by Thinus Ferreira
Disney is celebrating its 100th anniversary with the simultaneous streaming release and broadcast today of a "group photo" TV special, Once Upon a Studio, that gets together 543 beloved characters from 85 Disney films.
Once Upon a Studio releases today on Disney+ and will air at 16:55 today on the Disney Channel (DStv 303) and throughout the rest of the month.
The TV special will also air at 18:20 today on e.tv, and will air today on e.tv's channels on Openview today (eExtra 17:50, eSeries 18:15, eToonz 18:50, eReality 18:50, eMovies 19:50, eMovies Extra 19:50, ePlesier 20:00).
Written and directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy and produced by Yvett Merino and Bradford Simonsen, Once Upon a Studio sees an all-star cast of the Mouse House's characters come to life.
From Mickey Mouse to hundreds of heroes and villains, princes and princesses, sidekicks and sorcerers pop up - everyone from Elsa and Bambi to Goofy, Peter Pan and Moana and even Robin William's Genie from Aladdin through the use of outtakes from the original voice recordings the late actor made.
In both hand-drawn and CG animation, the characters come together to "celebrate 10 decades of storytelling, artistry and technological achievements" in what is described as "a joyful, entertaining and emotional reunion".
