My Childhood with Disney Memory Lane: Waking Sleeping Beauty

Tonight I attended a lecture/screening of Waking Beauty:

“The ultimate insider’s documentary! Waking Sleeping Beauty was produced by Oscar-Nominated producer Don Hahn (The Lion King; Hunchback of Notre Dame) and Peter Schneider, former Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios. Hahn directed the film, which will be released in April, 2010.

Schneider served as President of Feature Animation at Disney from 1985 to his ascension to studio head in 1999, overseeing the creation of some of the most financially successful and critically acclaimed animated films in history – Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King and many others. 

Waking Sleeping Beauty tells the story of Disney’s unparalleled success with animation during the halcyon years of 1984-1994. The film features amazing behind-the-scenes footage, shot in defiance of strict Disney company rules, documenting the intense power struggles between Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy E. Disney and others. The guerrilla cameramen capturing the drama include former Disney animator and current Pixar chief John Lasseter!”

Plain and simple, it was awesome. Now I’m not just saying that because Beauty and the Beast is one of my all time favorite movies or the fact that Disney Adventures magazine was a key source of my happiness as a child, along with Highlights and many other things, but that’s not the point. I thought it was really well done because the documentary was mostly compiled of footage and commentary of most of the people in the footage. This allowed for the viewer to have their own opinion/view without a defined white and black scenario or a clear division of good guy bad guy. The best part is that despite all the difficulties it was genuinely nice to see a group of creative people come together and work on projects for month-years, giving up their personal lives for what they’re passionate about. I know they’ve reached me. I can imagine the joy/sheer happiness when something they’re been a part of creating becomes a success in so many ways. One of my favorite parts is seeing Tim Burton, just out of CalArts, early twenties, with a bleeding mouth drawing in a small dark room. Oh the foreshadowing. Actually the whole documentary is a favorite. (Psst…there’s also mention of Steven Spiellberg, Pixar, and Dreamworks) Shhhh.

P.S. I hated when the Beast turned back into a Human. I wanted Belle to be with the Beast. They should have made her a furry lover.