Disney’s Three-in-One Animated Remake Rockets to No. 1 on Disney+ in the U.S.
Disney+ just unleashed a fresh spin on three of its biggest animated classics — and it’s already a hit. After a decade of live-action do-overs from The Jungle Book to The Lion King and Lilo & Stitch, the studio’s latest twist is roaring out of the gate.
Disney finally did something new with its own classics: it remade them with new animation. And yep, people showed up.
What Disney just dropped
As part of the April lineup on Disney+, Disney Animation released a first-of-its-kind project called "Songs in Sign Language." Instead of an interpreter box or subtitles, the songs are reimagined so the characters perform American Sign Language (ASL) right in the animation. It is exactly what it sounds like, and also smarter than it sounds.
- "The Next Right Thing" from Frozen 2
- "We Don't Talk About Bruno" from Encanto
- "Beyond" from Moana 2
And audiences are actually watching it
According to FlixPatrol, the collection is sitting at #1 overall on Disney+ in the U.S. right now. That is not nothing, especially for something this specific.
Why this matters
Disney timed the release with National Deaf History Month, which is a nice bit of intention. More importantly, it gives Deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers — especially kids — a chance to experience these songs as performances in their own language, not as an afterthought added in the corner. Even if you know every beat of "We Don't Talk About Bruno," seeing it fully staged in ASL changes how it plays.
How they made it (the part that surprised me)
This is not a quick tweak. Roughly 95% of the original animation was redone. Disney Animation worked with Deaf West Theater to treat the ASL like choreography: staged first as a performance, then animated to match. It reads like a proper musical number, not a translation pasted on top, which is a big reason it lands.
A different kind of remake for Disney
For the last decade-plus, Disney has been dining out on live-action remakes — think The Jungle Book, The Lion King, and yes, Lilo & Stitch — turning nostalgia into a very healthy revenue stream. What they have not really done is remake their animated work with new animation. This does that, and it actually justifies the redo.
The bottom line
"Songs in Sign Language" is now streaming on Disney+ in the U.S. It is a genuinely inclusive idea executed with real craft, and the early numbers suggest people want more. Given the size of Disney's songbook, there is a lot of runway here. And while there is plenty more the studio (and everyone else) could be doing on accessibility, this is absolutely a step worth celebrating.