Howard was a boyhood friend of mine. I met him when we both attended the Ireland Nursery School and Kindergarten back in 1954. Later on, he moved to Flannery Lane and then we lived in the same neighborhood and both attended Woodmoor Elementary School, where he participated in several musicals during our elementary school years. He was always quiet and kind of understated but I always felt glad to have him as a friend. I learned a lot from him.
So his desire and talent with musicals goes all the way back to his childhood, huh? WOW! I gotta admit, Howard really had a gift. My brother really likes Howard's first movie, "Little Shop of Horrors." I admire his work, too as they said, he was just like Walt Disney in many ways. He even accomplished something that Walt Disney wasn't able to. I've read that Walt wanted to make "Beauty and the Beast" back in the 40's after finishing "Snow White" and "Pinocchio," but he just kept running into dead ends and finally put the idea aside. But Howard knew how to break through that wall and get the movie going and make it HUGE success! It's so sad that he's gone because his work was incredible and I'm sure there was still more where it came from. You're lucky to have been friends with such a talented man.
Alexander Edward Pytko Fun fact, when Beauty and the Beast was resurrected during the making of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, it wasn't intended to be a musical. Jeffery Katzenberg later turned the film into a musical, replaced the original director with Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise and hired Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
Howard really did lead Disney into a golden age. Without him, we certainly wouldn't have the show-stopping Disney musical numbers we have today. He is a gift, a legend. We were lucky to have him while we did.
Hands down one the GREATEST lyricists of ALL TIME. Howard was truly a gift and he was just beginning to showcase his genius he before he went on to write for the angels. The enchantment and magic he created for so many generations is to be forever cherished. Thank you Mr. Ashman for thinking it not robbery to share your gift so graciously with the world. Amazing upload! Thanks soooo much!
Thank you Howard Ashman for giving a mermaid her voice and giving beast his soul. But also a big thanks to you and Alan Menken for creating these iconic memorable Disney songs that we all love from generation to generation. Your creative masterpiece songs give us courage and faith that we can relate to achieve our dreams to come true. Without your incredible classic Disney songs we would be lost without Ariel voice, Genie's freedom and Beast his soul. Hoping Disney will do a movie about Howard Ashman soon. He had changed so much for Disney movies.
They should make a movie about Howard Ashman and how he worked on making Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. It should be a movie like "Saving Mr. Banks." Or maybe like "Ray" and "Theory of Everything," 2 movies about 2 brilliant men who didn't let a handicap/disease keep them from doing what they wanted to do. Howard didn't let his HIV get in the way of his work. He kept working pretty much until he died. He was very dedicated and committed to what he did.
@@charismaspencer89 Many promiscuous sexually active gay men during the 70s contracted HIV during the Mid 80s, they didn't know it or find out until later. Ashman had been HIV positive for 5 years by '89 shortly after completing work for Little Mermaid. Ashman also wrote the Music for Little Shop of Horrors. My all time favorite musical.
@@Tornado1994 uhh, plenty of gay men contracted aids whether they were promiscuous or not. Not that there's anything wrong with being promiscuous, but you can't just go around making invasive assumptions about people's lives, especially not in a case like this.
Howard's death is what I believe caused the slight decline in quality after Aladdin. In Mermaid, Beast and Aladdin he put so much into the films. It was a shame he never actually lived to see Aladdin's final product. And it's also a shame his early draft got changed so much. But I think his vision was still there.
Hugh Mungus the three movies you mentioned, in my opinion, are the best movies of the Renaissance and part of that is because of Howard Ashman's attributions to Disney. Menken too R.I.P Howard Ashman
Same, I worship his innovation towards marrying musicals and animation against the homophobic musical hating heads at Disney who wanted to end all Disney animation and rebrand Disney as Touchstone Pictures and remodel Disneyland parks into Six Flags 2.0.
Howard was taken away WAY too soon. You can thank him for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, and Aladdin. Who knows what he could've done, had he lived as long as Walt. You think Disney is powerful nowadays, imagine if Howard was around.
I agree. He would be about 70 right now and I doubt he'd be retired given his strong commitment to his work. I'm sure he could've made other animated movies that would've been successful because after his 3 Disney movies, no others were as good except for The Lion King. It's because he was HIV positive and back then it was like getting a death sentence because they didn't have the treatments and medicines for it that they do today. Today people with the disease are able to live A LOT longer than Howard did. It's really unfair to have to lose such a brilliant man.
Can you imagined what the world lost out on when he died? How many more amazing movies and songs could we have. So sad. I was born in 1988 and I swear I just totally forget sometimes how fucking lucky I was to grow up during that time. I mean we got little mermaid, beauty and the beast, aladdin, and Lion King in 6 years. Fucking WHAT? Just .....wow. not to mention all the other movies that we got during that time. Terminator 2 Jurassic Park and then shortly after toy story. Hocus pocus. I don't know about everybody else but I would give anything in this world just to go back to 1993 for one week. Just be a kid be with family and take a look around at the world surrounding me and just drink it in. We got to see so much wonder and beauty in such a short time. I really would have liked to see what Howard could have done had he lived longer. I really wish Disney would go back and start doing more movies like they used to. I mean I'm fine with the Pixar type stuff it's totally cool toy story is awesome but I know they could pump out something wonderful again.
It's because of Howard Ashman that Disney's "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin" were so successful. If he was still alive, I bet much more of the those great movies could've been made. With the exception of "The Lion King", NONE of the later Disney movies have been as good as the 3 that Howard worked on. Alan Menken still works with other people but apparently no one can work with Alan as good as Howard could.
Howard Ashman without a doubt set the stage for the music performances we know today under Disney. His work withstood the test of time and new generations began to use it or were influenced by it altogether.
One of the most interesting people in Disney history he knew how to do music in the correct way. Obsessed with Broadway and Disney very similar to my type of personality. But he also had an edgy personality where if you pushed him too far and said his idea was bad he would unleash tell dragon that most people can easily control he couldn't hold back.
Rest in peace Mister Howard Ashman Legend ...You and Your work will live forever in our hearths ... You made our chilldhoods and we are forever grateful ... Pocivajte u miru , neka je laka zemlja , vecna slava i veliko hvala Legendo ... Rest in peace and Thank You for everything Mister Howard Ashman Legend ! ...
Another thing that Howard did for Disney, was he returned it to it's nice clean animation. Disney's ugly animation started with "101 Dalmations". It's ugly because the scenery and animation looks sketchy, you can even see the pencil sketch marks in the animation. Howard could've been the next Walt Disney because he was leading Disney into a new Renaissance and for a short time it appeared to be ruling the world. Brilliant people like Walt Disney and Howard Ashman are a very rare breed.
I saw the documentary in the month of February and I enjoyed a lot. Nice detail that you had uploaded on March 14th. Howard Ashman always be one of the best! I haven't the DVD and it is a shame but I appreciate that good persons like you who share valuable material. Thanks for sharing this with all of us!
Part of his lecture about the history of musical theater and how it correlates to Disney animation is on this disk, but not all of it. Anyone know if that's available anywhere at all? What I saw was facinating.
I first learned about this wonderful man after watching the clips that came in the second disc of the Beauty and The Beast DVDs. I was pretty young when I watched it, so a lot of that stuff seemed sad, but I didn't totally get it until I got older. As I grew, he became a big inspiration and his songs meant so much as I discovered my LGBT identity.
The most memorable part of Waking Sleeping Beauty is Howard Ashman and how seemingly no one has ever heard of him. Branding the documentary more around him and his contributions might have been a better idea for the doc.
Im 27, I Watched the Beauty and the Beast first time ever in 2015, the main Song by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson (I listened the Latin Spanish version) for some reason make me cry ,when the credits its over I read the Message dedicated to Howard, I quickly searched the internet about him, reading about how his days ended saddened me more than I was.
I pray he was reincarnated and his reincarnation is currently studying at Juliard and his soul will return to all one day with greater innovation making up for all that lost time. May there be a rebirth of Disney into a new gay saying Disney by another name.
Howard Ashman played a part in your childhood only if you were a 90's kid. Why did he have to die so young? Ashman and Menken went together like Bird and Diz. The greatest songwriting teams ever: 1. Dizzy Gillespie/Charlie Parker, 2. Bob Gaudio/Bob Crewe, 3. Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen, 4. John Lennon/Paul McCartney, 5. Howard Ashman/Alan Menken, 6. Issac Hayes/David Porter, 7. Burt Bacharach/Hal David, 8. Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller
@pytko3 Maybe Mulan, in my opinion. But goodness, it took me a while to realize, but...really nothing matches his work. He just had the great state of mind that made everything work...
Who can tell what Howard is saying at "I'm really a musical theater person~ " ? I can't hear after that phrase. Somebody help me. Jordan Briskin MrGabeanator could you? :)
hizrainlighthoney He says, "I'm really a musical theater person, and I do see a very, very strong connection between these two mediums." The two mediums he was referring to were animation and musicals.
You can blame for the fact that 101 Dalmatians was the first animated film to use the Xerox Process.The Xerox Process eliminated the need to ink cells. The problem it removed the flesh look. Which did came back with the advent of CAPS-the Computer Animation Production System
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
Howard was a boyhood friend of mine. I met him when we both attended the Ireland Nursery School and Kindergarten back in 1954. Later on, he moved to Flannery Lane and then we lived in the same neighborhood and both attended Woodmoor Elementary School, where he participated in several musicals during our elementary school years. He was always quiet and kind of understated but I always felt glad to have him as a friend. I learned a lot from him.
It's really sad that he died that young in 1991. But i wasn't even born yet. I was born in 1995 and had no idea he died until Internet research.
So his desire and talent with musicals goes all the way back to his childhood, huh? WOW! I gotta admit, Howard really had a gift. My brother really likes Howard's first movie, "Little Shop of Horrors." I admire his work, too as they said, he was just like Walt Disney in many ways. He even accomplished something that Walt Disney wasn't able to. I've read that Walt wanted to make "Beauty and the Beast" back in the 40's after finishing "Snow White" and "Pinocchio," but he just kept running into dead ends and finally put the idea aside. But Howard knew how to break through that wall and get the movie going and make it HUGE success! It's so sad that he's gone because his work was incredible and I'm sure there was still more where it came from. You're lucky to have been friends with such a talented man.
Alexander Edward Pytko Wow you did your research fine
Patrick Shields What can I say? When I like someone's work, I like to find out more about them.
Alexander Edward Pytko Fun fact, when Beauty and the Beast was resurrected during the making of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, it wasn't intended to be a musical. Jeffery Katzenberg later turned the film into a musical, replaced the original director with Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise and hired Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
Howard really did lead Disney into a golden age. Without him, we certainly wouldn't have the show-stopping Disney musical numbers we have today. He is a gift, a legend. We were lucky to have him while we did.
R.I.P Howard Ashman you wrote the lyrics to my childhood
Hands down one the GREATEST lyricists of ALL TIME. Howard was truly a gift and he was just beginning to showcase his genius he before he went on to write for the angels.
The enchantment and magic he created for so many generations is to be forever cherished.
Thank you Mr. Ashman for thinking it not robbery to share your gift so graciously with the world.
Amazing upload! Thanks soooo much!
Maybe Disney needs to gather the crew and show them Howard Ashman's lecture once again...
But how?
Thank you Howard Ashman for giving a mermaid her voice and giving beast his soul. But also a big thanks to you and Alan Menken for creating these iconic memorable Disney songs that we all love from generation to generation. Your creative masterpiece songs give us courage and faith that we can relate to achieve our dreams to come true. Without your incredible classic Disney songs we would be lost without Ariel voice, Genie's freedom and Beast his soul. Hoping Disney will do a movie about Howard Ashman soon. He had changed so much for Disney movies.
You just can't replace talent like this. The expression that everyone is replaceable doesn't work here. Howard Ashman had all the magic.
They should make a movie about Howard Ashman and how he worked on making Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. It should be a movie like "Saving Mr. Banks." Or maybe like "Ray" and "Theory of Everything," 2 movies about 2 brilliant men who didn't let a handicap/disease keep them from doing what they wanted to do. Howard didn't let his HIV get in the way of his work. He kept working pretty much until he died. He was very dedicated and committed to what he did.
***** Who do you think should play Howard?
+Alexander Edward Pytko A bigger question, who will play Alan Menken.
How is this not a thing already??? Disney, get on it! He was so revolutionary and integral to the Disney Renaissance!
Neil Patrick Harris as Howard would be great
Not a biopic but we’ve got a documentary coming: m.imdb.com/title/tt7682430/
WALT DISNEY envisioned Snow White and other animations as Broadway musicals. Howard wisely revived Walt’s original vision
.
It's also because Howard(and Alan) worked on Broadway and put the feeling of Broadway into their movies, especially Beauty and the Beast.
@@alexanderpytko5394 That makes SO much sense. Love it
It is SO sad the Howard Ashman had to die so young.
Tornado1994 he didn’t know he had HIV until ‘89. How could you possibly know he was a “promiscuous twink in the 70’s”? 😒
@@charismaspencer89 Many promiscuous sexually active gay men during the 70s contracted HIV during the Mid 80s, they didn't know it or find out until later. Ashman had been HIV positive for 5 years by '89 shortly after completing work for Little Mermaid.
Ashman also wrote the Music for Little Shop of Horrors. My all time favorite musical.
@@Tornado1994 uhh, plenty of gay men contracted aids whether they were promiscuous or not. Not that there's anything wrong with being promiscuous, but you can't just go around making invasive assumptions about people's lives, especially not in a case like this.
@@cascharles3838 Like Richard Hunt.
Howard's death is what I believe caused the slight decline in quality after Aladdin. In Mermaid, Beast and Aladdin he put so much into the films. It was a shame he never actually lived to see Aladdin's final product. And it's also a shame his early draft got changed so much. But I think his vision was still there.
Hugh Mungus the three movies you mentioned, in my opinion, are the best movies of the Renaissance and part of that is because of Howard Ashman's attributions to Disney. Menken too
R.I.P Howard Ashman
rest in peace howard ashman. definitely gifted and gave a lot of us happy childhood memories.
30 years without him. He truly was something else.
I wonder what he would have done had he lived another 20 years. Rest In Peace, Howard Ashman. We miss you.
Howard Ashman was a genius and every time I watch the documentary about him I cry!
Same, I worship his innovation towards marrying musicals and animation against the homophobic musical hating heads at Disney who wanted to end all Disney animation and rebrand Disney as Touchstone Pictures and remodel Disneyland parks into Six Flags 2.0.
Howard was taken away WAY too soon. You can thank him for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, and Aladdin. Who knows what he could've done, had he lived as long as Walt. You think Disney is powerful nowadays, imagine if Howard was around.
I agree. He would be about 70 right now and I doubt he'd be retired given his strong commitment to his work. I'm sure he could've made other animated movies that would've been successful because after his 3 Disney movies, no others were as good except for The Lion King.
It's because he was HIV positive and back then it was like getting a death sentence because they didn't have the treatments and medicines for it that they do today. Today people with the disease are able to live A LOT longer than Howard did.
It's really unfair to have to lose such a brilliant man.
@@alexanderpytko5394 Imagine the songs he would’ve made with The Lion King, Mulan, and Pocohantas...
Can you imagined what the world lost out on when he died? How many more amazing movies and songs could we have. So sad.
I was born in 1988 and I swear I just totally forget sometimes how fucking lucky I was to grow up during that time. I mean we got little mermaid, beauty and the beast, aladdin, and Lion King in 6 years. Fucking WHAT? Just .....wow. not to mention all the other movies that we got during that time. Terminator 2 Jurassic Park and then shortly after toy story. Hocus pocus. I don't know about everybody else but I would give anything in this world just to go back to 1993 for one week. Just be a kid be with family and take a look around at the world surrounding me and just drink it in. We got to see so much wonder and beauty in such a short time. I really would have liked to see what Howard could have done had he lived longer. I really wish Disney would go back and start doing more movies like they used to. I mean I'm fine with the Pixar type stuff it's totally cool toy story is awesome but I know they could pump out something wonderful again.
It's because of Howard Ashman that Disney's "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin" were so successful. If he was still alive, I bet much more of the those great movies could've been made. With the exception of "The Lion King", NONE of the later Disney movies have been as good as the 3 that Howard worked on. Alan Menken still works with other people but apparently no one can work with Alan as good as Howard could.
R.I.P. Howard Ashman. You truly were an inspring person and had a great imagination. Your lyrics will live on even after the '90s kids grow older. :]
Howard Ashman without a doubt set the stage for the music performances we know today under Disney. His work withstood the test of time and new generations began to use it or were influenced by it altogether.
It's crazy to think of Disney without musical theatre. Howard really was a second Walt
He truly was and fuck AIDS for taking him and fuck Disney for not saying gay.
Roy Disney wouldn't say that Howard was just like his(Roy's) Uncle Walt if he didn't really think so.
Thank you Howard Ashman for helping make Disney an amazing part of my childhood!
#RIP #FindACureForHIV
One of the most interesting people in Disney history he knew how to do music in the correct way. Obsessed with Broadway and Disney very similar to my type of personality. But he also had an edgy personality where if you pushed him too far and said his idea was bad he would unleash tell dragon that most people can easily control he couldn't hold back.
Oh dear god he's also me (if I had talent)
Howard we miss and love you RIP ( AIDS sucks)
We lost someone truly special 😔 just like Freddie Mercury
One of the greatest lyricists of all time. Such a shame he passed away so early. We love you Howard Ashman, and we miss you.
Rest in peace Mister Howard Ashman Legend ...You and Your work will live forever in our hearths ... You made our chilldhoods and we are forever grateful ... Pocivajte u miru , neka je laka zemlja , vecna slava i veliko hvala Legendo ... Rest in peace and Thank You for everything Mister Howard Ashman Legend ! ...
Disney needs to release the full footage of Howard’s speech on musical storytelling and Disney musical history!!
Another thing that Howard did for Disney, was he returned it to it's nice clean animation. Disney's ugly animation started with "101 Dalmations". It's ugly because the scenery and animation looks sketchy, you can even see the pencil sketch marks in the animation.
Howard could've been the next Walt Disney because he was leading Disney into a new Renaissance and for a short time it appeared to be ruling the world.
Brilliant people like Walt Disney and Howard Ashman are a very rare breed.
The ideals that every little girl sets her life and relationship goals to.
God, he was such a genius, such a shame he died so young.
Perhaps if Howard Ashman had lived we would have had animated movie that have won Best Picture or a 2D Animated Film grossing a $1 Billion Worldwide.
ACTORS will never vote for an animated film that does not include them visible on screen
.
I saw the documentary in the month of February and I enjoyed a lot. Nice detail that you had uploaded on March 14th. Howard Ashman always be one of the best!
I haven't the DVD and it is a shame but I appreciate that good persons like you who share valuable material.
Thanks for sharing this with all of us!
Part of his lecture about the history of musical theater and how it correlates to Disney animation is on this disk, but not all of it. Anyone know if that's available anywhere at all? What I saw was facinating.
Let me know, it's key education I must hear
I wish I could see that whole speech he gave to the animators in full.
I first learned about this wonderful man after watching the clips that came in the second disc of the Beauty and The Beast DVDs. I was pretty young when I watched it, so a lot of that stuff seemed sad, but I didn't totally get it until I got older. As I grew, he became a big inspiration and his songs meant so much as I discovered my LGBT identity.
He would have been 63 years old this year.
I wonder if Disney should do a biopic about him, like they did with "Saving Mr. Banks.
***** I don't know. Any ideas?
Etana Edelman David Sedaris looks similar! Not an actor, though. I'd see that movie regardless!
The most memorable part of Waking Sleeping Beauty is Howard Ashman and how seemingly no one has ever heard of him. Branding the documentary more around him and his contributions might have been a better idea for the doc.
I couldn't agree more! His life would make an excellent biographical film, someone must write it please!
Dohn Hahn actually is doing a documentary about Howard Ashman
RIP Howard Ashman (May 17, 1950 - March 14, 1991), aged 40
You will be remembered as a legend.
Im 27, I Watched the Beauty and the Beast first time ever in 2015, the main Song by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson (I listened the Latin Spanish version) for some reason make me cry ,when the credits its over I read the Message dedicated to Howard, I quickly searched the internet about him, reading about how his days ended saddened me more than I was.
Would love to see a video about him
I wish we could resurrect him and bring back beautiful music to Disney instead of relying on pop songs
I pray he was reincarnated and his reincarnation is currently studying at Juliard and his soul will return to all one day with greater innovation making up for all that lost time. May there be a rebirth of Disney into a new gay saying Disney by another name.
Howard Ashman was Disney's Gay prince.
The greatest composer in Disney history
Such a terrific guy. I mourn his demise.
Howard Ashman played a part in your childhood only if you were a 90's kid. Why did he have to die so young? Ashman and Menken went together like Bird and Diz. The greatest songwriting teams ever: 1. Dizzy Gillespie/Charlie Parker, 2. Bob Gaudio/Bob Crewe, 3. Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen, 4. John Lennon/Paul McCartney, 5. Howard Ashman/Alan Menken, 6. Issac Hayes/David Porter, 7. Burt Bacharach/Hal David, 8. Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller
@pytko3 Maybe Mulan, in my opinion. But goodness, it took me a while to realize, but...really nothing matches his work. He just had the great state of mind that made everything work...
Without him who know how good movies would be his song made it all possible starting with part of your world
Who can tell what Howard is saying at "I'm really a musical theater person~ " ? I can't hear after that phrase. Somebody help me. Jordan Briskin MrGabeanator could you? :)
hizrainlighthoney He says, "I'm really a musical theater person, and I do see a very, very strong connection between these two mediums." The two mediums he was referring to were animation and musicals.
Ohh!!! Thanks million. Wow :)
You can blame for the fact that 101 Dalmatians was the first animated film to use the Xerox Process.The Xerox Process eliminated the need to ink cells. The problem it removed the flesh look. Which did came back with the advent of CAPS-the Computer Animation Production System
Yeah that was the xeroxing mainly and ken Anderson's technique, which Walt didn't enjoy at all
@pytko3 Well I loved Phil Collins' score and music from Tarzan.
If Howard Ashman is still alive today, what would you think he would've made?
I think he would've made more musical movies for Disney until 2014 to focus more on drama.
@@theyakkomanguy7522 Sweet. Had he been more careful, he would've been still alive today.
@@reneastle8447 Yeah but to be fair to Howard he didn't know he had AIDS until 1989.
@@theyakkomanguy7522 Had he already knew about AIDS and remained careful with himself, he would've remained healthy and clean.
@@reneastle8447 Yeah you are true about that.
Howard ashman disney could be different if you where here I tribute this to you
How much different if he didn’t pass prematurely?
can you tell us if in the dvd there's the whole lecture of howard ashman or just this part?
G .eekNaty the entire lecture is not included on the DVD.
Disney sure has lost its way since then.
@JordanClunn Yeah, I will admit, Mulan was good, too.
Howie...
yes and????
So he WAS gay...
Yep he died from AIDS