YMMV / Once Upon a Studio

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • When Kaa is hypnotizing Clarabelle Cow, was he planning to eat her or was he actually trying to bring her to the lobby in the only way he knows how to get people to listen to him and Mickey and Rapunzel just misunderstood him?
  • When Elsa froze Hans before he could come out of his picture, was it because of what he did to her and Anna in their first film? Or, given the Animated Actors vibe, was Elsa just playfully trolling Hans as a joke, since it's shown that he did make it to the photo?
• Award Snub: Many were surprised when the short was not nominated for Best Animated Short at the 96th Academy Awards in 2024, given its critical acclaim.
• Awesome Art: Just how amazing the characters from different mediums interact with each other. Case in point, one of the first shots when Louis pops out of his picture and blows his horn in the direction of Nick Wilde, and the latter's tie is literally windblown by the sound of the horn.
• Common Knowledge:
  • The absence of characters from The Wild despite every movie from the Disney Animated Canon appearing including some of the most controversial ones like Chicken Little or The Black Cauldron has lead to some fans to believe they were purposely excluded because of that movie being a bigger shame for Disney. Except that The Wild wasn't made for Disney. It was created by the now-closed C.O.R.E. Feature Animation and Disney only distributed so they were never part of the Canon in the first place. The confusion rises from some European countries marketing it as part of the canon instead of Dinosaur.
  • Quite a few reviewers say the short contains every single Disney character ever created, which it most certainly does not, although it does contain a high number.
• Dancing Bear: The main draw of the film is blending characters together from nearly every canon Disney animated movie in the studio's history. The plot is just a means to that celebratory end.
• Fanfic Fuel: As the biggest crossover in Disney history since House of Mouse, the doors are now wide open for fans to write their own stories and interactions between the vast ensemble of characters of Disney's pantheon, not just including those who appeared in the short, but also those from the The Disney Afternoon, Disney Channel, One Saturday Morning, Pixar, The Muppets Studio, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios, and 20th Television/20th Television Animation. After all, they couldn't exactly do every character interacting with each other or the short would've been 100 years long in itself!
  • The Lucasfilm crossovers would be particularly interesting and could lead to some hilarious interaction with characters from both Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
  • Crossovers with The Muppets Studio may also include characters from other Jim Henson shows such as Fraggle Rock, Bear in the Big Blue House, Mopatop's Shop and even The Hoobs.
  • At least one fanfic has given Cinderella, Rapunzel and a number of other characters a larger role in restoring the morale of the other characters after Goofy's unfortunate accident, not only through starting up the new rendition of When You Wish Upon a Star themselves, but also by preceding it with a Rousing Speech, assuring everyone that their hope and courage will always prevail, even at desperate times like this. Other fanfics may soon follow suit and shed more of a spotlight on other characters.
• He Really Can Act: Chris Diamantopoulos, after several years of playing a more Denser and Wackier version of the character, proves here that he is very capable of portraying the more subdued and grounded "modern" interpretation of Mickey. Special mention must go to his tearjerking performance during the scene where Mickey addresses Walt's portrait.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: Asha singing with Snow White and Mulan might have lost some of its intended emotional appeal when Disney cancelled their plans to run Once Upon a Studio and Wish together in non-Japanese theaters, but the Wish Blu-ray and digital copy renewed that appeal by including the short in the bonus features.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Fans of certain Disney films that are rarely acknowledged by the company such as The Black Cauldron, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, and Brother Bear saw this short solely because those characters make their first WDAS reappearance in years. This was deliberately done by the filmmakers given how they acknowledge that there are people who love those characters despite their films being lesser known or beloved than others.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • The scene of Mickey getting choked up at a portrait of Walt Disney has been adapted to have a different picture in the frame. A variation of this involves other (non-Disney) characters gratefully speaking to their late creators.
  • Many artists have taken to altering the final group shot to include other Disney characters that got excluded (such as the rest of the characters from Wish (2023), characters from Disney Television Animation shows, such as Lilo & Stitch: The Series (by adding in characters such as Angel, Reuben, and Dr. Hämsterviel) or characters from properties that Disney owns, like Marvel (with notable ones being Spider-Man, the Avengers, villains, Venom and the Sinister Six) and Fox (such as Ice Age).
• Most Wonderful Sound: Deliberately invoked by the creators of the short who frequently used Fake Shemp to have characters "voiced" using lines from their original works, many of whose actors have passed away in the years since such as Robin Williams as Genie, although Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan get new lines of dialogue.
• Older Than They Think:
  • While many people would assume that the short's finale is the first time that countless characters sang, a few sang in non-Canon works before then. Examples include: Basil, Dawson and Olivia singing a rendition of "Goodbye, So Soon" in the end credits for their film's Dutch dub, and Big Hero 6 and Aunt Cass all singing at various points in the animated series.
  • The concept of bringing together "every" Disney character has been attempted more than once in the past, only to never go anywhere. Roller Coaster Rabbit, Fantasia 2000, and to a lesser extent, Ralph Breaks the Internet had bits revolving around that gimmick which ended up being scrapped for different reasons, whilst projects like The Search for Mickey Mouse and Disney Princess Academy never got off the ground.
  • This actually wasn't Chris Diamantopoulos' first time voicing Mickey Mouse outside of the Paul Rudish cartoons. As that actually goes to Wonderful World of Animation.
• Questionable Casting: Some fans were surprised to find that Chris Diamantopoulos, who had voiced Mickey Mouse in the Paul Rudish shorts, was reprising his role here instead of Bret Iwan. While Diamantopoulos does well in the role, even getting a chance to prove he can do more than just the loud, zany Paul Rudish Mickey, it is nonetheless surprising that the "official" voice of Mickey Mouse did not participate in a short celebrating the studio's centenary. Some speculate it's because Chris sounds more like the version of Mickey voiced by Walt Disney himself, as this was the reason for his casting in the Paul Rudish shorts.
• Spiritual Successor: Many see this as a follow-up to House of Mouse due to being a colossal crossover of the Disney animated canon (and company). Additionally, many of the villains being Punch Clock Villains like Hades and Claude Frollo is like how they were in that cartoon.
• Tainted by the Preview: Many fans were disgusted by Disney's decision to use archival recordings of Robin Williams to voice the Genie from Aladdin, especially since Williams' will had a clause that specifically prohibited Disney from using those recordings for 25 years after his death, making the move come off as disrespectful; however, the studio did get permission from Williams' estate. Despite this, many have argued that if Disney wanted to have Genie speak, they should've gotten Dan Castellaneta (who is still alive and had been The Other Darrin for Genie in The Return Of Jafar, Aladdin: The Series, and the Kingdom Hearts series) or Jim Meskimen (the current voice of Genie since 2008 and who also voices Merlin and Eeyore in the short) to voice him instead.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Antonio is the only character from Encanto with a speaking line, despite Mirabel, Bruno, Luisa, Isabella and Dolores being decidedly more popular. But Antonio speaking seems to make more sense story-wise.
  • Despite Cinderella being leader of the Princesses, and despite Rapunzel's immense popularity among fans, their relatively small role has aroused intrigue as to how much greater their role could've been in restoring the morale of the other characters.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • Despite the presence of Susie the Little Blue Coupe and Pedro the Mail Plane from Saludos Amigos, a few of Disney's other anthropomorphic vehicles didn't make the cut, like Casey Junior, the sentient steam locomotive and Ensemble Dark Horse from Dumbo, or Melody Time's Little Toot the Tug Boat. This also happened to several other large characters including Willie the Giant, Tamatoa, and Willie the Whale, however Chernabog shows up elsewhere.
  • It generally would've been nicer if the short touched more upon the collective pressure everyone was feeling over Walt Disney Animation Studios' centennial to get the photo right, which may, in fact, have been the TRUE reason why Goofy's first attempt at taking the photo ended in failure.
  • Some fans were upset by the exclusion of other characters from Wish, including Valentino, Star, King Magnifico, Queen Amaya, Sabino and Sakina.
  • Many of Disney's hybrid (live action-animated) films were represented in this short, however characters from the likes of Song of the South,^note granted, that's probably to be expected given Disney's attitude towards the film these days. So Dear to My Heart, Victory Through Air Power, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Lizzie McGurie Movie, Enchanted, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Mary Poppins Returns do not show up at all. (Note that aside from the first three, none of them were primarily done by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Roger Rabbit had animated shorts produced by Disney's Florida studio, though.)
    • It was also a missed opportunity for characters from the likes of The Brave Little Toaster, The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, Teacher's Pet, The Wild, and Frankenweenie to appear as well.
• Unexpected Character:
  • When the trailer dropped, fans took notice of such deep cuts as Ben Franklin, Amos Mouse, John Henry, Maggie, Grace and Mrs. Calloway.
  • A lithograph of the final group photo confirmed that characters from every little-regarded film, such as ones from the likes of Robin Hood, The Aristocats, The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney), and all of the 2000s-era films such as Dinosaur, The Emperor's New Groove, Home on the Range, and Chicken Little were featured.
  • Robin Williams' "Lost Boy" from the Magic of Disney Animation Tour short Back to Neverland makes a cameo.
  • Many people thought that only the films from the canon would be represented, but then the film hits us with the penguins from Mary Poppins, Elliot from Pete's Dragon (1977), The Reluctant Dragon and Wayne and Lanny from the Prep & Landing Christmas specials!
  • The final shot shows characters from some of Disney's much older Silly Symphonies shorts, such as the skeletons from "The Skeleton Dance" and the two tree lovers from "Flowers and Trees". George from Paperman, a later short, can also be spotted.
  • The appearance of Ludwig Von Drake, considering he didn't debut in a Walt Disney Animation Studios film, but instead a Disney Television Animation work, (Albeit one from the early days where Walt Disney Animation Studios were involved with the television shows) one that wasn't fully animated at that.
  • Nobody even expected Asha to show up, considering that the short debuted a month before her film.
  • Several characters from Make Mine Music such as Johnny Fedora, Alice Bluebonnet, and Casey appear, despite the film being unavailable on Disney+.
  • In a particularly deep cut, the singing harp and Bongo from Fun and Fancy Free make brief appearances.
  • The characters from Tarzan (specifically, aside from the man himself, Jane, Terk, Tantor, Clayton, Kala, and Kerchak), a franchise that Disney has been completely ignoring for the last two decades due to it being wrapped up in copyright legalities with the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs (though the film is available on Disney+). Kerchak in particular died at the end of the movie, whereas other deceased characters were considered to be Killed Off for Real.
  • In the final scene, you can see lesser characters from some of the sequences in the Fantasia duology, including the four main protagonists from the Rhapsody in Blue segement, and the centaurs from the Pastoral Symphony segment.
• Visual Effects of Awesome:
  • The fact they were able to use so many characters in their original art styles in such a seamless fashion, with all of them interacting in the live-action setting of the Roy E. Disney Animation Building, is an admirable feat that has been appreciated by many fans.
  • The shot of Peter, Wendy, Michael, and John flying through the building is particularly stunning, using sweeping camera moves not seen in 2D animation since the ballroom scene from Beauty and the Beast.

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