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| re: "Howard" on Disney+ is a must see. | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 12:24 am EDT 08/10/20 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 12:16 am EDT 08/10/20 | |
| In reply to: re: "Howard" on Disney+ is a must see. - OriginalTopherP 05:33 pm EDT 08/08/20 | |
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| Bravo to Don Hahn, the director and writer of ''Howard.'' As the Oscar-nominated producer of ''Beauty and the Beast,'' he surely knew his subject, and made such a touching tribute. In other hands, ''Howard'' could've been a more formulaic film full of celebrity talking heads and just concentrated on his Disney animated movies. But Hahn has dug up a lot of audiotapes of Ashman, often allowing him to tell his own story. Hahn also spends time showing how Ashman was a born storyteller as a boy and shares the highs (''Little Shop of Horrors'') and lows (''Smile'') of his life in the theater. Plus, ''Howard'' is refreshingly forthright in depicting Ashman's story and struggles as a terrifically talented gay artist dealing with AIDS. It covers his relationship with Stuart White, his college boyfriend, and Bill Lauch, his surviving partner who movingly accepted Ashman's Oscar for ''Beauty and the Beast'' on his behalf. (Glad to see this LGBT story on Disney Plus, but it's puzzling why this channel couldn't also host ''Love, Victor,'' an acclaimed and clean-cut series about a gay teen; instead, Disney Plus shifted it to Hulu, where it became a hit and was just renewed.) |
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| Link | Variety.com: Don Hahn on Telling Lyricist Howard Ashman's 'Brilliant, Too Short Story' in New Documentary |
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| Disney's handling of this -- | |
| Last Edit: GrumpyMorningBoy 11:44 am EDT 08/10/20 | |
| Posted by: GrumpyMorningBoy 11:43 am EDT 08/10/20 | |
| In reply to: re: "Howard" on Disney+ is a must see. - WaymanWong 12:16 am EDT 08/10/20 | |
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| I too was pleasantly surprised by how straightforward this film was about Ashman's gay relationships, and its unflinching look at Christian anti-gay protesters who -- lets be honest -- were a huge part of Disney's core audience back in the 1980s and 1990s. And I applaud Don Hahn for letting us see the very real fear that Mr. Ashman had about being seen as a gay AIDS patient while working for a "family" company like Disney. Those fears were justified; these were the same years when Disney kept the organizers of the 'Gay Days' at Disney World at arm's length, making sure to stress within the press that it was a private event that was not endorsed or sanctioned by Disney. They even put letters in guest rooms to advise Walt Disney World guests that many queer people would be in the parks over that annual weekend each year. As for Disney+ and "Love, Victor," I think Disney knows that kids are likely to turn the channel on a documentary, no matter the subject, while they might easily be tempted to check out & keep watching something with a cute boy as the star. They don't want to get letters from angry parents who walk into the living room and see their kid watching two boys kissing. Considering how many parents have no idea how to block or filter content on their devices, I can understand why they felt like Hulu was a more mature playground for this kinda content. Does it piss me off? Yes. But Disney often fumbles these kinds of things. As we now see with Mr. Ashman, about 30 years later they own up to how they should have handled things. - GMB |
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