“Star Wars: Visions” Disney+ Announces Release Date, Animation Studios, Filmmakers and More for Volume 2

Today, Disney+ and Lucasfilm announced the second volume of the animated anthology series “Star Wars: Visions” premieres exclusively on Disney+ on May 4, 2023. Following the Emmy Award-nominated success “Star Wars: Visions”, the newest volume will continue to push the boundaries of “Star Wars” storytelling, with nine new shorts from 9 studios from around the world. The second volume uses the most captivating animation styles from a variety of countries and cultures, offering a dynamic new perspective on the myth of history. Star Wars.

The shorts included in the “Star Wars: Visions” Volume 2 was created by the following international animation studios: El Guiri (Spain), Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), Punkrobot (Chile), Aardman (UK), Studio Mir (South Korea) Studio La Cachette (France), 88 Pictures ( India), D’art Shtajio (Japan) and Triggerfish (South Africa). D’Art Shtajio’s short film was made in collaboration with Lucasfilm Ltd. (USA).

Title: “Sith”
Studio: El Guiri
Script-Director: Rodrigo Blaas

Rodrigo Blaas is an Emmy Award®-winning director who has spent more than 20 years in animation. After co-founding Stromboli Animation in 1997, Blaas joined Blue Sky Studios in 2000, working on the feature film “Ice Age”, before moving to Pixar Animation Studios. There he worked on projects such as “Finding Nemo” (2003), “The Incredibles” (2004), “Ratatouille” (2007) and “Wall-E” (2008) and on the Oscar®-nominated short film “La Luna” ( 2011).More recently, Blaas collaborated with Guillermo del Toro to develop the award-winning series “Trollhunters”, served as creative director of Mikros Animation Paris and in 2021 created El Guiri Studios in Madrid with his partner, Cecile Hokes. He also wrote and directed 2009’s award-winning short film “Alma”.

Title: “Screecher’s Reach”
Studio: Cartoon Saloon
Director: Paul Young

Paul Young is the co-founder of Cartoon Saloon, an IFTA winner and Oscar®, Emmy® and BAFTA nominee. He produced the animated features “My Father’s Dragon”, “WolfWalkers”, “The Secret of Kells”, “Song of the Sea” and “The Breadwinner” as well as award-winning TV series including “Puffin Rock”, “Dorg Van” Dango” and “Viking Skool.”

Title: “In the Stars”
Studio: Punk Robot
Script-Director: Gabriel Osorio

Gabriel Osorio majored in art at the Universidad de Chile, and later specialized in 3D animation. After working in commercials, movies and TV shows, he founded Punkrobot Studio. Since 2008, he has directed projects for children’s television, including “Flipos”, “Muelin y Perlita”, “Soccer Girls” and TV spots. 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
Director: Magdalena Osinska

Magdalena Osinska is an award-winning director who has been with Aardman for eight years. She has directed stop-motion, CGI, 2D and live-action commercials, including Wallace & Gromit’s “The Great Sofa Caper” and “Share the Orange.” Osinska directed the development of the children’s series “Joyets” and has also directed films including “Spirits of the Piano” and “Zbigniev’s Cupboard”. Osinska is educated at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, UK, as well as the Polish Film School in Lodz and the Art College in Warsaw.

Title: “Journey to the Dark Head”
One-room apartment: Studio Mir
Director: Hyeong Geun Park

Rising star Hyeong Geun Park had already made a name for himself when he entered the Korean animation industry in 2017, thanks to his strong drawing and animation sensibilities. He has directed animation for dozens of cinematic game trailers and has since expanded into animated series, working on projects including “Dota: Dragon’s Blood: Book 3” (2022) and “Lookism” (2022). “Journey to the Dark Head” is the first title he has produced from start to finish.

Title: “The Spy Dancer”
Studio apartment: Studio La Cachette
Script-Director: Julien Chheng

Julien Chheng is the CEO of Studio La Cachette, an Emmy Award®-winning French animation studio he founded in 2014 with fellow Gobelins School alumni Oussama Bouacheria and Ulysse Malassagne. Trained in visual development at Disney, Chheng has worked as a character animator on acclaimed 2D animated features “The Rabbi’s Cat,” “Mune” and Oscar®-nominated “Ernest and Celestine.” In 2021, he won an Emmy Award® as executive animation producer of “Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal,” for which he also served as animation supervisor. In 2022, Chheng co-directed the Cesar-nominated film “Ernest and Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia” with Jean-Christophe Roger.

Title: “The Bandits of Golak”
Studio: 88 images
Director: Ishan Shukla

Ishan Shukla started his career as a CG artist in Singapore. For more than a decade, he spearheaded projects ranging from TV commercials to series and music videos. His 2016 animated short, “Schirkoa,” was long-listed for the Academy Awards® after receiving dozens of awards and playing at 120 international festivals, including SIGGRAPH Asia where it was named Best in Show. He then set up his own animation studio to work on adult-oriented animated feature films, including a feature-length version of “Schirkoa”, due to hit festivals in the summer of 2023.

Title: “The Pit”
Studios: D’art Shtajio and Lucasfilm Ltd.
Writer-Director-Executive Producer: LeAndre Thomas
Co-Director: Justin Ridge

LeAndre Thomas is an award-winning writer and director from Oakland, California, whose 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 being credited on recent titles such as “Light & Magic,” “The Mandalorian,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” “Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi,” and many more.

Justin 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
Writer-Directors: Nadia Darries and Daniel Clarke

Nadia Darries is a director, animator and co-founder of Goon Valley Animation, with an interest in songwriting. Born in the Cape Flats of South Africa, Darries has worked in high-end animated film and motion design as an animator, project manager, creative director and director since 2015. Her experience includes animation at Triggerfish Animation Studios on the award-winning BBC films ‘Stick Man », «Revolting Rhymes» and «Highway Rat».

Daniel Clarke is a Cape Town-based director and artist working in animation, film and illustration. He started his career in animation in 2008 at Triggerfish Animation Studios, where he has worked as production designer, art director and director on projects such as the feature film “Khumba”, the BBC’s “Stick Man” and “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.