Waking Sleeping Beauty

I went and saw Waking Sleeping Beauty this weekend. It's a limited release documentary about how Disney went from making scary movies (both in tone and in box-office returns) in the early 80's to making some of the most successful animated movies of all time.

The documentary itself was probably not the best made. It focused on the battle of egos between Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy Disney and Michael Eisner. It followed their rise, and each of their falls. While interesting, it wasn't what I, or anyone in the audience, went to see.

We went to see Howard Ashman (the musical genius who quite possibly saved Disney animated films) singing "Part of Your World." We went to see how they balanced working on multiple animated movies at once. We went to see the behind the scenes lives of the animators, not the behind the scenes lives of the CEOs. They're not the ones who meticulously drew by hand the countless drawings that would later end up thrown away. The parts about the animators are great. The parts about the executives, dull.

The footage is of poor quality (it seemed to be shot on a home video camera from the 80's) and out of focus, which makes it difficult to focus on the story itself. Better than the grainy VHS footage are the clips from the animated movies that we love, and the caricatures that the animators were constantly drawing to express what was going on in the company.

There were lots of moments where the audience (which was bigger than expected) laughed out loud. The timing of the editing is great, and the animators are all very funny people. I think if you worked in Disney animation, you'd have to be. The hours were terrible, the conditions were worse. I have nothing but respect for those who created the movies that defined my childhood.

Would I recommend the documentary? Sure. Netflix it when it comes out. It won't get wider than it is right now. It's enjoyable and it reminds you why you love the animated movies you love.

On second thought, maybe you should just rent Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and the Lion King instead, because undoubtedly, after hearing just glimpses of those catchy tunes, you'll wish you were just watching those.