In 1985, when Disney released “The Black Cauldron” to box office disappointment, the studio’s animation tradition was on life support.
The studio that began a revolution with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in 1939 seemingly no longer knew how to make an animated feature. Roy Disney, Walt’s nephew and the largest single stockholder, masterminded an executive shakeup that brought in three men from Paramount: Michael Eisner, Frank Wells and Jeffrey Katzenberg. That began a second Golden Age at Disney.
It is enough to name the animated films they made: “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.”
These films proved beyond question that animation was a genre with great international appeal for moviegoers of all ages. Coupled with the home video revolution, they were responsible for literally billions pouring into the studio.
Eisner, Katzenberg and Roy Disney however, had personal tensions (Michael and Roy thought Jeffrey was getting too much attention as the studio’s boy wonder), and after the peacemaker Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash in 1994, the magical period ended.
“Waking Sleeping Beauty,” made by the studio after all but Roy Disney had left (he died in 2009), is an extraordinary inside look at those 10 years. It uses footage and taps into insights, memories and home movies that only insiders would have access to. Its director is Don Hahn, who produced “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King” and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” among others.
Another featured narrator is Peter Schneider, who became president of feature animation in 1985, head of Walt Disney Studios in 1999, and left in 2001.
“Siskel & Ebert” was produced by Disney during all of those years, and I had some contact with these men. Peter Schneider came onboard with a lower profile.
One year at Rancho la Puerta, my wife, Chaz, and I shared a dinner table with a smart, likable young couple from L.A. After a few days, “Siskel & Ebert” came up. “You know I work at Disney,” the man said. “Really? What do you do?” “I’m the president.”
It was like that then. I don’t know what it’s like now. Rumors circulated that Eisner and Katzenberg didn’t get along, and countless articles analyzed why Katzenberg left and/or was pushed after Wells’ death. A scene in this film goes a long way to explain the tension. When Katzenberg was in charge of all animation, Eisner announced at a studio meeting that a major new animation building would be constructed. It came as news to Katzenberg.
The most fascinating scenes in “Waking Sleeping Beauty” involve the infamous Disney work ethic. Friends of mine at the studio said the unofficial motto was, “If you didn’t come in on Saturday, don’t even bother to come in on Sunday.”
Animators worked so hard, they developed anxiety, migraines, carpal tunnel syndrome. The “family studio” required such long hours that some marriages failed.
The film gives good screen time to the artists who created the films with their own minds and hands and work in collaboration. There’s even a glimpse of young Tim Burton, chained to a drafting board.
A tension-breaking Mexican party in the animation department is recalled with the nostalgia of combat veterans given a week of R&R.
The fact remains that those years were revolutionary, and if not for them, it’s a good question whether Pixar, DreamWorks and the other animation production sources — and Disney Animation itself — would still exist. Credit is due.
Director Don Hahn is slated to attend the Fri and Sat. 7:30 p.m. screening of “Waking Sleeping Beauty” as well as the Sun. 2:15 p.m. screening.
“WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY.”
PG for some thematic elements and brief mild language. Documentary. 1 hour, 26 minutes. Directed by Don Hahn; written by Patrick Pacheco; with Tim Burton, John Lasseter, Don Bluth, John Musker, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy Edward Disney, Michael Eisner, and Christopher Emerson. Opens today at Starz FilmCenter.
