Welcome to Panorama of the Mountains! My name is Liam and I enjoy watching documentary movies. This month I will be reviewing 26 documentaries from A-to-Z!
Documentaries starting with the letter Documentaries starting with the letter H that I have previously reviewed include:
- Harlan County, U.S.A.
- Harvard Beats Yale 29 to 29
- Hearts of Darkness
- Heima
- Helvetica
- Hieronymous Bosch: Touched By the Devil
- High School
- Hillsborough
- The Historic Pubs of Dublin
- The Hollywood Librarian
- The Hunting of the President
Title: Howard
Release Date: December 28, 2018
Director: Don Hahn
Production Company: Stone Circle Pictures
Summary/Review: Lyricist, playwright, and stage director Howard Ashman is remembered for his key role in the Disney Renaissance, applying the practices of musical theater in using songs for storytelling in animated films. This documentary is featured on Disney+ and as a result may focus a bit too much on Ashman’s Disney career. But it does spend some time with his background and early career, particularly his success in adapting Little Shop of Horrors into a hit off-off-Broadway musical in a theater he had built himself. The better part of the film focuses on Ashman’s game-changing work on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. It also tells the story of Ashman’s tragic death, tragic not just because he died young of a horrible disease, but also because he felt it necessary to hide that he had AIDS from most of the world. This is a straight-forward documentary featuring voiceover commentary from family, partners, friends, musical colleagues, film stars, and Disney honchos. It’s a good introduction to the short but brilliant career of a man who’s left a large musical legacy behind.
Rating: ***
I don’t get Disney plus so I will be missing this documentary. It’s too bad. I well remember (as I was an adult when the AIDS epidemic started) when those with the illness had to hide it even as they were dying. Just one example was the prolific science and science fiction author Isaac Asimov. I believe his daughter revealed his cause of death several years after his death. It was a terrible time for many in our world. Alana ramblinwitham
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I’ll have to catch this on on Disney Plus. I just watched tick, tick… BOOM! with Andrew Garfield about Rent creator Jonathan Larson. That wasn’t a documentary so I’m sure a different vibe but I enjoyed it. It’s so interesting to learn about the story behind amazing art. Weekends In Maine
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