Synopsis

Waking Sleeping Beauty is no fairytale. It is a story of clashing egos, out of control budgets, escalating tensions... and one of the most extraordinary creative periods in animation history. Director Don Hahn and producer Peter Schneider, key players at Walt Disney Studios Feature Animation department during the mid-1980s, offer a behind-the-magic glimpse of the turbulent times the Animation Studio was going through and the staggering output of hits that followed over the next ten years. Artists polarized between the hungry young innovators and the old guard who refused to relinquish control, mounting tensions due to a string of box office flops, and warring studio heads create the backdrop for this fascinating story told with a unique and candid perspective from those that were there. Through interviews, internal memos, home movies, and a cast of characters, Waking Sleeping Beauty shines a light on Disney Animation's darkest hours, greatest joys and its improbable renaissance.

Trailer

Film Information

• Genre: Documentary
• Director: Don Hahn
• Written By: Patrick Pacheco
• Starring: Tim Burton, John Lasseter, Don Bluth, John Musker, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy Edward Disney, Michael Eisner, and Christopher Emerson
• Running Time: 86 minutes, approx.
• MPAA Rating: PG for mild langauge
• Language: English
• Official Site

Reviews

"A surprisingly intimate behind-the-scenes documentary."

   - Tasha Robinson, The Onion (A.V. Club)

"The most fascinating scenes in Waking Sleeping Beauty involve the infamous Disney work ethic. Friends of mine at the studio said the unofficial motto was, "If you didn't come in on Saturday, don't even bother to come in on Sunday.""

   - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"The joy of cartoons meets the agony of office politics in this fascinating, inside- Hollywood-baseball documentary."

   - Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

"Even in its sanitized state, this movie about the generational revolt that reinvigorated Disney’s animation department in the 1980s and ’90s is fascinating, thick with studio intrigue and lavishly illustrated with archival sketches and test animations."

   - J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader

"It's got a terrific inside Hollywood sensibility plus an unblinking candor that lets the chips fall where they should. Which, given who made it, is something of a pleasant surprise."

   - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

Showtimes

• Friday, July 9th
  4:45 pm
• Saturday, July 10th
  2:30 pm, 6:30 pm
• Sunday, July 11th
  2:30 pm
• Monday, July 12th
  2:30 pm, 6:30 pm
• Tuesday, July 13th
  4:45 pm
• Wednesday, July 14th
  4:45 pm
• Thursday, July 15th
  6:30 pm