Short Circuit Season 2 is streaming exclusively on Disney+ starting August 4th. We were lucky enough to be apart of the press junket with the five filmmakers of these innovative new short films. The five films that make-up Season 2 are helmed by Kim Hazel (“Dinosaur Barbarian”), Jacob Frey (“Going Home”), Ryan Green (“Crosswalk”), Riannon Delanoy (“Songs to Sing in the Dark”) and Liza Rhea (“No. 2 to Kettering”). The logline for the series is as follows:

If you could tell any story with the team of talented artists at Walt Disney Animation Studios, what would you create? Welcome to Short Circuit, an experimental, innovative program where anyone at the Studio can pitch an idea and get selected to create their own short film. Season 2 features five all-new short films.

It was a pleasure sitting down with all of these filmmakers. Here are 5 Things that We Learned from the Junket!

SONGS TO SING IN THE DARK IS THE INTERSECTION OF SCIENCE & ART

Riannon Delanoy’s stunning debut Songs to Sing in the Dark is a unique mix of science blending with art. Delanoy’s parents were scientists and she spent much of her childhood going down “information rabbit holes”. This led to the short’s concentration on echolocation becoming a symphony-of-sorts. Delanoy had this to say:

“As pertains to this short, some animals like bats, they’re very advanced with their use of sound. They use echolocation navigate, but a few animals use sound for even more than that. Maybe sound could become weapons, and armor, and camouflage, and these big threat displays. Maybe you could reinvent your appearance altogether in that kind of environment and project any image you wanted into the mind of your observer. That blue sky possibility for visuals and sound really appealed to me.”

CROSSWALK: INSPIRED BY AN ACTUAL CROSSWALK NEAR DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS

Ryan Green’s hilarious short Crosswalk was inspired by a notorious crosswalk near Disney Animation Studios. This experience of waiting for a light to permit you to walk, was the seed of an idea that Green took and cultivated for this short. Green had this to say:

“Yes, there’s a light right outside of Disney Animation building, and I think all of us have waited there many times. You can see way down the street in both directions, there’s very little traffic and the light takes forever. I just remember standing there one day just waiting, and waiting, and waiting. I just pictured my ancestors showing up next to me just be like, “Hey, what are you doing? We wanted to make a better life for ourselves, so we got on a boat and crossed the Atlantic. We didn’t wait for a robot to tell us to do it. Why are you just standing here?“

THERE IS NO LONGER A NO. 2 BUS THAT GOES TO KETTERING

Liza Rhea’s short film of how one smile can change anyone’s day, is inspired by her experiences as a child of taking the bus. After telling her mother the name of the film, she was informed that the No. 2 to Kettering she so fondly remembers is no longer running. Rhea lamented that, “Things change so fast”. At least she has now made a time capsule, so her experiences will never be forgotten.

THE MONDO BOYS KNOCKED OUT DINOSAUR BARBARIAN‘S THEME SONG ON THEIR FIRST TRY

Kim Hazel’s ode to traditional animation of the 80’s and 90’s, Dinosaur Barbarian, was all just a poem. That was until the Mondo Boys came together to bring her “word salad” to life. Hazel had this to say:

“Honestly, it felt very magical because I gave them word salad in terms of what I was hoping to achieve. With the song, and with their first pass, I remember I was sitting and eating a sandwich on the weekend and they emailed me their first pass. My mind, I didn’t even know how to react. I was honestly speechless at how much they had taken everything I wanted and created exactly that in 90 seconds.”

JACOB FREY’S GOING HOME TELLS ITS TRANSFIXING STORY IN NEARLY 2 MINUTES

Jacob Frey’s absolutely gorgeous Going Home chronicles the passage of time. How a man’s journey back home every year makes him face life’s inevitable changes. It is a gut-punching and powerful short film told in nearly two minutes. All of the filmmakers spoke about their struggles with trying to tell a story in such a limited time frame. Frey had this to say:

“It is very tough to tell a full story in short amount of time and really making sure that all the beat that are trying to tell are a part in those two minutes, I think was really challenging. That’s why I spent a lot of time with the storyboarding, but also layout, to really make sure that everything works the way we want it, and it has everything in there. Animation in general is just really complex and takes a lot of work. Whether that’s 2 minutes or 90 minutes, it requires a lot of people and it doesn’t really get easier if it’s shorter.“

Short Circuit Season 2 will be streaming on Disney+, August 4th.

So, what did you think of Short Circuit?

For more Disney+, make sure to stay tuned to That Hashtag Show!