We’ve all heard the phrase, “two ships passing in the night”. A new animated short, which is qualified for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar this year and is vying for consideration, takes that phrase and presents it in emotional ways. Director McKinley Benson, co-writer Mackenzie Benson and executive producer Jodi Benson (Disney Legend: the voice of Ariel) join me to discuss Two Ships… and a little bit on The Little Mermaid. (This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)

Jackson Murphy: Mason and Sam are a couple whose jobs and schedules really make it challenging for them to be able to spend time with each other. It’s a concept that I think a lot of people can relate to, especially in the working world. What gravitated you towards this concept for your animated short?

McKinley Benson: It was based on our own experience and based on our relationship. There were a few months where we were two ships passing in the night ourselves. And we felt like we were totally disconnected during the work week. And it was a time when we had just moved in together after four and a half years of long distance. We had just gotten engaged and were finally together, but not together. It felt like we were living different lives even though we were existing in the same, 500 square foot apartment together. We only saw each other for 48 hours on the weekends. Those times together on the weekends became so precious because we felt disconnected during the work week. And so that was the inspiration for the story. I had the idea for the script back in 2021 and I pitched it over dinner one night to Mackenzie. And yeah, you seemed to be into it.

Mackenzie Benson: So beautiful. I started crying when he told me about it because it was so him and something that was so true to us. I was like, “I wanna do this with you. How do we do it?”

McKinley Benson: So we started writing the script in 2021 and started putting the team together, the artists and animators in 2022 and 2023. At the end of last year, we finished the film. So it took almost three and a half years to make from start to finish.

Jackson Murphy: It is really commentary on something very grounded, very real — separation from people you care about.

Mackenzie Benson: We really wanted the times of day to really show throughout the film… they’re in the same space, but they’re there at different times of day. And we had the characters really represent that. With Sam, we wanted her character traits to feel more vivacious and outgoing. She’s there during the day. She doesn’t have to be quiet and considerate. But Mason has to be a little bit more quiet and reserved. We really wanted to show their differences and we thought that using these colors would do that in a really nice way. And then our incredible artists were so great in how they were able to convey that and show that and the backgrounds and in the lighting.

McKinley Benson: This is our first animated project together. The first time we’ve ventured into the world of animation. My background’s in live action and her background is in photography. So this was a new world for us. But we love animation. We’ve obviously grown up around, surrounded by animation. When we first had the idea for this film, we could only picture it as animated and specifically 2D hand-drawn. I don’t know why, but we just felt like that medium is so spot-on and perfect to compliment a story that’s very intimate and personal. We wanted all the animation to feel really handmade and handcrafted, and we felt like that would really reflect the story.

Jackson Murphy: It is intimate. And what you do with light and dark and the blue and the white, and seeing that with the two of them is going to stay with people for a long time. And yes, there is a love of 2D hand-drawn animation in your family. Jodi, you are a Disney Legend… with Ariel and obviously you’ve lived and breathed this world of animation for so long. What is it that you love about animation and those qualities that you really see in “Two Ships”?

Jodi Benson: Well first of all, I was completely shocked and surprised when McKinley and Mackenzie told me about this project. I had no idea that they were working on an animated short film. So when they told me about it, I thought this is the perfect way to express this because it shows all of the emotion that you can’t get with live-action. There are perfect scenes within this film that can’t be depicted any other way than being hand-drawn. So of course I was over the moon about the fact that it was gonna be 2D. And I really think that they captured every emotion that anyone’s going through when it comes to relationships like this. We can all relate to this story, and that’s what makes it oh so special.

Jackson Murphy: McKinley, how did you wanna craft the timing of when we see these two, Mason and Sam, when we see them pass. They’re together, but they’re not really together in the visual ways. You really have to see it to fully get it. But the themes are there. What about the timing of it was really interesting for you in that process of how we see them?

McKinley Benson: The timing was everything. There were so many different drafts and versions of the script with different moments of them, together, but not, and passing through each other. One of the challenges was we didn’t want people to think that either of them are dead. (laughs) They’re both alive. They’re very much alive. And so that was a challenge too, especially with his color palette being very cool and blue and dark. And he exists in the nighttime. So we were like, “Okay, we wanna make sure that nobody thinks that they’re dead.” But also the timing. We had built out graphs of when he’s awake and the hours that he’s awake and then when she’s in the house and when she’s existing and when they overlap. So we knew that there was gonna be a kitchen moment and a living room moment and a bedroom moment. It is a very contained film. It all just takes place in their apartment, which… the layout is the exact same as our first apartment together. We designed it to be a mirror image of our apartment. We just wanted them to explore the entire space, the limited amount of space that they had there. And so the timing was really important. We spent a lot of time in that, in the development and then into production to make sure it all felt right and was really nice.

Jackson Murphy: Mackenzie, because it is so meta and you guys talking about it looking like the apartment and the storyline based on your lives and this being a collaborative process as a couple, about a couple, what surprised you the most about the experience?

Mackenzie Benson: This is my first venture into film. So this was really new for me and I was very much leaning on McKinley to help me through it. But I think the thing that was most surprising was how… it was really hard to collaborate with our artists because they were all over the world and we were working completely remotely. But at the same time, it was really easy when we would get on the video calls and we would be talking to David in Portugal at 10PM our time…

McKinley Benson: And it’s 3AM for him.

Mackenzie Benson: He’s staying up late working with us and we’re talking with him and it’s like an old friend. So it was really cool to just be able to connect with these other artists through COLA [Animation], our co-production and just feel like we’ve known them forever, even though it’s a very personal story about us, other people can relate to as well. And David saw it and he was like, “I’ve totally experienced this.” And a lot of people on our team have experienced it as well. I think it was easy in certain ways just getting to chat through things with everyone, but difficult in the sense of living “Two Ships” with our team as well. Having to schedule how to email and video call and work on this stuff over six different time zones.

Jackson Murphy: Jodi, your friend, Oscar winner Glen Keane, calls “Two Ships” “moving” and “delicate”, which I think is absolutely true. He is an incredible person, animator and talent. He designed and animated Arial. How is it to have Glen Keane’s blessing when it comes to “Two Ships”?

Jodi Benson: It’s been absolutely unbelievable the response of our animation community to “Two Ships”. People that I have known for going on 39 years that have caught the film and have learned about the film and have investigated it with McKinley and Mackenzie, and they’ve just really fallen in love with how simple and pure this connection is. It’s not overproduced. It’s hopeful. It’s joyful. It just gives that gift of connection that we are all longing for. And so to have Glen’s blessing is an unbelievable gift. It really is. And of course, I admire him and I just think he’s an incredible artist, but also an incredible human. And what he says really matters to me. So I knew that he would be incredibly honest with McKinley and Mackenzie and share his thoughts. And they really wanted to hear from his heart exactly how he felt about the piece. And he has just rallied alongside of them, and it’s been incredible. It’s been an amazing gift.

Jackson Murphy: Jodi, is it alright if I ask you a “Little Mermaid”-related question?

Jodi Benson: Oh, sure. Absolutely.

Jackson Murphy: What’s fascinating about “The Little Mermaid” is that it came out on the same day as “Steel Magnolias”, “Harlem Nights”, “All Dogs Go to Heaven” and “Prancer”, which is something unheard of for a Disney animated movie these days to go up against four other films. And it grew very quickly. Getting that Best Picture Golden Globe nomination, which had never happened for an animated film. Winning two Oscars. So when did you know in the holiday season of 1989 that “The Little Mermaid” went from, “Here’s a movie that came out opposite four other films and is a new Disney animated film”, to quickly becoming, “Wait a minute, this is a game changer when it comes to all things entertainment”?

Jodi Benson: I really think that it hit me pretty much between Christmas and New Year’s, when the film was just going crazy in the box office. And you have to understand, we weren’t going to be revealed who we were. We were going to remain anonymous. So just a few weeks before the film opened, I went on a press tour, 22 cities in 20 days. So that was all startling to me because we were all going to just sort of disappear. But right after that, I would say between Christmas and New Year’s is when we all thought, “This is something different.” And we never thought anything was going to happen for us personally after the film came out, but by the first week of January, that’s when things started to shift drastically, and the phone started ringing and things started going crazy. And my life just took a big left turn (laughs) all in the course of the holiday season. It’s been an incredible journey. I’m in my 39th year, which is really hard to believe.