Staging a Comeback

Broadway, Hollywood, and the Disney Renaissance

Peter C. Kunze

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9781978827813
  9781978827820
• eBook ISBN:
  9781978827837
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Entertainment Industry
• Index: Social Sciences

In the early 1980s, Walt Disney Productions was struggling, largely bolstered by the success of its theme parks. Within fifteen years, however, it had become one of the most powerful entertainment conglomerates in the world. Staging a Comeback: Broadway, Hollywood, and the Disney Renaissance argues that far from an executive feat, this impressive turnaround was accomplished in no small part by the storytellers recruited during this period. Drawing from archival research, interviews, and textual analysis, Peter C. Kunze examines how the hiring of theatrically trained talent into managerial and production positions reorganized the lagging animation division and revitalized its output. By Aladdin, it was clear that animation—not live action—was the center of a veritable "renaissance" at Disney, and the animated musicals driving this revival laid the groundwork for the company's growth into Broadway theatrical production. The Disney Renaissance not only reinvigorated the Walt Disney Company but both reflects and influenced changes in Broadway and Hollywood more broadly.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Half Title
• Introduction
• 1. “Just Waiting for the Prince to Arrive”: Broadway and Hollywood before the Disney Renaissance, 1982
• 2. “Sort of Like the Sopranos Took Over the Studio”: Regime Change at Disney, 1983–1986
• 3. “Make the Audience Fall in Love with Ariel”: Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, The Little Mermaid, and Disney, 1987–1989
• 4. “A Celebration of Certain Sensibilities”: Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, Beauty and the Beast, and Disney, 1990–1991
• 5. “Like the Old-Fashioned Musicals Did”: Robert Jess Roth, Beauty and the Beast, and Disney, 1992–1994
• 6. “I Don’t Do Cute”: Julie Taymor, The Lion King, and Disney, 1994–1998
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index
• About the Author