Surprise Review: Once Upon a Studio · 11:25pm January 10th
Short Film Rating Scale:
đź’ś: Lovely! Absolutely beautiful!
đź©·: Pretty cute.
❤️: That’s adorable. But I’ve seen better.
đź’™: Decent.
🩵: Um, that’s kinda weird.
🩶: Not good-looking.
🖤: The ugliest thing I’ve ever seen!
Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with a very special surprise review today. This evening, I will be covering Disney’s 100 anniversary short film called “Once Upon a Studio”. When I heard that they released a short to commemorate their one hundred years, I was kinda surprised at first because I never imagined they would do something like this. Then when I noticed they released it on Disney+ a few months ago, I was curious enough to check it out. Afterwards, I was blown away at the beauty thereof.
Seeing all these animated characters interact together on screen was just…a dream come true. And I appreciate the fact that they didn’t bring in any Star Wars, Marvel, 20th Century Fox, or even Pixar characters in this short. This was specifically for Disney original characters, and I loved every single second they devoted to honoring their legacy.
Now…this is something I just find incredibly fascinating because we see a sequence of events that occurred before they all gathered together to take their 100-year picture. The mascots—Mickey and Minnie Mouse—jump out of their picture to commence the honorary occasion. Then we see Tinker Bell appear after that, and then we have more characters show up.
I find it interesting that Tiana is the first princess to make a re-appearance in this short; the way I see it, they gave her that brief spotlight because her movie was the last original 2D full-length animated movie they made (unless you also count 2011’s “Winnie the Pooh”). Afterwards, it was all 3D for some reason. So to jog the audiences’ memory, they had to remind us of the last time we’ve seen 2D animated projects by having Princess Tiana be one of the first to show up.
I’m kinda happy they had the courtesy to do that despite the fact I’m not a huge fan of “The Princess and the Frog”.
Then we see Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde pop out of their picture as well. These are the first 3D characters who show up on screen, and they are some of Disney’s most iconic 3D animated characters. In my opinion, Judy and Nick represent unity and friendship between different races and cultures, seeing that Disney is so persistent in upholding those standards. It makes sense why they appear first alongside Disney’s first African-American Princess.
It was so cool seeing 2D and 3D animated characters interact together in one frame; it’s like two different worlds coming together for a special occasion. Additionally, these characters who come from different movies and different worlds talk as if they’ve known each other for years! They know each other’s names and know what they do!
It’s just…amazing to me! But not only are the heroes here but also the villains (except Hans. lol) The latter group don’t do anything particularly villainous or anything, but instead they decide to lay aside their ambitions and evil desires just to join the party. How thoughtful and kind of them; and I won’t question how they’re even alive considering that half of these villains died in their own movies. Maybe they’re revived by Disney Magic for this important event. It doesn’t matter.
So more characters show up; there’s Bambi, Peter Pan, Bolt, Vanellope driving with Dodger (that’s cute), and…ah no….they brought back Sisu from “Raya and the Last Dragon”. Of course, they also have to include some of the most annoying characters in all of Disney. How forgetful of me. Thankfully, that doesn’t detract from this short because there’s a more vast number of characters I actually do like.
Alright, I see Merlin, Cogsworth, Mad Hatter (not Batman’s version lol), Flounder, Maui, Moana, and some other characters I don’t recognize because I never watched those movies. Anyway, there’s Timon, Pumbaa, Olaf, and…Genie!! Yes, they included the best character from “Aladdin”! And to add icing on the cake, they included some archived footage of his outtakes from the movie to be his speaking lines. Thus, the amazing Robin Williams continues to live on through Genie. RIP Robin!
Now we see Gaston being himself, Prince John, Cheshire Cat, and…what?! They even included Milo Thatch, Chicken Little, and Jim Hawkins?! That’s cool! Disney barely acknowledges those movies anymore, and they’re some of the most criminally underrated animated films ever. Yes, even “Chicken Little” too. I said it. That movie is actually good regardless of what people say. Sue me.
Then there’s Flash getting on Donald Duck’s nerves as he’s holding the elevator for him. That was so amusing to watch. Although I’m surprised Mother Gothel didn’t lose her temper and storm out of there. Huh, she has incredible patience for a villain. Who knew? Oh, and Baymax just walked in with no trouble. Haha!
Run, Ursula! Don’t let that ugly creature from “Strange World” contaminate you! Seriously, that movie sucks.
Prince Charming loses his shoe? Wow, a role reversal! Never thought I would see the day that would happen. Hmm, I wonder if he’ll get his own solo movie one day? Nah, Disney wouldn’t. Right?
Yeeeeah, those Dalmatian puppies will definitely get nightmares after seeing Chernabog scare the crap out of them. Huh, let them watch the forest scene from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. That scene will traumatize them for life!
Nice job, Rapunzel. Kaa won’t be hypnotizing anybody for a while!
But the best scene in the whole short is the moment of silence Mickey had for the man who started it all: Walter Disney himself. I loved how they spent those emotional moments in remembering all the amazing contributions he made throughout the years of his life, especially in the earlier years of the studio. Looking back at the first animated movies he took direct part in from Snow White to “The Jungle Book”, I can see the magic he spread in those movies and the impact that would follow after his passing in 1966.
Even with the man gone, his influence is still felt in all the movies his team would direct and produce for future generations to come. It’s rather unfortunate his name is dragged to the ground due to the corrupted state his company is in now. Nevertheless, all the good movies that exist speak volumes of his unique talents and the impact he made in the animation industry and in the company itself.
Oh, and it seems like his favorite song “Feed the Birds” was playing in the background during this scene. How touching!
So now all the characters—543 of them—are all gathered together to have the photo taken by Goofy. Oh…and there was something about it that kinda bothered me while watching and re-watching it. Some of the character models looked so badly designed. They look like reanimated corpses after they were buried, beaten, and scrapped. Examples of this are Jafar, Pocahontas, Ursula, and even Snow White.
Were the animators seriously out-of-touch with 2D animation they made them like this? Kinda sad honestly, but I can forgive that.
Oh, and Scar is here! With Jeremy Irons back! Best Disney villain ever!! The fact that he spoke his best line makes his cameo all the more perfect!
So, Goofy slips and falls while uttering his iconic scream. Everybody is disappointed at the outcome, but their hope is instantly reinvigorated by singing. Such a classic move by Disney. If you’re gonna express your emotions, do it by singing. You gotta get used to it, Hades. ;)
And I like how the Queen of Hearts is happy at the sight of Belle and Beast singing together. She’s a villain, yet she appreciates folks that sing with gladness in their hearts apparently. Ha, hearts. See what I did there?
And that was cool they got a few other characters play a small role to make a difference. Rafiki handed the camera to Goofy at first, Hercules placed the ladder back on its legs after it fell down, the brooms gathered the broken pieces of the camera back together, the Fairy Godmother put Goofy on the ladder with magic, and Fix-It Felix fixed it with his hammer. It’s so small, yet so significant because it stayed true to each character’s personalities.
Oh, and I know some of you want me to acknowledge a certain character who has been obscure from Disney for Primus knows how long. I know, I know, I’m not gonna leave him out—the character is none other than Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. To be completely honest…I don’t see the appeal of this guy.
I did some research, and it seems like he was the first mascot to have gotten some fame and fortune since his birth year 1927. His animated short films ran from that year until 1938; Universal went ahead and bought the rights of the character in 1928 which inspired Walt to create a new character similar in appearance: Mickey Mouse.
In 2006, the company acquired Oswald’s trademark and worked on making a video game based on him. That game is called “Epic Mickey” which came out in 2010. I remember playing the game only once on Wii; unfortunately, the game was so boring I never played it again. Regardless of the metafiction plot, I just didn’t care about Oswald that much.
I’m sorry, folks, but this rabbit guy doesn’t mean anything to me. Perhaps it’s because I never grew up with the character and became so used to watching Mickey Mouse. Or maybe because he never stood out to me even after I learned some stuff about him. But I understand why people would cheer in joy in seeing him return for this short film. It’s no wonder why Mickey says “After you!” so kindly to Oswald.
He respected and recognized the OG. I bet Oswald was so happy to hear that from the mascot because he had to feel depression or loneliness for so long and possibly felt jealous of Mickey for taking his place. Whatever, I still don’t care.
This whole thing feels like Disney might make a “House of Mouse” type of show in the future. I would definitely watch it on Disney+ if they ever do because “House of Mouse” is so good and nostalgic. I would love to see a newer version of it someday.
With all this said, this was so heartwarming and amazing to behold. It did a significantly better job in honoring Disney’s 100 years than “Wish” ever did. If this was a full-length animated movie, it would’ve made this even more entertaining.
RIP to Burny Mattinson, an American animator who served as Disney’s longest-serving employee until he passed away eight months prior to this short’s release. I’m sure he enjoyed those few moments of screen time he had in this short.
This deserves a bright Purple Heart đź’ś! Great direction and writing by Trent Correy and Dan Abraham and wonderful music by Dave Metzger. John Hasbrook and Daniel Rice did a good job with the cinematography too.
Chef’s kiss is what it rightfully deserves. Peace and love, folks!
I'm so happy that you enjoyed this short.
Also, while I personally enjoyed "WISH", I definitely agree that "Once Upon a Studio" was the more fitting way of celebrating Disney's 100th anniversary. And to honor Walt Disney himself, if I may add.
Shame that ALL of the voice actors still alive didn’t get the chance to reprise their roles for the characters appearing in this.
I love this short. I also hate it. Why? It reminded me that I have a heart, soul, and feelings. Seriously, this part here...
...began it, but once the singing began - started off by Alan-a-Dale of Robin Hood, mind you - yeah... Hell, I'm tearing up a bit thinking about it. X'P
So yeah, a fitting way to commemorate 100 years of Disney animation. Oh, and about the rabbit? Disney actually traded a football commentator to get him from Universal. XD
The only good thing to come out of Disney in 2023.