Disney+ and Walt Disney Animation Studios are back with season two of Short Circuit Experimental Films, which launches today, 4 August 2021.
Short Circuit is Walt Disney Animation Studios’ innovative and experimental short film program. Anyone at the studio can pitch an idea and have it potentially be selected to then be created. This experimental program is celebrating its fifth year since being conceived. With this milestone, five new shorts are being released. These shorts come from different departments of Walt Disney Animation Studios and feature very different styles of animation and storytelling.
Short Circuit Experimental Films season two titles include:
– Dinosaur Barbarian: directed by Kim Hazel
Battling evil is all in a day’s work for Dinosaur Barbarian, but what about taking out the trash? Sometimes even a superhero needs to clean up his act.
– Going Home: directed by Jacob Frey
A story about growing up and the meaning of home in which a young adult repeatedly visits his hometown, but with every new arrival he starts to face the inevitable: change.
– Crosswalk: directed by Ryan Green
A law-abiding citizen must find his inner strength to cross the street at a light that won’t change.
– Songs to Sing in the Dark: directed by Riannon Delanoy
Two creatures living in the depths of a dark cave engage in a battle of acoustic one-upmanship. As things escalate, they come to realize that they are stronger together.
– No. 2 to Kettering: directed by Liza Rhea
On a dreary, ordinary morning, a girl learns how the power of laughter can lift even the most sullen among her fellow bus riders along their journey to Kettering.
“Each [director] had a personal connection to their short, and that was a great starting point,” said Short Circuit production manager Jennifer Newfield. “That gave them a clear direction and engagement with the story.”
Ryan Green (Crosswalk) imagined his ancestors urging him on instead of waiting for the light to change; Kim Hazel (Dinosaur Barbarian) channeled her obsession with ’80s cartoons and their theme songs; Jacob Frey (Going Home) confronted his fear of losing his parents; Liza Rhea (No. 2 to Kettering) animated a bittersweet childhood memory; and Riannon Delanoy (Songs to Sing in the Dark) leveraged her parents background as research scientists and her own interest in evolutionary biology.
Short Circuit Experimental Films season one had 14 episodes and premiered in January 2020. The second season streams 4 August on Disney+.