Disney+ drops ‘Star Wars: Visions’ volume 2 lineup and release date

Disney+ and Lucasfilm have announced Star Wars: Visions Volume 2, The Animated Anthology Series – “It’s Star Wars like you’ve never seen it before. No, really.” The new set of films picks up where the popular Emmy Award nominee Star Wars: Visions Volume 1 ended promising to “continue to push the boundaries of Star Wars storytelling.” With nine new shorts from nine studios, the films utilize animation styles from different artists, cultures and countries, offering a new perspective on the storied myth of Star Warshits the streamer on May 4.

An international list of animation studios contributed to Volume 2, including El Guiri (Spain); Cartoon Saloon (Ireland); Punk Robot (Chile); Aardman (UK); Studio Mir (South Korea); Studio La Cachette (France); 88 images (India); D’art Shtajio (Japan); and Triggerfish (South Africa). D’Art Shtajio’s short film was made in collaboration with Lucasfilm Ltd. (United States).

“The reaction to the first volume of Star Wars: Visions blew us away,” shared James Waugh, Star Wars: Visions executive producer and Senior Vice President Franchise Content & Strategy at Lucasfilm. “We were delighted that this project inspired and resonated with so many people. We always saw Star Wars: Visions as a framework for celebratory expressions of the franchise from some of the best creators working today. Animation is in a global renaissance, and we’re constantly baffled by the amount of creativity pushing the medium forward. With Volume 1, the imaginative minds of Japan’s anime industry were on full display. With Volume 2, we expanded our canvas to take audiences on a global tour with some of the most talented creators from around the world. We are so proud to reveal the range of studios we have put together. Each short is incredible, full of heart, scope, imagination and the values ​​that make the stories stand out Star Wars — all while opening up bold new ways of seeing what a ‘Star Wars’ story can be.”

Waugh executive produces Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 with Jacqui Lopez and Josh Rimes.

Here is an overview of the short films and the filmmakers:

Title: “Sith” – Studio: El Guiri

Rodrigo Blaas – writer/director

The Emmy Award-winning director is a 20+ year veteran of animation. After co-founding Stromboli Animation in 1997, Blaas joined Blue Sky Studios in 2000, where he worked on the animated feature film Ice age. He then moved to Pixar Animation Studios, where he worked on several hit animated features, including Mission Nemo (2003); The incredible (2004); Ratatouille (2007); and Wall-E (2008) and on the Oscar-nominated short film La Luna (2011). He recently collaborated with Guillermo del Toro to develop the award-winning series Troll hunters, serves as creative director for Mikros Animation Paris. In 2021, he created El Guiri Studios in Madrid with his partner, Cecile Hokes. He also wrote and directed the award-winning 2009 short film Alma.

Title: “Screecher’s Reach” – Studio: Cartoon Saloon

Paul Young – Director

The Cartoon Saloon co-founder and IFTA winner and Oscar, Emmy and BAFTA nominee produced the animated features My father’s dragon; WolfWalkers; The Secret of Kells; The song of the sea; and The breadwinner as well as award-winning TV series including “Puffin Rock, Dorg Van Dangoand Viking School.

Title: “In the Stars” – Studio: Punkrobot

Gabriel Osorio – writer/director

The Oscar-winning director, and founder of Punkrobot Studio, studied art at the Universidad de Chile and later specialized in 3D animation. Since 2008, he has led projects for children’s television, i.a Flipos, Muelin and Perlitaand Soccer girls. In 2016, his short film Bear Story became the first Latin American project to win an Oscar in the animated short category.

Title: “I Am Your Mother” – Studio: Aardman

Magdalena Osinska – director

The award-winning director began his position at Aardman eight years ago. She has directed stop-motion, CGI, 2D and live-action commercials, including Wallace & Gromit’s The great sofa hijacker and Split the orange. In addition, Osinska led the development of the children’s series Joy’s. Her directing credits include Spirits of the Piano and Zbigniew’s closet. She graduated from the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, UK, the Polish Film School in Lodz and the Art College in Warsaw. Osinska is currently developing the feature film Jasiabased on her grandmother’s memories of WWII Poland.

Title: “Journey to the Dark Head” – Studio: Studio Mir

Hyeong Geun Park – Director

After joining the Korean animation industry in 2017, Park directed animation for dozens of theatrical game trailers. He has since expanded into animated series, working on projects including Dota: Dragon’s Blood: Book 3 (2022) and Lookism (2022). The journey to the dark head is the first title he produced from start to finish.

Title: “The Spy Dancer” – Studio: Studio La Cachette

Julien Chheng – Writer/Director

CEO and co-founder of Emmy Award-winning French animation Studio La Cachette, he trained in visual development at Disney and worked as a character animator on 2D animated features The rabbi’s cat, Muneand Oscar nominee Ernest and Celestine. In 2021, he won an Emmy Award as executive producer for animation Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal, for which he also served as animation supervisor. In 2022, Chheng co-directed the Cesar-nominated film with Jean-Christophe Roger Ernest and Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia.

Title: “The Bandits of Golak” – Studio: 88 images

Ishan Shukla – Director

He began his career as a CG artist in Singapore and spent more than a decade directing projects ranging from TV commercials to series and music videos. Shukla’s 2016 animated short, which is long-listed for the Academy Awards Schirkoa received several awards and played at 120 international festivals, including SIGGRAPH Asia, where it was named Best in Show. He has since set up his own studio to work on adult-oriented animated films, including a feature-length version of Schirkoawill be going to festivals in the summer of 2023.

Title: “The Pit” – Studios: D’art Shtajio and Lucasfilm Ltd.

LeAndre Thomas – writer/director/executive producer
Justin Ridge – co-producer

Oakland-based Thomas’ latest film won Best Director at the Pasadena International Film Festival. In addition to his independent films, Thomas is part of the franchise studio team at Lucasfilm Ltd., where he has worked for more than 11 years. His most recent credits include Light and magic, The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobiand Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi.

Ridge executive produced the Emmy-nominated series Star Wars resistance. His credits also include Star Wars Rebels; Storks; The Cleveland Show; Star Wars: The Clone Wars; and Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Title: “Aau’s Song” – Studio: Triggerfish

Nadia Darries and Daniel Clarke – writers/directors

Director, animator and co-founder of Goon Valley Animation, Darries hails from the Cape Flats in South Africa. Since 2015, she has worked with advanced animation film and motion design as an animator, project manager, creative director and director. At Triggerfish Animation Studios she has worked on the award-winning BBC films Stick Man, Outrageous rhymeand Highway rat.

Clarke is a Cape Town-based director and artist working in animation, film and illustration. He began his animation career in 2008 at Triggerfish Animation Studios, serving as production designer, art director and director on the feature film KhumbaBBC’s Stick Manand The snail and the whale. In 2018, together with James Clarke and Daniel Snaddon, he completed the graphic novel “Kariba”.

Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 will stream exclusively on Disney+ starting May 4, 2023.

Source: Disney+

Debbie Diamond Sarto is News Editor at Animation World Network.