{"id":596591,"date":"2026-04-21T01:07:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/596591\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T01:07:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:07:12","slug":"first-look-at-disney-animation-hit-songs-reimagined-with-american-sign-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/596591\/","title":{"rendered":"First Look at Disney Animation Hit Songs Reimagined with American Sign Language"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The team at Daps Magic shared an early look at an upcoming Disney+ special that recreates three popular Disney musical sequences through American Sign Language.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Songs in Sign Language\u2019 Project Previews New Moana, Frozen, Encanto Animations<a data-fslightbox=\"1\" data-type=\"image\" aria-label=\"Open fullscreen lightbox with current image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/TWDC-Disney-ASL-Songs-Series-March-2026-edited.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"705\" height=\"529\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/TWDC-Disney-ASL-Songs-Series-March-2026-edited.jpg\" alt=\"Disney Animation special \" songs=\"\" in=\"\" sign=\"\" language=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1388920\" style=\"width:816px;height:auto\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Next week, <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/2026\/03\/songs-in-sign-language-special-reanimates-disney-hits-in-asl-for-disney\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Disney+ will debut a new short-form special titled \u201cDisney Animation\u2019s Songs in Sign Language\u201d on April 27 in honor of National Deaf History Month.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The collaboration between Walt Disney Animation Studios and Deaf West Theatre reimagines three animated musical performances in American Sign Language. The project, titled Songs in Sign Language, reanimates\u201cThe Next Right Thing\u201d from Frozen 2, \u201cWe Don\u2019t Talk About Bruno\u201d from Encanto, and \u201cBeyond\u201d from Moana 2.<\/p>\n<p><a data-fslightbox=\"1\" data-type=\"image\" aria-label=\"Open fullscreen lightbox with current image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DisneyASL_Frozen2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1909\" height=\"801\" data-id=\"1415180\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DisneyASL_Frozen2.png\" alt=\"Songs in Sign Language: Frozen 2\" class=\"wp-image-1415180\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a data-fslightbox=\"1\" data-type=\"image\" aria-label=\"Open fullscreen lightbox with current image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DisneyASL_Bruno.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1913\" height=\"1031\" data-id=\"1415182\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DisneyASL_Bruno.png\" alt=\"Songs in Sign Language: Encanto\" class=\"wp-image-1415182\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a data-fslightbox=\"1\" data-type=\"image\" aria-label=\"Open fullscreen lightbox with current image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DisneyASL_Moana.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1915\" height=\"957\" data-id=\"1415181\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/DisneyASL_Moana.png\" alt=\"Songs in Sign Language: Moana\" class=\"wp-image-1415181\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fellow Disney Blog, Daps Magic, participated in a media event at Walt Disney Animation Studios to meet the creative team behind the project.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The new animations rework the three songs\u2019 original animated sequences in their respective films to integrate ASL gestures from the characters performing the music. <\/p>\n<p>Daps Magic was able to share a short preview from each of the three reanimated sequences, showcasing a sample of the highly-detailed work that went into adjusting the character movement, cinematography, and other visual elements to properly convey the full scope of emotion through new animation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Rather than placing an interpreter separately on screen, the artists worked to incorporate signing, facial expression, eye contact, and head movement into the characters\u2019 performances so the language would feel fully embedded in the storytelling.<\/p>\n<p>The team also highlighted the nuanced creative decisions involved in adapting the songs for ASL. One example involves We Don\u2019t Talk About Bruno, where the team chose not to sign a specific lyric (the line \u201cI grew a gut\u201d) so the visual gag could land naturally through animation instead. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The joke is just one example of the team\u2019s effort to strike a balance between art and the three films\u2019 original emotional and comedic intentions.<\/p>\n<p>At the preview event, members of the creative team shared their personal connections and family ties to the ASL community, discussing an optimistic outlook for the future of Disney storytelling thanks to this effort. This collaborative project may demonstrate how Disney storytelling can be better translated in more accessible, impactful ways.<\/p>\n<p>You can learn more about the authentic, <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/2026\/03\/songs-in-sign-language-special-reanimates-disney-hits-in-asl-for-disney\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">personal stories behind the team at Deaf West Theatre in our earlier coverage<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>For the original story from this early preview event, including video interviews with the creative team, <a href=\"https:\/\/dapsmagic.com\/2026\/04\/a-new-language-of-magic-inside-disneys-groundbreaking-asl-collaborations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">check out the full report from Daps Magic<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Songs in Sign Language special is set to arrive on Disney+ on April 27, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Are you or a family member part of the Deaf community? What are your thoughts on Disney\u2019s accessibility efforts \u2013 are there areas where you find there\u2019s still room for improvement? Share your experiences with us on social media.<\/p>\n<p>For the latest Disney Parks news and info, follow <a href=\"https:\/\/wdwnt.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">WDW News Today<\/a> on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wdwnt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WDWNewsToday\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Facebook<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/wdwnt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" aria-describedby=\"external-link-warning\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The team at Daps Magic shared an early look at an upcoming Disney+ special that recreates three popular&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[72704,207298,25334,3721,25335,204046,259963,259964,3716,88,7046,206,216,259965,259966,19955],"class_list":["post-596591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-accessibility","tag-american-sign-language","tag-asl","tag-communication","tag-deaf","tag-disney-animation","tag-disney-classics","tag-disney-streaming","tag-disney","tag-entertainment","tag-language","tag-movies","tag-music","tag-sign-language","tag-streaming-series","tag-tv-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}