Actually, that's not entirely true; I can think of hundreds of words to describe it. "Mesmerizing," "Inspirational," "Awesome," "Incredible"... the list could go on for at least a page, but at some point I would have to arrange them into a logical format that is A) readable and B) "fit for print." I guess the best place to start is the same place the film begins, at the end, with the release of The Lion King.
One of the truisms in the entertainment industry is that some of the industry's biggest hits were, at one point in their production, considered duds. This was certainly the case with The Lion King. Disney Animation had just come off its biggest string of hits in years with the release of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. By all indications, the studio was set to continue its success with Pocahontas, which was described by then head of Feature Animation Jeffrey Katzenberg as, "West Side Story but with Native Americans."
The Lion King, on the other hand, was seen as a cute experiment and, as a result, artists weren't too keen on working on the project. However, in the midst of story development for the film, the brave souls who decided to tackle the story found that it wasn't so much a tale of a lion cub in the African wilds, but a story about them. The heart of the story was the burden of having to live up to grand expectations and the turmoil and strife required to achieve those expectations.
And, really, this is the heart of Waking Sleeping Beauty as well.
Waking Sleeping Beauty is the story of the Disney Animation Studios in its darkest days. Although the studio built its name on animated classics like Snow White, Pinocchio and Sleeping Beauty, the medium of animation had fallen out of favor with the company. Although the company still produced animated films, they had been relegated to "kids stuff" and weren't seen as the crown jewel they had once been.
The studio's comeback begins at its lowest point in 1980 when a group of Cal Arts graduates, which included names like John Lasseter and Tim Burton, joined the studio. The meshing of young talent and the old guard of animators was anything but smooth, eventually leading to The Black Cauldron, which was outdone at the box office by the Care Bears Movie.
The release coincided with an attempted corporate coup at Disney and the resignation of Roy E. Disney from the company's board of directors. Eventually, the wild power shifts at the top paved the way for Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg to take over as company heads.
Although the animation studio lies at the center of the entire story, Waking Sleeping Beauty is mostly about the clashing of egos and the chaos it produced. However, the competition, both in the studio and in the boardroom, helped create the perfect storm leading to what was arguably one of the company's most successful periods and a renaissance for the art of animation.
Waking Sleeping Beauty's most unique element is the lack of talking heads. The entire 90-minute presentation is made up primarily of videos shot by the animators, as well as archival photos, illustrations from studio artists summing up how they viewed the harmonious chaos surrounding them, and news footage. It's a fantastic take on presenting the story. Director Don Hahn provides commentary throughout the production, though the people who lived the story - Roy E. Disney, Michael Eisner and Jeffery Katzenberg -- tell the real story.
In the extra Why Wake Sleeping Beauty?, Hahn and co-producer Peter Schneider (who, by the way, are hilarious together) say the idea was to simply present the truth without any sort of sugar coating. Though I always have my doubts with such claims, I'm inclined to believe them. Unlike other documentaries, there are no attempts to cast certain parties as "good guys" or "bad guys." I ended up hating Eisner and Katzenberg just as much as I liked them. As someone who is predisposed to not like Eisner, Waking Sleeping Beauty deserves credit for getting me to sympathize with him. No one comes out in a better light than anyone else and, by the end, you're simply left with a picture of life at any business - it just so happens this one makes animated pictures.
The approach works because you get a real sense of the reality of the situation. It's the polar opposite of what Walt & El Grupo presented. The stories are both unique in their own right, but there's a certain intimacy to hearing about the experience from the person who lived it rather than through a second-hand source.
The rest of the features serve as supplements to the documentary rather than a random assortment of extras. Audio commentary from Hahn and Schneider adds a little more to the story, making a second watch almost mandatory for fans. There's also a short bit of background story on the film's four figureheads, a retrospective on Walt and reunion footage. Finally, there's a set of three "Studio Tours," which are mostly uncut versions of the footage used throughout the documentary.
I've watch several documentaries from some of the best in the business and, frankly, none have moved me quite the way Waking Sleeping Beauty did. I'm sure my fondness for Disney animation and its history played a large role in my attachment, but at the same time, Waking Sleeping Beauty is presented and told in such as way that its hard to not get swept up. I challenge anyone to watch and not crack a smile at the first pencil tests for Beauty and the Beast or when you hear the first demo for The Little Mermaid's "Part of your World."
If you consider yourself a fan of animation, Waking Sleeping Beauty is a must-watch. For non-fans, it's still worth a watch. It's a great story and shows that great things can come from even the worst of situations.
