Where this was said
Animation Renaissance & CAPS Tech (1989)
At 26:41 · chapter starts 24:30
The animation turnaround that defined the 'Disney Renaissance' is the product of several converging forces: Roy E. Disney's insistence that animation be protected, Peter Schneider's fearless examination of every broken process, and most crucially, Howard Ashman's unique insight that animated Disney films could be Broadway musicals. [1] — Ben Gilbert "Howard Ashman had one insight nobody else had: animated Disney films should be Broadway musicals. The third song of every great musical is …" 28:48 Ashman observed that in every great musical, the third song has the leading character sitting alone explaining their desire to the audience — 'Part of Your World' is Ariel doing exactly that. Combined with Alan Menken's compositions, this formula produced The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast ($330M on a $25M budget), Aladdin ($500M on $28M), and The Lion King ($750M on $45M) [2] — David Rosenthal "Aladdin: 30M VHS tapes = $900M: Aladdin sold 30 million VHS tapes in 1993, generating approximately $900 million in gross merchandise sales…" 41:57 — the latter becoming the most successful traditionally hand-drawn animated film in history. CAPS (Computer Animated Production System), a $10M software investment developed with Pixar, eliminated the physical inking and painting process and replaced the physical multiplane camera with unlimited virtual planes — enabling richer visuals at lower cost. The Lion King was brought back to the Burbank lot in triumph, and Michael Eisner announced a new animation building on the very land originally intended for Disneyland.
Howard Ashman had one insight nobody else had: animated Disney films should be Broadway musicals. The third song of every great musical is the character sitting alone explaining what they want. That's 'Part of Your World.' That structure — combined with Alan Menken's compositions — generated Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, and turned Disney Animation into the most profitable creative engine in entertainment history.
