Howard is a brilliant documentary on Howard Ashman who saved Disney with the Disney Renaissance! The film has begun streaming on Disney+ on August 7th. It was directed by Don Hahn, the producer of Beauty and the Beast (1991), and director of Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009). Howard is important in showing Ashman as a person, a creative, and his legacy in returning Disney animation back to its importance. It begins with musicians warming up for a recording session in June 8, 1990. Ashman discusses the lyrics with Paige O’Hara, the voice of Belle, she has a great Broadway career including playing Fantine in Les Miserables. Hahn introduces what is going on showing Ashman with his musical partner, Alan Menken. Then, he notes that nine months later, Ashman died. This is the story that leads up to that point.
Howard Ashman’s early life is explained by his sister, Sarah Gillespie, and mother, Shirley. At college, Ashman meets Stuart White, whom he has a relationship. Then, we get a friend of Ashman, Nancy Parent, who explains that Ashman became an actor. He was working on the Snow Queen production. It’s a wonder what he might think of Frozen (2013) and its success. Ashman and Stuart move to New York, the place to be for Broadway, but it was seedy. Ashman turned from writing for theater and then went to editing the Mickey Mouse Club Scrapbook (1975). This allowed him a trip to Disneyland. A Disney connection, but Ashman’s heart wasn’t into editing. So Stuart worked with Ashman to found the WPA Theatre, Workshop of the Players Art Foundation, building the theater. Stuart would direct plays with Ashman as co-artistic director. Stuart becomes wild with the New York scene and they separate.
Then, we get the story of Alan Menken, and their work on God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, based on the 1965 Kurt Vonnegut novel. Menken explains how they worked together. They note the appearance of Vonnegut at a performance, who smiled, and just left the theater. The production moved from Off-off Broadway, but it failed at a larger stage. Still, Ashman had another idea, Little Shop of Horrors, based on the 1960 Roger Corman movie. This was in 1982, Off-Broadway at the WPA, four years before Phantom of the Opera appeared on the West End. Menken was impressed that Ashman came in with the idea that it should be “the dark side of Grease.” Ashman was the writer, lyricist, and director of Little Shop of Horrors. It made it to Broadway in 2003 which seems to be due to Ashman’s experience with the earlier musical. The musical was of course adapted into a film in 1986 directed by Frank Oz. Not mentioned in the documentary, Ashman wrote the screenplay and two songs including “Mean Green Mother From Outer Space”, nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Original Song.
He was inspired by the comedy drama film, Smile (1975), about a California beauty pageant that featured Barbara Feldon from Get Smart. The contestants also included Annette O’Toole who played contestant Doria Hudson. This was the part performed by Jodie Benson including her song, “Disneyland.” Ashman of course brought Benson in to be Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989). He collaborated with Marvin Hamlisch, an EGOT winner, but the partnership was troubled. The musical did receive a Tony Award nomination for Best Book of a Musical, but had failed as a stage production. This seems to be the direction of Broadway with musicals in 2018 with Mean Girls and Pretty Woman, and then 2019 with Beetlejuice and Tootsie. This is when Jeffrey Katzenberg, chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, was trying to bring Ashman over to Disney. Ashman, not mentioned in the documentary, co-wrote the song, “Once Upon a Time in New York City” that was in the Disney animated film, Oliver & Company (1988).
Ashman brings in Menken and of course this brings us to The Little Mermaid. The co-directors, Ron Clements and John Musker, note that Ashman had the idea to make the crab in the story treatment Jamaican. Hahn notes that Ashman has a talk with the Disney animators that teaches them how songs are used in animated films. Ashman explains that Ariel’s song is the “central idea of the film”, something that Katzenberg initially wanted to cut. Ashman was about to give at 92nd Street Y speech when he gets news from the doctor. This drives him to work creatively and build a legacy. His illness was kept a secret. It is apparent in working with Benson and the other actors that Ashman was working as a director. Ashman wanted to work on Aladdin which was a part of his childhood, but it was nixed by Katzenberg. He saw his legacy at the Little Mermaid parade at Magic Kingdom. The production of Beauty and the Beast (1991) was moved to New York to the frustration of the Disney personnel, but to enable Ashman to work on the movie. There are some moments with Ashman singing in recordings. Howard is a powerful documentary that features the story of a creative force.
Four Thingamabobs out of Five!
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