bohemian Girl, Bobby, and Sylvia Marple-Goof, from An Extremely Goofy Movie.
T.J. Detwiler, Vince Lasalle, Ashley Spinelli, Gretchen Grundler, Mikey Blumberg, and Gus Grizwald, from Recess: School's Out.
Kim Possible, Ron Stopable, Rufus the Mole Rat, Shego, and Dr. Draken, from Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time.
Kitty Helperman, Leonard Helperman, Scott Leadready II/Spot, Jolly the Cat, and Pretty Boy, from Teacher's Pet, The Movie.
Pearl Jesner, and Alamida Slim, from Home on the Range.
Musketeer Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goffy Goof, from Mickey, Donald, Goofy, The Three Musketeers.
Giselle, in animated form, from Enchanted/Disenchanted since I don't think Malvina Monroe appeared in animated form in the second film.
Queen Clarion, Periwinkle, Videa, Silvermist, Iridesa and whatever other pixies from the Tinker Bell franchise in some sort of discerned order that each of the six films are counted/represented.
The Backson, from Winnie-the-Pooh (DAC #51).
Dusty Crophopper, and Ripslinger, from Planes.
Forgot the name of the chief helicopter from Planes: Fire and Rescue.
eBoy, from Ralph Breaks the Internet.
Valentino, King Magnifico, and Star, from Wish.

 

[C to the J]

The title is Once Upon a Studio, not Once Upon a Company (LOL). Anyway, I thought of more characters they could have added, not that they’re essential or anything. They’re the ones not mentioned on your list.

•Mortimer Mouse
•The Three Blind Mouseketeers
•That cookie man from Cookie Carnival who sounds like Goofy
•The Romeo-and-Juliet-esque characters from Music Land
•The 4 lonesome ghosts
•Gus Goose
•Butch, the bulldog from some Pluto cartoons
•The 5 Crows (Dumbo)
•Lulubelle, Lumpjaw - both from Bongo (Fun and Fancy Free)
•Johnny’s guardian angel, Little Toot (he probably can’t move in land, though) (Melody Time)
•Mr. Winky - from The Wind in the Willows (The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad)
•The King, The Duke (Cinderella)
•The Dodo, The Caterpillar (the latter would have to be 3 inches) (Alice in Wonderland)
•King Stefan, his queen, King Hubert (Sleeping Beauty)
•Jasper, Horace (101 Dalmatians)
•Sir Kay, Hector (The Sword in the Stone)
•The 4 Vultures (The Jungle Book)
•Napoleon, Lafayette, Scat Cat’s gang (The Aristocats)
•Trigger, Nutsy (Robin Hood)
•Mr. Flaversham, Toby (The Great Mouse Detective)
•Fagan (Oliver and Company)
•Grimsby (The Little Mermaid) I’d say Flotsam & Jetsam, but, like Flounder, they’d also need water
•Wilbur (The Rescuers Down Under)
•Thomas, Wiggins (Pocahontas)
•Clopin (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)
•The 5 muses (Hercules)
•Prof. Archimedes Q. Porter (Tarzan)
•Eema, Bayleen, Url, Neera (Dinosaur) The second one is way too big, though
•Preston Whitmore (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)
•Lucky Jack, Buck, The Willy Bros. (Home on the Range)
•Buck Cluck (Chicken Little)
•Eudora, Big Daddy LaBouff, Lawrence (The Princess and the Frog)
•The Queen and King of Corona, the Stabbington Bros. (Tangled)
•Noel (Wayne’s bulky little brother with a great catchphrase: Jingle BAM!) (Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice)
•Gene, Sour Bill (Wreck-It Ralph)
•The Duke of Weselton, Marshmallow (Frozen), though the latter might be too big
•Prof. Callaghan, Alistair Krei (Big Hero 6)
•Mayor Leodore Lionheart, Duke Weaselton (Zootopia)
•Moana’s parents (I have trouble keeping their names in my head) (Moana)
•J. P. Spamley (Ralphs Breaks the Internet)
•Yelena (Frozen II)

Considering they managed to slip the Lost Boy version of Robin Williams into one scene, I think they could have also included General Knowledge and Buzzy from Cranium Command.

I guess there’s a reason they kept the number of characters down to 543. They probably didn’t have it in the budget to exceed 600. For the record, I don’t think Saludos Amigos had a toy bull.

Oh, and this should interest you:
https://d23.com/how-once-upon-a-studio-reacquaints-fans-with-beloved-but-rarely-seen-characters/

 

[The Count]

Hmm... The toy bull is from when Donald's blindfold slips while trying to break a piñata, maybe that's from The Three Caballeros instead.Another way we as fans can amuse ourselves with this is trying to recreate the photo with PVC figurines if those are still made and sold in the parks nowadays, my box of PVC figures includes the ones I collected until stopping with Lythos, the Hydra, and Hades. There was a great line by Tomy, but the most I could find was 140 figures before the line sort of ended.

 

[C to the J]

Ever noticed many if not all characters make movements in various group shots? The animators were certainly not holding back. You’d even have to rewatch that final group shot where the camera zooms out from Jiminy multiple times just to see who’s singing and who isn’t.

 

[Xerus]

It's seems like Disney character get together scenes happen once in lifetimes or sooner. Like The House of Mouse, Kingdom Hearts, Disney Infinity, and now, Once Upon a Studio.