Waking Sleeping Beauty

Waking Sleeping Beauty

From 1984 to 1994 a perfect storm of people and circumstances changed the face of animation forever.

Directed by Don Hahn

Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Red Shoes / Some Shoes

200986 min7.2 / 10

An inspiring documentary about Disney's creative renaissance in the 1980s-90s, celebrating artistic innovation, institutional struggle, and the triumph of imagination over commercial despair.

By the mid-1980s, the fabled animation studios of Walt Disney had fallen on hard times. The artists were polarized between newcomers hungry to innovate and old timers not yet ready to relinquish control. These conditions produced a series of box-office flops and pessimistic forecasts: maybe the best days of animation were over. Maybe the public didn't care. Only a miracle or a magic spell could produce a happy ending. Waking Sleeping Beauty is no fairy tale. It's the true story of how Disney regained its magic with a staggering output of hits - "Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast ," "Aladdin," "The Lion King," and more - over a 10-year period.

Questions people ask

  • Is Waking Sleeping Beauty violent? No. Less violent than 92% of films.

  • Does Waking Sleeping Beauty end with hope? Yes, very. More hopeful than 90% of films.

  • Is Waking Sleeping Beauty easy watching? Yes. More comforting than 82% of films.

  • Is Waking Sleeping Beauty scary? Barely. Less frightening than 76% of films.

  • Is Waking Sleeping Beauty sad? About average. Almost exactly mid-range.

These describe how the film comes across, measured across the whole film and compared with other well-known films. They are not a content list — nothing here was counted or checked scene by scene, so for age-suitability or specific content use a classification board or a dedicated content-warning service.

63/ 100

Cinnamon Score

How much this film gives you that nothing else will, and whether it delivers.

Familiar shape, done well.

Rarity69

How unlike any other film this one feels

Surprise47

How much more it delivers than it promises

Love75

How much audiences actually like it

The highest scores in the catalogue →

Ensemble

Like Waking Sleeping Beauty

Nearest across the full emotional profile.

Same Mood as Waking Sleeping Beauty

Nearest on what's most distinctive about this one.

Like Waking Sleeping Beauty, But Darker

Similar, pushed toward heavier and more intense.

Like Waking Sleeping Beauty, But Lighter

Similar, pushed toward warmer and easier.

Like Waking Sleeping Beauty, But Less Popular

Same territory, far fewer people have seen it.

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