Three songs from recent Walt Disney Animation Studios features are reimagined and animated in American Sign Language in collaboration with Deaf West Theatre
On April 27, in celebration of National Deaf History Month, Disney+ will proudly debut Disney Animation’s Songs in Sign Language, three animated musical sequences from recent Walt Disney Animation Studios features, newly reimagined and animated in American Sign Language (ASL). Directed by veteran Disney animator/director Hyrum Osmond, the featured songs are “The Next Right Thing” (from Frozen 2), “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (from Encanto) and “Beyond” (from Moana 2). Osmond, along with producers Heather Blodget and Christina Chen, worked in collaboration with DJ Kurs (artistic director) and the team at Los Angeles’ Tony Award-winning Deaf West Theatre to create the new versions of these beloved songs. A special behind-the-scenes featurette will accompany the songs, taking viewers into the collaboration that made these reimagined songs possible.
Osmond led a team of more than 20 animators who worked with sign language reference expressly created for Disney Animation’s Songs in Sign Language. DJ Kurs, artistic director for Deaf West Theatre, working with sign language reference choreographer Catalene Sacchetti, and a group of eight performers from Deaf West Theatre, carefully reimagined and choreographed lyrics into ASL by focusing on concepts and emotion instead of a word-for-word transcription.
Osmond explains, “In the majority of cases, we created entirely new animation. There were a lot of adjustments that we had to do within the animation to be true to the original intention.”
Read on at https://press.disneyplus.com/news/songs-in-sign-language-to-debut
Earlier video post showing the animation process at https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BMyVgEZLg/ (Facebook post)