Walt Disney famously said, “It was all started by a mouse,” but if Disney Television Animation’s VP of Multiplatform Content, Gino Guzzardo, could amend that statement, it was all started by a short. That’s part of why he loves short-form content, a segment of Disney Television Animation that he helped found a decade ago with As Told By Emoji and the ChibiVerse. At LightBox Expo, Gino was joined by members of the team that helped bring these wacky, fun shorts to Disney Channel, YouTube, Disney+, and more. The panel was moderated by Emily Carson, Creative Development Manager.
If you’ve ever seen a Disney Television Animation short, you know things get weird fast. For example, in an episode of Broken Karaoke, Mabel from Gravity Falls takes Carly Rae Jepsen’s career-defining classic “Call Me Maybe” and turns it into “Call Me Mabel.” Series like As Told by Emoji allowed Gino to pull in lots of IP, both from Disney Channel and the broader company, a concept that still fuels the majority of the short-form multiplatform content produced by the division.
Much of the panel focused on the newest shorts project, ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series. Inspired by the DCOM trilogy, the short-form series seemed like a natural fit for executive producer Aliki Theofilopoulos, who previously took the Descendants franchise to animation with Descendants: Wicked World. Writer Jack Ferraiolo has had a passion for teen comedies since his youth because they juxtapose dumb ideas with achieving a goal. That’s what he wanted to bring to the series.
Part of the challenge of creating something like ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series is that audiences already have an idea of how the characters are supposed to look. The designs need to honor that, while still being practical for animation. The shorts are like mini music videos, with Aliki Theofilopoulos lending her songwriting talents to shorts like “Endless Summer.” In that case, Jack Ferraiolo looked to the lyrics for inspiration for the visuals. Aliki Theofilopoulos also worked on Phineas and Ferb, with the songs in ZOMBIES: The Re-Animated Series becoming a cross between the humorous tunes in that animated series and the pop hits from the ZOMBIES films.
Gino Guzzardo and story editor Dan Siegel are passionate about short-form musical content. They first collaborated on the stop-motion Tsum Tsum Kingdom series. They also like pulling inspiration from a variety of places, which is what makes Broken Karaoke and Theme Song Takeover the perfect outlet for their creative expression. One of Dan’s favorite Theme Song Takeover concepts was taking the familiar theme from Amphibia and reimagining it for the character of Sasha in a rock and roll style. In Broken Karaoke, they often get to blend worlds together. For example, “Sidekicks” takes tertiary characters from Disney animated shows and has theme singing a modified version of “Kicks” from Disney’s Sneakerella.
Be on the lookout for new shorts from Disney Television Animation on Disney Channel, YouTube, and Disney+. Click here for more coverage from LightBox Expo.