First images from the Disney animated short The Ballad of Nessie revealed

Traditionally animated features have become increasingly less common over the years, but this summer’s WINNIE THE POOH from Disney is not only bringing animation back to the mainstream, it’s bringing it back with that old school visual flare of the classics.

And THE BALLAD OF NESSIE? That’s Disney’s new animated short film that will premiere in front of prints of WINNIE THE POOH, and it too brings that certain visual charm of yesteryear’s animated works. Here you’ll find three new images giving us a glimpse of the short, something that looks sure to appeal to animation buffs or those of you looking for something appropriately sweet for the kiddos.

WINNIE THE POOH opens in theaters on July 15th.

Synopsis: Set in the “bonny blue highlands” of Scotland, “The Ballad of Nessie” is a whimsical and colorful tall tale about the friendly Loch Ness monster, Nessie, and how she and her best friend MacQuack the rubber duck came to live in the moor they now call home. Setting the adventure into motion is a greedy land developer named MacFroogle, who decides to build a mini-golf empire on top of Nessie’s home.

Directed by the Emmy® Award-winning team of Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (“Prep & Landing,” and the 2007 Goofy short “How to Hook Up Your Home Theater”), “The Ballad of Nessie” is animated in classic Disney hand-drawn style. Written by Wermers-Skelton, Deters and Regina Conroy, the film is produced by Dorothy McKim and Tamara Boutcher, and features a musical score by Oscar®-winning composer Michael Giacchino (“Ratatouille,” “Up”). Animation on “Nessie” was supervised by five of Disney’s top talents: Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Dale Baer and Ruben A. Aquino. Scottish comedian Billy Connolly narrates the film.