Trailer for Disney's Documentary WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY

In some ways or another, the struggles and triumph behind Walt Disney Animation studios is just as climatic as the animated films they created itself.  Before the Renaissance era when Disney was at their top of the game, establishing a reputation synonymous for magical wonderment and quality storytelling, the studio was once on the very brink of shutting down which would have rob us a string of animated classics like The Lion King.  The documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty takes us inside the compelling history of the Mouse house, chronicling the series of events between 1984 and 1994 and shedding some light on its decline and its greatest successes with intimate interviews from the biggest name in animation and some revealing never-before-seen home videos.  Those who enjoyed The Pixar Story and Dream On Silly Dreamer, both similar documentary on the internal workings in animation will most definitely be interested in this. 

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 featuring Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Roy Disney, alongside an amazing array of talented artists that includes Don Bluth, John Lasseter, and Tim Burton, Waking Sleeping Beauty shines a light on Disney Animation's darkest hours, greatest joys and its improbable renaissance.

The documentary opens in theaters on March 26th.  You'll find the trailer embedded below.