Robin Williams' Genie Lines in New Disney 100 Short Are Not AI, Producer Reveals How They Made It Happen

Robin Williams‘ iconic Genie character from Disney’s Aladdin is back with some new lines!

The late actor and comedian’s voice can be heard in the new Disney 100 short, Once Upon a Studio, which is being unveiled on Sunday (October 15) during the ABC special, The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney’s 100th Anniversary Celebration!

However, you may be wondering how Robin can have new lines that aren’t featured in the Aladdin movie if AI wasn’t used.

Get the details inside…

“It was actually direct lines from past recordings,” producer Yvett Merino told Polygon. “When we do animated recordings on any feature, there are a number of takes. So we were able to find this line that fits so well in our short.”

The use of Robin‘s voice, however, was not used without his estate’s permission.

“It was so important to us to share our earliest version of the short with Robin’s team,” Yvette added. “So many of us who work here at Disney Animation were inspired by Aladdin and Robin’s performance. It meant the world that they said yes to his inclusion in the short — and [it was] so special that Eric Goldberg, who animated Genie for the [original] feature film, did the animation here as well.”

“Genie is such an important character to so many of us,” Walt Disney Animation Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee shared.

“I just think that we couldn’t have made this short without Cinderella,” Once Upon a Studio director Dan Abraham said. “We couldn’t have made this short without Stitch. We couldn’t have made this short without Robin Hood. And we couldn’t have made it without the Genie. He’s just such a part of our history, our legacy.”