10 Best Documentary Films To Watch On Disney+
2. Waking Sleeping Beauty
This film chronicles the '80s and '90s in Disney Animation, from the years leading up to and including the Disney Renaissance. Featuring entirely archival footage, with press releases and personal video, this film is a scrapbook of what went into the revamp of Disney Animation.
It is a love letter, so don't expect too many home truths to come out in this presentation.
It depicts the early '80s, where Roy Disney, brother of Walt, both left and returned to the company. When he returned, he installed Michael Eisner and Frank Wells. They, in turn, found a young artist named Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Disney was losing at the box office to Don Bluth, a former animator who had left Disney in the '70s, and they began to take risks. They greenlit Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which went on, while expensive, to be a huge financial hit. This in turn led to the greenlighting of Oliver & Company.
The Renaissance began in '89, continuing to '99, where the films were treated with both a modern flare and given classic scoring and stories. The Little Mermaid was the first of these, with music written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
The film also depicts something of a power struggle by Katzenberg, who expected to become President of the company after the death of Frank Wells. Eisner blocked this, leading to Katzenberg leaving to set up his own company - Dreamworks.
The film is a fascinating tale of the evolution of one of Disney's most successful periods,