Overview
- The Disney+ special, which debuts Monday, April 27, reimagines three sequences in ASL: The Next Right Thing from Frozen 2, We Don’t Talk About Bruno from Encanto, and Beyond from Moana 2.
- Walt Disney Animation Studios partnered with Deaf West Theatre, using reference shoots with Deaf performers and a team of more than 20 animators to create mostly new footage.
- Each sequence was choreographed around ASL so characters sign with hands, facial expression, and eye focus built into the performance rather than adding an on-screen interpreter or word-for-word signs.
- Director Hyrum Osmond said his experience growing up with a deaf father drove the effort as a personal bridge to the Deaf community.
- A behind-the-scenes featurette will stream alongside the special, which lands during National Deaf History Month to spotlight ASL integrated into mainstream animation.