The story is told by many of the people who worked at Disney during that tumultuous time.  Unlike other documentaries that try to interpret past events, Waking Sleeping Beauty benefits from being told by the true insider perspective.  And refreshingly, they don’t pull many punches.  They acknowledge how bad some of the movies were.  They talk openly about the clash of executive egos that came to play once the studio became successful again.  And the majority of what you see is archival footage, so you get to see a lot of what is reminisced.  

 

The only trouble I had with the story is that it ultimately isn’t all that fascinating.  Sure there is plenty of drama and the film has a lot of interesting aspects.  But basically the filmmakers are looking to be lauded for doing their fundamental job, making good movies.  I realize that the films they made in that time, like “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and The Beast” and “The Lion King” can stand up to the classics done in Walt’s time, but isn’t that the point?  Shouldn’t that have been their goal with every movie they make?  And maybe it’s me, but calling their movie Waking Sleeping Beauty gives it creepy overtones of those racy Anne Rice novels.  

 

This doc gives a good behind the curtain glimpse of how corporations run and films are made.  And shows how a once mighty empire came to the brink of oblivion before returning to a creative renaissance.  And how it can still take a touch of magic to make movies with lasting memories.