Sleeping Beauty at the El Capitan
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Sleeping Beauty at the El Capitan

The crowd of tourists outside the newly renovated Mann’s Chinese Theatre at Hollywood and Highland last night must have wondered what was up with the anxious queue of folks lining the opposite side of Hollywood Boulevard in front of the El Capitan. By most current tinsel-town standards the answer - a screening of Walt Disney’s "Sleeping Beauty - probably wouldn’t have caused the same buzz as this week’s latest DVD release, or managed to pull out-of-town visitors away from their mission of being photographed with a Crocodile Dundee look-alike. After all, it will be out on DVD, soon. Won’t it? Yes, soon enough. But if, like the crowd that sold out the El Cap last night, you truly believe in film magic; and if the modestly seismic response inside the theatre is to be felt this morning over on Alameda and Buena Vista, then there’s still hope for die-hard fans of movies.

Remember movies? That was before home theatre. Big screen in the truest sense - i.e. not measured in feet but in yards. Dim lights, hushed voices (most of whom still remember it’s a shared experience in a public space - not their living room sofa) and the sorcery of light dancing across a screen that fills your field of vision from nearly every seat in the house? Funny thing about that experience is that that is how film makers intend their work to be experienced - even now. So when a studio invests even the least bit of effort into honoring that intention by dressing up and screening something from their vaults, you can bet it’s a rare treat not to be missed. And if it’s an animated Disney classic, well… I repeat, it’s not to be missed.

If you happen to live in Southern California, or have the stamina to drive or the funds to splurge on a flight, do yourself and your friends and family a huge favor and get over to the El Capitan theatre between now and September 8.

It’s difficult to underestimate the value of preserving the enormous film library of the Walt Disney Studio. In a digital age when mastering and transferring the less stable celluloid to safer formats are becoming the standard, it’s important to remember that restoration or preservation of film is more than mechanics; it’s honoring the vision of the directors, the producer and the artists who defined the look of a film. Bringing any technology to bear on a film that’s nearly a half century old requires a devotion to the vision of women and men who are, sadly, no longer alive. It’s a tricky thing to interpret the intentions of a generation of artists no longer around to speak for themselves, and luckily Disney has the talents of Scott MacQueen.

Scott MacQueen

MacQueen had an all too brief time before the audience last night, and was able to only touch on some of the more important historical facts about "Sleeping Beauty." His fleeting presence was enough, however, to remind audiences of how truly, truly different this film is from all others before and after it. If only time had permitted him to share more.

But Scott MacQueen followed a tough act - a gem of a panel of artists and critics who either had an influence or were strongly influenced by "Sleeping Beauty." The panel consisted of Mary Costa, the vocal performer who gave life to Briar Rose, Alex Rannie, a very articulate and accomplished music historian and composer, master animator Andreas Deja, film historian and author Charles Solomon, and the national treasure that we call Ollie Johnston.