Sorry for starting on such a dramatic title, but it's just that Once Upon a Studio, one of the greatest things Disney has done in recent years, was denied an Oscar nomination. It seemed like such a shoo-in, considering what it is and what it was celebrating (the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company). Everyone seemed to think it was going to happen. Presented below is the full and complete video:
Basically put, it's a love letter to Disney animation fans and quite an emotional E-ticket from start to finish (speaking of, incidentally, the film is also playing at Disneyland, if I recall).
I myself have felt that given the enormous crowd of Disney characters, heroes and villains alike (albeit only from Disney proper; no Pixar characters), I initially was reminded of the closing scene of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which, of course, features a whole crowd of Toons, Disney and non-Disney alike, all gathered together to learn that Marvin Acme had bequeathed Toontown to these lovable characters, who then all sing "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile":
For sheer raw emotion, however, I was not sure if the comparison with Roger Rabbit was entirely accurate. Another, equally apt comparison would have to be the finale of The Muppet Movie:
As in that movie, Once Upon a Studio ends with the camera pulling away from the enormous crowd of classic Disney characters from the last 95+ years, as they all sing "When You Wish Upon a Star", with little bits of the crowd joining in little by little, until finally the entire crowd is singing.
I also have made comparisons with the closing scene of the Disney anthology series episode "This Is Your Life, Donald Duck", which ends with a huge crowd of Disney characters, parading onto the stage to pay tribute to Donald:
Another comparison I made was with this one old ad for Eastern Airlines, one of the earliest sponsors for Walt Disney World. In 1973, Disney produced an ad that featured a crowd of Disney characters, including those from the latest movie at the time, Robin Hood, accompanying a nondescript family to the new vacation destination via Eastern:
Getting back to Once Upon a Studio, it was originally supposed to be released in theaters alongside Wish in November of 2023. However, they changed their minds and instead aired it on TV in October, with it being available on Disney Plus a few days later. Indeed, when I went to see Wish, although it did pay homage to Disney's past history in the closing credits, and indeed all throughout the film, it played alone, without this short. The one country that did show these two together in theaters was Japan, on December 23. It has also been confirmed that Once Upon a Studio will be released as a bonus on the Blu-Ray release of Wish in March.
Anyway, the short film struck such a chord with everyone who saw it that it seemed like a natural for the Academy Awards nomination for Best Short Film. Indeed, the film was first screened in June at the Annecy Film Festival. This would have been a breath of fresh air for Disney, considering its less-than-stellar performance over the last year. Even Wish ended up underwhelming with a lot of people, which is not good for it to be a celebration of the company's 100th anniversary. Even I admit it's not that great of a movie, even though I wouldn't dismiss as the total washout that many critics wrote it off as.
However, it seems the idea that Once Upon a Studio would receive a nomination was not much more than online chatter, particularly since it wasn't even really shown in theaters, only on TV and streaming. In hindsight, they seemed to have dropped the ball by not showing in theaters as planned (save for in all of one country). That, combined with Disney's currently dismal performance, probably contributed to the Academy's decision to not include this film in their shortlist.
That said, I have to wonder, does that make it any less of a great film? Probably not, but it does give me pause. I was shocked at first, but from reading about it, it makes more sense. But it still seems to have diminished its greatness. I don't know.
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