Howard Ashman, the playwright and lyricist who won the Oscar for songs in Little Mermaid and Aladdin, died of AIDS at the age of 39 before he was able to see his final Disney films release.
Pepper Tree Post had a proud part to play in the making of this movie for Disney+, working closely with veteran filmmaker Don Hahn on all aspects of finishing.
“Our film was made almost entirely of vintage videotape and found footage. I’m sure it was the most daunting grading and cleanup project ever, but Pepper Tree gave us exquisite results on a very tight budget and schedule.”
The crew at Pepper Tree Post had their work cut out for them: making resources as disparate as old VHS footage work alongside the crisp animation from some of Disney’s biggest classics, was tricky. Faded photographs had their colour restored, scratched up film was cleaned up, and the pieces to the puzzle were slowly assembled into a cohesive story. Milton Adamou recalls:
“Many times with documentaries, it’s important to even out all the elements, so as not to detract from the story being told. This approach forms the basis on which we then build our online and colour, which adds that final polish.”
Along with the assembly and creative aspects, all deliverables to Disney+ were handled by PTP.
Howard is available to watch right now on Disney+.
Pepper Tree Post, Inc. 