Waking Sleeping Beauty
We highly recommend going to see Waking Sleeping Beauty, a documentary about Walt Disney Animation in its darkest days (the abysmal Black Cauldron) through its renaissance and creative zenith in the mid-90s.
It’s fascinating for a great many reasons.
(1) We love the classic Disney fairytales, even when they are complete misses like Princess & the Frog or weird mashups of fairytales and real-life or literary stories, like Pocahontas and Hunchback of Notre Dame. We’ll see every Disney animated movie, at least once — but only repeatedly watch the best of them, like Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty & the Beast. All it takes, honestly, to start the waterworks is the merest hint of “Tale As Old As Time”, sung by either Angela Lansbury or Celine Dion. And someday we all hope to earn an epitaph as perfectly poetic as Howard Ashman’s, “the man who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul”. To see how Ashman was brought into Disney to bring that voice and soul to projects was an incredible treat.
(2) We remember seeing The Black Cauldron in theaters and thinking how terrible it was. It was the first time in any of our lives that we saw people actually get up and leave the theater and not stay until the end credits (which some of our mothers always made us watch to the very end, because people worked hard on the film and it was disrespectful not to see their acknowledgments). That movie was just terrible. In Waking Sleeping Beauty, we learned it made less than The Care Bears Movie at the box office — and that movie was bad, too. Though we still love us some care bears.
(3) It was amazing to see what a simple ragtag operation Disney Animation was, even when creating Little Mermaid and Beauty & the Beast. Sure, they had studio millions behind them, but the core of everything done was just a group of oddballs and misfits working hard at what they loved, creating magic. We found that truly inspiring — and hope others watching the movie realize that they, too, can create magic like that if they set their minds to it, work hard, and never give up no matter what the challenges are.
(4) The movie briefly touched on the episode where corporate raiders tried to take down Disney and sell it off into constituent parts in the 80s, the way Richard Gere’s character in Pretty Woman used to take apart companies, break them up, and make more from their destruction than he would have running them. Years ago, we read a book called something like Raiding the Magic Kingdom, all about this episode. The movie doesn’t go that deeply into the “greenmailing” that went on, but a Jewish New York corporate raider came dangerously close to destroying Disney for profit — in the book, it’s noted one of the only things that stopped him was the Jewish community, who refused to allow this man to take down Disney because it was an American institution and they were afraid of a massive backlash against Jews everywhere for destroying part of Americana. So, instead, that corporate raider “greenmailed” Disney into buying back all his shares at a huge profit to himself, lest he bring the whole company down.
(5) It’s amazing how much the personalities of the executives, and their interactions with one another, impacted the company.
We’ve said many times before that the entertainment industry is a great deal like politics. These movies showing the behind the scenes of a movie studio make us think about all the behind the scenes in Congress, campaigns, and the White House. It’s fascinating to watch archival footage of Disney executives insisting Pocahontas was going to be a massive hit, while The Lion King was sure to be a mediocre success. Those fools also believe The Black Cauldron would be the greatest Disney film of all time.
In retrospect, all of these bad decisions are easy to spot, and hindsight is 20/20.
We can’t help thinking about the Democrat Party in this way, and looking at everything they have done to produce their own Black Cauldron with this Obamacare bill. Every time we read another propaganda piece in the NY Times or TIME claiming this will help Democrats in November, we’re going to remember all of those suits at Disney who deluded themselves to believe some of their worst films were going to be their biggest successes.
In Waking Sleeping Beauty, it was clear the amount of time and energy invested in bad ideas became too great for anyone to put the brakes on these projects and let cooler, saner heads prevail. They set themselves on a course to destruction, investing everything in bad ideas, and the structure of the company and all its employees just wouldn’t allow them to change direction mid-course to avert the disaster we in the audience knew was coming.
That’s so similar to what we feel today, watching the reality of Obamacare set in.
America will be okay in the end, because the coming elections and court challenges will see to it that this madness is put in check — but the Democrat Party will never recover from what it’s done to itself.
Just as Disney’s self-inflicted wounds and myopia almost did it in more than a few times.
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I hope and pray that this is true. I only fear they will do something to game the elections in November. On one side I think how stupid they are for not seeing the writing on the wall…for not realizing that what they are doing is destroying the Democratic party. On the the other side I think they HAVE to know and are not worried because they have a plan to game the election. I argue with myself every day about this.
I fear the game plan for the election is martial law and cancellation of voting on the ruse of a crisis by Utopia’s and his totalitarian thugs, Pelousy, and Dingy Harry.
I have nightmares about this very scenario.
I have thought about that as well. That is why it is so important that we follow the example of MLK…do not give them an excuse to do what they want to do.
Yep. We need to pre-empt the tea party gatherings with extra security…extra video of the event…isolate the thugs bussed in from the left to start trouble.
I’ve seen this theory posted before, I get the impression commenters aren’t aware of the international implications of martial law being imposed on U.S. citizens. Consider all our overseas bases: some may be afraid that our govt. has plans to impose martial law on them as well…and kick us out.
The stock market would crater, not just crash.
Does anyone here believe that 0bamapelosi is willing to risk World War III over a midterm election?
If you listen to the MSM, you would think that Obama is now king of the world, riding high on his recent “win” with health care.
These people are clueless.
And unlike Disney, I think the Democratic party is going to go down and never return.
At least, I hope they do.
Marxism and Socialism have no place in ANY political party here in the United States.
Oh, and I just got sent this email ad today about Obama and his Unicorns.
It is HILARIOUS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtxqtBq0uVw
That was great!
Drop Stupak!
Send a message today. Donate to Dr. Benishek (Stupak’s challenger).
https://www.icontribute.us/thanks/benishek
The goal is $219,000 ($1,000 for each Congresscritter who voted for this mess).
When you click on this link, there is a message that says that you have automatically offered to donate and that you will be receiving a return email message.
http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2010/03/31/a-trip-down-memory-lane
This video gives one pause for thought.
It sure does. Thanks for sharing.
Weird thing is you watch it…they said the exact same things about Bush that we are saying about Obama.
I hope what you guys are saying is right. To play the devil’s advocate here, are the Dem’s really so stupid to think they won’t get creamed in November? Or do they have a trick up their sleeves that will keep them in charge? Again, devil’s advocate here, but they cannot be as stupid as all that.
I still hope you are right.
I think about this too…although they really COULD be that stupid. I mean, they thought that they won in 2008 because people wanted “socialism”…no they didn’t!!! They wanted no more GWB…but they did NOT want socialism!
Oh come one… I LOVED the Black Cauldron! It was kind of scary at the time – I must;ve been six when it came out – but I have fond memories of that movie, as well as the book series.
But I must confess that I loved the Care Bears movie, too – and My Little Pony – and Rainbow Brite. What can I say? I was a child of the eighties!
You lucky girl.
My parents wouldn’t let me anywhere near My Little Pony or Care Bears (though I did have the Shamrock Bear a boyfriend gave me in high school). I was allowed to see Disney movies though I never saw the Black Cauldron.
Really? Why not?
I actually still have the VHS tapes of the Care Bears, Rainbow Brite, My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake (I think it’s in there somewhere), Charmkins… all kinds of old kids’ stuff, the original versions. It’s pretty hokey but compared to what’s available today, charmingly innocent.
Honestly? It’s probably because it annoyed my parents.
I remember my sister had a love for Strawberry Shortcake, but I don’t remember any movies about it.
Love, Love, LOVE Disney! Love everything about Disney!!
About four years ago we took the kids to WDW and when we left, I literally SOBBED. I did not want to leave! What a wonderful place. I can’t wait to go again, and I didn’t even ride many of the rides. The whole atmosphere was so magical.
One of the first arguments my husband and I ever had was right after we watched The Little Mermaid. I was crying at the end of the movie (see a trend here) and he just.didn’t.get.it. We found out that day that I would be the person taking the kids to see Disney movies as they are pure torture to him. (Thankfully, that’s the only thing seriously wrong with my DH).
I’m going to see if I can hunt someone down to come with me to see Waking Sleeping Beauty. If I can’t, I’ll have to see it when it comes to video as the closest theater to me is about a 45 minute drive.
As for the Dems, they’ll reap what they sow.
I love to hear this!!! I’ve been a Disney cast member for 18 years now and it never gets old to hear this stuff.
Oh, wow. Are you allowed to say who you play?
Well we call everyone a “cast member”…it’s Disney’s word for employee. But actually, I did work in Entertainment and I was “best friends” with all the characters that were in the Chip and Dale height range.
OH that’s so wonderful. I would LOVE to work there, but I don’t want to ruin the magic knowing what’s behind the scenes.
I LOVE Disney. Best thing ever.
With me, I’m the one ragging my DH about the way he cries at movies (and his love of rom-coms)
May they reap what they sow — as long as they don’t reap us or our freedoms along with!
I loved everything Disney—any of you enchanted by Disneyland in the 50′s —you must read Latitude 33 by Walter Bosley—a fabulous read on what “machine” Walt Disney incorporated metaphysically/paranormally (???) into Disneyland….to make it the place of magic that it was….a fascinating read.
Thanks for the book recommendation, a.Marie. Disneyland has been an annual trip since I was 3 and it’s just as magical to me as an adult as it was in childhood.
Sometimes I geek out and google Disneyland secrets and learn all sorts of nifty facts, like there is a regulation size basketball court in the Matterhorn.
Walt did this so the attraction would be permitted as a sports arena thereby bypassing the long process in getting a commercial building permit for the structure.
Unlike Obama, Walt Disney actually liked the American people.
I saw something about this Waking Sleeping Beauty on our cast portal yesterday…I didn’t know what it was. IT’s a book? I assumed it wsa a TV special of some sort.
Anyway, I believe it was around 87 or 88 when Disney started to rebound…with The Little Mermaid. Followed by Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin in the early 90′s. But nothing helped their animation become the jaugernaut that it IS more than Pixar. When Toy Story came out in 95 it was a whole new world. And nothing made me happier about my beloved employer than when Eisner finally left and our current CEO was able to build a friendship with Steve Jobs and finally bring Pixar into the Disney family for good. I was reading the business news daily when all this stuff was going on. I SO feared we would lose our rights to Pixar properties and that would have been disasterous!
My absolute favorite animated movie…and probably in the top 5 of my all-time favs is “Finding Nemo”. I can barely watch it without tearing up…as a parent there has just not been a more relavant film about being a parent and the love you have for your child. L.O.V.E. I.T.
I have sentimental attachments to others films like The Lion King because that has more to do with my work life.
But all of my fours kids have had their very first in theater movie experience at a Disney Pixar film…my oldest first saw Monsters, Inc., my two middle girl’s first one was Ratatouille and my 3 year old son will be seeing Toy Story 3 in the theater this summer…CAN’T WAIT!!!!
I remember seeing Snow White at the movie theater and Bambi…Bed Knobs and Broomsticks, Jungle Boy, Apple Dumpling Gang, The endless movies with Kurt Russel as a child…
and of course Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.
And who can forget Old Yeller…what a heartbreaker!! Do you remember seeing the Mickey Mouse Club on TV? How about the Walt Disney Show on TV? I think they were the first to have color broadcasts. Spin & Marty & of course Moochie.
Waking Sleeping Beauty sounds like a good title for a documentary about awakening gays to the dangers of the totalitarianism of the Left.
The Democrat Party portrayed itself as “having the backs” of the American people, but in reality it’s humiliating us with fringe lunatic freedom-stripping country-wrecking whoring hypocrites.
Trust can never be restored.
Its demise is inevitable. (And the divorce is final.)
The first movie I ever saw in theaters was “Oliver & Company” when I was two. My mom says I stood up the entire movie, even though she and my dad kept telling me I could sit down.
In preschool I was Ariel for Halloween (even though we couldn’t find a long red wig for a kid) and in kindergarten I was Belle. I swear to God, I had the best Belle costume of any little girl ever. My mom made it and I had the gold ball gown and the blue cape, plus Mrs. Potts earrings, a charm bracelet that had Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, and Lumiere, a barette with handmade gold ribbon roses, and the magic mirror. My mom found a folder at K-Mart that had Belle and the Beast on the front, so she made this mirror out of white cardboard and put more ribbon roses on it and used the folder picture so it looked like Belle and the Beast were dancing in the mirror. We still have all the parts of the costume.
You will NEVER forget that Belle costume…that is awesome. Kudos to your mom for making a memory for you that will last forever!!!
I too worry that the Democratic Party has some trick up their sleeve for November – illegal immigration reform or universal voter registration. That is why we must be on our guard for all of their dirty tricks and do what we can to counter them.
They are seriously alienating reasonable members of their base – gay conservatives, black conservatives, young conservatives, and now Jewish conservatives.
I am hearing more and more stories of people’s jobs being affected by the health care changes – and how Obama supporters in those companies are so stunned and outraged when they find out how it will impact them. Makes me smile.
It is going to be an ugly year until we kick many of the Dems out, but I have great faith! The American people are not going back to sleep and we will not be kept quiet.
As the boyz say – Bring it!!!
Here was the internal press release about it…it IS a film, not a book…I misunderstood…
‘Waking Sleeping Beauty’ Premieres
By the mid-1980s, the fabled animation studios of Walt Disney had fallen on hard times. The artists were polarized between newcomers hungry to innovate and old timers not yet ready to relinquish control. The conditions produced a series of box office flops and pessimistic forecasts: maybe the best days of animation were over. Maybe the public didn’t care. Only a miracle or a magic spell could produce a happy ending.
Waking Sleeping Beauty is no fairy tale. It’s the true story of how Disney regained its magic with a staggering output of hits—The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King and more—over a 10-year period.
Director Don Hahn and producer Peter Schneider bring their insider knowledge to Waking Sleeping Beauty. Hahn was one of the Young Turks at Disney who produced some of its biggest sensations. Schneider led the animation group during this amazing renaissance and later became studio chairman. Their film offers a fascinating and candid perspective of what happened in the creative ranks set against the dynamic tensions among the top leadership, Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Roy Disney (the nephew of Walt).
The process wasn’t always pretty. The filmmakers bring a refreshing candor in describing ego battles, cost overruns and failed experiments. During times of tension, the animators’ favorite form of release was to draw scathing caricatures of themselves and their bosses. Director Hahn puts several memorable ones on display and marshals a vast array of interviews, home movies, internal memos and unseen footage.
Announcing the world premiere of Waking Sleeping Beauty at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, the festival’s documentary programmer Thom Powers said, “Waking Sleeping Beauty celebrates the rich history of Disney animation and honors the many writers, artists and composers who created the Disney magic. The treatment is so thorough that it includes key figures who famously left Disney such as Don Bluth, John Lasseter and Tim Burton. At one time, children imagined that Walt Disney’s signature meant a film was the creation of one man. This is a more grown-up portrayal that reveals the collaborative, often contentious, experience in all its complexity.”
O/T, but no current pieces to post this on, so feel free to ignore, of course.
Just wanted to recommend two great pieces over at Pam Geller’s site. One is about boycotting Mastercard and the other is about Obama’s mysterious past.
Here’s an excerpt from the article she cites about Mastercard (or as she more accurately renames it, Slavecard):
A new interest-free credit card, the first of its kind in North America, aims to reconcile Islamic canonical law and Western consumer culture. Until now, observant Muslims have been precluded from owning credit cards on which they pay interest, a violation of shariah law. The iFreedom Plus Mastercard, set to be available in the coming days, promises no bills, no interest and no credit card debt.
“Everyone living their day-to-day lives, they need a credit card. You can’t rent a car, you can’t travel if you don’t have a card. Everyone wants one in their pocket,” said Omar Kalair, president of UM Financial, a Toronto-based Islamic financing firm that is launching the card with the Mastercard brand.
But banks have little incentive to offer products that don’t bear high interest rates, causing a dilemma for Muslim consumers in Canada, he said.
With the iFreedom Plus Mastercard, holders load up their card with cash in advance, up to $6,000. Each purchase draws down on the account without accruing interest.
The concept follows the Islamic principle that finance should be backed by owned assets. It was approved by a panel of Muslim religious scholars, Mr. Kalair said.
Cardholders pay $50 for two years of use and each transfer of cash on to the card costs 95 cents. And since the new product doesn’t actually involve credit, applicants are approved without a credit check. And on purchases of more than $100, cardholders earn 1% cash back.
Also, Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad Airways is offering a 10% discount for customers booking a flight with the card. “And our community travels a lot,” Mr. Kalair said.
+
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/03/the-biggest-hustle-in-human-history-.html#comments
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2745449#ixzz0jnqsP7iA
When I went to college back in the late 70s somebody on my dorm floor had a High Times magazine containing a story about Walt Disney. The theory was that Walt took LSD and the like, which explains movies like Fantasia. Even after all these years, I think about that article whenever I see something from the WALT Disney era. Crazy. Maybe in those days it really was Turn in, ‘toon’ in, drop out- heh.
It’s been said, politics is show-business for ugly people.
I could probably watch the Lion King right now and still cry. I remember being sooo sad at the part when adult Simba flops down on the ground and says “It’s my fault” about his father.
And don’t even let me start on Bambi. And Dumbo…oh God, now I’m emotional and nostalgic…
:/
To those who think the Democrats are going to get creamed in November I remind them:
1) By January 30th, 2009 that is a mere ten days after taking his oath, Obama had already taken control of the Census Bureau
2) About a week later next the Census had subcontracted it to… (drams rolling) Acorn! Yes, an organization who has been involved in electoral fraud for the Democrats.
Also let’s remember all those Democrats elected after two weeks after the elections an urn was “found” in the trunk of car. BTW it is puzzling to me how such things can happen in the first place: in Europe urns have seals affixed, they also have sheets with the signatures of the voters and the number of signatures has better to match the number of ballots found in the urns. They also check the ID (and nationality) of those who are trying to vote; Finally the votes are counted manually (it is so easy to tamper with a program…) in front of representatives of all parties and the results certified by all the present. Ballots, sheets signed by the voters and count sheets signed by the people who did the counting are stored securely for future inspection.
Despite the process being manual results are available by midnight from the same day. I just don’t understand why America doesn’t treat the whole electoral process as something too serious to allow fraud.
They tried to take over the census but it got stopped. The census is done by a non-partisan group and they kept that intact. As far as the voting process each state and even each county has its own security measures. Every district has its process. You should become involved in that process if you are concerned about what is going on in your area. We have that right to be involved and you should be. Trust me, if people in my district thought the results were opposite of what was expected in the area we’d be pounding down doors to find out why. That’s the problem. People don’t get involved. BE INVOLVED.
The Black Cauldron was a good book in a great series. Too bad they screwed up the movie. I never saw it, lucky for me.
am i correct that Bambi has never been shown on tv?