{"id":2382484,"date":"2026-04-21T08:03:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T08:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2382484"},"modified":"2026-04-21T08:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T08:03:17","slug":"disney-animates-sign-language-versions-of-iconic-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/disney-animates-sign-language-versions-of-iconic-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney Animates Sign Language Versions Of Iconic Songs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In the short-form development ecosystem at Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), it\u2019s heartening to see an abundance of fresh ideas and experimentation. Aside from its ongoing <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cartoonbrew.com\/shorts\/disney-plus-short-circuit-interviews-259585.html\">Short Circuit<\/a> program, the studio\u2019s most interesting recent short project <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cartoonbrew.com\/series\/disney-animations-songs-in-sign-language-259383.html\">announcement<\/a> is Disney Animation\u2019s <em>Songs in Sign Language<\/em>, which debuts April 27 on Disney+.<\/p>\n<p>Spearheaded and directed by Disney animator\/director Hyrum Osmond (<em>Olaf Presents<\/em>), <em>Songs in Sign Language<\/em> reimagines three song sequences from recent Disney animated films, retold in American Sign Language (ASL). \u201cThe Next Right Thing\u201d from <em>Frozen 2<\/em>, \u201cWe Don\u2019t Talk About Bruno\u201d from <em>Encanto<\/em>, and \u201cBeyond\u201d from <em>Moana 2<\/em> have all been reanimated from their source files, with the lyrics choreographed in ASL with guidance and choreography from Deaf West Theatre artistic director DJ Kurs and sign language reference choreographer Catalene Sacchetti.<\/p>\n<p>At a recent press day, <em>Cartoon Brew<\/em> sat down with the trio to discuss the origins of the idea and the landmark initiative to reimagine the songs for Deaf audiences.<\/p>\n<p><!--googleoff: index--><\/p>\n<aside class=\"cb-ad cb-post inset\"\/><!--googleon: index--><\/p>\n<p>Osmond shared that creating animation tailored to Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities came from his own experiences with his father.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGrowing up, I never learned sign language,\u201d he explained. \u201cI felt a lot of regret because I could not connect with my dad. With this project, I just wanted to do something that could take down barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Osmond said he spent years developing ideas for a project like this before finally pitching it to then Walt Disney Animation Studios CCO Jennifer Lee and current president Clark Spencer. \u201cThey saw the vision of it, but it became something where it had to start small, and then it progressed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConceptually, we took a long time to think about it,\u201d he continued. \u201cThis had to be correct. We couldn\u2019t just put sign language on top of something. We knew it had to be genuine, so we did our homework.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He also assembled a team of more than 20 animators who volunteered to bring the project to life. \u201cWhen we announced this project, we asked, \u2018Hey, this is what we\u2019re doing. Who wants in?\u2019\u201d Osmond recalled. \u201cThere were a lot of people who reached out and were super excited. Maybe they had some sign language background in college, or they have a deaf friend, so there was a general excitement among the crew to work on this.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"BTS Disney&#039;s &#039;Songs in Sign Language&#039;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4LjUHeutQJc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>A key stipulation was choosing recent films so the team could easily reload the animation assets, which led them to songs from <em>Frozen 2<\/em>, <em>Moana 2<\/em>, and <em>Encanto<\/em>. Osmond said considerable thought went into both the artistic results and ensuring variety among the songs. \u201cWe wanted something with a lot of high energy and something a little more subtle. But also, we tell stories from all over the world, so let\u2019s incorporate that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Once the assets were updated, Osmond turned to collaborators and consultants DJ Kurs, his dancers\/signers, and choreographer Catalene Sacchetti to record bespoke, choreographed ASL performances of the songs for animators to use as reference.<\/p>\n<p>What the experts brought to the table was an understanding that ASL is not a monolith, so there were creative choices to be made for each song. Sacchetti explained,\u00a0\u201cThe basic understanding is, in English, you might look up a word, and there might be multiple definitions, but not that many. In sign language, there might be one word and many, many ways of signing it, with different handshapes to convey meaning. So how do you convey this in the best possible way? Because of that, we really needed a team approach, multiple opinions and voices in the room, and that was critical to the process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That approach also included consistency and personalization, both key elements of ASL.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe made sure that the signing choices for one particular character would be repeated for that character, but not necessarily for another,\u201d Sacchetti continued. \u201cIn the real world, not all Deaf people sign the same way. Some are fast signers. Some are slow. Some are high-energy. Some are more low-key. We wanted to apply that concept.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Beyond&quot; - &#039;Disney Animation&#039;s Songs in Sign Language&#039;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kLgumadP9yg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>In the case of <em>Frozen 2<\/em> and <em>Moana 2<\/em>, animators focused on just Anna or Moana and her grandmother. But in <em>Encanto<\/em>, there were as many as eight performers signing in a single frame.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a lot of adjustments and improvisation, and a lot of learning in the moment about what was going to happen,\u201d Kurs said of the complexity of \u201cWe Don\u2019t Talk About Bruno.\u201d \u201cFor example, going down the hallway, you see three different characters signing \u2018no\u2019 in three different ways\u2014different voices saying the same thing. We\u2019re very grateful to Hyrum for giving us the license to work within those parameters and fill those moments with authenticity.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;We Don&#039;t Talk About Bruno&quot; - &#039;Songs in Sign Language&#039;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WBrvA6L196o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The final result is not only a moving example of inclusion but also a proof of concept for how animation can serve as a communication bridge for Deaf audiences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had the chance, when this was all done, to composite the original film with the sign language version on top, just to see, and it\u2019s very different,\u201d Osmond said. \u201cWhen we\u2019re talking about the face, so much of sign language is in the face. If the face isn\u2019t right, it can mean something totally different. So there was a lot of attention on facial expressions\u2014the eyes, the brows. We worked very hard on that. Most of the faces you\u2019re going to see are new.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of times when you\u2019re animating to dialogue, the face reflects the inflections of what\u2019s happening. We redid that because it\u2019s very important. I learned it\u2019s crucial to match the facial expression with what\u2019s happening in the hand gestures.\u201d<br \/>Now the team awaits the broader reaction to <em>Songs in Sign Language<\/em>, and they hope it\u2019s consequential.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was an easy sell for Disney. They loved it and were always behind it,\u201d Osmond said. \u201cWhat this opens up to, I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m really enjoying living in this moment and recognizing that this is significant.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kurs added, \u201cAs a Deaf artist, I\u2019ve learned early on not to take things for granted. I\u2019m just celebrating this moment\u2014celebrating the connection we\u2019ve made with each other and with a larger audience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sacchetti agreed, adding that the project means Deaf and hard-of-hearing children will now have Disney animated characters communicating directly with them in ASL.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Deaf community has never had the opportunity to experience this in entertainment,\u201d she emphasized. \u201cSo this project, this moment, is so exciting. I believe the Deaf community will feel this is a historic first. They will see themselves on screen in an animated representation that\u2019s never been done before.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cartoonbrew.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the short-form development ecosystem at Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), it\u2019s heartening to see an abundance of fresh ideas and experimentation. Aside from its ongoing Short Circuit program, the studio\u2019s most interesting recent short project announcement is Disney Animation\u2019s Songs in Sign Language, which debuts April 27 on Disney+. Spearheaded and directed by Disney [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2382485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2382484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Disney-Animates-Sign-Language-Versions-Of-Iconic-Songs.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2382484"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2382486,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382484\/revisions\/2382486"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2382485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2382484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2382484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2382484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}