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Disney Short 'Versa' Debuts at Animation Is Film With Dance-Driven Portrait of Grief

Rooted in Malcon Pierce’s loss during Moana, the nonverbal Disney short channels grief through choreographed movement set to an orchestral-synth score.

Overview

  • Veteran animator Malcon Pierce translates a couple’s journey through loss and hope into an abstract, cosmic narrative told without dialogue.
  • Ice dancers and choreographers Katherine Hill and Ben Agosto shaped the film’s movement language, guiding sequences that convey intimacy and tension.
  • Composer Haim Mazar scored the short with a 69-piece orchestra, blending ‘90s synth textures with full strings and horns to track shifting emotions.
  • Disney Animation’s Jennifer Lee encouraged early development, and artist Paul Felix advanced the visual concept with a suite of exploratory paintings.
  • Symbolic motifs, including Kintsugi and star imagery linked to Pierce’s late son Cooper, underscore the film’s theme of honoring grief rather than fixing it.