Walt Disney Studios has released three images from its latest short film THE BALLAD OF NESSIE. The hand drawn short will play before WINNIE THE POOH on July 15, 2011.

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.