I posted my review back in April of 2010, so I am block/copying/pasting:
Waking Sleeping Beauty
Thursday, March 18, 2010 7:00 pm
National Museum of American History
Carmichael Auditorium
Constitution Aven., NW b/w 12 & 14th Streets
Metro: Federal Triangle or Smithsonian
Presenters: Don Hahn and Peter Schneider
I got to the theatre just before 7 pm and was surprized how full the theatre was . . . I guess I just wasn't expecting the DC crowd to be into Disney and this documentary, but that was definitely not the case. However, DC does get alot of visitors from all other the country and the world so that may also have attributed to the great showing of people.
I went to the movie by myself and one good thing about going alone is finding great seats even when your arriving fashionably late for such an event. I took full advantage of the situation and got up as close to the stage as I could without losing the good site lines for watching the film. I sat down next to a stranger and we began to chat about the movie and all things Disney.
There is something to be said about watching a movie with other people with similar interests, because there is a very high energy level that you just cannot recreate when you watching a DVD/Blue-Ray movie in your living room. While the clarity of the players may be spectacular, something is lost by not seeing the documentary/movie in a theatre.
My Movie Review
This is a must see documentary and you will not at all be disappointed in watching this film, whether it's at a theatre or when it comes to DVD.
The documentary was produced with a high level of care and attention, a trademark for most of the Disney films. Have you ever tried to create your own movie on a particular topic . . . lets say a family event. You search throughout your home/apt or wherever you hang your hat, for video clips, photographs, etc. that you plan to use for putting together a video montage. Waking Sleeping Beauty was very similar to this concept, with the exception of a much higher production budget than you and I probably possess. The producers of this film really had to take a great deal of time and effort to identify what they wanted in the film and then canvass all the employees and others who were around during this period of animation renaissance from the golden years with the 9 Old Men.
The movie was inspirational in many respects, particularly when the Disney animators thought they were no longer going to work in the studies and were basically kicked off the lot.
The movie was also sad in many respects, particularly the scenes involving the Mermaid Producer, the late Howard Ashman, who never completely saw all the success of The Little Mermaid.
The movie was LOL funny, particularly when they showed various caricatures of some of the Disney leadership team and some of the video footage of some of the animators working under some very tiring and stressful working conditions. I will not say any more than the aforementioned, so that I don't tip too much of my hand about the documentary and its great content.
I was amazed this movie is a Walt Disney Production, because at first blush, you might expect it to in someway be sanitized for a positive slant during those tumultuous years, but that was not the case at all.
This documentary is a brutally honest depiction of some real game changing years at the Walt Disney Company, particularly within the Disney studios which went through some major turbulence, between Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenburg and Roy E. Disney, the nephew of Walter Elias Disney.
Personally for me, the '84 - '94 period was when my interest in animation was at its peak. The Mermaid was such great movie, both in terms of the animation itself, which preceded CAPS and had a wonderful story and character development that was reminiscent to the Golden Years of animation with the 9 Old Men. Beauty and the Beast and Lion King were animation masterpieces and huge box office draws.
Don Hahn and Peter Schneider
Both Don Hahn and Peter Schneider were present at the beginning of the evening and prior to the start of the film and then returned on stage after the movie to answer audience questions.
The Disney Studies presented a production animation cel (see photo) as a gift to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. I thought both men were confident and engaging with the audience and I was honored to have met these two animation legends in person. I almost forgot about the fact that I had nothing to eat for most of the day.
Future Efforts
- Don Hahn is working with Tim Burton on a stop motion animation movie (similar to animation efforts from The Nightmare before Christmas)
- Next year there will be a 3D release of the 20th anniversary of The Beauty and The Beast . . . hard to believe its been two decades since its 2D release
- Work is underway right now for a new Fantasia sequel
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Photography is an avocation for me and no matter where I go I have my gear with me, although one needs to be discrete in photographing various events, such as this one. I don't consider the attached photos my best
work, but under the circumstances I was very lucky to take a few photographs at all. For those Photogs out there, I was handicapped with shooting w/o my tripod, which is a must for super clear photographs, using existing light and not my speedlite, using an exposure setting of 1.60 of a second for the shutter speed with an iSO setting of 1600, inside an auditorium that was not well lit. I forgot to mention I was using a high focal length of 200MM, so any movement by me or my subject will create blurryness. Wonderful conditions to photograph in, but when given
lemons, I tried to make some lemonade.
Here are a few of the photos I took:
http://drnykcb.smugmug.com/Street-Scenes/Manhattan/11643570_dfELB#826754513_mMyZd
Enjoy & Happy New Year!
DR NYKCB
