A Quote by Roger Ross Williams

I wasn't that much of a Disney buff growing up, but I love the mystical and magical nature of Peter Pan, and I have connected with that character through Owen [Suskind] in making this film ["Life, Animated"].
I realized that Owen [Suskind] is completely brilliant, because he embraced and memorized all these classic Disney films - these fables that chronicle the hero's journey, and have existed for thousands of years. Owen, in a sense, grew up on a diet of myth and fable, and has become an expert on their themes, which contain a moral guide that connects people.
Toward the end of the film ['Life, Animated'] we see 'The Sidekicks Story,' and that is a story that Owen drew himself. We took that style, which is decidedly different from Disney animation, and used it as a basis. It's a 'two-dimensional' hand drawn animated form, so I went to this company in Paris called 'Mac Guff,' and they assembled an amazing group of young animators, and brought it to life.
I loved Disney. 'Fantasia' was my first, favorite Disney movie. And it just kept going. I loved 'Bambi.' I loved 'Cinderella,' 'Lady and the Tramp' and 'Snow White' and even 'Mary Poppins' which wasn't even fully animated - it was just a little bit animated. They were such a part of my growing up years; I was just very connected to them.
When I was about six or seven, I did this character reenactment performance where I read a monologue from 'Peter Pan.' I got into a complete Peter Pan outfit and did a little paragraph from the script - and I ended up winning an award for it.
I had full access to the material, and had a great relationship with Sean Bailey, the president of Disney productions. He really guided me through the licensing process of the footage. I made presentations to the various departments at the studio, and they were moved by Owen's [Suskind] story.
I heard my name associated with the Peter Pan syndrome more than once. But really, what's so wrong with Peter Pan? Peter Pan flies. He is a metaphor for dreams and faith.
I got stuck on the Peter Pan ride when I was nine years old with my dad at Disney World. We got stuck on that part of the ride when you're suspended in the pirate ship above the miniature London, and I was fascinated by the why of it all. 'Why is Peter Peter Pan, why is he in Neverland, how did he learn how to fly, etc.?'
I think everyone is introduced to the Peter Pan story when they're very young. Everyone has read the book and watched the Disney film and all that.
I don't know a kid who grew up in the '90s who wasn't obsessed with Disney, and I guess I never grew out of that phase, honestly. It's not just Disney: it's anything that has to do with fairytales for me. I think I just have Peter Pan Syndrome or something.
I've known Owen's father Ron [Suskind] for years, and this was based on his best-selling book ["Life, Animated"]. We worked together as journalists at ABC-TV News, and I knew about the book since its inception. Before he finished it, he approached me and said he thought it would make a great documentary, and I agree with him, and moved forward from there.
I both didn't know Owen [Suskind] beforehand and didn't have any connection to the autistic community. But Owen wasn't really a problem, because he participated in the writing of the book and wanted people to see him as he truly is. As far as the cameras, Owen lives in the moment and the cameras really didn't distract him.
I had seen 'Hook' growing up - it was one of my favorite films - and I had seen the version of 'Peter Pan' that Jason Issacs was in, and I had seen the older versions, obviously the Disney version.
I'm a huge fan of the animated film 'The Land Before Time' and that was one of my favourite animated films when I was growing up.
Obviously making Peter Parker suddenly bisexual or gay wouldn't really make logical or dramatic sense. It was a hypothetical kind of question about the nature of these comic book characters and the nature of this particular character, and whether sexuality, race, any of those things makes any difference to the character of Peter Parker.
The first thing I did as a child was draw. I wanted to make animated movies. I think Disney's 'Cinderella' was the first movie I ever saw. 'Peter Pan' was the first movie I ever saw in the movie theater. I grew up with 'Dumbo' and 'Pinocchio' and 'Sword in the Stone.' Those were the movies I wanted to make.
[John Musker] got me reading the mythology and we very early on we worked up a basic storyline centered around the character of Maui. He just seemed like a great character to kind of build a movie around. He's this mythic demi-god, bigger than life character. He pulled up islands with his magical fishhook. He slowed down the sun. He's Pan Pacific.
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