Howard

Howard (2018) — watch online on iFILM — is a documentary portrait of Howard Ashman, the lyricist who gave Disney its voice: "Part of Your World," "Be Our Guest," "A Whole New World." Director Don Hahn, himself a Disney producer on Beauty and the Beast, shaped the film from rare archival footage and candid interviews with Ashman's family, his partner Bill Lauch, and collaborators including composer Alan Menken.

Ashman died in March 1991, aged 40, before Beauty and the Beast reached theaters. His death from AIDS-related complications came while the film's songs were already recorded — most of his colleagues at Disney didn't know he was ill. The documentary sits with that gap: a man redefining popular animation from a studio apartment while running out of time.

For anyone who grew up on those films, it reframes something familiar as something fragile. Stream Howard (2018) online on iFILM.