By Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway
LOS ANGELES, April 28 (Reuters) – Disney Animation is giving some of its most iconic songs a new voice — one spoken through hands, faces and movement — reimagining classic numbers in American Sign Language to mark National Deaf History Month.
Songs “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from “Encanto,” “Beyond” from “Moana 2” and “The Next Right Thing” from “Frozen 2” were recreated using Deaf West Theatre performers as models for the animation.
The performances are bundled with behind-the-scenes footage in “Songs in Sign Language,” which premiered Monday on Disney+. DJ Kurs, artistic director of Deaf West Theatre, said the project challenges the common misconception that deaf people and music don’t mix.
“That’s actually not true — quite the opposite,” he signed during an interview with Reuters, noting that deaf and hearing-impaired artists have long signed and performed music, and that modern captions, assistive technology and high-powered headphones have made music more accessible than ever.
Hyrum Osmond, who also worked on Disney films “Zootopia” and “Raya and the Last Dragon”, said that this project was deeply personal for him.
Osmond’s father is deaf, and he said not learning ASL growing up created a barrier he wanted to address. “This came about as a way to connect and bring down barriers, especially between Disney Animation and the deaf community,” he said.
The production presented unique challenges. “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” features multiple characters signing overlapping parts, while “The Next Right Thing” required the character Anna to sign while climbing a mountain.
Kurs emphasized that ASL relies on facial expressions and full-body movement, details the animators carefully incorporated — from raised eyebrows to subtle shifts in posture.
The Deaf West Theatre artistic director added that each song went through an intensive process of translation, rehearsal and filming, with performers’ movements captured from multiple angles and refined shot by shot.
Osmond praised the collaboration, calling the final result “art.” “It’s less about signing individual words and more about conveying emotion,” he said.
The project took four years to develop, with animation completed in six months. Osmond said the lessons learned could open new creative possibilities. “Just working through this sparked ideas and solutions,” he said. “I think it’s going to lead to things we haven’t even imagined yet.”
(Reporting by Rollo Ross and Danielle Broadway;Editing by Ros Russell)
