Don Hahn Movies

Walt Disney Pictures has been the leading name in animated filmmaking since the 1930s, but the studio's crown was looking more than a little tarnished in the 1980s after a series of expensive commercial and critical disappointments such as The Fox and the Hound, The Black Cauldron and The Great Mouse Detective. At that time, a handful of Disney executives were questioning the wisdom of continuing to make animated films, as the company was making more money in live-action movies, theme parks and television. That changed when Roy Disney -- Walt's nephew and the last figure from the studio's Golden Age management team still on board -- teamed up with newly hired studio executives Michael D. Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg to restore their reputation for both quality and commercial appeal. With the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, the team sparked a new interest in animation on the big screen, and a string of smash hits that began with The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast launched a new era of both acclaim and box office success for the company. But those successes didn't come without behind the scenes conflict, and Don Hahn, a longtime producer at Disney, offers an inside look at the creative squabbles and battles amongst the management that came during Disney's climb back to the top of Hollywood's mountain in the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty. Along with behind-the-scenes footage and rare personal artwork created by the studio's animation staff (including some unflattering cartoons of their bosses), the film includes interviews with many key figures of this era in Disney history, and several people who enjoyed greater success after leaving the company, such as Tim Burton and John Lassiter. Waking Sleeping Beauty was an official selection at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

After the blockbuster success of Pirates of the Caribbean, another Disney theme park ride is adapted for the big screen in this family-friendly mix of comedy and chills. Jim Evers (Eddie Murphy) is a real estate agent whose latest project is to find a buyer for a huge but dilapidated old house in New Orleans. However, when Evers visits the property with his family, he discovers it's already inhabited by 999 ghosts, none of whom are interested in sharing the space. As the spirits make their displeasure known, Evers and his family try to shoo them away with the help of an eccentric medium named Madame Leota (Jennifer Tilly). The Haunted Mansion also stars Terence Stamp, Don Knotts, and Wallace Shawn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

A ruler learns how the other half lives -- the animal half, that is -- in this animated comedy-adventure from the Walt Disney Studios. Kuzco (voice of David Spade) is the young emperor of an Inca nation who takes a self-centered joy in the troubles of others. Not surprisingly, Kuzco's attitudes have earned the enmity of many of his subjects, including Yzma (voice of Eartha Kitt), a sorceress who wants to seize power away from the emperor after he relieved her of her royal duties, declaring she was too old and unattractive to do the job. Yzma and her musclebound assistant Kronk (voice of Patrick Warburton) hatch a plan to poison Kuzco and take the throne, but thanks to a mistake on Kronk's part, Kuzco isn't killed -- he's instead turned into a talking llama. Kronk can't bring himself to kill the llama, and instead sends the former emperor into the jungle to fend for himself. Kuzco doesn't do too well as a llama until he runs into Pacha (voice of John Goodman), a poor farmer whose property Kuzco once planned to take over for a vacation home. Soft-hearted Pacha agrees to help the emperor-turned-llama find his way back home where, hopefully, another sorcerer can reverse the spell, but once they hit the road, they discover Yzma and Kronk are looking for them, with Yzma determined to finish the assassination she started. Pop star Sting composed several original songs for The Emperor's New Groove, which during its long and troubled production had previously been announced as Kingdom in the Sun and Kingdom of the Sun. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

After the critical and commercial success of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, the Walt Disney Pictures animation studio embarked on their most serious and ambitious animated feature to date with this adaptation of Victor Hugo's classic novel Notre Dame de Paris. Quasimodo (voice of Tom Hulce) is a grotesquely deformed but kind-hearted young man who was abandoned by his parents as an infant and thrown down a well; he was rescued by the priests of Notre Dame, the massive cathedral in the heart of Paris, and he lives there, earning his keep as a bell ringer. Quasimodo has become the ward of Judge Frollo (voice of Tony Jay), an outwardly pious but deeply hateful man who treats Quasimodio with indifference and violently loathes the Gypsies who spend their days in the cathedral's courtyard. Frollo hopes to clear the Gypsies out of Paris with the help of Phoebus (voice of Kevin Kline), leader of the troops under Frollo's command. However, Phoebus does not share Frollo's racist views and harbors no ill will against the Gypsies. When Quasimodo is crowned King of the Fools after leaving Notre Dame during the annual festival of Topsy Turvy Day, the hunchback is ordered beaten by the guards as punishment, but Esmerelda (voice of Demi Moore), a hot-blooded but compassionate gypsy beauty, shows pity on him and helps free him from his chains. The lovely Esmerelda is the first woman to show kindness to the unfortunate Quasimodo, and the hunchback soon falls in love with her. However, the dashing Phoebus is also infatuated with her, and Esmerelda is attracted to Phoebus as well, though she feels a motherly affection for the hunchback. Judge Frollo finds that he also desires Esmerelda, which only inflames his hatred for the Gypsies when she refuses his proposals. Darker and less outwardly comic than most of Disney's features, The Hunchback of Notre Dame does feature comic relief in the form of Victor (voice of Charles Kimbrough) and Hugo (voice of Jason Alexander), a pair of gargoyles who befriend Quasimodo, as well as several songs from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Beauty and the Beast is widely considered the best animated Disney feature of the studio's 1980s/1990s renewal of the form. Based on the classic French fairy tale, it tells the story of Belle (voiced by Paige O'Hara), an intelligent young woman scorned by her townspeople for being a bookworm, weary of fighting off the advances of the arrogant Gaston (Richard White), and dreaming of escape. When her father gets lost in the woods and captured by the forbidding Beast (Robby Benson), a once-handsome prince turned into a monster by a witch, Belle goes off to rescue him. Taken with her, the Beast agrees to release Belle's father if she agrees to stay with him forever. Initially repulsed, Belle soon finds much to appreciate in the Beast's hidden, tender nature. The Beast's servants -- a clock (David Ogden Stiers), a teapot (Angela Lansbury), and a candlestick (Jerry Orbach) -- see Belle as their salvation: if the Beast and a woman fall in love before his 21st birthday, he will be free from the curse. The songs are first-class, the tale is told with sincerity but not sentimentality, and the characters of Belle and the Beast, complex individuals who defy stereotyping and change over the course of the story, are more three-dimensional than in most live-action movies. The eye-popping animation is beautifully rendered, and Beauty and the Beast certainly deserves its place amongst Disney's animated classics. In 2002, a special 89-minute edition of the film was released in IMAX theaters with the addition of a newly animated song, ""Human Again."" ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

This seven-minute short cartoon, released with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, is the first animated short put out by Disney studios since 1965. It features the ever-ebullient Roger Rabbit of Who Framed Roger Rabbit fame. Here, he is teamed with Baby Herman, who must be rushed to the hospital after swallowing a rattle. The ever-seductive Jessica Rabbit (voice by Kathleen Turner) also puts in an appearance. While there is nothing in this cartoon that is unsuitable for children, it contains enough savvy wit to keep adult viewers' attention. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Walt Disney Pictures produced this ambitious, animated tale of sorcery and swordfighting. Taran (voice of Grant Bardsley), is an assistant to Dallben (voice of Freddie Jones), a pigkeeper in the mythical land of Prydain. Taran longs to be a knight, and he's given his chance to live out his dream when he is sent out in search of a magical black cauldron which can either be a powerful instrument of good or a bottomless fount of evil, depending entirely upon who should find it. However, Taran is not the only one in search of this talisman -- the Horned King (voice of John Hurt) wants the cauldron to shore up his sinister powers and raise an army of the dead, and with the help of the all-seeing pig Hen-Wren, the wicked one may make his hideous plans a reality. The Black Cauldron had the distinction of being the first animated feature from Disney to receive a PG rating from the MPAA, due to some frightening scenes of black magic. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Little Drummer Boy: Book 2 relates the further adventures of the youngster who played his drum for the Christ child. King Melchior introduces the boy to Simeon, who has used all of his money to create silver bells to announce the birth of the Son of God and has nothing left to pay his taxes. The singing and dancing tax collector Brutus confiscates Simeon's bells and the young hero and his friends must retrieve them. This animated story is narrated by Greer Garson and features the voice of Zero Mostel. ~ Sally Barber, All Movie Guide