Disney is celebrating its 100th birthday by bringing back one of Robin Williams’ classic characters.
As the Walt Disney Company continues to celebrate 100 years of Disney animation, the company has released a new animated short film titled Once upon a time there was a studio Sunday. The film, which features 543 animated Disney characters from more than 85 Disney films, “as they come together for a spectacular group photo to celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary,” according to the film’s official synopsis.
One of those characters is Genie, memorably portrayed by the late Williams in the 1992 classic. Aladdin. Although Williams himself died at the age of 63 in 2014, the short’s co-writers and co-directors Dan Abraham and Trent Correy requested the use of the character with permission from Williams’ family, according to producer Brad Simonsen Diversity.
“We tried to take them on the journey with us to say, ‘We have this very special short film we’re making. Robin as a spirit means so much to people and we would really like to include him,’ said Simonsen.
The producer said that Abraham “listened to clips from the original recording [of Aladdin] and he found those little morsels that we could use.”
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“We went back to the property and said, ‘This is what we’re hoping for,'” the producer said Diversity. ” ‘[animator Eric Goldberg], who originally animated the ghost, is on the show and he will be a part of it.’ And it was wonderful to see that happen.”
The 13-minute short features Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse stepping out in front of a still at Walt Disney Animation after its employees leave for the day for the company’s 100th birthday. After the employees leave, Mickey and Minnie — with the help of Tinkerbell, Peter Pan and dozens of characters from the company’s history — gather to take a group photo to celebrate.
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Williams’ spirit emanates from the sketchbook he created FrozenOlaf (Josh Gad) for about three minutes in the short film. The character can also be seen standing next to Aladdin, Jafar, and Jasmine, right behind the others Frozen characters for the group photo itself, as the characters come together to sing “When You Wish Upon a Star.”
Apparition of spirit in Once upon a time there was a studio used existing recordings of Williams’ voice. It comes just two weeks after Williams’ daughter, Zelda, criticized artificial intelligence replications of her father’s character and voice made without her family’s consent.
Remembering the life of Robin Williams in photographs
Zelda Williams and Robin Williams arrive at the premiere of “Old Dogs” at the El Capitan Theater on November 9, 2009 in Hollywood, California.
John Shearer/WireImage
The actress and director, 34, shared a message on her Instagram stories mentioning the use of artificial intelligence, a major issue in the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike, writing in part that she has “witnessed FOR YEARS how many people want to train these models to create/recreate actors who cannot consent, like dad.”
“This is not theoretical, this is very very real,” she continued in the post, according to screenshots he obtained Entertainment Weekly. “I’ve heard before that an AI has used its ‘voice’ to say whatever people want and while I find that personally disturbing, the ramifications go far beyond my own feelings.”
“These recreations are, at best, a poor facsimile of great men, but at worst, a hideous Frankenstein’s monster, made up of the worst parts of everything this industry is, instead of what it should represent,” she concluded. .
Once upon a time there was a studio currently airing on Disney+.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education