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Tuesday, March 12, 2024

WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY (2009)


Unexpectedly raw, honest and riveting documentary on the Disney animation renaissance of 1984 - 1994, a unique mix of corporate and artistic gamesmanship, largely told thru original source materials rather than Talking Heads and starry-eyed encomiums.  First man down is Walt Disney son-in-law Ron Miller (as clueless a production head as anyone in town since Spyros Skouras at 20th/Fox in the ‘60s), this paved the way for Roy Disney to play prodigal nephew (of Walt), bearing Frank Wells & Michael Eisner as new co-heads and portent of his return.  Still, after a bit of deadwood animation was cleared out (BLACK CAULDRON/’85 a particularly pricey loss) and the indignation of having the animators moved out of their old legendary building on the Disney lot, fresh shoots quickly generated, fully announcing itself when ‘Under the Sea’ symbolically stopped the show at preview showings of THE LITTLE MERMAID/’89.  (https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-little-mermaid-1989.html)  And that’s when things really get interesting behind-the-scenes as two sudden deaths and the rise of Jeffrey Katzenberg threatened to upset the apple cart.*   With current Disney animation suddenly sputtering where it once hummed, the time couldn’t be better to revisit this period and see the knife’s edge they danced on.

READ ALL ABOUT IT:  *Katzenberg, universally loathed at the studio, comes off as a real life Sammy Glick (as in Budd Schulberg’s WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN), consistently taing credit for decisions he fought against after they succeeded.  And just generally being a dick.

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