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_
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[PROJECTOR CLICKING]
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JENNA WORTHAM: The
1990s were a golden era
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for The Walt Disney Company.
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The Little Mermaid
revived the company
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from the edge of bankruptcy.
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Beauty and the Beast earned
a Best Picture nomination.
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And The Lion King broke
box office records worldwide.
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[HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING]
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But the reality just miles
away was no fairy tale.
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In 1992, a state jury acquitted
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four LAPD officers on almost all charges
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in the beating of Rodney G. King.
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The response was anger.
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Fire, chaos,
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massive citywide destruction.
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It was a pivotal moment for
Black culture in the '90s.
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But it's a little-known fact
that another cultural milestone
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emerged from that fateful day.
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[PROJECTOR CLICKING]
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It's a story so unbelievable,
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it could only
happen in Hollywood.
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How did this young,
Black, unassuming animator
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from East Atlanta wind up
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as the CEO of Disney
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at the company's most
powerful moment in time?
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- WOMAN: Okay, rolling.
- MAN: Speed.
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EVELYN: Believe it or not,
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we named him after Tom Jones.
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[GRUNTS]
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Yeah!
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EVELYN: His father
used to play Tom Jones.
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That's how he first courted me.
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He would do a little
dance and we would laugh.
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♪ I got to tell you a story ♪
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♪ Every man ought
to know... ♪
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Usually, the boys
in Ronald's family
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was named after their fathers,
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but when we had our
boy, we knew that
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he was gonna be different,
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so we had to do
something different.
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We had to name him Thomas.
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T loved cartoons something crazy.
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I mean, he was always
drawing on his desk, uh,
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in, uh, in the margins of his
notebook, in the textbooks,
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all on the walls, man.
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He just drove our teachers crazy.
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He was obsessed with this
one cat named, um, Blasto Boy?
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No, no, no, Astro Boy.
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Yeah, yeah, I used
to watch it with him,
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and I remember thinking...
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this is kind of boring. [LAUGHS]
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But Thomas loved it, man.
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He drew... he drew that dude everywhere.
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One time, he asked me, he said,
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"What if Astro Boy came
here and saved us?"
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I said, "Saved us from what?"
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And he just kind of shrugged
and said, "Everything."
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I mean, what kind
of eight-year-old
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is thinking like that, you know?
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I mean, I think he was scared.
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He wasn't no punk, I'm
just saying, I don't
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think he ever understood
why the world was so unfair.
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And where we were growing up...
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it was, like,
unfair unfair, you know?
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I mean, you could be
sitting at home watching
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a program with white
folks with nice houses.
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We couldn't even ride
ours bikes outside,
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cause niggas will
take it from you.
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Straight to your face,
they do not care. Crime?
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What, so? They will
ride your bike in front
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of your house the next day.
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Yeah, unfair. [CHUCKLES]
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EVELYN: The boys picked on him.
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He would come home sometimes with pages
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torn out of his little sketchbook.
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PHILIP: Yeah, we
would call him white.
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We was just messing with him.
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Um, I think he was
just trying to fit in,
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but he wasn't really like us, you know?
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And the kids would call him on it.
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I mean, he just wanted to draw,
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and he didn't understand why
that wasn't "cool," you know?
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I mean, niggas will make
fun of you for anything,
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and I don't think Thomas
was built to take it.
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EVELYN: I told him, "Son,
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one day, ain't none of
this gonna even matter."
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JENNA: In 1987, Thomas
left East Atlanta to attend
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Savannah College of Art
and Design, or SCAD.
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It was here that Thomas's
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creative dreams
began to take shape.
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MARK DILLARD: We didn't have a lot of
Black students in the program then.
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Thomas showed a lot of promise.
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In his application, he
wrote about how he wanted
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to work at Disney one day.
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We usually laugh at that sort of thing.
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Everybody says that, you know?
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But with his application,
he sent a little flip-book.
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Can you see this?
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I mean, he had the sensibility
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and the wit of a true Disney animator.
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Art Babbitt was a big name at
Disney Animation for a time.
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As an animator in
the '30s and '40s,
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he racked up a lot of credits,
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and enemies,
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but he was most well-known for
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developing the character of Goofy.
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He came to SCAD, and he spoke.
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_
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_
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_
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_
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Thomas really gravitated to him.
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He became obsessed,
and he really glommed
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on to Babbitt's article
"Analysis of the Goof."
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Art describes Goofy.
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He says, "Think of
the Goof as a composite
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"of an everlasting optimist,
a gullible Good Samaritan,
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"a half-wit, a shiftless,
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"good-natured colored boy,
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"and a hick.
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"He is loose-jointed
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"and gangly, but not rubbery.
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"He can move fast if he
has to, but would rather
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"avoid overexertion,
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"so he takes what seems the easiest way.
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"He is a philosopher of
the barber shop variety.
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"No matter what happens,
he accepts it finally
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as being for the best
or at least amusing."
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Thomas used this text
as the center of a piece
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of a series he called "Goofy, Please."
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After class one day, he showed
me some of these pieces,
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and I looked at it,
and I looked at him,
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and I thought,
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"This kid is from another universe,
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like, a whole another planet."
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Thomas would be like, "Hey, come on,
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you know Goofy's a [BLEEP]."
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[LAUGHS]: And we would just laugh, man.
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We just thought that was so funny.
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It was clear that
Thomas was very talented.
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For his thesis,
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he made this incredible short film.
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♪ Well, I'd like
to visit the moon ♪
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♪ On a rocket ship
high in the air... ♪
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He had little screenings;
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teachers would
come, and students.
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The film felt so deep.
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I-I think it was
somehow connected to him
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losing his father in freshman year.
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♪ I would miss all
the places and... ♪
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PHILIP: Uncle Ronnie
dying changed him, man.
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Thomas was in his
freshman year at SCAD,
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and I didn't think he was
going to make it, but, uh,
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once we buried my Uncle Ronnie, man,
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he, uh... it's like his brain exploded.
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MARK: Depending on who saw
it and when they saw it,
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it was either the funniest thing,
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or the saddest thing
you'd ever seen.
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That short was what got him into Disney.
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No question.
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JENNA: Washington comes to Disney
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right out of college, fresh from SCAD.
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You know, he's there, the
company's doing pretty well,
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they've just had their hit
with The Little Mermaid.
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LEONARD TRUSSEL: One of the things
that-that I'm glad that I was
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able to be part of was that, um,
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Disney instituted
this diversity program.
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We knew that we needed
to bring in younger voices
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from a diversified point of view,
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and that would actually, uh,
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strengthen our company.
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And Thomas was one
of the first of those.
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JENNA: Thomas started out at
Disney as an assistant animator
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on DuckTales the Movie:
Treasure of the Lost Lamp.
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It wasn't necessarily
creative work,
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but things are fine, you know.
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It's not really moving
as fast as he wants things
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to be moving, but he's doing all right.
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And then the uprisings happened.
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[HELICOPTER BLADES WHIRRING]
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[SIRENS WAILING]
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EVELYN: When the
shooting happened,
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and then the riots,
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Thomas was working in L.A.
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He called me and he said, "Mama,
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I just want to go down there."
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And I told him,
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"Son, you need to riot
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with that pen and paper."
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He was shook.
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I could see it in him, he was shook.
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He actually called me
one time and was like,
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"If I ever get the chance
to do a movie around here,
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I'm not holding back."
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- [SIRENS WAILING]
- [PROTESTORS SHOUTING]
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[HELICOPTER PASSING]
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JENNA: While South
Central Los Angeles
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was engulfed in flames,
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15 miles north in Burbank,
another fire was about to erupt.
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What happened next is
one of the most unlikely
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and unprecedented events in the
history of corporate America.
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After the success of
Beauty and the Beast,
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Michael Eisner put Dennis
Stephenson in charge
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while he went on a sabbatical.
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00:11:23,629 --> 00:11:25,442
But two weeks into the job,
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Stephenson had a health emergency
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and passed shortly thereafter...
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00:11:32,187 --> 00:11:34,363
leaving the job open once more.
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We all voted for this guy
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named Tom Washington.
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But we didn't realize
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that Tom's first name
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was actually
Thompson, not Thomas.
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Thomas Washington
was an animator.
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00:11:51,119 --> 00:11:53,628
People were pretty upset
when they found out
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00:11:53,653 --> 00:11:55,306
they voted for the wrong man.
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It felt like an honest mistake that we
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00:11:59,995 --> 00:12:02,736
could sweep under the rug, but
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00:12:02,761 --> 00:12:03,931
after Beauty and the Beast,
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00:12:03,956 --> 00:12:06,227
there were a lot of eyes on us.
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00:12:06,271 --> 00:12:07,861
We tried to handle it smoothly,
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00:12:07,886 --> 00:12:10,976
but Thomas held our feet to the fire.
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00:12:12,839 --> 00:12:16,562
JENNA: So, because of this,
you know, "behind closed door,
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00:12:16,587 --> 00:12:19,111
boys' club" handshake,
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00:12:19,136 --> 00:12:20,806
Disney is now in radical
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00:12:20,807 --> 00:12:24,167
new territory but entirely by default.
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So you have this young animator,
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this young, Black animator
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who comes into this company,
all of a sudden has a ton
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00:12:31,749 --> 00:12:35,670
of power at a hugely
culturally significant moment,
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and he wants to do something with it.
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00:12:37,635 --> 00:12:39,287
He wants to prove himself.
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PHILIP: This cat was on my
line with some foolishness,
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talking about he's
the CEO of Disney.
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I was, I was crying laughing.
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00:12:46,528 --> 00:12:48,616
[LAUGHS]
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And then, you know, he
took me to his office
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00:12:52,926 --> 00:12:55,058
and people was, like, greeting him.
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00:12:55,059 --> 00:12:58,453
First day, he took us all into a room
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00:12:58,497 --> 00:13:00,411
that we call the stock room,
which is where everybody
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00:13:00,412 --> 00:13:02,190
hangs out before we get to work.
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00:13:02,215 --> 00:13:05,440
And he shows us a frame of animation
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00:13:05,465 --> 00:13:10,174
of Goofy in Mickey's trailer, and, uh,
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00:13:10,199 --> 00:13:13,122
Mickey has Pluto on a leash.
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00:13:13,450 --> 00:13:15,209
And it gets real quiet,
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00:13:15,527 --> 00:13:17,730
and, uh, Washington goes,
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00:13:17,894 --> 00:13:20,986
"Why is Goofy letting
Mickey do that?"
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00:13:21,011 --> 00:13:22,390
He's a very fine dog, sir.
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00:13:22,434 --> 00:13:24,829
And, you know, we're all
confused, we're just looking
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00:13:24,854 --> 00:13:28,048
at each other, and Charlie
goes, "What do you mean, sir?"
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00:13:28,092 --> 00:13:32,312
And Washington goes, "Goofy's a dog,
253
00:13:32,487 --> 00:13:36,485
"and Pluto's a dog, so
why is he letting Mickey
254
00:13:36,571 --> 00:13:38,660
do that to one of his own?"
255
00:13:39,973 --> 00:13:43,782
Yeah, T had them running
scared from day one.
256
00:13:44,086 --> 00:13:48,016
I was, uh, fresh-faced and wild-eyed.
257
00:13:48,125 --> 00:13:52,551
I was an inbetweener
for about three years,
258
00:13:53,047 --> 00:13:54,614
didn't see much movement.
259
00:13:56,468 --> 00:13:59,960
An inbetweener was usually for
animators just starting out.
260
00:14:00,187 --> 00:14:03,997
So, say a character slaps
somebody across the face.
261
00:14:04,671 --> 00:14:07,859
They would get a senior
artist to do the fun part,
262
00:14:08,179 --> 00:14:13,006
drawing the first and the last
frame that define the movement.
263
00:14:13,343 --> 00:14:17,402
The inbetweener draws all the
many little frames in between.
264
00:14:19,314 --> 00:14:21,228
I was stuck as an inbetweener
265
00:14:21,253 --> 00:14:23,204
for years and years,
266
00:14:23,229 --> 00:14:25,647
but as soon as Thomas came in, he said,
267
00:14:25,672 --> 00:14:28,239
"I want you to be
lead director on this."
268
00:14:29,417 --> 00:14:32,460
And I said, "On
what?" And he said,
269
00:14:32,956 --> 00:14:35,202
"The Blackest movie of all time."
270
00:14:37,005 --> 00:14:39,007
- ♪ Check, check, uh ♪
- ♪ Get it, get, get... ♪
271
00:14:39,032 --> 00:14:43,079
He said he wanted to make a
movie about Black fatherhood.
272
00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:45,009
♪ Get, get, get it... ♪
273
00:14:45,034 --> 00:14:47,915
Man, he wanted to tackle
everything in this movie.
274
00:14:48,063 --> 00:14:51,739
Segregation, single parenting,
275
00:14:51,740 --> 00:14:54,332
low-income career trajectories,
276
00:14:54,357 --> 00:14:58,402
fear of gang violence,
incarceration,
277
00:14:58,427 --> 00:15:02,115
the amount of cheese in
African-American diets.
278
00:15:02,396 --> 00:15:06,407
He wanted to make a movie that
covered all this and more...
279
00:15:06,494 --> 00:15:09,540
and he said he knew the
perfect character to do it.
280
00:15:09,541 --> 00:15:11,499
♪ Swingin' while
I'm singin' ♪
281
00:15:11,543 --> 00:15:12,978
♪ Hey! ♪
282
00:15:12,979 --> 00:15:17,331
Thomas, man, he knew that people thought
283
00:15:17,418 --> 00:15:20,395
Goofy was dumb, but
he wanted to show
284
00:15:20,420 --> 00:15:23,207
the systemic factors that
Goofy was dealing with.
285
00:15:23,482 --> 00:15:26,514
A shitty job, angry kid,
286
00:15:26,667 --> 00:15:30,120
and embarrassed by
his lack of influence.
287
00:15:30,649 --> 00:15:35,867
Man, it was wild how deep
he leaned in to all this,
288
00:15:36,049 --> 00:15:38,024
'cause, uh, as far as I knew,
289
00:15:38,049 --> 00:15:41,572
Thomas had a really solid homelife.
290
00:15:41,799 --> 00:15:44,706
It's a vacation with
me and my best buddy.
291
00:15:44,731 --> 00:15:46,098
Oh, Donald Duck?
292
00:15:46,145 --> 00:15:48,337
No, silly, with you!
293
00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:04,944
ANNA SPEILMAN: Thomas and
I, we were married young.
294
00:16:05,918 --> 00:16:08,121
We didn't have much,
295
00:16:08,301 --> 00:16:11,667
and, um, you know what, he never
296
00:16:11,692 --> 00:16:15,147
let that get in the
way of us, though.
297
00:16:15,172 --> 00:16:17,128
If there was something
we couldn't afford,
298
00:16:17,153 --> 00:16:18,697
he would just draw it.
299
00:16:18,740 --> 00:16:21,830
You know, you'd
wake up and I would
300
00:16:21,855 --> 00:16:27,158
see anything from a coffee
maker to a solid-gold jet
301
00:16:27,580 --> 00:16:30,848
on the refrigerator in the morning.
302
00:16:30,873 --> 00:16:32,353
That was Thomas.
303
00:16:33,822 --> 00:16:37,377
We-we had our son
Maxwell pretty early.
304
00:16:37,515 --> 00:16:39,539
He and Thomas, they
were inseparable.
305
00:16:39,564 --> 00:16:41,882
He did everything for that boy.
306
00:16:41,907 --> 00:16:44,375
Oh, my God, look at this...
307
00:16:44,418 --> 00:16:46,072
Oh, look at this!
308
00:16:46,540 --> 00:16:49,024
Thomas kept saying that
309
00:16:49,049 --> 00:16:52,360
A Goofy Movie was for him.
310
00:16:53,211 --> 00:16:57,518
He'd say, "If I'm not here,
you can show him this."
311
00:16:57,562 --> 00:17:01,114
I was too scared to ask
him what he meant by that.
312
00:17:01,458 --> 00:17:04,960
To give you a little context,
when A Goofy Movie came out,
313
00:17:05,161 --> 00:17:08,863
Black masculinity in the media
was in a really weird place.
314
00:17:08,888 --> 00:17:12,664
- Hello, I'm Blaine Edwards.
- And I'm Antoine Merriweather!
315
00:17:12,751 --> 00:17:15,319
And welcome to Men on Films.
316
00:17:15,344 --> 00:17:17,041
The show that looks at movies...
317
00:17:17,066 --> 00:17:19,498
From a male point of view.
318
00:17:19,523 --> 00:17:22,439
JENNA: So on one hand,
you've got men doing, kind of
319
00:17:22,464 --> 00:17:25,637
"faux queer" comedy,
and on the other end
320
00:17:25,662 --> 00:17:29,237
of the spectrum, you've got
these hypermasculine portrayals.
321
00:17:31,576 --> 00:17:34,318
Am I my brother's keeper?
322
00:17:35,996 --> 00:17:37,476
Yes, I am.
323
00:17:40,235 --> 00:17:42,803
And, by contrast, Goofy
324
00:17:42,901 --> 00:17:45,971
is a nuanced portrayal
of a Black man
325
00:17:45,996 --> 00:17:48,787
whose priority is his family.
326
00:17:49,290 --> 00:17:51,919
- What?
- Nothin'.
327
00:17:52,279 --> 00:17:55,587
Goofy really put forward
the philosophy that...
328
00:17:55,658 --> 00:18:00,363
just love your children for
who they are and accept them,
329
00:18:00,364 --> 00:18:02,147
and deal with the
pain that the world
330
00:18:02,148 --> 00:18:04,095
is not going to love them like you do.
331
00:18:12,329 --> 00:18:16,035
I think in the movie, Dad
laid in a lot of things.
332
00:18:16,574 --> 00:18:19,470
I-I notice it more now than I did then.
333
00:18:19,513 --> 00:18:21,230
♪ If I could make you
stop and take a look ♪
334
00:18:21,254 --> 00:18:22,690
♪ At me instead of just... ♪
335
00:18:22,734 --> 00:18:27,129
MAXWELL: In the beginning,
Max sings a song,
336
00:18:27,337 --> 00:18:31,568
dunks a basketball, and then
is cheered on by his peers.
337
00:18:32,396 --> 00:18:34,699
I think my dad was making a comment
338
00:18:34,724 --> 00:18:36,418
on Black exceptionalism
339
00:18:36,443 --> 00:18:39,246
and how some people believe
340
00:18:39,271 --> 00:18:43,842
that performative assimilation
is the best way to get by.
341
00:18:43,929 --> 00:18:48,281
My dad wanted to prove those
limitations were just that,
342
00:18:49,004 --> 00:18:51,719
limits put on us by outsiders.
343
00:18:52,293 --> 00:18:55,853
That's why he made it a fishing trip.
344
00:18:56,259 --> 00:18:58,496
It's the same one we
used to take. [CHUCKLES]
345
00:19:00,472 --> 00:19:03,322
FRANK: The trip was
supposed to start out
346
00:19:03,347 --> 00:19:05,603
as sort of like a freedom ride.
347
00:19:05,646 --> 00:19:08,040
And the map, which
is central to the plot
348
00:19:08,083 --> 00:19:12,783
of the film and also represented
Goofy's trust in his son Max,
349
00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:16,111
was supposed to remind the viewer
350
00:19:16,136 --> 00:19:18,633
of the Green Book
and how Black travelers
351
00:19:18,658 --> 00:19:21,813
had to use it to advance their way
352
00:19:21,838 --> 00:19:24,992
through the Jim Crow South
during the '30s and the '40s.
353
00:19:25,017 --> 00:19:27,330
A lot of the film had deeper meanings,
354
00:19:28,045 --> 00:19:33,544
and word got around that it
meant a lot more in Thomas's eyes.
355
00:19:33,886 --> 00:19:36,886
MAXWELL: Dad wanted every Black
person in America to feel like
356
00:19:36,911 --> 00:19:41,892
they were just a road trip away
from being part of a movement.
357
00:19:42,076 --> 00:19:45,469
Even if their kids didn't
understand the stakes.
358
00:19:45,829 --> 00:19:49,746
It was about destiny
and how our children,
359
00:19:50,145 --> 00:19:52,467
our future, get to draw our path.
360
00:19:53,169 --> 00:19:54,902
I want to get us to doing something
361
00:19:54,927 --> 00:19:56,066
we've never done before.
362
00:19:56,091 --> 00:19:58,152
We have never truly drawn
363
00:19:58,177 --> 00:20:01,746
authentically Black characters,
characters that act...
364
00:20:07,273 --> 00:20:09,841
Now, see, this is
what I'm talking about.
365
00:20:10,145 --> 00:20:12,844
This is what I'm talking about.
366
00:20:13,348 --> 00:20:16,819
In order to draw
authentically Black characters,
367
00:20:16,844 --> 00:20:18,834
one has to know Black people.
368
00:20:18,859 --> 00:20:23,351
Okay? Now, Tom went out on assignment.
369
00:20:23,523 --> 00:20:26,967
Researched, hung out, went
to a couple Black cookouts.
370
00:20:26,992 --> 00:20:31,358
Said the wrong thing, got
his ass beat, but now, now?
371
00:20:31,383 --> 00:20:34,054
He's more aware, he's more knowledgeable
372
00:20:34,079 --> 00:20:36,490
of how to draw. Okay?
373
00:20:36,515 --> 00:20:38,970
Thomas tried to pull back and be more
374
00:20:38,995 --> 00:20:42,571
subtle with his message, uh,
when the complaints started,
375
00:20:42,596 --> 00:20:44,945
and we were getting
complaints from everywhere.
376
00:20:45,424 --> 00:20:50,315
But there was nothing
subtle about Thomas.
377
00:20:50,316 --> 00:20:53,891
At one point, he said he
didn't want Mickey in the movie.
378
00:20:53,916 --> 00:20:55,538
And, um, I kept saying,
379
00:20:55,539 --> 00:20:57,888
"But it's Disney. What
are you talking about?"
380
00:20:58,544 --> 00:21:01,188
I can remember Thomas
ranting in his office,
381
00:21:01,213 --> 00:21:03,533
"They're trying to make me put
this white boy in my movie."
382
00:21:04,130 --> 00:21:07,425
And I'm thinking, "He's a mouse."
383
00:21:07,450 --> 00:21:09,285
He told me from the beginning,
384
00:21:09,310 --> 00:21:12,880
"I'm not here for a long time,
I'm here for a good time."
385
00:21:13,466 --> 00:21:15,774
Uh, he knew he was
going to get fired,
386
00:21:15,799 --> 00:21:18,537
but the "when" of
it was fun for him.
387
00:21:18,948 --> 00:21:20,408
It was like a game.
388
00:21:20,433 --> 00:21:26,003
We had 15, 16, sometimes 18-hour days.
389
00:21:26,004 --> 00:21:30,063
And, uh, he would be screaming,
"We don't dance like that."
390
00:21:30,088 --> 00:21:33,940
And he would bring his friend's kids in
391
00:21:33,965 --> 00:21:36,776
and, uh, they would moonwalk and,
392
00:21:36,801 --> 00:21:40,557
and, you know, do all, like,
you know, this stuff, you know?
393
00:21:40,582 --> 00:21:42,269
Oh, man, I must have drawn a pair
394
00:21:42,294 --> 00:21:45,588
of gloves dapping, I don't
know, over 5,000 times?
395
00:21:45,769 --> 00:21:48,408
I just kept hearing, "That's
not a dap, that's not a dap.
396
00:21:48,433 --> 00:21:49,627
Where's the snap?"
397
00:21:49,652 --> 00:21:50,993
You see my knees?
398
00:21:51,058 --> 00:21:53,553
You see this, see this
angle of these knees?
399
00:21:53,597 --> 00:21:56,674
Draw... Draw this! Get this down, okay?
400
00:21:56,699 --> 00:21:58,340
One time, I just couldn't take it...
401
00:21:58,384 --> 00:22:01,213
My fingers were just bleeding...
So I went up to talk to him,
402
00:22:01,442 --> 00:22:03,670
and he was up there drinking
whiskey with Robert Townsend,
403
00:22:03,694 --> 00:22:07,611
and Janet Jackson, uh,
Sinbad and Adina Howard.
404
00:22:07,848 --> 00:22:11,155
Well, when I poked my
head in, Thomas went,
405
00:22:11,180 --> 00:22:12,703
"Who ordered the white rice?"
406
00:22:12,981 --> 00:22:15,106
[SCOFFS] And they all just laughed,
407
00:22:15,223 --> 00:22:18,718
and, uh, I just didn't get it.
408
00:22:18,743 --> 00:22:20,505
BRIAN McKNIGHT: Everybody
used to be up there.
409
00:22:20,529 --> 00:22:24,215
Eddie Murphy, Arsenio
Hall, Kadeem Hardison,
410
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:28,205
Harrison Ford, it was crazy.
The parties were insane.
411
00:22:28,230 --> 00:22:31,407
Imagine Disney after
The Lion King.
412
00:22:31,432 --> 00:22:34,131
You got this smooth-looking
brother at the helm.
413
00:22:35,029 --> 00:22:36,117
[EXHALES]
414
00:22:38,007 --> 00:22:40,314
It was crazy he even
had that office.
415
00:22:40,339 --> 00:22:42,217
Everyone would go up
there and just hang
416
00:22:42,242 --> 00:22:45,307
as we plotted our
overthrow of Hollywood.
417
00:22:45,332 --> 00:22:47,116
You couldn't tell us nothing.
418
00:22:47,164 --> 00:22:49,288
They had a big musical number planned
419
00:22:49,313 --> 00:22:51,619
with Bryan Adams in the movie.
420
00:22:52,226 --> 00:22:55,237
And one day, Thomas asked me to come by
421
00:22:55,262 --> 00:22:57,007
and see what he's working on.
422
00:22:57,008 --> 00:22:59,184
And we're walking through,
and he stops in one
423
00:22:59,227 --> 00:23:01,120
of the rooms and plays
me some of the music.
424
00:23:01,145 --> 00:23:04,232
And I'm like, "Yeah,
you know, pop ballad.
425
00:23:04,319 --> 00:23:06,125
"You know, same old, same old.
426
00:23:06,150 --> 00:23:08,979
You know, it's-it's
good, it's-it's cool."
427
00:23:09,332 --> 00:23:11,979
But he asks me, "Who
do you like right now?"
428
00:23:12,085 --> 00:23:14,612
I'm like, "You know,
I-I've been listening
429
00:23:14,637 --> 00:23:16,331
to this Tevin Campbell."
430
00:23:16,375 --> 00:23:21,651
And from then on, it just
had to be Tevin Campbell.
431
00:23:21,676 --> 00:23:25,818
♪ Last night I, I saw you ♪
432
00:23:25,819 --> 00:23:27,167
♪ Standing ♪
433
00:23:27,168 --> 00:23:29,475
♪ And I started ♪
434
00:23:29,519 --> 00:23:31,824
♪ Started pretending ♪
435
00:23:31,887 --> 00:23:33,672
BRIAN: Most of the cats
around there didn't
436
00:23:33,697 --> 00:23:35,481
even know who Tevin Campbell was.
437
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,919
For three months, a lot of
them were saying Kevin Campbell.
438
00:23:41,056 --> 00:23:44,838
♪ Can we talk, baby, can
we talk for a minute? ♪
439
00:23:45,368 --> 00:23:47,057
♪ Girl, I want to
know your name ♪
440
00:23:47,058 --> 00:23:49,451
♪ I want to know your name ♪
441
00:23:49,495 --> 00:23:51,256
SINBAD: Thomas was a cool cat.
442
00:23:51,568 --> 00:23:54,096
But the brother definitely
had a chip on his shoulder.
443
00:23:54,121 --> 00:23:56,467
He didn't like it if you
challenged his Blackness.
444
00:23:58,730 --> 00:24:01,582
FRANK: I think there
was a part of Thomas
445
00:24:01,607 --> 00:24:04,864
that kind of felt that being an animator
446
00:24:04,889 --> 00:24:08,246
wasn't innately Black, you know?
447
00:24:08,271 --> 00:24:10,955
And he wanted to make it Black,
448
00:24:10,980 --> 00:24:12,549
he wanted to make it cool.
449
00:24:12,574 --> 00:24:16,627
He wanted to-to carve out
his own space and not feel
450
00:24:16,652 --> 00:24:20,338
that he was divorced from
his own culture, you know.
451
00:24:20,363 --> 00:24:23,635
He was loading his culture
into this stuff that
452
00:24:23,660 --> 00:24:26,345
we were doing so that
it just seemed normal
453
00:24:26,370 --> 00:24:29,660
and would seem normal to the rest of us.
454
00:24:29,685 --> 00:24:33,377
He had a lot of pressure, man...
The culture, the job itself,
455
00:24:33,402 --> 00:24:35,975
what-what he was trying to live
up to that I'm not even sure
456
00:24:35,976 --> 00:24:38,544
that he knew that he
could live up to it.
457
00:24:38,569 --> 00:24:41,852
And, uh, it had to
take a huge toll on him.
458
00:24:41,895 --> 00:24:44,071
One morning I walk in the
studio, I got my coffee,
459
00:24:44,115 --> 00:24:46,508
I'm ready to sit down,
get to busi... business.
460
00:24:46,552 --> 00:24:49,860
And Thomas like, "Psst!
Psst! Come here, come here!"
461
00:24:49,903 --> 00:24:52,776
So I go over there and,
uh, he's in his cubicle,
462
00:24:52,819 --> 00:24:56,344
he got this briefcase, he opens it up,
463
00:24:56,884 --> 00:24:58,242
there's a gun inside!
464
00:24:58,267 --> 00:25:02,664
I'm like, "Dude, what-what is this?
465
00:25:02,689 --> 00:25:04,222
What's it for?"
466
00:25:04,461 --> 00:25:08,829
And he's like, "This
is to remind me that
467
00:25:08,854 --> 00:25:11,117
they don't know who the fuck I am."
468
00:25:17,060 --> 00:25:19,731
MAXWELL: Dad kind of
started to lose it.
469
00:25:20,523 --> 00:25:23,396
He would stay up all
night, talk to hisself.
470
00:25:23,803 --> 00:25:27,809
After a while, Mom...
she had had enough.
471
00:25:30,249 --> 00:25:32,816
After a while, Mom
couldn't take it anymore.
472
00:25:32,871 --> 00:25:34,655
He had just gotten too mean.
473
00:25:36,562 --> 00:25:39,087
ANNA: We had so much fun.
474
00:25:40,642 --> 00:25:43,291
But then, it wasn't fun anymore.
475
00:25:44,306 --> 00:25:46,641
He had been fooling around, yeah.
476
00:25:46,666 --> 00:25:50,398
And drinking a lot,
and he got pretty mean.
477
00:25:50,562 --> 00:25:53,478
He would say some mean,
nasty things to me,
478
00:25:53,871 --> 00:25:57,005
which he never, he had
never done that before.
479
00:25:59,146 --> 00:26:01,503
I remember at one time,
Maxwell tried to step in
480
00:26:01,528 --> 00:26:02,883
between his dad and I,
481
00:26:02,908 --> 00:26:06,041
and Thomas...
482
00:26:06,066 --> 00:26:09,200
was not kind. He kind of...
483
00:26:09,621 --> 00:26:11,776
[INHALES SHARPLY, SIGHS]
484
00:26:11,801 --> 00:26:14,292
He kind of raised his, um...
485
00:26:15,191 --> 00:26:17,338
he raised his fist...
486
00:26:18,191 --> 00:26:19,993
at Maxwell.
487
00:26:21,045 --> 00:26:23,663
That wasn't cool, because they...
488
00:26:23,688 --> 00:26:26,279
they had always been so close.
489
00:26:28,218 --> 00:26:29,795
He was a...
490
00:26:30,319 --> 00:26:32,395
he was a really good father.
491
00:26:32,420 --> 00:26:34,952
I mean, at least he tried
to be a good father.
492
00:26:36,210 --> 00:26:38,895
I kept saying, "Thomas,
493
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,013
"you're going to lose him,
494
00:26:41,896 --> 00:26:43,998
you're going to lose your son."
495
00:26:46,795 --> 00:26:50,513
But all he kept
saying is... [SIGHS]
496
00:26:50,749 --> 00:26:52,882
"But this is for him."
497
00:26:55,121 --> 00:26:58,191
FRANK: I knew things
were going downhill when
498
00:26:58,216 --> 00:27:00,230
Thomas's wife left him.
499
00:27:00,255 --> 00:27:02,431
Sh-She had been there
from the beginning.
500
00:27:03,427 --> 00:27:06,386
And he started sleeping in his office.
501
00:27:06,411 --> 00:27:10,130
And, um, one day, there
was a board meeting.
502
00:27:10,155 --> 00:27:14,812
All the Disney heads were
there, and they started talking
503
00:27:14,837 --> 00:27:18,579
about the budget was
going a bit high on Goofy.
504
00:27:18,899 --> 00:27:21,794
And one of the guys asked
Thomas, he said, uh,
505
00:27:21,838 --> 00:27:24,376
"Are you in control
of the budget?"
506
00:27:24,598 --> 00:27:26,470
And Thomas said, "Of course I am.
507
00:27:26,495 --> 00:27:28,541
I'm Goofy."
508
00:27:28,811 --> 00:27:30,552
And then,
509
00:27:30,922 --> 00:27:34,832
he did this this
chilling laugh. Like...
510
00:27:35,143 --> 00:27:38,668
[IMITATING GOOFY'S LAUGH]
511
00:27:38,826 --> 00:27:42,351
You know, l-like Goofy, but broken.
512
00:27:43,146 --> 00:27:45,519
[VOICE BREAKING]: And
it-it was terrifying, man.
513
00:27:46,191 --> 00:27:47,758
I almost started crying.
514
00:27:49,636 --> 00:27:51,868
He really thought he was Goofy.
515
00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:00,609
LEONARD: The company
knew he had to go,
516
00:28:01,079 --> 00:28:04,781
but legally, he was still the CEO.
517
00:28:04,806 --> 00:28:08,299
That gentleman's show
of hands was, uh,
518
00:28:08,565 --> 00:28:11,757
surprisingly hard to go back on.
519
00:28:11,844 --> 00:28:14,194
You know, they even tried to
buy him out of his contract.
520
00:28:14,532 --> 00:28:18,188
Yeah, they offered him, like $75,000.
521
00:28:18,213 --> 00:28:20,174
No, no.
522
00:28:20,713 --> 00:28:23,725
We offered him $75 million,
523
00:28:24,128 --> 00:28:26,206
paid out over ten years.
524
00:28:26,458 --> 00:28:31,124
Um, that's how... that's
how serious it was for us.
525
00:28:31,211 --> 00:28:32,952
I mean, he didn't take it.
526
00:28:33,222 --> 00:28:36,921
But, uh, maybe he should
have taken it, you know?
527
00:28:39,002 --> 00:28:42,309
FRANK: He started
getting really paranoid.
528
00:28:42,657 --> 00:28:46,096
He'd say he was afraid for his life,
529
00:28:46,686 --> 00:28:48,775
but he'd never say from whom.
530
00:28:50,065 --> 00:28:52,092
CHRIS: Suddenly, there were
a bunch of guys in bow ties
531
00:28:52,116 --> 00:28:53,905
hanging around the office.
532
00:28:53,930 --> 00:28:55,972
He introduced us to
one of them saying,
533
00:28:55,997 --> 00:28:58,259
"I want you to meet my
new head of security,
534
00:28:58,905 --> 00:29:01,153
Al Shaheim X."
535
00:29:01,154 --> 00:29:03,808
The thing not a lot
of people knew about,
536
00:29:04,128 --> 00:29:07,217
was Thomas had been going around town
537
00:29:07,717 --> 00:29:11,226
letting a lot of people know
how huge this was going to be,
538
00:29:12,017 --> 00:29:15,828
and he had a lot of different
Black empowerment groups,
539
00:29:15,853 --> 00:29:20,312
radical movements, and just
straight-up gangs all wanting
540
00:29:20,337 --> 00:29:24,264
as much influence and subtle
shout-outs as the other.
541
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:27,747
You know, I think
that he had made
542
00:29:27,772 --> 00:29:30,376
way too many deals at one point.
543
00:29:30,612 --> 00:29:33,571
At least, that's what...
that's what I heard.
544
00:29:34,334 --> 00:29:39,410
Truthfully, it all came
down to the end of the movie.
545
00:29:40,445 --> 00:29:41,756
Really.
546
00:29:44,491 --> 00:29:46,808
CHRIS: Oh, man, the
end of the movie.
547
00:29:46,929 --> 00:29:49,320
I heard he wanted Goofy
and Max to get pulled over
548
00:29:49,345 --> 00:29:52,087
early on and, uh, you know...
549
00:29:52,553 --> 00:29:53,553
[GUNSHOT ECHOES]
550
00:29:56,072 --> 00:29:59,702
Wh-Why would he do that?
That makes no sense.
551
00:30:00,554 --> 00:30:03,520
FRANK: That Powerline
concert at the end,
552
00:30:03,702 --> 00:30:06,306
it wasn't supposed to be all
hunky-dory, dancing-dancing.
553
00:30:06,350 --> 00:30:09,091
Nah, it wasn't supposed
to be like that at all.
554
00:30:09,116 --> 00:30:11,311
[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]
555
00:30:11,417 --> 00:30:15,318
PHILIP: I heard Goofy was supposed
to get shot at the concert.
556
00:30:15,343 --> 00:30:17,100
You know, a Black
man runs onstage
557
00:30:17,143 --> 00:30:19,994
like that at a major
venue? Come on, man.
558
00:30:20,268 --> 00:30:22,064
There's something wrong here.
559
00:30:22,089 --> 00:30:23,960
Thomas was trying to make a statement.
560
00:30:25,443 --> 00:30:28,736
PRODUCER: Do you, uh, think
his death was an accident?
561
00:30:30,742 --> 00:30:32,396
Next question, man.
562
00:30:32,541 --> 00:30:34,047
No, I don't.
563
00:30:34,072 --> 00:30:36,119
I-I've never thought
it was an accident.
564
00:30:37,844 --> 00:30:39,263
PRODUCER: Why not?
565
00:30:40,196 --> 00:30:42,633
Um, well...
566
00:30:43,540 --> 00:30:45,622
partly because of
his-his mood at the end,
567
00:30:45,647 --> 00:30:48,654
but, um, you know,
there was also the tape.
568
00:30:49,961 --> 00:30:51,267
What tape?
569
00:30:59,794 --> 00:31:03,059
THOMAS: ♪ For the
first time ever ♪
570
00:31:03,669 --> 00:31:06,585
♪ Seeing it eye to eye ♪
571
00:31:08,420 --> 00:31:11,091
Oh, I'm so sorry.
572
00:31:13,018 --> 00:31:15,020
Oh, man, I...
573
00:31:15,045 --> 00:31:20,177
Ooh, I'm close, I'm-I'm close...
574
00:31:21,297 --> 00:31:23,106
I'm so close.
575
00:31:25,603 --> 00:31:27,213
[SHUDDERS]
576
00:31:32,871 --> 00:31:36,308
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
577
00:31:36,738 --> 00:31:38,958
I got to finish this.
578
00:31:44,601 --> 00:31:46,864
[CRYING]: I got to finish it.
579
00:31:50,018 --> 00:31:53,805
BRIAN: Back then, mental health
wasn't something that we talked about.
580
00:31:53,881 --> 00:31:55,964
I didn't even know what to characterize
581
00:31:55,989 --> 00:31:59,289
what I saw him going through,
what it... what it was.
582
00:31:59,332 --> 00:32:02,264
I just knew he was going
through something, um,
583
00:32:02,289 --> 00:32:05,205
something that was very, very
difficult for him to deal with.
584
00:32:07,659 --> 00:32:10,314
This is a little hard for me right now.
585
00:32:13,379 --> 00:32:15,653
I-I don't know why.
586
00:32:15,740 --> 00:32:20,439
When the news finally broke
that Dad was officially out,
587
00:32:21,129 --> 00:32:24,323
they let him back on the
lot for one final screening
588
00:32:24,348 --> 00:32:26,519
of what they were able to
piece together behind his back.
589
00:32:26,543 --> 00:32:29,014
[PROJECTOR CLICKING]
590
00:32:29,039 --> 00:32:30,191
He didn't know they
had been working
591
00:32:30,215 --> 00:32:31,738
on the movie without him...
592
00:32:31,980 --> 00:32:34,840
changing and corrupting
his original vision.
593
00:32:36,121 --> 00:32:38,676
He-he didn't take the news well.
594
00:32:38,972 --> 00:32:40,740
I was at that last screening.
595
00:32:40,879 --> 00:32:43,463
It was the Bigfoot stuff
that put him over the edge.
596
00:32:43,682 --> 00:32:46,308
FRANK: They'd added it
without his knowledge.
597
00:32:46,597 --> 00:32:48,589
He'd wanted Goofy and Max
598
00:32:48,614 --> 00:32:50,854
to wander into a thrift store
599
00:32:50,879 --> 00:32:53,839
and discover Huey
Newton's rattan throne.
600
00:32:53,864 --> 00:32:57,251
And once they sat in it,
Max would finally understand
601
00:32:57,276 --> 00:32:58,800
what Goofy had been fighting
602
00:32:58,825 --> 00:33:01,278
to make him understand all along.
603
00:33:01,497 --> 00:33:06,006
Instead, they took out the
thrift store and the throne
604
00:33:06,311 --> 00:33:08,835
and put in that Bigfoot bit.
605
00:33:09,490 --> 00:33:11,934
It's like they were saying,
"What you were after,
606
00:33:11,959 --> 00:33:15,742
"your message, it's a fantasy as elusive
607
00:33:15,767 --> 00:33:18,311
and unreal as Bigfoot."
608
00:33:18,944 --> 00:33:20,467
You're going to see...
609
00:33:20,563 --> 00:33:22,478
you're going to be proud of me...
610
00:33:24,381 --> 00:33:26,376
I'm doing this for you.
611
00:33:26,624 --> 00:33:28,856
I'm doing this for all of us.
612
00:33:28,943 --> 00:33:31,772
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
613
00:33:32,342 --> 00:33:33,934
Oh, man.
614
00:33:33,959 --> 00:33:35,515
[CRYING]
615
00:33:35,910 --> 00:33:39,238
GARY: I could feel
him get up and leave
616
00:33:39,263 --> 00:33:42,948
and I-I heard the door close
and I went out after him,
617
00:33:42,973 --> 00:33:45,655
and by the time I got to
the parking lot, he was gone.
618
00:33:45,656 --> 00:33:49,149
Something... I don't know,
there was a look in his eye.
619
00:33:49,174 --> 00:33:51,715
He-he just got in the
car and he took off...
620
00:33:53,318 --> 00:33:54,624
and didn't come back.
621
00:34:02,422 --> 00:34:06,391
_
622
00:34:08,071 --> 00:34:12,970
_
623
00:34:15,462 --> 00:34:17,253
MAXWELL: They, um...
624
00:34:18,847 --> 00:34:20,668
they never found his body.
625
00:34:26,205 --> 00:34:30,840
I think that was...
especially hard for Mom.
626
00:34:34,446 --> 00:34:35,577
Dad!
627
00:34:39,362 --> 00:34:41,712
ANNA: We actually watch...
628
00:34:41,798 --> 00:34:43,321
we watch the movies a lot.
629
00:34:43,795 --> 00:34:47,015
Uh, I couldn't for a while.
630
00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:51,498
But... but once I did, I couldn't stop.
631
00:34:55,750 --> 00:34:57,533
It's like, um,
632
00:34:57,558 --> 00:34:59,995
it was like having him around,
633
00:35:00,020 --> 00:35:02,806
you know, in a fun way.
634
00:35:03,193 --> 00:35:04,542
Yeah.
635
00:35:13,715 --> 00:35:17,762
You know that, uh, "Damn,
you live like this?" meme?
636
00:35:18,749 --> 00:35:22,274
It's so funny to me
because the essence of it
637
00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,014
is those drawings he did in college.
638
00:35:25,062 --> 00:35:29,107
Black folks living their
lives, being funny,
639
00:35:30,491 --> 00:35:33,967
being free, being real.
640
00:35:34,955 --> 00:35:37,044
[SCOFFS]
641
00:35:38,967 --> 00:35:41,037
ANNA: He would've
been really proud that
642
00:35:41,062 --> 00:35:42,760
he became part of the culture.
643
00:35:43,911 --> 00:35:45,918
I think that's what
he wanted in the end,
644
00:35:45,943 --> 00:35:47,560
to just be part of the family.
645
00:35:50,827 --> 00:35:53,155
And along the way...
646
00:35:53,457 --> 00:35:57,163
he made the Blackest movie of all time.
647
00:36:04,710 --> 00:36:06,905
♪ Yeah, yeah ♪
648
00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:15,425
♪ Got myself a notion ♪
649
00:36:16,288 --> 00:36:19,788
♪ One I know that
you'll understand ♪
650
00:36:19,813 --> 00:36:22,425
♪ To set the
world in motion ♪
651
00:36:23,361 --> 00:36:27,321
♪ By reaching out for
each other's hands ♪
652
00:36:27,346 --> 00:36:31,915
♪ Maybe we'll discover What we
should have known all along ♪
653
00:36:32,486 --> 00:36:34,454
♪ Yeah ♪
654
00:36:34,747 --> 00:36:36,182
♪ One way or another ♪
655
00:36:36,207 --> 00:36:39,341
♪ Together's where
we both belong ♪
656
00:36:39,578 --> 00:36:42,841
♪ If we listen to
each other's heart ♪
657
00:36:42,842 --> 00:36:44,280
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
658
00:36:44,305 --> 00:36:46,516
♪ We'll find we're
never too far apart ♪
659
00:36:46,541 --> 00:36:50,563
♪ And maybe love
is the reason why ♪
660
00:36:50,588 --> 00:36:55,538
♪ For the first time ever,
we're seeing it eye to eye. ♪
661
00:36:55,562 --> 00:36:57,362
Synced and corrected by Octavia
- www.addic7ed.com -
52569
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