WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY
Release date: November 30, 2010

“Waking Sleeping Beauty” is my favorite documentary! Obviously, I have an interest in the subject matter of Disney animation… in fact I was at many of the event pictured in the film! But, there a couple main reasons I love this film so much.

First, all the interviews and voices you hear are from the people who have experienced the renaissance of Disney animation. The documentary isn’t interviewing historians or family members of those involved, these are the firsthand recollections from the people who lived it. In fact, the film’s producers are not just a couple of Hollywood types who decided to choose a topic and do a film about it. Don Hahn produced films like “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King,” and Peter Schneider was the head of Walt Disney Feature Animation.

The second reason I love WSB is that there is not one second of new video footage in the documentary. When I first learned that every frame of film would be vintage I thought that sounded odd, but after seeing WSB, I not only realized this is the ideal way to present a documentary. It really transports you back into time! I only wish more bonus features on DVDs would use this unique format that was the idea of the film’s producer/director, Don Hahn.

Before I tell you about the BONUS FEATURES, please be sure to see some of my links below, including my interview with Don Hahn and Peter Schneider, my interview with composer Alan Menken, and the story I wrote for Disney about the film.

BONUS FEATURES

The unique thing about the AUDIO COMMENTARY on this is that it is provided by Don and Peter, who are not just the producers and director, but in a sense are two of the stars of the film as well. It’s interesting to learn additional details of what went into the creation of the film.

Move aside Abbott and Costello, the entertaining duo of Hahn and Schneider host WHY WAKE SLEEPING BEAUTY? (8:54), in which they discuss their strategy in presenting an entertaining, yet very truthful account of this historical era of Disney Animation.

There are six DELETED SCENES (4:41), but I almost hate to use the term “deleted scenes.” When you hear that you may think of short scenes that really didn’t contribute anything to the main film. I know when I see deleted scenes I usually think, “I could see why they cut that out!” But these scenes are all additional treasures. There’s fantastic footage of the touching “Proud of Your Boy” scene which was cut from “Aladdin,” and a discussion of its history. There’s also an amazing lecture by the late Howard Ashman, the mastermind lyricist who played an integral role in the success of the new generation of Disney’s animated features.

Any fan of “The Little Mermaid” won’t want to miss RECORDING “PART OF YOUR WORLD,” (6:30) which falls under “deleted scenes.” Here you’ll see the voice of Ariel, Jodi Benson, working with Howard Ashman in the recording session for “Part of Your World,” and there’s an entire alternate take of the song. Seeing this will give you awesome insight into how Howard guided the number into the classic it became.

THE SAILOR, THE MOUNTAIN CLIMBER, THE ARTIST AND THE POET (15:24), focuses on four of the prominent individuals, all of whose lives were lost much too early for various reasons. Roy E. Disney, Frank Wells, Joe Ranft and Howard Ashman are names that any Disney fan should be familiar with, and this piece will help keep their names and their memory alive, by focusing on each of their unique legacies to The Walt Disney Company.

A REUNION (2:14) Kirk Wise, director of “Beauty and the Beast” and Rob Minkoff director of “The Lion King” knew each other since junior high, and they reminisce together in this short, very entertaining little feature.

THE DISNEY STUDIO TOURS – Animator Randy Cartwright brought a new video camera when he was working at Disney and thought it would be fun to shoot people around the Disney studios, hosting his own video with John Lasseter as his cameraman (who steps in front of the camera at one point, pictured with Randy Cartwright). Some of these home movies are featured in the film, but here you get to see much more! It’s really incredible to see this type of footage on DVD! There are three videos, from 1980, 1983 and 1990. Usually this is the kind of thing that your friends give you copies of when you work at Disney and you feel privileged to have, but it’s never made available for the public. Anybody who purchases this DVD is truly fortunate to own these little historic treasures.

WALT (6:01) - This pieces takes a few minutes to tip their hats toward the man who made it all possible, by asking some of those involved what they think Walt would have thought of this movie.

Hope this opened your eyes to what’s on the incredible “Waking Sleeping Beauty” DVD.

What I wrote about “Waking Sleeping Beauty” for Disney

Composer Alan Menken interview

Don Hahn & Peter Schneider interview