Waking Sleeping Beauty

“From 1984 to 1994 a perfect storm of people and circumstances changed the face of animation forever.” The use of the phrase “a perfect storm” is ideal in describing the film’s subject. This documentary shows the jealousy, competition, pressure and hard work behind the peak of the “Disney Renaissance” but it is played against scenes and music that has captivated our hearts for years. As a result, the documentary is like an amazing underdog story that doesn’t have the typical happy ending. Just as Rocky lost the fight but still got the girl, four executives at Disney ended their collaboration after creating blockbuster films that will live forever. I was the perfect age (8-11 years old) when “Beauty and the Beast”, “Aladdin” and “The Lion King” were released and so this documentary is very important to me. Instead of special DVD features that try to sugarcoat the trials, “Waking Sleeping Beauty” not only focuses on the trials but also explains them in detail. This documentary shows the magic created by Frank Wells, Roy E. Disney, Michael Eisner, Jeffery Katzenberg and others.

I like how “The Lion King” bookends the film. “Waking Sleeping Beauty” starts off by saying that things were starting to fall apart and we are confused because we are all familiar with the monumental success of “The Lion King”. How could there be problems? Even the interview clips we are seeing feel quite positive. The film does a great job of helping you see the same clips in a different light by the end. I knew 60% of the stories told in this film but knowing the other 40% is wonderful for me now. The start of the film illustrates quite well that in the early 1980’s, the studio did not know what to do with people like John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Tim Burton and others who had vision, creative anxiety and aspirations. Lasseter was fired and Bird & Burton left the studio but their initial trials at Disney helped them to attain the statuses they enjoy today and the same can be said for anyone at the studio during this 10-year period. Happily enough, each of those three men came back to Disney in later years: Lasseter is now the Chief Creative Officer, Bird has directed two Oscar winning films for Disney/Pixar and Tim Burton created for Disney “The Nightmare Before Christmas", “Alice in Wonderland” and so on. Just because you remained at Disney however in the mid 80’s didn’t mean you had it easy as the film shows. The eviction of the animators from their own building is such an important part of the underdog story and the documentary was clear on the tragedy of it. The eviction not only motivated the studio but it also introduced to them the atmosphere of cubicles and cramped space. This led to unplanned collaborations, which in turn led to some successful work. The “frequent and spontaneous communications” created an atmosphere of fun that found its way onto the screen it seems. Pixar for example values unplanned collaboration very much and their current building is designed to have the best of both worlds: a spacious building but with “cubicle” offices. I loved the moment from Glenn Keane when he talks about pleading for the opportunity to animate Ariel. It is a great example of the enthusiasm and heart for the art form at the studio that wanted to release itself upon the world. The contribution of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman to the Disney Renaissance cannot be overlooked and “Waking Sleeping Beauty” focuses on them very well. I love the powerful moments concerning Ashman’s passing and the subsequent success of “Beauty and the Beast”.

The film talks about the press’ desire to “anoint” a new Walt Disney. Roy Disney, Eisner and Katzenberg all were trying to get a spotlight on them. The film however does a great job of concluding that the success of the Disney Renaissance was not because of just one man; it was “a perfect storm of people and circumstances” as mentioned. Even as a kid at the time, I myself could sense even a little bit that it wasn’t just Roy or Jeffery or Michael (I first saw them on the “Sunday Night Disney Movie” and on “The Jungle Book” home video). Thanks to this documentary, I now have the whole picture before me. We see Katzenberg pushing people to work harder and the workers wanting to but they are getting exhausted, they are scared of Katzenberg and they are trying to have families at the same time. As for my opinion, it was both Katzenberg’s weaknesses and strengths that added to the magic; it is just unfortunate that he had those weaknesses. I liked a lot of the decisions he made on "Aladdin" for example and those were his best contributions to the Renaissance. Katzenberg also brought media attention to those working behind the scenes as well as to himself and that was a good thing. When he left Disney, that attention went away. As a young man, I could tell something was different from “Pocahontas” onward. Around the release of this documentary, Katzenberg was doing the same things at DreamWorks that he was doing at Disney: big publicity, using profits to increase the production workload and working with big Hollywood names. Why is DreamWorks still playing second fiddle to Pixar then? It is because Katzenberg was only one part of what made the Disney Renaissance work. The film is well edited so that you really feel the blow of Frank Wells’ death. The documentary did a great job of illustrating how that ended the collaboration between Roy Disney, Eisner and Katzenberg because Wells was the peacemaker. We then see “The Lion King” thank you videos again and they have a whole new context. In my critical opinion, the next Walk Disney was about to come forth after the peak of the Disney Renaissance: John Lasseter. Because of what he has done in his career, the position he’s in now and the potential of his future, I feel comfortable that he is more like Walt Disney than anyone else today now that Roy Disney has passed away.

I like something that Glenn Keane said: “‘Little Mermaid’ declared: ‘There’s a new presence’. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ said: ‘And we are here to stay’.” That comment combined with the final Micheal Eisner statement in the film is very important for the ending of the documentary. In 2040 no one will focus on the “storm”, but will instead look at the benefits and yields that came out of the “perfect storm”. With that in mind, “Waking Sleeping Beauty” is great because it looks at the trials during the Disney Renaissance and we come to appreciate the animated films of that time period a lot more.

4.5 Stars