io9.com: Watch a Disney production originally spearheaded by the mighty Roger Allers (right off of Lion King fame) with a soundtrack by Sting and the voice talents of Eartha Kitt, David Spade, and John Goodman crumble into the wasted opportunity comedy The Emperor's New Groove.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Sweatbox, the insane, behind-the-scenes documentary Disney doesn't want you to see
io9.com: Watch a Disney production originally spearheaded by the mighty Roger Allers (right off of Lion King fame) with a soundtrack by Sting and the voice talents of Eartha Kitt, David Spade, and John Goodman crumble into the wasted opportunity comedy The Emperor's New Groove.
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There is so much irony that exists in movies, theme parks, books, etc. which have been beloved by generations upon generations and deemed a part of "the happiest place on earth" can be created by some of the saddest. I do not believe it is a myth that many folks who work for the Disney corporation are displeased with their situation. There is a lot of pressure for the company do do certain things; to come off a certain way. Whether the mistreatment of certain lower level employees stems from this or other sources - one may not know - but mistreatment occurs all the same. It is disheartening to know that a company with such a renown product can have such a shoddy process.
The video on the page doesn't display anymore, so here is a copy on vimeo: http://vimeo.com/39111006
I actually watched this through, and found a lot of things that seem typical for their animation process, but would be useful if brought to theatre.
-They have a style guide for the looks and actions of characters universally - a rule book for the world they're creating if you will.
-This team spent an admirable amount of time going to Peru, looking at the scenery, getting swatches. They spent a lot of time interacting with real lamas.
-The way that they constantly brought elements together, e.g., incomplete drawings, substitute vocalists, basic ideas, helped them to discover how screwed they were before they spent the time to fully develop each of these elements and then put them together.
I suppose this is just another example of why to keep things simple - there was too much going on, and that's why there were so many scenes in the documentary where a bunch of stressed people were sitting around talking about how the thing is contrived and "not fun".
As for the 'sweatbox' title, Disney Imagineering's reputation sounds pretty bad, with most ex-employees affectionately calling the place "mouseschwitz".
I saw this move back in the day when it came out on VHS. I loved it. I had no Idea until I read this article what is was born of. Who would have known? I am keen to go back and find the missing Sting songs. I do remember “My Funny Friend and Me” from the film. But all this is a side note. I would like to address the phenomenon of Directors who do AMAZING work on a project and then are not able to replicate their success. More interestingly, call attention to The Lion King Director Curse. It goes like this. If you are the director of a production of Disney’s The Lion King, you will be fired mid-way through your next project. Said project will involve some late 80’s rock icons who have pseudonyms. The two people who have fell victim of this curse to date are: Roger Allers , (The Lion King-film, Kingdom of the Sun-film, Sting); Julie Taymore, (The Lion King - Musical, Spider-man – Musical, Bono and The Edge.)
I find it funny they decided to go with the Emperor’s New Groove because it was more commercial yet before I read this article I had forgotten that The Emperor’s new groove had ever happened. It is not normally thought about when you think about the Disney classics. I will be interested to watch this documentary when I have the time I would like to know how drastically the story was changes. Before reading this article I had never even known that there was controversy while creating this movie
It is discouraging to read about entertainment giants like Disney having such terrible working conditions. I guess I need to go read more of those manifestos. Regardless, it seems like there was just too much going on in the process. The simplification or concision of the process would have cleared up a lot of the issues they had. Regarding the title change: I am glad they went with the groove. I remember really enjoying this movie when i was a child. I guess it is also important for us in this industry to separate work and play - or else everything will be ruined and entertainment will have no value. we will end up sad lonely and isolated with no fun. that would be bad.
The process of making art is often messy and should be that way. What looks effortless is due to an extreme amount of effort and preparation at the start. I think showing the chaos that ensues prior to something that is as polished as a disney film, it something audience's rarely see. Usually the behind the scene's is portrayed glamorously, with romantic conflicts, rather than laboriously long meeting with arguments over what color to have the flower in the scene 1 be. The part, however, that makes this different, is the cruelty in the room (or at least perceived cruelty). But like all documentary films we must remember this their world through a specific lens and perspective. They chose to show the bad without the good.
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