At least once or twice this winter, the conversation of whether animated features should qualify for best picture has come up around the blogosphere. To those who still count themselves amongst the naysayers, have I got a movie for you…a doc about Disney’s renaissance from 1984 to 1994 called WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY.

The doc is a fascinating look at what went on behind the scenes at the House of Mouse, and how people like Frank Wells, Roy Disney, Michael Eisner, and Jeffrey Katzenberg helped restore it to glory. Seems like an odd thought, doesn’t it? Restoring Disney to glory?? Perhaps that’s because for most of the readers of this blog – and certainly for the dude writing it – Disney has always seemed to have a glorious place on the motion picture landscape. Well, it wasn’t always so gang.

Later on in his life, Walt took a disinterest in the animated films his studio was producing, excited more by the theme parks, live action films and television programs. That disinterest, and the legacy it left can be seen in the quality of the animated features the studio was cranking out from 1968 onward. What this doc illustrates (no pun intended) is the manner in which the old guard were passing on that malaise to a new generation of animators.

Faced with potentially shutting down the entire animated division, Disney did something radical. Spearheaded by Roy’s suggestion, they brought in outside talent to run the show for the first time ever. Hiring Katzenberg, Wells, and Eisner led to a change in how business was done, a rekindling of the imagination for the artists involved, and a return to glory for this once proud studio.

Of course, when you throw imaginations and egos like these into a room, there’s bound to be bloodshed. To that end the doc does a great job of showing you all of the forensic evidence.

But back to my opening point. WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY (surprisingly) was made with Disney’s co-operation…which means its bursting with bits and bytes of animated classics like WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, THE LITTLE MERMAID, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ALADDIN, and THE LION KING. These are the classics of a generation, and while every single one of them are Oscar winners, only one of them was able to score a nomination as Best Picture (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST in 1991).

Face it gang, these are the films that many of us grew up on, and that many of us will raise (or are already raising) our own kids on. Seeing the story of how they turned a whole studio around was rather amazing, and seeing those clips instantly made me want to go on a dvd-watching bender for the titles at hand.

That’s what a ‘best picture’ should do…animated or not.