I've had Disney animation on my mind a lot recently. On Thursday night, the internet caught word that a rare documentary made by Trudie Styler and John-Paul Davidson called
The Sweatbox had made its way to youtube in it's entirety. The film documented what was supposed to be an epic animated film about the Incas, with music by Sting, called
Kingdom of the Sun. But, in the middle of production, the half-completed film was overhauled to become the comedic,
The Emperor's New Groove. Word is that the heads of Disney were not happy with the way they were portrayed and have made it nearly impossible to see the finished documentary film. In fact, I moved too slowly in getting a chance to see it and now it's been taken off of youtube. I had been really looking forward to
Kingdom of the Sun when it had been announced as a project. And was very skeptical of the change. I mean, it had the word 'groove' in the title. I will say that I do find
The Emperor's New Groove to be pretty hilarious (Eartha Kitt's line deliveries are genius), despite the awful title. But, I still long to see that sweeping, epic film that was originally planned.
Then Nathaniel over at
The Film Experience mentioned the documentary
Waking Sleeping Beauty in his post on former Disney animator, Tim Burton. That film focuses on the glory years of the late 80s to late 90s when Disney was able to make animation a huge success again. I got to see an advanced screening of that film, back in 2009, at BAM with a Q & A with the filmmakers, producer Don Hahn (
Beauty and the Beast,
Aladdin) and former president of Feature Animation at Disney, Peter Schneider. It's available on Amazon to watch instantly. Hahn and Schneider said that they were surprised what they were able to show in the film because Michael Eisner and Roy Disney don't exactly come across in the best light. I guess maybe they got away with more because they were former employees and knew how it was. It's definitely worth a look if you are at all interested in animation.
But, the thing that made me most nostalgic was the news on Friday that legendary animator Glen Keane was leaving Disney Animation after 37 years. You may not be familiar with his name, but you definitely know his work (and his dad is 'The Family Circus' comic creator, Bil Keane). Over at
Cartoon Brew, they have the complete text of the letter he sent out to his co-workers. In honor of what many are calling the end of an era, I wanted to pay tribute to Glen Keane with a look back on the amazing work he's created over the years. He's brought to life some memorable characters that were a huge reason for the success of the Disney Animation Renaissance. They certainly have had an impact on my life and will no doubt live on for generations to come.
Ariel, Beast, Aladdin, Pocahantas, Tarzan, and Rapunzel after the jump
