Yesterday, Disney just dropped something truly special.
Disney Animation has partnered with the Tony Award-winning Deaf West Theatre to reimagine three beloved musical numbers in American Sign Language, and the behind the scenes look at how they made it happen is now streaming on Disney+. The project is called Songs in Sign Language, and it features new animated versions of “The Next Right Thing” from Frozen 2, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto, and “Beyond” from Moana 2.
How It Came Together
The project was directed by Hyrum Osmond, who previously worked on Frozen and Olaf Presents. The inspiration came from a very personal place, Osmond created this with his father’s hearing loss in mind. “I wanted to take down barriers with this project,” he shared. “It’s really all about connection.”
And when it comes to the medium, he could not have said it better: “Sign language is one of the most beautiful ways of communication on Earth. If ever there was a medium to showcase sign language, it was animation.”
To get it right, Disney partnered closely with Deaf West Theatre artistic director DJ Kurs and brought in sign language reference choreographer Catalene Sacchetti, who developed the translations with input from the Deaf community every step of the way. Eight Deaf West Theatre performers participated in creating the sign language references for the animators to work from.
An Enormous Creative Undertaking
This was not a small addition tacked onto existing animation. More than 20 Disney animators contributed to the project, many of them volunteering their time, and approximately 95% of the shots required entirely new animation. The team did not take a word-for-word translation approach either. Instead, they reimagined the material to honor the emotional heart of each song, focusing on concepts and feeling rather than a direct English translation.
Casting also mattered deeply here. A Pacific Islander actor was cast for the Moana 2 number, and Colombian actors were brought in for the Encanto piece, because getting it right culturally was just as important as getting it right linguistically.
DJ Kurs reflected on the historic nature of what they had created together, saying the collaboration represented “a historic opportunity to reach a global audience” and expressing hope that it would “unlock possibilities in the minds and hearts of Deaf children.”
That line alone says everything.
Songs in Sign Language, along with a behind the scenes featurette showing how it all came together, is streaming now on Disney+. If you have kids, sit down and watch this one with them. It is the kind of content that opens eyes, opens hearts, and reminds us all why Disney storytelling at its best is so much bigger than entertainment.
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