| Waking Sleeping Beauty | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Don Hahn |
| Written by | Patrick Pacheco |
| Produced by | Don Hahn Peter Schneider |
| Starring | Roy E. Disney Michael Eisner Jeffrey Katzenberg Randy Cartwright Howard Ashman |
| Narrated by | Don Hahn |
| Edited by | Ellen Keneshea Vartan Nazarian John Damien Ryan |
| Music by | Chris P. Bacon |
Production company | Stone Circle Pictures |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $84,918 |
Waking Sleeping Beauty is a 2009 American documentary film directed byDisney film producerDon Hahn and produced by Hahn and former Disney executivePeter Schneider. The film documents the history ofWalt Disney Feature Animation from 1984 to 1994, covering the rise of a period referred to as theDisney Renaissance.
The film uses no new on-camera interviews, instead relying primarily on archival interviews, press kit footage, in-progress and completed footage from the films being covered, and personal film/videos shot (often against company policy) by the employees of the animation studio.
Waking Sleeping Beauty debuted at the 2009Telluride Film Festival,[1] and played at film festivals across the country before its limited theatrical release on March 26, 2010, byWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.[2]
The documentary is narrated by animator and film producerDon Hahn, with numerous audio interviews from company animators and executives.
The documentary begins in the early 1980s, whenThe Walt Disney Company was led byWalt Disney's son-in-lawRon W. Miller. Many new animators had joined the company after graduating fromCalArts, but they were hired in a time when animation was considered a dying art.Roy E. Disney, Walt's nephew and son of Disney co-founderRoy O. Disney, resigned from the company during a corporate takeover attempt bySaul Steinberg, which led to Miller's ousting. Roy returned to the company as vice-chairman of the board of directors, and chairman of the animation department. Roy installedMichael Eisner andFrank Wells, respectively, as the company's new CEO and President.
Eisner hiredJeffrey Katzenberg as head of the film division, but he proved to be a controversial figure, moving the animation department to an off-site location inGlendale, California. Roy hiredPeter Schneider to be President ofWalt Disney Feature Animation, who helped modernize the animation process. Losing at the domestic U.S. box office to many films released byDon Bluth, a former studio animator who left on his 42nd birthday in 1979 to foundhis namesake company, Disney began producing new animated features to be released at a pace of one per year. The company also began releasing its classic films in the newhome videovideocassette formats. Agong show in the company led to the green-lighting of numerous film projects. The production ofWho Framed Roger Rabbit, though expensive for Disney, proved to be a huge financial success, along withOliver & Company.
TheDisney Renaissance, which lasted from 1989 to 1999, began withThe Little Mermaid. The soundtrack was composed and written byHoward Ashman andAlan Menken, who also composed the music forBeauty and the Beast; Menken later composed the music forAladdin. Ashman's involvement inThe Little Mermaid andBeauty and the Beast aided in both being box office successes; winning twoAcademy Awards each, forBest Original Song andBest Original Score. However, Ashman died on March 14, 1991, and never saw a chance to see the completed film.The Rescuers Down Under utilized the newCAPS system, which blended traditional and computer animation together, but the film was afinancial disappointment.
At the production crew's wrap party screening ofBeauty and the Beast, Eisner announced that a new animation building would be constructed on the studio lot as a reward for their hard work, but Katzenberg was unaware of this. In 1994,The Lion King was released and became another triumphant success for Disney. Katzenberg expected to become the new company president following the death of Frank Wells, but was denied the position by Eisner, eventually leading to his resignation. Katzenberg would later go on to co-found future animation, film, TV, gaming, and music rivalDreamWorks Pictures.
Narration is done by Hahn, with new audio-only interviews done by several of the studio's principal figures, including former executives Eisner, Katzenberg, andRoy E. Disney, and animator/directorsMike Gabriel,Rob Minkoff,Roger Allers,Gary Trousdale, andKirk Wise. The footage includes filmmakersTim Burton,John Lasseter,Don Bluth,Ron Clements,John Musker,Steven Spielberg,Robert Zemeckis,Richard Williams,Richard Rich, andGeorge Scribner, as well asHoward Ashman,Alan Menken,Jodi Benson,Robin Williams,Paige O'Hara,Jerry Orbach,Angela Lansbury,Jeremy Irons,Nathan Lane,Elton John, andTim Rice. A significant portion of the personal film used was shot by John Lasseter andJoe Ranft for Disney animatorRandy Cartwright, who is featured giving makeshift "studio tours" in 1980, 1984, and 1990. The Cartwright footage is used to bookend the film.[3]
The film is dedicated to the memory of Howard Ashman, former Disney President and chief operating officerFrank Wells, animatorJoe Ranft, and Roy E. Disney.
Matthew Frank and Lenny Mayzel are credited for providing Legal Affairs services for the Production of "Waking Sleeping Beauty" at Walt Disney Pictures.
Waking Sleeping Beauty has received generally positive reviews.Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 71% based on 51 critics. The site's general consensus is, "[The film] doesn't probe as deep – or tell as many hard truths – as it could have, but Don Hahn's look at Disney's rebirth offers a fascinating and surprisingly candorous glimpse into the studio's past."[4]Metacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 70 based on 18 critics.[5]
It earned a Special Achievement Award at the 2010Annie Awards and was given an ASIFA Honorary Fellowship Of Merit.[citation needed]
