Over the summer, I watched the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty which showed how Disney went from rock bottom to creating the best animated movies. The 1980’s were the worst time for Disney and I didn’t realize how much they struggled from outside competition such as the Care Bears Movie which outsmarted The Black Cauldron, and An American Tail which crushed The Great Mouse Detective. Fortunately, Oliver & Company released the same year of The Land Before Time did better, then the unforgettable Little Mermaid was being created.

One of the many reasons this movie was successful was the songs lyricized by talented Howard Ashman and composed by Alan Menken. Then another Disney triumph was being created, Beauty & the Beast, also composed by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Unfortunately, Ashman was diagnosed with AIDS midway through the Little Mermaid but he was determined to finish the picture, so much so that people went to his house to finish it. Just after preview audiences were shown it, the crew visited Howard in the hospital, he weighed just 80 pounds, was blind, and barely had a voice, he never saw the completed film.

Beauty & the Beast was the only animated movie nominated for best picture but lost. Not long after, The Lion King was in production as well was Pocahontas when Jeffrey Katzenberg said how the lion king was just an experiment while Pocahontas was Westside story. The Lion King was crazy successful. Shortly after, the president Frank Wells was killed in a helicopter crash which shocked the company, and Katzenberg planned to be president but went to work for DreamWorks after Disney told him off. This story is unforgettable, interesting, and amazing!