The man who re-invented the Disney Studios is coming to Bucharest

Peter Schneider, one of animated film’s history making producers, is coming to Bucharest this weekend! Saturday, November 20th from 15:00, the legendary figure in the history of the Disney studios, as head of the most important group company- Walt Disney Feature Animation – from 1985 to 1999, later taking charge of the entire studio, from 1999 to 2001, is showing the Bucharest audience at Sala ArCuB (14 Batişte Str) the highly discussed documentary dedicated to the recent history of the Studios, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009), directed by Don Hahn (Beauty and the beast, Lion King, Toy Story). During a special free access screening presented by the Anim’est International Animation Film Festival and The Center of Cultural Projects of Bucharest City Hall – ArCub. Schneider will present his film give the viewers attending the screening the chance to interact during a Q&A session.

In the mid 80’s, Walt Disney’s famous studios were going through extremely difficult times. The misunderstandings between the two generations of artists working at that time for Disney led to a string of Box Office flops and brought along some bleak and pessimistic signs regarding the future of animated film.

Selected at the prestigious festival competitions at Toronto and Telluride, awarded at Hamptons and winner of the „Truly Moving Picture” award at Heartland, Waking Sleeping Beauty is the true and exclusive story of the comeback of Disney Studios, from being on the verge of bankruptcy to attaining the impressive series of hits that won over the world, like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the beast, Aladdin or The Lion King, which marked an unprecedented period in Disney’s history.

Director Hahn and producer Peter Schneider will be screening a story that has never been told before, accounted from a double perspective: that of the film makers, but also that of the story’s heroes. Don Hahn was one of those years’ „rebels”, while Schneider led the group of animators and stood behind the comeback of Disney Studios, which he was also to be in charge of later on. The film features footage from uncomfortable interviews taken by renowned film journalist Patrick Pacheco for this film, shots in the film, television shows aired between 1985-1995, but, most of all, of a lot of home video images taken in that particular period on the studio’s hallways, on set or in the offices. Dynamic and unique, the movie offers a shocking and honest perspective on the conflicts between the main shareholders – Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Roy Disney (Walt’s nephew) – and also on the way conflict would evolve between animators and the relationship between managers and employees: personal battles, cost overflows and failed experiments. Caught in the middle of things are also the animators who, after breaking it off with Disney, were to become well-known authors: Don Bluth, John Lasseter or Tim Burton.

Peter Schneider is an important character in the world of American theatre and film. He was the first president of Walt Disney Feature Animation for The Walt Disney Company and conducted the department’s spectacular comeback and birth of some of the most popular animated films in Disney history – amongst audiences and critics alike. One of them is Beauty and the Beast (1991) – the first animated film nominated for an Oscar for Best Film, but also Lion King (1994), which by 2003 was to become the highest ranking film at the box office.

Schneider also stands behind the founding agreement leading to the successful partnership between Pixar and Disney (which, over the years, resulted in successful features like Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibiles (2004), Ratatouille (2007) Wall-E (2008), Up (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010).

In 2001, Peter Schneider left Disney to found his own theatre production company, and placed on stage the music-hall version for the Lion King, a Tony Award winning show that went highly appreciated on Broadway. He is also an elite bridge player, and receiver of the title of World Life Master granted by the World Bridge Federation

In Bucharest, Peter Schneider will be present both as film producer, and theatre director: My Life With Men... And Other Animals is a remarkable one-man show played by Italian actress Maria Cassi and, also, one of Schneider’s most recent shows, premiering in June 2010, in Spoletto. The show can be watched Friday November 19th and Saturday, on the 20th, starting 19:30, at Sala ArCuB.