Disney Animation Studios is set to debut its second VR short film, A Kite’s Tale, late this month at the SIGGRAPH conference in Los Angeles.

Following the debut of their first VR short film, Cycles, last year at the same conference, Disney Animation Studios will offer the first showing of A Kite’s Tale at SIGGRAPH 2019 in the ‘VR Theater’ portion of the show. The event is being hosted from July 28th to August 1st at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Disney says that A Kite’s Tale “combines classic hand-drawn animation and the latest innovations in virtual reality to tell this whimsical tale of two kites; a playful puppy (with a wagging tail) and a pompous dragon who clash, tangle, and ultimately must learn to live with one another subject to the winds of fate.”

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The short film is being directed by Bruce Wright who has been working with Disney for more than 20 years. Some of his credits include work on Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Ralph Breaks the Internet, and Frozen 2.

A Kite’s Tale was born out of Disney Animation’s ‘Short Circuit’ program which allows anyone within the studio to submit blind pitches that may be selected to be turned into short films. The VR short film is the second to come from the Short Circuit program, with the first being Cycles.

Though A Kite’s Tale will debut at SIGGRAPH, it isn’t clear when (or if) the film will be released to the public. Cycles, which debuted in 2018, is still not publicly available.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • namekuseijin

    so weird of Disney to be creating something and not making it available…

  • amirpro

    Is it pre-rendered (3DoF)? or interactive (6DoF)?

  • I still wonder why they don’t release these experiences…

  • Joshua Gomes

    This short would be released theatrically in front of Disney’s Strange World on November 23, 2022.