For a company of film makers the natural way for the studio to process grief or extra special events and colleagues, is through the medium of film. This is a biopic I am excited to review.
I've had some extra time to watch film and found a good amount of documentaries about Disney. The latest one is Howard (2020)
Howard died during the AIDS pandemic. There's a lot we can learn from him and the gay community who fought through the pandemic.
It's also a highly entertaining movie. I grew up with all his musical numbers and have been aching to get out in the world but have been stuck inside like everyone, with my piano.
So here's the subtext from the stories he is remembered by (and endlessly remixed by Bootie San Fransisco nightclub DJ's)
Part of your world is making you fall in love with the character. It's about a girl, dreaming about what she wants, Howard drew inspiration from a few off Broadway musicals of the last century. And also every classic Walt Disney animation like Wish Upon A Star.
Kiss the girl is Sebastian trying to persuade them to kiss because if they don't it won't end well. Under the Sea is "Sebastian" trying to get her to stay under the sea and not get in trouble. (It won an Oscar). He plays around with many different basic musical instruments improvised out of objects in the scene.
The artist might have drawn inspiration from the Mob Song in Beauty and the Beast, from the crowds of anti gay protestors. And when he was dying, the parallels between the beast's rose losing its last petals, or Jafar robbing Aladin of his powers. (Deleted "song": "My finest hour")
I need to go back and look at those last 2 songs. Hopefully they made it into the cut!
Go watch Howard on Disney+
