By Harry Haun
"I knew there was drama in a group of powerful, talented, ego-driven men vying to be the next Walt Disney, although they denied that was the case. They all had strong theatrical backgrounds, and that, I think, made the big difference in turning around the animation division. Michael and Jeffrey both grew up in New York and loved theatre, and Peter started Off-Off-Broadway in the East Village scene of the '70s."
And, of course, the emotional component of the documentary's equation couldn't be more theatrically based. Lyricist-librettist Howard Ashman and composer Alan Menken made their mark Off-Broadway via God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater and Little Shop of Horrors. Ashman's lone Broadway credit while he was alive, Smile, faded fast, so he headed West with Menken, figuring (correctly, it turned out) that animation would be the next logical stop for musical theatre.
"I remember Alan telling me that, when they first arrived at Disney, they were working on the lot in the bungalow next to the Sherman brothers, so the previous generation of Disney songwriters worked side by side with the future generation.
"Now, we tend to idolize Howard — and he is deserving of huge encomiums for what he accomplished — but, for all his talent, he could be a demanding and prickly person. Alan had a great line — which is not in the documentary — about how difficult he could be: 'Howard was a self-flagellating artist, and the problem with working with self-flagellating artists is that sometimes they miss — and hit you!'"
That kind of balanced reporting makes "Awaking Sleeping Beauty" a consistently entertaining documentary — a credible close-up of a studio getting its groove back.
Read the earlier PlayBlog item about Pacheco's work on "Waking Sleeping Beauty."
20 Mar 2010
New York theatre reporter Patrick Pacheco, who gets a writing credit for this documentary, tape-recorded current interviews with the major players, and these are scattered over existing footage from that era. "When I took on the job," Pacheco recalls, "Peter gave me two guidelines: 'Make it emotional, and make in dramatic.'
Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" photo by © Walt Disney
STAGE TO SCREENS: "Waking Sleeping Beauty" Charts the Rebirth of Disney Animation
"In terms of emotion," Pacheco continues, "I knew almost immediately that Howard had to be the heart of the documentary — not just because of his early death but because he was so crucial to the studio's comeback. It's hard to underestimate the huge inspiration the Ashman-Menken songs had on the Disney animators. Glen Keane, who specialized in drawing villains, heard the pre-recorded demo of Jodi Benson singing 'Part of Your World' and begged to draw Ariel. The 'Little Mermaid' directors said to him, 'Can you even draw a pretty girl?' And Glen said, 'I've got to draw Ariel. I can feel it in my heart.' It was that kind of inspiration.
