The Genie is back in Disney’s 100th Anniversary short, Once Upon A Studio. Originally appearing in the Disney classic, Aladdin, The Genie has returned to celebrate the studio’s 100th anniversary, and using some movie magic is once again voiced by Robin Williams.
Williams passed away in 2014, so how did Disney do this without AI? It went back to the archives to find unused voice lines from the original film and asked Williams’ estate permission to use them.
“We tried to take them on the journey with us to say, 'We've got this very special short that we're doing. Robin as the genie means so much to so many people and we would really love to involve him,' ” said producer Bradford Simonsen in an interview with Variety.
The beloved character was a huge hit when Aladdin debuted in 1992. So as part of Disney’s 100-year anniversary celebrations, it was vital to get the character back, and only Williams’ zany charm would do.
“So, [director] Dan [Abraham] listened to the outtakes from the original recording and he found those little bites that we could use,” said Simonsen. “We went back to the estate and said, 'This is what we hope to do.' Eric [Goldberg], who originally animated the genie is on the show, and he's going to be part of it.' And it was wonderful to see that happen.”
Once Upon A Studio uses a combination of live-action footage, hand-drawn animation, and CGI animation to recreate 543 classic Disney characters. Some of the most recognisable include Mickey Mouse, Elsa and Anna from Frozen, Winnie the Pooh and friends, and Peter Pan.
The short film sees these iconic characters come to life at Disney’s studios once everyone has gone home for the night, with their shenanigans shining a spotlight on Disney’s long animated history. “Is that it, they all gone?” whispers Mickey in the film’s teaser trailer. Characters soon begin clambering out of their frames and artwork once the coast is clear, and it sets the stage for a cute bit of nostalgia to celebrate 100 years of animation.
Simonsen explained that each character should feel as though they’ve just stepped out of their film. “It needed to feel that so the audience response would be visceral,” he said. “We used our animation research library where we pulled out model sheets for the animators to work from. We had Eric Goldberg who has the studio history, and we did tests to make sure it was all working together in the scenes.”
Once Upon a Studio debuted on ABC on October 15 and is available on Disney+ from October 16.
Want to read more about Disney? Check out our pick of the best 25 Disney animated movies and celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary by watching the best films on Disney+.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
