By Zach Johnson
Walt Disney Animation Studios continues a long tradition of experimentation and innovation in short-form storytelling with Malcon Pierce’s Versa, streaming Friday, March 27, on Disney+.
Pierce, a 16-year Disney Animation veteran, wrote and directed Versa — a powerful and profound story of loss, grief, and healing. In the short film, a young couple looking to start a family experiences a gamut of emotions as they embark on an ethereal and imaginative cosmic dance of life. The story comes from a personal place for Pierce and his wife, Keely Tateossian, and combines a multitude of artistic styles, bold imagery, and exciting effects.
While working as an animation supervisor on Moana (2016), Pierce and Tateossian lost their infant son, Cooper, to whom Versa is dedicated. “After Moana, I spent a lot of time sitting back, thinking about life. I remembered that Cooper’s baby shower theme was ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.’ We had all these star motifs for how we would remember him and keep him in our life. [Versa] sort of came from that,” said Pierce, whose family has since expanded to include a son named Casper. “I had the imagery in my head, but I didn’t have the heart. Then, I thought, ‘What if this is the story about the push and pull of what it means to grieve as a couple?’ Keely and I both had our own approach in dealing with grief.”
“The best part of this project has been hearing from folks as they share their own experiences with grief,” he continued. “It can be hard to talk about, because it requires emotional buy-in, so it’s been really rewarding. And, selfishly, it has helped me grow a lot.”
Music and Movement
From the outset, Pierce wanted Versa to incorporate the kinetic energy of a circus theater show and the built-in fluidity of ice dancing. In the process of putting together a sizzle reel showing his vision, he discovered a YouTube channel featuring the husband-and-wife team of Ben Agosto and Katherine Hill, world-renowned ice champions and choreographers. They were brought on to block the characters’ movements, while the brother-sister team of Oona and Gage Brown would perform the skating that was used for animation reference.
“Ben and Kat did a rough pass of choreography, and as soon as we saw their first blush of the skating, we said, ‘Oh, thank goodness! I think this is going to work,'” Pierce recalled. “That was a big moment, because Versa is musically-driven; there is no dialogue. It was a challenge, but it made us think differently. Constraints can help you think more creatively.”
Healing and Hope
Grief changes a person, and Pierce wanted to convey that visually with Versa.
“I’ve always wanted to do a Disney transformation. That was kind of my secret wish on the project. I always knew this would have one, but it took us a while to figure out,” he explained. “I knew that the characters should totally fall apart, but I didn’t want them to just come back together. There was a moment where I thought, ‘Maybe when they come back to each other, they’re different colors.’ But something about it didn’t feel quite right.”
Pierce continued, “I was sharing the story with Chris Buck, one of the directors of Frozen. He said, ‘Grief has a way of splitting you open,’ and that really rang a bell for me. You’re allowed to have a relationship with whomever it is that you’ve lost by accepting that you’re different now. That became a big inspiration for the transformation. I wanted them to come back together but not be healed visually — to still proudly wear the scars of that experience.”
Liz Watson, director of development at Disney Animation, suggested Pierce look into Kintsugi, the centuries-old Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using lacquer mixed with powdered gold. “Sometimes you have moments where you’re like, ‘Let me go think about that.’ That was a moment where, right away, it was like, ‘That’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “It’s so symbolic, and it’s really pretty to look at. That was a big breakthrough.”
Versa — the first production to be completed entirely at Disney Animation’s Vancouver studio, where Pierce has served as the artistic director since 2022 — is produced by Emmy® Award winner Bradford Simonsen and executive produced by Oscar® and Golden Globe® winner Jennifer Lee. Ryan Lang is the production designer, and Mohit Kallianpur is the visual effects supervisor. Haim Mazar wrote the score, which features a 65-piece orchestra.