Disney reimagines Frozen, Encanto and Moana songs in ASL for Disney+

Disney will bring three of its most recognizable musical sequences to Disney+ in American Sign Language, reframing them not as translated add-ons but as animated performances built for deaf viewers. Disney Animation’s Songs in Sign Language will debut on April 27, with new ASL versions of “The Next Right Thing” from Frozen 2, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from Encanto and “Beyond” from Moana 2.

The project puts artistry at the center of accessibility. Disney says the sequences were newly reimagined and animated in ASL, a choice that changes how the songs are watched as much as how they are understood. The work was directed by Hyrum Osmond, a veteran Disney animator and director who has said his father is Deaf, and was made in collaboration with Deaf West Theatre, the Los Angeles company known for ASL-centered productions. Disney says more than 20 animators worked on the project.

That collaboration matters because the adaptation is not simply about adding signs over familiar songs. It is about how movement, timing and expression can carry meaning for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences while also changing the experience for hearing viewers. Songs that already function as emotional set pieces in the films now have to be read through hands, facial expression and animation choices that give ASL its own visual rhythm.

Disney is releasing the collection in celebration of National Deaf History Month, observed throughout April in the United States. The National Association of the Deaf standardized the observance to the full month of April in 2020, tying the project to a broader moment of recognition and visibility for Deaf culture and history.

The release also serves as a test of how far major streamers are willing to go beyond accessibility as a separate feature. Disney+ has highlighted accessibility efforts before, including audio description initiatives, but Songs in Sign Language pushes further by making the interpretation itself part of the creative product. By reworking three widely known songs from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney is placing ASL inside the company’s mainstream storytelling pipeline, not beside it.