By India McCarty
In honor of National Deaf History Month, Disney re-animated three musical sequences from hit movies to include American Sign Language.
“Directed by veteran Disney animator/director Hyrum Osmond, the featured songs are ‘The Next Right Thing’ (from FROZEN 2), ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ (from ENCANTO) and ‘Beyond’ (from MOANA 2),” a press release from Disney announced.
Osmond and producers Heather Blodget and Christina Chen collaborated with DJ Kurs, artistic director at Los Angeles’ Deaf West Theatre, and the rest of the theater’s team to create the new versions of these songs.
“In the majority of cases, we created entirely new animation. There were a lot of adjustments that we had to do within the animation to be true to the original intention,” Osmond said.
Walt Disney Animation has reanimated key musical sequences from three films into American Sign Language (ASL) versions:
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• “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” — Encanto
• “Beyond” — Moana
• “The Next Right Thing” — Frozen 2
Releasing April 27 on Disney+. pic.twitter.com/prpGkpigLi
— Pop Base (@PopBase) April 21, 2026
For Osmond, this project had a personal connection; his father is deaf.
“Growing up, I never learned sign language, and that barrier prevented me from really connecting with my dad,” he shared. “This reimagining of Disney Animation musical numbers helps bring down barriers and allows us to connect in a special way with our audiences in the Deaf community. I’m grateful that the Studio got behind making something so impactful.”
He elaborated on this connection in a statement obtained by USA TODAY — “The inspiration for this project came from my Dad. He was always very supportive of my career, and he would always watch my movies with subtitles. He also loved going to the theater because he could feel the vibrations and experience things in a whole different way.”
Kurs also spoke about the project, calling it a “historic opportunity.”
“Disney stories are the universal language of childhood. The chance to bring our language into that world was a historic opportunity to reach a global audience,” he continued. “Working on this project was very emotional. For so long, we have known and loved the artistic medium of Disney Animation. Here, the art form was adapting to us.”
Kurs concluded, “I hope this unlocks possibilities in the minds and hearts of Deaf children, and that this all leads to more down the road.”
The ASL versions of these musical sequences will be available to watch on Disney+ on April 27.
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