This is the inside story of the Walt Disney animation studio’s metamorphosis during the years 1984-1994. A moribund studio producing such box-office flops as The Black Cauldron and The Fox and the Hound transforms itself into the powerhouse incubator of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, the most successful commercial products in movie history. Rich with boardroom backbiting and puckish creativity, this tale is illustrated with the wicked caricatures of the bosses that the talented animators drew to let off steam after executive power wrangles. The travails of some unforgettable characters are scored with the magical music permanently lodged in our brains. Waking Sleeping Beauty has princesses, princes, and villains, as well as love, laughter, and tears, just as all the best fairy tales—and Disney movies—should.  LB