Synopsis: 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 - "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin," "The Lion King," and more - over a 10-year period.

Review: This is the final of three Disney documentaries we'll be reviewing this week.  This one, titled "Waking Sleeping Beauty" is an in-depth look at the recent glory era of 1984-94 where Eisner and Roy Disney were in charge!  After 1994 Disney went down a spiral again until it recently allowed Pixar and John Lasseter to take over, but back in the day they pumped out hit after hit that revitalized the company and animation in general.  What would kids have done without new classics like the Little Mermaid, Aladdin and the Lion King?!  This is my favorite of the three new documentaries, it goes in-depth into this era, which is one of my personal favorites, and really sheds light on the inner-workings and struggles of the company.

The special features include: Why Wake Sleeping Beauty? – Overview featurette, Untold Bedtime Stories – Deleted scenes from the feature, The Sailor, the Mountain Climber, the Artist and the Poet – Celebrating Roy Disney, Frank Wells, Joe Ranft, and Howard Ashman, Studio Tours – Randy’s tours, Roger Rabbit studio, Oliver studio, and the tour we shot at ARL, A Reunion – Rob Minkoff and Kirk Wise, Walt - What would Walt do AND compare Walt’s era and this era, 3 webisode shorts, Gallery – Photos, caricatures, and art from the era.