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Waking Sleeping
Beauty
is one of three
Disney documentaries
to get releases
recently that are
about the company
itself. This
particular Disney
documentary is about
the company’s
animation revival
that took place from
1984-1994.
Fresh
off of the
disappointing
feature,
The
Black Caulderon,
Disney needed some
innovativeness in
their animation
team. They got what
they needed with a
group of workers who
put together a line
of films that was
one of the company’s
most remarkable
streaks. The
animation produced
during the period
included
The
Little Mermaid,
Beauty and the Beast,
Aladdin,
and
The
Lion King.
They also had a few
other notable
releases in the
period but the four
mentioned are really
the biggest
achievements that
Disney made in the
period.
Waking Sleeping
Beauty
talks about the
creative group going
back to the approach
that Disney went
with on the 1951
animated classic
Sleeping Beauty.
They focused on
telling those types
of stories with that
type of magic. And
it tells the story
of this revival
through the people
that were there;
like now rival
Jeffrey Katzenberg,
Roy Disney, now
head-honcho Jon
Lasseter, as well as
a few others. And it
tells them through
interviews, footage
from those cartoons,
and different video
footage that had
been casually shot
during that period.
What’s put together
by Director Don Hahn
here is a great
story and a
wonderful tale of
revitalization.
This
movie doesn’t have
the problems that
the other two recent
Disney documentary
releases had.
Walt
& El Grupo
was made twenty
years after it
should have been so
we don’t hear from
the people that were
there.
The
Boys
didn’t get us any of
the details. Those
problems don’t exist
on
Waking Sleeping
Beauty.
We feel like we’re
getting the whole
story through Don
Hahn, even though we
do feel like we’re
getting a bit of a
jaded tale in spots
due to the content
of the movie itself.
Even
Hahn, who is
a key
creator in the
Disney universe as
well talks about
himself on the
movie… and even
though it’s feels
like it’s part
ego-ballooning, it
doesn’t come off
like that all the
way, so you have to
give him credit
there. That’s the
lone problem with
the movie.
Waking Sleeping
Beauty
is an outstanding
film and a must for
any fan of Disney.
It’s honest and fun
and we get the
stories from the
people that were
there. Sometimes it
feels a little
boastful but most of
the time it feels
genuine and once
you’ve watched it
you feel like you
know far more about
the Disney empire
than you did.
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