Waking Sleeping Beauty

[DisneyJedi]

Disney hates all films made between 1967-1989. They need to maintain the myth that all those films were bad in order to further milk their so-called 'fab four'.

Oh, really? And I suppose they hated Jungle Book as well?

[ajmrowland]

That explains it's rusty Platinum DVD.

[DisneyJedi]

That explains it's rusty Platinum DVD.

Rusty? Wait. You mean, like it deserved better treatment, yet it didn't get any?

[Sotiris]

“Waking Sleeping Beauty” celebrates the Second Golden Age of Disney Feature Animation
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hilll ... ation.aspx

Great article. Give it a looksie

[Goliath]

Oh, really? And I suppose they hated Jungle Book as well?

The Jungle Book was produced in 1966 under Walt Disney and only came out in 1967, so naturally I didn't mean to include that film in my commentary. But it's true: Disney hates all films made between TJB and TLM. Just look how they treat those films. The dvd's are poor, there is no merchandise, the characters get ignored. And then the on-going parrotting about "the dark age" (when Robin Hood and The Rescuers were top-grossing films).

Oh, and TJB got an excellent 2-disc dvd treatment.

[ajmrowland]

But was easily the worst PE. That's what I meant by "rusty".

And yeah, this attitude has got to stop. They keep looking for money, but they gotta wake up and smell the moolah that is the so-called "dark ages" films.

[DisneyJedi]

But was easily the worst PE. That's what I meant by "rusty".

And yeah, this attitude has got to stop. They keep looking for money, but they gotta wake up and smell the moolah that is the so-called "dark ages" films.

Hopefully, that will all change by the time the SE DVD of The Black Cauldron comes out.

[rj.disney]

But was easily the worst PE. That's what I meant by "rusty".

that's the worse, as I consider Peter Pan the worst in the Platinum line. Hehe

And yeah, this attitude has got to stop. They keep looking for money, but they gotta wake up and smell the moolah that is the so-called "dark ages" films.

I very much agree.
In my opinion, it's their over patronizing of their more popular films that makes people believe they do not have a diversity of offerings and that the films they can produce are of the same formulas-- fairy tales-- well in fact, they have tried venturing to other genres. And while some may argue that those 'unconventional films'(by 'Disney' standards) were not that good, it is just that the studio haven' t really tried to push themselves.

An example (based on my opinion) would be Hunchback. If they really pushed themselves, it could have been a very good and mature film. It is just that the company were still concerned of how they could milk cash from the film, hence, the overexposure of the gargoyles (I believe that they could still be left to be in the film, but a little more toned down).

It's like the saying that they really wanted to explore the garden but were not really determined to let their feet leave the doorstep.

How I long for the proper treatment of those post-Jungle Book, pre-Little Mermaid and post-Lion King films, not just in their home video releases but also in the way Disney regards them as they have more or less been a part of their rich history.

[Sotiris]

A Look at Waking Sleeping Beauty
http://www.laughingplace.com/News-ID513110.asp

Don Hahn said “The original working title of the film was ‘Persistence of Vision’ which referred both to the grueling process of animation and also the physiological affect of viewing a series of stills and perceiving them as motion. But there is a great Jeffrey Katzenberg quote in the film where he says we’ve got to wake up Sleeping Beauty. Peter drew my attention to it and the phrase immediately resonated with us all as the title.”

[ajmrowland]

I see "persistence of vision" and still hear the Ben Stein voice from the Animation Magic segment on BatB PE disc 2.

[Sotiris]

Waking Sleeping Beauty
http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2182

The story being told - without an iota of fat - is the story of the above-the-line players and how they felt about each other. The machinations and power plays they work on each other to wrest control and credit for the studio’s success is the primary interest of this film, not the attitudes and thoughts of the animation people.

Only a couple of times do we really get to imagine how the artists felt about what was going on. There’s a meeting called by Katzenberg to talk about how the people felt about the period. They explained that they weren’t able to spend appropriate time with their families because of all the excess overtime that was demanded of them. Katzenberg tears up and promises that things will get better. They don’t; things get worse.

There are ample and tight closeups of many of these people: Tom Sito, Andreas Deja, Eric Goldberg, Joe Ranft, Roger Allers, Mike Gabriel and many more. Yet, none of them - NONE - are labelled and identified. Yet, every executive gets clear identification.

Eisner, Katzenberg or Roy Disney are also seen in detailed comments taken from press releases, all of which underlines the lust for power over the animation studio. The fever pitched competition between Disney and Katzenberg is certainly highlighted.

In the comments section a lot of people refer to an upcoming book: "the real story of Disney animation will have to wait until next year, when a book on the studio from the day Walt died to the downfall of Eisner comes out". Do you know what book they're talking about? What's the title?

[Sotiris]

Stage to Screens: "Waking Sleeping Beauty" Charts the Rebirth of Disney Animation
http://www.playbill.com/features/articl ... mation/all

There are no good guys and no bad guys. There's a group of people who really wanted to try and do something really remarkable. I think the issues between Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Eisner have already been well documented by other people in terms of their combative relationship, but I would say that it was not 'us against them.' It was all of us working, I think, quite successfully together and producing some exceptional movies with all of the personal desires and egos that are always part of the creative process.

New York theatre reporter Patrick Pacheco, who gets a writing credit for this documentary, tape-recorded current interviews with the major players, and these are scattered over existing footage from that era. "When I took on the job," Pacheco recalls, "Peter gave me two guidelines: 'Make it emotional, and make in dramatic.'

Glen Keane, who specialized back then in drawing villains, heard the pre-recorded demo of Jodi Benson singing 'Part of Your World' and begged to draw Ariel. The 'Little Mermaid' directors said to him, 'Can you even draw a pretty girl?' And Glen said, 'I've got to draw Ariel. I can feel it in my heart.' It was that kind of inspiration.

Alan Menken had a great line — which is not in the documentary — about how difficult he could be: 'Howard was a self-flagellating artist, and the problem with working with self-flagellating artists is that sometimes they miss — and hit you!'"

Documentary Charts New Golden Age of Disney Movie Musicals
http://www.playbill.com/playblog/2010/0 ... -musicals/

Peter Schneider, credits Pacheco with organizing the material into a cohesive whole. “Patrick was very influential in seeking out the truths. Oddly enough, he and all of us had the same basic story — different points of view on it maybe, but the same story. So I’m thrilled he got to be part of the process and actually enhance the process. He brought a sense of discipline to us and kept focusing on what was the journalistic truths, which, of course, is what is so much fun about the movie — that it explores both the journalistic truths and the emotional truths at that period of time.”

Director Don Hahn and Producer Peter Schneider Video Interview WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY
http://www.collider.com/2010/03/23/dire ... ng-beauty/

[ajmrowland]

I never knew Disney Animation was dead in the first place.

Wouldn't it be more accurate to say they were renewing the marriage vows?

[Escapay]

Just want to share my thoughts on Waking Sleeping Beauty. Will be back later.

<b><i>Waking Sleeping Beauty</i>: The Documentary Every Disney Fan Should See</b>
by Escapay

Earlier in the month, there were e-mails sent to D23 members about preview screenings of <i>Waking Sleeping Beauty</i> in select cities. My brother (Kram Nebuer on UD) is a member and we had planned on going to one of the screenings in Philadelphia. However, we soon learned from our friend Becky that there would be a special FREE screening of the film (paid for by Broadway Cares) at the Directors Guild Theater in NYC on March 16, followed by a Q&A with Don Hahn, Pete Schneider, and Patrick Pacheco. We immediately reserved tickets for that event, and decided that since the screening would be at 7:30, to simply drive up early and make a day trip of our New York adventure.

We would be staying at a friend's house rather than drive into the city, and since Kram knew the way better than I did, he drove that morning. By the time we got to Becca's house, it was noon, and we picked up Jackie then took a twenty-minute bus ride to Port Authority. Our friend Becky wouldn't join us until she finished work, and so we browsed around Times Square for a bit, had lunch at Junior's (where Becky eventually joined us), then took the subway to Central Park, where we hung out by the big rocks, watched a kid learning how to ride his Razor RipStik, and accidentally got Becca excited when Kram said, "Hey look, 'Gossip Girl' people!" He had simply meant some preppy teenagers in their school uniforms, but Becca thought the likes of Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester were actually there. Needless to say, she was disappointed.

After our Central Park time, we checked out the Time Warner building, marveling over the same statue that Giselle did in <i>Enchanted</i> and then spending some time at Borders. By 7:00 we started walking to the Directors Guild Theater. On the way we passed by the Russian Tea Room and I got excited at seeing someone wearing a top hat (worn by the doorman). Silly, I know, but how often does one see a top hat these days? I would have asked for a picture, but we were cutting it close as it was. We got to the theater at 7:15, and while I was waiting for Kram to sign in and get our tickets, I noticed a guy having a pleasant conversation by the doors. He looked vaguely familiar, and I pretended to walk around to try and find a bathroom in order to get a better look.

It was Pete Schneider. I used to confuse him with Tom Schumacher whenever watching any of the Disney DVDs that feature them in interviews, but I was sure it was Pete Schneider this time, since he wore a jacket that had "Peter" written on the right side.

Figuring I'd never get a chance like this again, and wanting to confirm my suspicion, I went up to him.

"Excuse me, are you Pete Schneider?" I asked. He looked over at me. Some twentysomething with a Walt Disney World jacket, Ellie Badge, and fedora.

"Yes, I am," he said.

"Oh. That's good to know," I said. What a stupid reply. But really, I didn't know what else I could say. There was a 0.5 second pause that seemed much longer.

"And you are?" he asked, probably more out of courtesy rather than actual interest.

"I'm [Escapay]."

"Hope you enjoy the show."

"Thanks."

The guy that Pete Schneider was with was Someone Murphy, I feel bad for not remembering his name. He also told me to enjoy the show, and with that, I walked away. I felt excited at meeting the former President of Feature Animation, but also embarrassed that the best I could do was "That's good to know" when I found out it was him. When I told Kram, he laughed, as did our friends Becca, Becky, and Jackie.

As we entered the theatre, we walked towards some seats in the upper level. Most of the other seats in front and center were reserved. Whilst waiting, I noticed none other than Don Hahn was on the main level, talking to Tom Schumacher. Since there was still fifteen minute before the documentary would start, Kram and I kept arguing back and forth over whether or not to go down and say, "Hi". As it turns out, neither of us had the courage to go down, and so we simply stayed in our seats, talking amongst our little group until the documentary started.

Don Hahn and Pete Schneider gave a brief introduction before the documentary started. They pointed out that among those in the audience were Marge Champion (live model for Snow White), Sarah Gillespie (Howard Ashman's sister), and William Lauch (Howard's partner). They then took their seats, the curtain opened, the lights dimmed, and <i>Waking Sleeping Beauty</i> began.

I will say this now. It is not a backpatting self-congratulatory praise fest. Nor is it a critical analysis of one of the most turbulent, and successful, time periods in Disney history. It is about a company doing whatever it needed to in order to survive in a business. Just like any other business. That it happens to be the Disney Company, and that it happens to focus on the Animation studio...well, that's just the particular story they wanted to tell.

Cynical and jaded Disney fans may think the documentary only glosses over what really happened. After all, it's a Disney-produced documentary about what Disney Animation was in 1984-1994. And they will surely be disappointed when they watch this documentary. Because to them, it won't be salacious enough with lots of disparaging remarks about the company. Honestly, if you were expecting something along the lines of Jerry Springer: Disney style, you don't deserve to be a Disney fan. That's that.

After all, this movie is by the people who lived it. And so yes, sometimes the memory will cheat and sugarcoat things. But for the most part, it is brutally honest and remarkably emotional. Not just about their films, but about each other. Gloves are taken off, feelings are inevitably hurt, and betrayals and dirty laundry do hang in the air to dry. It's not pretty, but it happened. Some fans thrive on reading about this, others prefer to turn a blind eye. After all, the all-great all-powerful Disney couldn't possibly ever have any troubles. Oh, how you wish that were true.

At the same time, there is a heart and soul to the picture. Animators discuss how they were unsure if they'd be working the next day or the next, how the pressures to maintain high quality in the revitalized Feature Animation department meant less time at home with the family, less time being able to start a family. The Feature Animation department became a family, their blood, sweat, and tears went into those films. It's especially heartbreaking in the middle of the film, which, in my opinion, was the strongest part of the entire thing. But I'll get that later.

<i>Waking Sleeping Beauty</i> is essentially divided into three parts, each getting equal time (roughly 30 minutes each). The first third of the movie is called "The Island of the Lost Boys" and was about how the company was at a low point in the early 80s. And it was, both critically and commercially. That's a hard fact and it doesn't matter what anyone's opinion on "Dark Age" films like <i>The Fox and the Hound</i> is. Most of their movies stunk at the box office and with critics, their theme parks were barely scraping by, and their stock was severely undervalued. The whole company could have been bought and sold bit by bit. Instead, there was radical change brought on. Outsiders who knew moviemaking and business were brought in. Frank Wells and Michael Eisner saved Disney, whether Disney fans want to accept/believe it or not.

Throughout the first third, you see how the animators had to grow close and stay close, how the new breed were adjusting to working for a company that they grew up with. Early on, there is a few moments about how Don Bluth, disillusioned with Disney animation, left and took half the staff, and the ramifications of that on the remaining staff. He is mentioned now and again throughout the rest of the documentary, and a couple times is referred to as betraying the animation department. Understandable, but it would have been more interesting if Bluth had been interviewed for the documentary and able to tell his side of that famous defection.

It was really amazing to watch the first third, as its focus was generally on the 1984 to 1988 period (with early stuff about 1980-1984). Since there's no proper making-of documentaries for the 1970 to 1988 DACs, , it makes the discussion of such films like <i>The Black Cauldron</i> and <i>Oliver & Company</i> in <i>Waking Sleeping Beauty</i> all the more important. <i>The Black Cauldron</i> was beat at the box office by <i>The Care Bears Movie</i>, <i>The Great Mouse Detective</i> by <i>An American Tail</i>, and <i>Oliver & Company</i> by <i>The Land Before Time</i>. But with each passing film, there was better critical praise and higher box office numbers. <i>Oliver & Company</i> eventually surpassed <i>The Land Before Time</i> and there is a fair amount of discussion on <i>Who Framed Roger Rabbit</i> and how Disney elected to animate it in London with Richard Williams rather than their own department. Pete Schneider even talks about how when he'd take trips from LA to London, he'd gush to one animation team about the other, as a way to make the want to work harder (e.g. in LA he'd gush about Roger Rabbit, in London he'd gush about Oliver). One thing I found funny was that there were remarks (I forget by who) along the lines of "And we knew we wouldn't make movies as bad as <i>The Black Cauldron</i>."

The second third of the movie is "The Boy Who Would Be Peter Pan", focusing on how the moderate success of films like <i>The Great Mouse Detective</i> and <i>Oliver & Company</i> led to more ambitious films like <i>Who Framed Roger Rabbit</i> and <i>The Little Mermaid</i>, and the introduction of Howard Ashman to the Disney fold. The studio was looking to making bigger and bolder projects (WFRR and TLM were successful, <i>The Rescuers Down Under</i> was not). <i>Who Framed Roger Rabbit</i> put animated Disney back on the map, <i>The Little Mermaid</i> brought prestige back to Disney animation, and CAPS-animated <i>The Rescuers Down Under</i> opened at the box office against <i>Home Alone</i> (which wasn't mentioned by name in the documentary, only that TRDU had a bad box office, Schneider told the audience during the Q&A). It didn't stand a chance, and there's a great moment when Mike Gabriel talks about how Pete Schneider called him to tell him the bad news. Because of the bad box-office returns, they'd be pulling all their advertising for <i>The Rescuers Down Under</i>, and initially he (Gabriel) thought it meant that his film was the one that would shut down the then-new CAPS system. "But," Schneider says, "we'll keep going." That even though they had the setback from <i>The Rescuers Down Under</i>, they would continue making films in CAPS, and experimenting in making better ways to animate beyond ink/paint.

As I said earlier, I loved the middle of the film the most. It was truly the most emotional. It's focused more on Howard Ashman and his contributions to the animated films than on the animated films themselves, and as a result, we get some rare Ashman interviews that aren't on the DVDs. One of the best things you'll see in this documentary, and one of the most unexpected things that Hahn & Schneider uncovered in making the documentary, is footage of Howard Ashman coaching Jodi Benson in the shoebox as she records "Part Of Your World". This stuff isn't even on the TLM DVD, they only just discovered it and knew they had to put it in the documentary. It's old and very worn-out, but to see that kind of thing...just amazing. I'm not even a big fan of <i>The Little Mermaid</i> but I was blown away by watching that rare bit of film.

Towards the end of the middle third, it gets into how Ashman was sick and how he eventually passed away before ever seeing <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>. Don Hahn narrates throughout the whole documentary, and you can even hear in this narration how hard it was for him to talk about it. It gets really emotional when he talks about their last meeting with Howard, in a hospital room, then it cuts to a slow zoom-out of a hospital hallway, and Hahn says that Howard died. I nearly cried.

"The Men Who Would Be Kings" is as tumultuous as "The Island of the Lost Boys". Instead of a struggling group of animators who don't know how long they have their jobs, we come to the power struggles between the big three: Michael Eisner, Roy E. Disney, and Jeffrey Katzenberg. <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> came and brought phenomenal critical and audience praise, attention from Hollywood, and bigger expectations. With bigger expectations came bigger experiments, bigger paychecks, and bigger egos. All of it comes with a price. The success really led to the gradual crumbling of this powerhouse at Disney. Michael Eisner, Roy E. Disney, and Jeffrey Katzenberg all were vying for what ultimately was an unfillable job: the next Walt. As a result, they pushed and pushed each other and the studio for so much that while The Lion King became their biggest film in 1994 (and at the time, likely of all time), there was such tense and bitter drama within the company that the blissfully ignorant audience was unaware of it.

I really won't say much else about "The Men Who Would Be Kings". Anyone who's read <u>Disney War</u> or already knows the general story won't learn very many new things, though it is still quite interesting to hear all three sides of the story for once. No one is villified, no one is painted to be the scapegoat, no one is made to be the victim. All three acknowledge that there were things they would have done differently, that they didn't like, that they shouldn't have done. It's quite interesting to see, especially when you see things like the news clips. A good half of the final third focuses on 1994, especially how everything pretty much went to hell after Frank Wells' death.

The film ends, but not with a resolution to this ten year period of 1984 to 1994. It acknowledges this, by stating in the beginning (it actually begins in 1994 with the cast/crew premiere of <i>The Lion King</i>). It really shows how the company rebuilt itself from near-ruin to become a prestigious powerhouse. And then, the powerhouse continues, but the people behind it have changed. Whether it was for the better or worse, well, that's another story, and one I certainly wouldn't mind seeing in another documentary covering 1995 to 2005.

<i>Waking Sleeping Beauty</i> is an affectionate, bittersweet, and very subdued documentary. It's about the emotion in those who worked for Disney, it's not about "Yay, we did this, we're so proud of ourselves." If that's what you're looking for, you're watching the wrong documentary.

There's so much that I'm unintentionally leaving out in my discussion of this documentary, because I don't want to spoil too much (even though I've spoiled enough, especially the Ashman/Benson footage). But really, there are some key things to look out for when watching this documentary:

Randy Cartwright's tour of the animation department circa 1980 is something not to be missed. It provides the bulk of content for the first third, and there's a lot of treasures you'll see there. I loved the <i>Apocalypse Now</i> re-enactment.

One of Roy's interviews was done over the phone, and so you'll hear Patrick Pacheco typing away on his keyboard in the background. Roy died before a proper interview could be done about what he was discussing, and so they had to use the phone interview.

There are various caricatures that were drawn by animators both during the time period, and afterewards, and it's amazing to look at. Especially when there's the montage of Pete Schneider caricatures when the animators all talk about how they didn't like how he was brought in as the President of Feature Animation because they thought he was just a Hollywood executive coming in, an outsider.

The infamous list of retitled Disney Animated Classics (after "Basil of Baker Street" turned into "The Great Mouse Detective") is mentioned, along with footage from an episode of "Jeopardy" that used them for a category. Each title got a lot of laughs from the audience.

The aforementioned footage of Howard Ashman and Jodi Benson in the Shoebox is worth the ticket price alone. There is also footage of Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach before they start recording "Be Our Guest", and there was even pencil animation from <i>The Black Cauldron</i>. This stuff isn't on any of the DVDs for their respective movies, and is all the more valuable.

Don Hahn videotaped some footage during a trip to France when he, Richard Williams, and George Purdum were working on the non-musical version of <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>, and we also see some of the presentation reel for that version. And he is wearing pants. (You'll get it when you see it)

One of my favorite moments is from the middle third, when Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise talk about a story meeting with Howard. Howard was insistent that the prologue be an actual sequence of Beast being a very beastly little boy. But Wise & Trousdale simply could not envision it working, and they always compared Little Boy Beast to Eddie Munster. When Wise tried to explain this to Howard, believing that Howard would simply say, "Okay, I disagree", instead, Howard got really mad. The caricature depicting this is hilarious, and I won't describe it so that people can see for themselves when they watch it.

Well, I think that's all I can say about the actual documentary. The Q&A afterwards was really interesting. Among other things discussed, there is over 250 hours of interview material recorded (in audio form), and so there are possibilities of a sequel. Pete Schneider or Patric Pacheco talked about how one of the best interview bits that was not included was with Jeffrey Katzenberg about Howard Ashman. They wanted to include it, but couldn't find a proper place. He was asked "What did Howard teach you about animation?" and Jeffrey pauses, then simply says "Everything."

Don Hahn talked about how the documentary, even though it's about animation and Disney, is more about the emotional journey they all went through. He then continued on about how it played before different audiences and that the audiences couuld respond to it with things they can identify with. It was a big hit at the University of Chicago, and not just by animation students, but by business students and other students as well.

One of my favorite questions brought up, though, was when an audience member asked why the interviews were only done in audio, and Hahn explained that they decided to do that for two reasons. The first was that when someone has to get dressed up, lighted, and made up in front of a camera, their demeanor and their answers will be different from someone who just sits and talks. And they wanted to get open and honest answers, and so all the interviews were done only in audio, so that the participants can feel free to talk and not worry about things like how they look, what people will think their faces are when they mention something (like, if Katzenberg smirks while talking about something, or if Eisner has a dour face when talking about someone). The second reason they only did audio was so that the audience would be more focused on the footage on the screen. Everything was either home movies recorded from 1984-1994, news interviews or studio interviews from 1984-1994, or just random clips they've acquired, or from some other interview (e.g. I noticed a bit of the 2002 Wise/Trousdale interview that was in the <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> Platinum Edition). In fact, there is some great footage from Diane Sawyer's interview of Michael Eisner on "60 Minutes" from the late 80s.

After the Q&A, the event was pretty much done and people were either leaving the theater or hanging around to talk to other people. We went down to see if we could get Don Hahn to autograph some things we brought, and on the way, we saw John Canemaker (animation historian) talking with Marge Champion. Canemaker left before we could take a picture with him, but we did get to talk and take a picture with Marge Champion. As she was signing a book I brought with me, I told her I loved her in <i>Show Boat</i>. She looked up at me and said, "That was over 60 years ago" and I said, "And you were a wonderful dancer in it". She then sassily replied, "I still am!" and I just laughed and agreed with her. We took a picture with her, and then waited for Don Hahn to finish talking to some people.

He was very friendly and answered our questions about the documentary as well as our general "Oh em gee, you're really you, thanks for making the films that defined our childhood!" kinds of fawnings. I got him to sign my book <u>Screenplay by Disney</u>, and Kram had him sign his DVD insert for <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>. We were talking about the upcoming <i>Beauty and the Beast</i> 3-D version, which he confirmed is definite for 2011 (but that's old news). I asked him if he could tell us about some of the features for the Blu-Ray and DVD, and he said that he just received them (to look over for approval). Among some of the special features will be a new 45-minute documentary (featuring Sarah Gillespie, Howard Ashman's sister, so I'm not sure if it's about the film or about Howard Ashman, but either way it sounds like it'll be good). There will also be more material from the non-musical Purdum version, including some of the stuff seen in <i>Waking Sleeping Beauty</i>. I didn't ask about the changed IMAX colors or which aspect ratio will be used, simply because they're fan arguments that I've grown sick of and I didn't want to have to mention them at all.

He then said that <i>Waking Sleeping Beauty</i> will be available on DVD in August or September, and that they had just started working on the bonus features (including some segments that were not included in the documentary, such as more about <i>Aladdin</i> and its story problems).

There was so much more we wanted to ask him, but we had to catch a subway, so after we thanked him for the documentary, then took a brief picture with Pete Schneider, we left. Passed by the Russian Tea Room, and the guy with the top hat was still there! He gave us directions to the subway, and again, no picture. I want that hat.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable day trip to NYC and I'm glad that I got to watch the documentary. It was very eye-opening and emotional, one of the best documentaries I've seen about/by Disney. Currently, it's playing in several cities, if you can see it, great! If not, the DVD is only a few months away!

http://www.wakingsleepingbeautymovie.com/


The Great Don Hahn and me. I'm holding up my book which he signed "To Albert, From Yer Pal Don Hahn". Cropped to remove Kram and Becky, since I'm not sure if they want their picture posted.


The Still Wonderful Marge Champion and me. Photoshopped to remove Kram and Becky (she was between Marge and me), since I'm not sure if they want their picture posted.


Random strangers and Russian Tea Room door man I found via Google Image.

[Elladorine]

Just want to share my thoughts on Waking Sleeping Beauty. Will be back later.

Thanks so much for sharing! And it looks like you had a blast. I've been really curious about this one and I like what I'm hearing so far. Looks like it won't come to my neck of the woods but at least I'll have the DVD to look forward to.

Great to see you back too.

[estefan]

Wow, thanks for posting that amazing review. I'm really looking forward to this documentary and you just made me more excited for it. Probably won't open near me (and were it not for university conflicts, I might have seen it at the Toronto Film Festival), but I will definitely get the DVD when it comes out.

[Sotiris]

Don Hahn & Peter Schneider to host Q & A sessions this coming weekend during NY and LA screenings of “Waking Sleeping Beauty”
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/ ... eauty.aspx

Exclusive: Don Hahn is Waking Sleeping Beauty
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=64414

Highlights

CS: It's kinda funny that Peter produced the movie, because there's definitely parts of the movie where he does not come off that well. Did he realize that and just said, "I want to just do it anyway?"

Hahn: Yeah, very definitely. I think there was support from not only Peter, but from Jeffrey and all the players to be a part of it, I think mainly because enough time had passed. We knew it was a special time, but if it were earlier to that time, the wounds mighta been a little fresher. I think that was the time you could look at it with some distance and say, "Yeah, you know we had our faults and yeah, that caricature's pretty brutal." But you would expect to actually understand what it meant to look back twenty years and remember that time, warts and all, good, bad or indifferent.

CS: How involved was Disney in making the movie, because obviously you had to get approval from them for a lot of the footage, I'd imagine. Did they help finance the movie or were they involved in some way at all while making it?

Hahn: We went to Richard Cook, who was the head of the studio when we first started this movie. Peter and I went out to have breakfast with him and said, "We'd like to tell this story and how important the history of Disney was to preserve." He was incredibly supportive not only in terms of finances, but calling Jeffrey Katzenberg about it saying, "Jeffrey, we want to do this story. Would you be involved? Would you talk to Don about it and give us access to the clips from the Disney library?" So without Dick's patronage at the beginning, it wouldn't have happened. Then luckily other people jumped on board. I think we had great support from Bob Iger, we had great support from Ed Catmull, and people in animation today just to be able to preserve this part of our history.

CS: As far as the involvement of Disney and getting approval for footage, did they want to be very heavily involved or were they willing to let you do your own thing?

Hahn: They were very open to letting us do what we wanted to do, and we were always from the beginning very open back. I think we wanted to make a movie that was honest and not a puff piece. We want to do it with full disclosure in what we were doing, not just to Disney as a company because that's a very abstract thing, but in particular to Jeffrey, Michael, Roy, Bob Iger, Dick Cook, we wanted to show them the movie and do it upfront and say, "This is the story we're telling." We never got any push back on it. There would be conversations, there would be discussions, but part of it is this era was so well documented and you could read about it from a number of different angles, but I think we got a unique angle on it because Peter and I were in the rooms and we were around when it was happening. It was, in some sense, indisputable; you can't dispute the facts of it. Hopefully, what's unique about it is the way we put it together and the access we had to clips and home movies and the ephemera of the animation process. That's what made it a unique telling of the story. It was also our perspective on the story that made it work I think. It had to because we were the filmmakers.

CS: I was really impressed by how candid Jeffrey and Michael were when talking about those times. I'm sure time passing helped a bit, but was it hard to get them to first agree to sit down and talk about it? Or were they all really open about that?

Hahn: Roy was very open about it, he wanted to tell his story. Jeffrey was surprisingly open about it. I suppose I was most worried and wondered if he would want to talk about that period, because in a sense the period after that was the most contentious. He was very generous. He gave us a couple hours of interviews - very thoughtful, very honest, very open about everything. There was no place he didn't go in these interviews. Michael, the same way. I think Michael was probably the most hesitant of anyone at first, but then, after he saw what we were doing and we showed the movie to him he realized that we're not trying to get after him or whatever. We were just trying to give a good, honest perspective on those times. He became very supportive.

CS: Are you going to be able to attach some sort of tribute to Roy onto the movie? He was still alive when I saw the movie at Toronto, but didn't see anything on the print I saw a few weeks ago.

Hahn: Yeah, on the films themselves, the film was done and printed and then Roy passed away. So on the film itself it doesn't have a dedication to Roy. In the home video it will. On the home video it'll be dedicated not only to Frank Wells and Joe Ranft and Howard Ashman, but also to Roy Disney.

CS: Do you think there's another story to be told, like maybe about the post-Katzenberg years and the transition to the new/current Disney?

Hahn: I think there's a great story to be told probably about the post-Katzenberg years. It probably won't be me telling it, but maybe another 10 years from now somebody will come along and want to tell that story. I don't know, I think that there's a great quote from Eisner at the end of the movie where he talks about - "These stories are ubiquitous, they're not just about Disney, they're not just about bricks and mortar, but this story is emblematic of the human condition no matter where you are - if you're in a college, or a university or an insurance company." I think that's what makes this story - yes, it's specific about animation, but it's more general to the human condition. So yes, there's great stories to be told in the same way - it's just one of the stories that had to be told.

CS: I also loved the movie "Walt & El Grupo" from last year, which is about Walt Disney in South America during the '40s. It's amazing there are all these movies coming out. For people who lived through these eras of Disney animation, it's almost like "The Wizard of Oz" where he kind of pulled the curtain out and you see this magic which you never got to see before.

Hahn: It is. There's three documentaries made. I think Dick Cook was responsible really for wanting to preserve it. "Walt & El Grupo" was one and the Sherman brothers and there was another. Then I think we're probably in the last of those movies to be able to share a piece of the history of the company. In their own way they each have a really great perspective on different eras of the company.

[BwayJ]

The New York Times has a small video feature talking about the caricatures featured in the film.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/03/ ... ref=movies

[robster16]

I sooooo can't wait to see this movie!

[Prince Edward]

I do hope that this will be released to DVD/Blu-ray (in Europe). Can't imagine that Disney will release this movie in theaters here in Norway.

Thanks for the great review Escapay!: )