We’re all just a reflection of our inner child!

For decades, Disney has been the place where dreams come true and the iconic slogan continues to be true for Aphton Corbin. No stranger to the company, she first began her career in 2016 as a story artist. Her position includes helping the director to visualize their film in storyboard form by providing a first representation of the movie to help determine if the story elements are working well.

Corbin, a graduate of California’s Institute of the Arts, worked as a story artist on the hit Pixar film Toy Story 4 (2019) along with the Pixar SparkShort film Loop (2020). She also played a key role in the hit Disney+ film, Soul (2020) where she assisted with bringing the animation to life.

Now, as the director and writer of her very own SparkShort, Twenty Something, Corbin sheds light on the importance of nurturing the inner child that people tend to neglect as they grow in age. The short film follows the main character, Gia, as she heads out for a night on the town to celebrate her 21st birthday. Only she finds that some unexpected guests have arrived to crash the party.

For Corbin, this short is a testament to her own inner child. In a transparent story about the fact that adulthood isn’t always what it chalks up to be. Twenty Something gives insight into the fact that while some days you can feel that you have it all figured out, other days are a reflection of the fact that we’re all just a stack of kids hiding out in a trench coat hoping that no one notices.

“A lot of times we think of those inner kids as a negative thing, but you know, they’re all still in here and that’s why I feel that I have the job that I have because I’ve always loved animation,” said Corbin during an interview with S&A. “Those voices are still important when they’re in check.”

Corbin’s inner child is beaming and it shows through her work.

“I think she’d be pretty happy, thankful, there’s probably not enough glitter or all of those things, but I think overall she [would be] pleased with the film that came out.”

With films like “Soul” and now Twenty Something, Disney continues to reiterate its commitment to sharing stories that reflect the experiences of Black audiences. Corbin is happy to be in the place to help tell those stories.

“It’s important to have more POCs and Black people specifically in our field because with different ethnicities brings different stories and it makes it so much more richer,” she continued. “And there [are] both communities that would love to seem themselves represented well on the screen. I think that it’s an honor and a privilege to be one of the people who do that and I look forward to doing more.”

Moving with intention is important to Corbin which is why Twenty Something focuses on age 21 as that it plays a significant role in the course of one’s life.

“21 is the marked age in the US when you’re an adult, you know, you can do all of the adult things,” said Corbin. “You can rent a car and whatever they tell you that you can do and suddenly at 21 years old you feel like you should have life figured out, even though for me, that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Follow Gia as she enters her 21st birthday in the new SparkShort filming premiering on Disney+ Sept. 10th.

Aphton Corbin

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