1 00:00:01,514 --> 00:00:03,584 ♪♪ ♪♪ 2 00:00:23,724 --> 00:00:25,828 (projector clicking) 3 00:00:25,895 --> 00:00:29,168 JENNA WORTHAM: The 1990s were a golden era 4 00:00:29,235 --> 00:00:30,572 for The Walt Disney Company. 5 00:00:30,638 --> 00:00:32,074 The Little Mermaid revived the company 6 00:00:32,141 --> 00:00:33,778 from the edge of bankruptcy. 7 00:00:33,844 --> 00:00:36,817 Beauty and the Beast earned a Best Picture nomination. 8 00:00:36,884 --> 00:00:40,858 And The Lion King broke box office records worldwide. 9 00:00:40,925 --> 00:00:42,394 (helicopter blades whirring) 10 00:00:42,461 --> 00:00:47,371 But the reality just miles away was no fairy tale. 11 00:00:47,438 --> 00:00:51,714 In 1992, a state jury acquitted 12 00:00:51,780 --> 00:00:55,588 four LAPD officers on almost all charges 13 00:00:55,655 --> 00:00:58,159 in the beating of Rodney G. King. 14 00:00:59,763 --> 00:01:03,537 The response was anger. 15 00:01:03,604 --> 00:01:06,944 Fire, chaos, 16 00:01:07,011 --> 00:01:09,983 massive citywide destruction. 17 00:01:10,050 --> 00:01:13,958 It was a pivotal moment for Black culture in the '90s. 18 00:01:14,025 --> 00:01:18,166 But it's a little-known fact that another cultural milestone 19 00:01:18,233 --> 00:01:20,605 emerged from that fateful day. 20 00:01:20,672 --> 00:01:22,441 (projector clicking) 21 00:01:22,509 --> 00:01:25,180 It's a story so unbelievable, 22 00:01:25,247 --> 00:01:28,119 it could only happen in Hollywood. 23 00:01:28,888 --> 00:01:32,862 How did this young, Black, unassuming animator 24 00:01:32,929 --> 00:01:36,837 from East Atlanta wind up 25 00:01:36,904 --> 00:01:39,543 as the CEO of Disney 26 00:01:39,610 --> 00:01:43,884 at the company's most powerful moment in time? 27 00:01:43,951 --> 00:01:46,222 ♪♪ ♪♪ 28 00:02:06,262 --> 00:02:09,302 -WOMAN: Okay, rolling. -MAN: Speed. 29 00:02:09,368 --> 00:02:11,039 EVELYN: Believe it or not, 30 00:02:11,105 --> 00:02:13,109 we named him after Tom Jones. 31 00:02:13,176 --> 00:02:17,484 -♪♪ ♪♪ -(grunts) 32 00:02:17,552 --> 00:02:18,888 Yeah! 33 00:02:18,954 --> 00:02:22,529 EVELYN: His father used to play Tom Jones. 34 00:02:22,595 --> 00:02:25,568 That's how he first courted me. 35 00:02:25,635 --> 00:02:29,175 He would do a little dance and we would laugh. 36 00:02:29,241 --> 00:02:31,446 ♪♪ I got to tell you a story ♪♪ 37 00:02:31,513 --> 00:02:33,450 ♪♪ Every man ought to know... ♪♪ 38 00:02:33,517 --> 00:02:35,354 Usually, the boys in Ronald's family 39 00:02:35,420 --> 00:02:37,926 was named after their fathers, 40 00:02:37,993 --> 00:02:40,965 but when we had our boy, we knew that 41 00:02:41,032 --> 00:02:42,434 he was gonna be different, 42 00:02:42,502 --> 00:02:44,472 so we had to do something different. 43 00:02:44,539 --> 00:02:48,380 We had to name him Thomas. 44 00:02:48,446 --> 00:02:51,720 T loved cartoons something crazy. 45 00:02:51,787 --> 00:02:53,591 I mean, he was always drawing on his desk, uh, 46 00:02:53,657 --> 00:02:56,897 in, uh, in the margins of his notebook, in the textbooks, 47 00:02:56,964 --> 00:02:58,901 all on the walls, man. 48 00:02:58,968 --> 00:03:00,738 He just drove our teachers crazy. 49 00:03:00,805 --> 00:03:05,815 He was obsessed with this one cat named, um, Blasto Boy? 50 00:03:05,882 --> 00:03:08,319 No, no, no, Astro Boy. 51 00:03:08,386 --> 00:03:10,658 ♪♪ ♪♪ 52 00:03:13,531 --> 00:03:15,935 Yeah, yeah, I used to watch it with him, 53 00:03:16,002 --> 00:03:17,304 and I remember thinking... 54 00:03:17,371 --> 00:03:20,945 this is kind of boring. (laughs) 55 00:03:21,012 --> 00:03:22,414 But Thomas loved it, man. 56 00:03:22,481 --> 00:03:24,519 He drew... he drew that dude everywhere. 57 00:03:24,586 --> 00:03:27,625 One time, he asked me, he said, 58 00:03:27,692 --> 00:03:31,099 "What if Astro Boy came here and saved us?" 59 00:03:31,165 --> 00:03:33,403 I said, "Saved us from what?" 60 00:03:33,470 --> 00:03:39,248 And he just kind of shrugged and said, "Everything." 61 00:03:42,856 --> 00:03:44,760 I mean, what kind of eight-year-old 62 00:03:44,826 --> 00:03:47,097 is thinking like that, you know? 63 00:03:47,164 --> 00:03:48,567 I mean, I think he was scared. 64 00:03:48,634 --> 00:03:50,505 He wasn't no punk, I'm just saying, I don't 65 00:03:50,571 --> 00:03:53,711 think he ever understood why the world was so unfair. 66 00:03:53,778 --> 00:03:55,615 And where we were growing up... 67 00:03:55,681 --> 00:03:57,919 it was, like, unfair unfair, you know? 68 00:03:57,986 --> 00:03:59,990 I mean, you could be sitting at home watching 69 00:04:00,056 --> 00:04:02,495 a program with white folks with nice houses. 70 00:04:02,562 --> 00:04:03,898 We couldn't even ride ours bikes outside, 71 00:04:03,964 --> 00:04:05,635 cause niggas will take it from you. 72 00:04:05,701 --> 00:04:08,406 Straight to your face, they do not care. Crime? 73 00:04:08,473 --> 00:04:10,444 What, so? They will ride your bike in front 74 00:04:10,511 --> 00:04:11,980 of your house the next day. 75 00:04:13,517 --> 00:04:15,521 Yeah, unfair. (chuckles) 76 00:04:15,588 --> 00:04:17,324 EVELYN: The boys picked on him. 77 00:04:17,391 --> 00:04:20,565 He would come home sometimes with pages 78 00:04:20,631 --> 00:04:22,401 torn out of his little sketchbook. 79 00:04:22,468 --> 00:04:24,472 PHILIP: Yeah, we would call him white. 80 00:04:24,539 --> 00:04:25,975 We was just messing with him. 81 00:04:26,042 --> 00:04:27,478 Um, I think he was just trying to fit in, 82 00:04:27,545 --> 00:04:29,649 but he wasn't really like us, you know? 83 00:04:29,716 --> 00:04:31,185 And the kids would call him on it. 84 00:04:31,252 --> 00:04:33,991 I mean, he just wanted to draw, 85 00:04:34,058 --> 00:04:37,899 and he didn't understand why that wasn't "cool," you know? 86 00:04:37,966 --> 00:04:40,270 I mean, niggas will make fun of you for anything, 87 00:04:40,337 --> 00:04:43,243 and I don't think Thomas was built to take it. 88 00:04:43,309 --> 00:04:45,615 EVELYN: I told him, "Son, 89 00:04:45,681 --> 00:04:51,025 one day, ain't none of this gonna even matter." 90 00:04:52,127 --> 00:04:54,633 ♪♪ ♪♪ 91 00:05:03,316 --> 00:05:05,588 ♪♪ ♪♪ 92 00:05:05,655 --> 00:05:09,629 JENNA: In 1987, Thomas left East Atlanta to attend 93 00:05:09,696 --> 00:05:13,537 Savannah College of Art and Design, or SCAD. 94 00:05:14,438 --> 00:05:15,975 It was here that Thomas's 95 00:05:16,042 --> 00:05:18,914 creative dreams began to take shape. 96 00:05:18,981 --> 00:05:22,789 MARK DILLARD: We didn't have a lot of Black students in the program then. 97 00:05:22,856 --> 00:05:25,928 Thomas showed a lot of promise. 98 00:05:25,995 --> 00:05:30,003 In his application, he wrote about how he wanted 99 00:05:30,070 --> 00:05:32,474 to work at Disney one day. 100 00:05:32,542 --> 00:05:34,579 We usually laugh at that sort of thing. 101 00:05:34,646 --> 00:05:36,517 Everybody says that, you know? 102 00:05:36,583 --> 00:05:42,227 But with his application, he sent a little flip-book. 103 00:05:42,294 --> 00:05:43,998 Can you see this? 104 00:05:47,137 --> 00:05:50,377 I mean, he had the sensibility 105 00:05:50,443 --> 00:05:55,420 and the wit of a true Disney animator. 106 00:05:56,790 --> 00:06:01,132 Art Babbitt was a big name at Disney Animation for a time. 107 00:06:01,199 --> 00:06:03,537 As an animator in the '30s and '40s, 108 00:06:03,604 --> 00:06:06,309 he racked up a lot of credits, 109 00:06:06,375 --> 00:06:07,679 and enemies, 110 00:06:07,745 --> 00:06:09,816 but he was most well-known for 111 00:06:09,883 --> 00:06:12,354 developing the character of Goofy. 112 00:06:12,421 --> 00:06:16,496 He came to SCAD, and he spoke. 113 00:06:30,858 --> 00:06:33,029 Thomas really gravitated to him. 114 00:06:33,096 --> 00:06:36,235 He became obsessed, and he really glommed 115 00:06:36,302 --> 00:06:40,711 on to Babbitt's article "Analysis of the Goof." 116 00:06:42,414 --> 00:06:43,918 Art describes Goofy. 117 00:06:43,984 --> 00:06:46,122 He says, "Think of the Goof as a composite 118 00:06:46,188 --> 00:06:50,363 "of an everlasting optimist, a gullible Good Samaritan, 119 00:06:50,430 --> 00:06:54,171 "a half-wit, a shiftless, 120 00:06:54,238 --> 00:06:55,508 "good-natured colored boy, 121 00:06:55,574 --> 00:06:56,643 "and a hick. 122 00:06:56,710 --> 00:06:58,346 "He is loose-jointed 123 00:06:58,413 --> 00:07:00,618 "and gangly, but not rubbery. 124 00:07:00,685 --> 00:07:03,590 "He can move fast if he has to, but would rather 125 00:07:03,657 --> 00:07:06,095 "avoid overexertion, 126 00:07:06,162 --> 00:07:09,101 "so he takes what seems the easiest way. 127 00:07:09,168 --> 00:07:13,711 "He is a philosopher of the barber shop variety. 128 00:07:13,777 --> 00:07:16,883 "No matter what happens, he accepts it finally 129 00:07:16,950 --> 00:07:21,493 as being for the best or at least amusing." 130 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:26,670 Thomas used this text as the center of a piece 131 00:07:26,737 --> 00:07:31,012 of a series he called "Goofy, Please." 132 00:07:31,947 --> 00:07:35,186 After class one day, he showed me some of these pieces, 133 00:07:35,253 --> 00:07:38,393 and I looked at it, and I looked at him, 134 00:07:38,459 --> 00:07:39,896 and I thought, 135 00:07:39,963 --> 00:07:43,604 "This kid is from another universe, 136 00:07:43,671 --> 00:07:46,643 like, a whole nother planet." 137 00:07:46,710 --> 00:07:49,281 Thomas would be like, "Hey, come on, 138 00:07:49,348 --> 00:07:52,154 you know Goofy's a (bleep)." 139 00:07:52,220 --> 00:07:54,592 (laughs): And we would just laugh, man. 140 00:07:54,659 --> 00:07:56,630 We just thought that was so funny. 141 00:07:56,697 --> 00:08:00,971 It was clear that Thomas was very talented. 142 00:08:01,038 --> 00:08:02,140 For his thesis, 143 00:08:02,207 --> 00:08:05,581 he made this incredible short film. 144 00:08:05,981 --> 00:08:09,121 ♪♪ Well, I'd like to visit the moon ♪♪ 145 00:08:09,188 --> 00:08:13,564 ♪♪ On a rocket ship high in the air... ♪♪ 146 00:08:13,630 --> 00:08:15,768 He had little screenings; 147 00:08:15,835 --> 00:08:18,272 teachers would come, and students. 148 00:08:18,339 --> 00:08:22,047 The film felt so deep. 149 00:08:22,114 --> 00:08:24,485 I-I think it was somehow connected to him 150 00:08:24,552 --> 00:08:26,422 losing his father in freshman year. 151 00:08:26,489 --> 00:08:28,326 ♪♪ I would miss all the places and... ♪♪ 152 00:08:28,393 --> 00:08:30,030 PHILIP: Uncle Ronnie dying changed him, man. 153 00:08:30,096 --> 00:08:32,935 Thomas was in his freshman year at SCAD, 154 00:08:33,002 --> 00:08:34,939 and I didn't think he was going to make it, but, uh, 155 00:08:35,006 --> 00:08:37,210 once we buried my Uncle Ronnie, man, 156 00:08:37,277 --> 00:08:41,686 he, uh-- it's like his brain exploded. 157 00:08:42,789 --> 00:08:46,930 MARK: Depending on who saw it and when they saw it, 158 00:08:46,997 --> 00:08:50,136 it was either the funniest thing, 159 00:08:50,203 --> 00:08:52,709 or the saddest thing you'd ever seen. 160 00:08:52,775 --> 00:08:56,983 That short was what got him into Disney. 161 00:08:57,050 --> 00:08:58,386 No question. 162 00:08:58,453 --> 00:09:00,725 ♪♪ ♪♪ 163 00:09:02,729 --> 00:09:05,534 JENNA: Washington comes to Disney 164 00:09:05,601 --> 00:09:08,072 right out of college, fresh from SCAD. 165 00:09:08,139 --> 00:09:12,013 You know, he's there, the company's doing pretty well, 166 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:13,784 they've just had their hit with The Little Mermaid. 167 00:09:14,853 --> 00:09:18,126 LEONARD TRUSSEL: One of the things that-that I'm glad that I was 168 00:09:18,192 --> 00:09:20,029 able to be part of was that, um, 169 00:09:20,096 --> 00:09:23,704 Disney instituted this diversity program. 170 00:09:23,771 --> 00:09:28,647 We knew that we needed to bring in younger voices 171 00:09:28,714 --> 00:09:31,252 from a diversified point of view, 172 00:09:31,318 --> 00:09:33,524 and that would actually, uh, 173 00:09:33,590 --> 00:09:35,861 strengthen our company. 174 00:09:35,928 --> 00:09:38,600 And Thomas was one of the first of those. 175 00:09:38,667 --> 00:09:42,374 JENNA: Thomas started out at Disney as an assistant animator 176 00:09:42,441 --> 00:09:46,148 on DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp. 177 00:09:46,215 --> 00:09:49,054 It wasn't necessarily creative work, 178 00:09:49,121 --> 00:09:51,225 but things are fine, you know. 179 00:09:51,292 --> 00:09:54,231 It's not really moving as fast as he wants things 180 00:09:54,298 --> 00:09:56,703 to be moving, but he's doing all right. 181 00:09:56,770 --> 00:09:59,475 And then the uprisings happened. 182 00:09:59,542 --> 00:10:01,445 (helicopter blades whirring) 183 00:10:01,513 --> 00:10:04,451 (sirens wailing) 184 00:10:05,386 --> 00:10:07,558 EVELYN: When the shooting happened, 185 00:10:07,625 --> 00:10:10,330 and then the riots, 186 00:10:10,396 --> 00:10:13,770 Thomas was working in L. A. 187 00:10:13,837 --> 00:10:17,812 He called me and he said, "Mama, 188 00:10:17,879 --> 00:10:21,553 I just want to go down there." 189 00:10:21,620 --> 00:10:24,893 And I told him, 190 00:10:24,959 --> 00:10:28,567 "Son, you need to riot 191 00:10:28,634 --> 00:10:30,470 with that pen and paper." 192 00:10:30,538 --> 00:10:32,542 He was shook. 193 00:10:32,608 --> 00:10:34,111 I could see it in him, he was shook. 194 00:10:34,178 --> 00:10:36,248 He actually called me one time and was like, 195 00:10:36,315 --> 00:10:39,321 "If I ever get the chance to do a movie around here, 196 00:10:39,388 --> 00:10:41,458 I'm not holding back." 197 00:10:41,526 --> 00:10:43,964 -(sirens wailing) -(protestors shouting) 198 00:10:44,031 --> 00:10:45,868 (helicopter passing) 199 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:53,149 ♪♪ ♪♪ 200 00:10:53,216 --> 00:10:55,286 JENNA: While South Central Los Angeles 201 00:10:55,353 --> 00:10:57,224 was engulfed in flames, 202 00:10:57,290 --> 00:11:01,332 15 miles north in Burbank, another fire was about to erupt. 203 00:11:01,398 --> 00:11:05,006 What happened next is one of the most unlikely 204 00:11:05,073 --> 00:11:09,381 and unprecedented events in the history of corporate America. 205 00:11:09,448 --> 00:11:11,887 After the success of Beauty and the Beast, 206 00:11:11,953 --> 00:11:14,893 Michael Eisner put Dennis Stephenson in charge 207 00:11:14,959 --> 00:11:17,430 while he went on a sabbatical. 208 00:11:17,498 --> 00:11:20,003 But two weeks into the job, 209 00:11:20,069 --> 00:11:22,274 Stephenson had a health emergency 210 00:11:22,340 --> 00:11:25,380 and passed shortly thereafter... 211 00:11:26,783 --> 00:11:29,321 ...leaving the job open once more. 212 00:11:30,558 --> 00:11:32,662 We all voted for this guy 213 00:11:32,728 --> 00:11:33,864 named Tom Washington. 214 00:11:33,931 --> 00:11:35,734 But we didn't realize 215 00:11:35,801 --> 00:11:37,805 that Tom's first name 216 00:11:37,872 --> 00:11:42,180 was actually Thompson, not Thomas. 217 00:11:42,247 --> 00:11:45,386 Thomas Washington was an animator. 218 00:11:45,453 --> 00:11:48,594 People were pretty upset when they found out 219 00:11:48,660 --> 00:11:50,330 they voted for the wrong man. 220 00:11:52,300 --> 00:11:54,739 It felt like an honest mistake that we 221 00:11:54,806 --> 00:11:57,077 could sweep under the rug, but 222 00:11:57,143 --> 00:11:58,747 after Beauty and the Beast, 223 00:11:58,814 --> 00:12:01,051 there were a lot of eyes on us. 224 00:12:01,118 --> 00:12:02,320 We tried to handle it smoothly, 225 00:12:02,387 --> 00:12:05,961 but Thomas held our feet to the fire. 226 00:12:07,330 --> 00:12:11,005 JENNA: So, because of this, you know, "behind closed door, 227 00:12:11,071 --> 00:12:13,677 boys' club" handshake, 228 00:12:13,744 --> 00:12:15,614 Disney is now in radical 229 00:12:15,681 --> 00:12:18,152 new territory but entirely by default. 230 00:12:18,219 --> 00:12:20,925 So you have this young animator, 231 00:12:20,991 --> 00:12:22,695 this young, Black animator 232 00:12:22,762 --> 00:12:26,335 who comes into this company, all of a sudden has a ton 233 00:12:26,402 --> 00:12:30,076 of power at a hugely culturally significant moment, 234 00:12:30,143 --> 00:12:32,080 and he wants to do something with it. 235 00:12:32,147 --> 00:12:33,316 He wants to prove himself. 236 00:12:33,382 --> 00:12:35,420 PHILIP: This cat was on my line 237 00:12:35,486 --> 00:12:36,823 with some foolishness, 238 00:12:36,890 --> 00:12:38,493 talking about he's the CEO of Disney. 239 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:41,633 I was, I was crying laughing. 240 00:12:41,700 --> 00:12:43,269 (laughs) 241 00:12:43,336 --> 00:12:47,344 And then, you know, he took me to his office 242 00:12:47,410 --> 00:12:49,749 and people was, like, greeting him. 243 00:12:49,816 --> 00:12:53,055 First day, he took us all into a room 244 00:12:53,122 --> 00:12:55,226 that we call the stock room, which is where everybody 245 00:12:55,293 --> 00:12:56,896 hangs out before we get to work. 246 00:12:56,963 --> 00:12:59,902 And he shows us a frame of animation 247 00:12:59,969 --> 00:13:04,646 of Goofy in Mickey's trailer, and, uh, 248 00:13:04,712 --> 00:13:07,083 Mickey has Pluto on a leash. 249 00:13:07,150 --> 00:13:10,089 And it gets real quiet, 250 00:13:10,156 --> 00:13:12,260 and, uh, Washington goes, 251 00:13:12,327 --> 00:13:15,066 "Why is Goofy letting Mickey do that?" 252 00:13:15,133 --> 00:13:16,970 He's a very fine dog, sir. 253 00:13:17,037 --> 00:13:19,374 And, you know, we're all confused, we're just looking 254 00:13:19,441 --> 00:13:22,748 at each other, and Charlie goes, "What do you mean, sir?" 255 00:13:22,815 --> 00:13:26,923 And Washington goes, "Goofy's a dog, 256 00:13:26,990 --> 00:13:30,998 "and Pluto's a dog, so why is he letting Mickey 257 00:13:31,065 --> 00:13:33,537 do that to one of his own?" 258 00:13:34,605 --> 00:13:38,112 Yeah, T had them running scared from day one. 259 00:13:38,179 --> 00:13:42,420 I was, uh, fresh-faced and wild-eyed. 260 00:13:42,487 --> 00:13:47,498 I was an inbetweener for about three years, 261 00:13:47,565 --> 00:13:49,368 didn't see much movement. 262 00:13:50,904 --> 00:13:54,478 An inbetweener was usually for animators just starting out. 263 00:13:54,545 --> 00:13:58,553 So, say a character slaps somebody across the face. 264 00:13:58,620 --> 00:14:02,260 They would get a senior artist to do the fun part, 265 00:14:02,327 --> 00:14:07,538 drawing the first and the last frame that define the movement. 266 00:14:07,605 --> 00:14:12,848 The inbetweener draws all the many little frames in between. 267 00:14:13,917 --> 00:14:15,821 I was stuck as an inbetweener 268 00:14:15,888 --> 00:14:17,525 for years and years, 269 00:14:17,591 --> 00:14:19,996 but as soon as Thomas came in, he said, 270 00:14:20,063 --> 00:14:22,835 "I want you to be lead director on this." 271 00:14:23,603 --> 00:14:27,210 And I said, "On what?" And he said, 272 00:14:27,277 --> 00:14:30,551 "The Blackest movie of all time." 273 00:14:31,553 --> 00:14:33,557 -♪♪ Check, check, uh ♪♪ -♪♪ Get it, get, get... ♪♪ 274 00:14:33,623 --> 00:14:37,998 He said he wanted to make a movie about Black fatherhood. 275 00:14:38,065 --> 00:14:39,969 ♪♪ Get, get, get it... ♪♪ 276 00:14:40,036 --> 00:14:42,708 Man, he wanted to tackle everything in this movie. 277 00:14:42,775 --> 00:14:46,616 Segregation, single parenting, 278 00:14:46,683 --> 00:14:48,620 low-income career trajectories, 279 00:14:48,687 --> 00:14:52,293 fear of gang violence, incarceration, 280 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:56,402 the amount of cheese in African-American diets. 281 00:14:56,468 --> 00:15:00,844 He wanted to make a movie that covered all this and more... 282 00:15:00,911 --> 00:15:04,284 and he said he knew the perfect character to do it. 283 00:15:04,351 --> 00:15:06,455 ♪♪ Swingin' while I'm singin' ♪♪ 284 00:15:06,523 --> 00:15:07,625 ♪♪ Hey! ♪♪ 285 00:15:07,691 --> 00:15:12,200 Thomas, man, he knew that people thought 286 00:15:12,267 --> 00:15:14,705 Goofy was dumb, but he wanted to show 287 00:15:14,772 --> 00:15:18,112 the systemic factors that Goofy was dealing with. 288 00:15:18,179 --> 00:15:21,118 A shitty job, angry kid, 289 00:15:21,185 --> 00:15:24,458 and embarrassed by his lack of influence. 290 00:15:25,226 --> 00:15:30,336 Man, it was wild how deep he leaned in to all this, 291 00:15:30,403 --> 00:15:32,474 'cause, uh, as far as I knew, 292 00:15:32,541 --> 00:15:36,315 Thomas had a really solid homelife. 293 00:15:36,381 --> 00:15:39,555 It's a vacation with me and my best buddy. 294 00:15:39,622 --> 00:15:40,757 Oh, Donald Duck? 295 00:15:40,824 --> 00:15:43,395 No, silly, with you! 296 00:15:43,462 --> 00:15:45,333 ♪♪ ♪♪ 297 00:15:52,748 --> 00:15:54,719 ♪♪ ♪♪ 298 00:15:56,088 --> 00:15:59,896 ANNA SPEILMAN: Thomas and I, we were married young. 299 00:15:59,962 --> 00:16:02,802 We didn't have much, 300 00:16:02,868 --> 00:16:06,141 and, um, you know what, he never 301 00:16:06,208 --> 00:16:09,615 let that get in the way of us, though. 302 00:16:09,682 --> 00:16:11,285 If there was something we couldn't afford, 303 00:16:11,351 --> 00:16:13,355 he would just draw it. 304 00:16:13,422 --> 00:16:16,596 You know, you'd wake up and I would 305 00:16:16,663 --> 00:16:21,471 see anything from a coffee maker to a solid-gold jet 306 00:16:21,539 --> 00:16:25,413 on the refrigerator in the morning. 307 00:16:25,479 --> 00:16:27,016 That was Thomas. 308 00:16:27,785 --> 00:16:32,093 We-we had our son Maxwell pretty early. 309 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:34,130 He and Thomas, they were inseparable. 310 00:16:34,197 --> 00:16:36,134 He did everything for that boy. 311 00:16:36,201 --> 00:16:39,174 Oh, my God, look at this... 312 00:16:39,241 --> 00:16:41,011 Oh, look at this! 313 00:16:41,078 --> 00:16:44,117 Thomas kept saying that 314 00:16:44,184 --> 00:16:46,689 A Goofy Movie was for him. 315 00:16:47,525 --> 00:16:52,333 He'd say, "If I'm not here, you can show him this." 316 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:56,041 I was too scared to ask him what he meant by that. 317 00:16:56,108 --> 00:16:59,549 To give you a little context, when A Goofy Movie came out, 318 00:16:59,615 --> 00:17:02,888 Black masculinity in the media was in a really weird place. 319 00:17:02,955 --> 00:17:07,363 -Hello, I'm Blaine Edwards. -And I'm Antoine Merriweather! 320 00:17:07,430 --> 00:17:09,835 And welcome to Men on Films. 321 00:17:09,902 --> 00:17:11,539 The show that looks at movies... 322 00:17:11,606 --> 00:17:13,777 ...from a male point of view. 323 00:17:13,843 --> 00:17:16,849 JENNA: So on one hand, you've got men doing, kind of 324 00:17:16,916 --> 00:17:19,855 "faux queer" comedy, and on the other end 325 00:17:19,922 --> 00:17:23,597 of the spectrum, you've got these hypermasculine portrayals. 326 00:17:26,001 --> 00:17:29,074 Am I my brother's keeper? 327 00:17:30,777 --> 00:17:32,648 Yes, I am. 328 00:17:35,019 --> 00:17:37,290 And, by contrast, Goofy 329 00:17:37,357 --> 00:17:40,363 is a nuanced portrayal of a Black man 330 00:17:40,429 --> 00:17:43,670 whose priority is his family. 331 00:17:43,737 --> 00:17:46,576 -What? -Nothin'. 332 00:17:46,643 --> 00:17:49,782 Goofy really put forward the philosophy that... 333 00:17:49,849 --> 00:17:54,825 just love your children for who they are and accept them, 334 00:17:54,892 --> 00:17:56,663 and deal with the pain that the world 335 00:17:56,729 --> 00:17:58,500 is not going to love them like you do. 336 00:18:01,004 --> 00:18:03,175 ♪♪ ♪♪ 337 00:18:06,683 --> 00:18:10,691 I think in the movie, Dad laid in a lot of things. 338 00:18:10,757 --> 00:18:13,863 I-I notice it more now than I did then. 339 00:18:13,930 --> 00:18:15,701 ♪♪ If I could make you stop and take a look ♪♪ 340 00:18:15,767 --> 00:18:17,470 ♪♪ At me instead of just... ♪♪ 341 00:18:17,538 --> 00:18:21,646 MAXWELL: In the beginning, Max sings a song, 342 00:18:21,713 --> 00:18:25,787 dunks a basketball, and then is cheered on by his peers. 343 00:18:27,090 --> 00:18:29,260 I think my dad was making a comment 344 00:18:29,327 --> 00:18:30,597 on Black exceptionalism 345 00:18:30,664 --> 00:18:33,737 and how some people believe 346 00:18:33,803 --> 00:18:38,412 that performative assimilation is the best way to get by. 347 00:18:38,479 --> 00:18:43,022 My dad wanted to prove those limitations were just that, 348 00:18:43,088 --> 00:18:46,428 limits put on us by outsiders. 349 00:18:46,496 --> 00:18:50,369 That's why he made it a fishing trip. 350 00:18:50,436 --> 00:18:53,442 It's the same one we used to take. (chuckles) 351 00:18:54,845 --> 00:18:57,317 FRANK: The trip was supposed to start out 352 00:18:57,383 --> 00:19:00,156 as sort of like a freedom ride. 353 00:19:00,222 --> 00:19:02,226 And the map, which is central to the plot 354 00:19:02,293 --> 00:19:07,470 of the film and also represented Goofy's trust in his son Max, 355 00:19:07,538 --> 00:19:09,875 was supposed to remind the viewer 356 00:19:09,942 --> 00:19:12,748 of the Green Book and how Black travelers 357 00:19:12,815 --> 00:19:15,019 had to use it to advance their way 358 00:19:15,086 --> 00:19:19,394 through the Jim Crow South during the '30s and the '40s. 359 00:19:19,461 --> 00:19:23,035 A lot of the film had deeper meanings, and word 360 00:19:23,102 --> 00:19:27,945 got around that it meant a lot more in Thomas's eyes. 361 00:19:28,012 --> 00:19:31,251 MAXWELL: Dad wanted every Black person in America to feel like 362 00:19:31,318 --> 00:19:36,461 they were just a road trip away from being part of a movement. 363 00:19:36,529 --> 00:19:39,935 Even if their kids didn't understand the stakes. 364 00:19:40,002 --> 00:19:44,377 It was about destiny and how our children, 365 00:19:44,444 --> 00:19:47,183 our future, get to draw our path. 366 00:19:47,250 --> 00:19:49,320 I want to get us to doing something 367 00:19:49,387 --> 00:19:50,824 we've never done before. 368 00:19:50,891 --> 00:19:52,494 We have never truly drawn 369 00:19:52,561 --> 00:19:57,203 authentically Black characters, characters that act... 370 00:20:01,913 --> 00:20:04,618 Now, see, this is what I'm talking about. 371 00:20:04,685 --> 00:20:07,624 This is what I'm talking about. 372 00:20:07,691 --> 00:20:11,098 In order to draw authentically Black characters, 373 00:20:11,164 --> 00:20:13,335 one has to know Black people. 374 00:20:13,402 --> 00:20:17,678 Okay? Now, Tom went out on assignment. 375 00:20:17,745 --> 00:20:21,552 Researched, hung out, went to a couple Black cookouts. 376 00:20:21,619 --> 00:20:25,727 Said the wrong thing, got his ass beat, but now, now? 377 00:20:25,794 --> 00:20:28,465 He's more aware, he's more knowledgeable 378 00:20:28,533 --> 00:20:30,403 of how to draw. Okay? 379 00:20:30,469 --> 00:20:33,576 Thomas tried to pull back and be more 380 00:20:33,643 --> 00:20:37,016 subtle with his message, uh, when the complaints started, 381 00:20:37,083 --> 00:20:39,688 and we were getting complaints from everywhere. 382 00:20:39,755 --> 00:20:44,932 But there was nothing subtle about Thomas. 383 00:20:44,999 --> 00:20:48,138 At one point, he said he didn't want Mickey in the movie. 384 00:20:48,205 --> 00:20:50,042 And, um, I kept saying, 385 00:20:50,109 --> 00:20:52,681 "But it's Disney. What are you talking about?" 386 00:20:52,748 --> 00:20:55,520 I can remember Thomas ranting in his office, 387 00:20:55,587 --> 00:20:57,858 "They're trying to make me put this white boy in my movie." 388 00:20:57,925 --> 00:21:01,632 And I'm thinking, "He's a mouse." 389 00:21:01,699 --> 00:21:03,803 He told me from the beginning, 390 00:21:03,870 --> 00:21:06,776 "I'm not here for a long time, I'm here for a good time." 391 00:21:06,843 --> 00:21:10,282 Uh, he knew he was going to get fired, 392 00:21:10,349 --> 00:21:13,422 but the "when" of it was fun for him. 393 00:21:13,489 --> 00:21:14,959 It was like a game. 394 00:21:15,025 --> 00:21:20,336 We had 15, 16, sometimes 18-hour days. 395 00:21:20,402 --> 00:21:24,545 And, uh, he would be screaming, "We don't dance like that." 396 00:21:24,612 --> 00:21:28,452 And he would bring his friend's kids in 397 00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,091 and, uh, they would moonwalk and, 398 00:21:31,158 --> 00:21:34,632 and, you know, do all, like, you know, this stuff, you know? 399 00:21:34,698 --> 00:21:36,736 Oh, man, I must have drawn a pair 400 00:21:36,803 --> 00:21:40,109 of gloves dapping, I don't know, over 5,000 times? 401 00:21:40,176 --> 00:21:42,948 I just kept hearing, "That's not a dap, that's not a dap. 402 00:21:43,015 --> 00:21:44,217 Where's the snap?" 403 00:21:44,284 --> 00:21:45,654 You see my knees? 404 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:48,225 You see this, see this angle of these knees? 405 00:21:48,292 --> 00:21:50,864 Draw-- Draw this! Get this down, okay? 406 00:21:50,931 --> 00:21:52,935 One time, I just couldn't take it-- 407 00:21:53,001 --> 00:21:55,707 my fingers were just bleeding-- so I went up to talk to him, 408 00:21:55,774 --> 00:21:58,111 and he was up there drinking whiskey with Robert Townsend, 409 00:21:58,178 --> 00:22:02,320 and Janet Jackson, uh, Sinbad and Adina Howard. 410 00:22:02,386 --> 00:22:05,627 Well, when I poked my head in, Thomas went, 411 00:22:05,694 --> 00:22:07,330 "Who ordered the white rice?" 412 00:22:07,396 --> 00:22:09,568 (scoffs) And they all just laughed, 413 00:22:09,635 --> 00:22:12,808 and, uh, I just didn't get it. 414 00:22:12,875 --> 00:22:14,545 BRIAN McKNIGHT: Everybody used to be up there. 415 00:22:14,612 --> 00:22:18,653 Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Kadeem Hardison, 416 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:22,628 Harrison Ford, it was crazy. The parties were insane. 417 00:22:22,694 --> 00:22:25,800 Imagine Disney after The Lion King. 418 00:22:25,867 --> 00:22:29,107 You got this smooth-looking brother at the helm. 419 00:22:30,175 --> 00:22:31,444 (exhales) 420 00:22:32,446 --> 00:22:34,785 It was crazy he even had that office. 421 00:22:34,852 --> 00:22:36,589 Everyone would go up there and just hang 422 00:22:36,656 --> 00:22:39,595 as we plotted our overthrow of Hollywood. 423 00:22:39,662 --> 00:22:41,464 You couldn't tell us nothing. 424 00:22:41,532 --> 00:22:43,736 They had a big musical number planned 425 00:22:43,803 --> 00:22:45,941 with Bryan Adams in the movie. 426 00:22:46,007 --> 00:22:49,480 And one day, Thomas asked me to come by 427 00:22:49,548 --> 00:22:51,752 and see what he's working on. 428 00:22:51,819 --> 00:22:53,856 And we're walking through, and he stops in one 429 00:22:53,923 --> 00:22:55,827 of the rooms and plays me some of the music. 430 00:22:55,894 --> 00:22:59,100 And I'm like, "Yeah, you know, pop ballad. 431 00:22:59,167 --> 00:23:00,570 "You know, same old, same old. 432 00:23:00,637 --> 00:23:03,141 You know, it's-it's good, it's-it's cool." 433 00:23:03,208 --> 00:23:06,716 But he asks me, "Who do you like right now?" 434 00:23:06,782 --> 00:23:09,254 I'm like, "You know, I-I've been listening 435 00:23:09,320 --> 00:23:10,957 to this Tevin Campbell." 436 00:23:11,024 --> 00:23:15,600 And from then on, it just had to be Tevin Campbell. 437 00:23:15,667 --> 00:23:20,610 ♪♪ Last night I, I saw you ♪♪ 438 00:23:20,677 --> 00:23:22,246 ♪♪ Standing ♪♪ 439 00:23:22,313 --> 00:23:24,450 ♪♪ And I started ♪♪ 440 00:23:24,518 --> 00:23:26,689 ♪♪ Started pretending ♪♪ 441 00:23:26,756 --> 00:23:28,593 BRIAN: Most of the cats around there didn't 442 00:23:28,660 --> 00:23:30,296 even know who Tevin Campbell was. 443 00:23:30,362 --> 00:23:34,370 For three months, a lot of them were saying Kevin Campbell. 444 00:23:34,437 --> 00:23:39,748 ♪♪ Can we talk, baby, can we talk for a minute? ♪♪ 445 00:23:39,815 --> 00:23:41,852 ♪♪ Girl, I want to know your name ♪♪ 446 00:23:41,919 --> 00:23:44,023 ♪♪ I want to know your name ♪♪ 447 00:23:44,090 --> 00:23:45,860 SINBAD: Thomas was a cool cat. 448 00:23:45,927 --> 00:23:48,298 But the brother definitely had a chip on his shoulder. 449 00:23:48,365 --> 00:23:50,971 He didn't like it if you challenged his Blackness. 450 00:23:53,208 --> 00:23:55,647 FRANK: I think there was a part of Thomas 451 00:23:55,714 --> 00:23:59,521 that kind of felt that being an animator 452 00:23:59,588 --> 00:24:02,527 wasn't innately Black, you know? 453 00:24:02,594 --> 00:24:05,567 And he wanted to make it Black, 454 00:24:05,634 --> 00:24:07,236 he wanted to make it cool. 455 00:24:07,303 --> 00:24:11,077 He wanted to-to carve out his own space and not feel 456 00:24:11,144 --> 00:24:14,852 that he was divorced from his own culture, you know. 457 00:24:14,918 --> 00:24:18,158 He was loading his culture into this stuff that 458 00:24:18,225 --> 00:24:20,864 we were doing so that it just seemed normal 459 00:24:20,930 --> 00:24:24,337 and would seem normal to the rest of us. 460 00:24:24,404 --> 00:24:27,811 He had a lot of pressure, man-- the culture, the job itself, 461 00:24:27,878 --> 00:24:30,550 what-what he was trying to live up to that I'm not even sure 462 00:24:30,617 --> 00:24:32,721 that he knew that he could live up to it. 463 00:24:32,788 --> 00:24:36,328 And, uh, it had to take a huge toll on him. 464 00:24:36,394 --> 00:24:38,633 One morning I walk in the studio, I got my coffee, 465 00:24:38,700 --> 00:24:41,104 I'm ready to sit down, get to busi-- business. 466 00:24:41,171 --> 00:24:44,344 And Thomas like, "Psst! Psst! Come here, come here!" 467 00:24:44,410 --> 00:24:47,684 So I go over there and, uh, he's in his cubicle, 468 00:24:47,751 --> 00:24:51,424 he got this briefcase, he opens it up, 469 00:24:51,492 --> 00:24:52,761 there's a gun inside! 470 00:24:52,828 --> 00:24:57,370 I'm like, "Dude, what-what is this? 471 00:24:57,436 --> 00:24:58,906 What's it for?" 472 00:24:58,973 --> 00:25:03,448 And he's like, "This is to remind me that 473 00:25:03,516 --> 00:25:06,187 they don't know who the fuck I am." 474 00:25:06,254 --> 00:25:08,526 ♪♪ ♪♪ 475 00:25:11,665 --> 00:25:14,938 MAXWELL: Dad kind of started to lose it. 476 00:25:15,005 --> 00:25:17,878 He would stay up all night, talk to hisself. 477 00:25:17,944 --> 00:25:22,721 After a while, Mom... she had had enough. 478 00:25:24,691 --> 00:25:27,329 After a while, Mom couldn't take it anymore. 479 00:25:27,396 --> 00:25:29,702 He had just gotten too mean. 480 00:25:31,037 --> 00:25:33,943 ANNA: We had so much fun. 481 00:25:34,678 --> 00:25:38,586 But then, it wasn't fun anymore. 482 00:25:38,653 --> 00:25:41,057 He had been fooling around, yeah. 483 00:25:41,124 --> 00:25:45,065 And drinking a lot, and he got pretty mean. 484 00:25:45,132 --> 00:25:48,105 He would say some mean, nasty things to me, 485 00:25:48,171 --> 00:25:51,879 which he never, he had never done that before. 486 00:25:53,783 --> 00:25:55,887 I remember at one time, Maxwell tried to step in 487 00:25:55,954 --> 00:25:57,423 between his dad and I, 488 00:25:57,490 --> 00:26:00,028 and Thomas... 489 00:26:00,095 --> 00:26:04,103 was not kind. He kind of... 490 00:26:04,170 --> 00:26:06,241 (inhales sharply, sighs) 491 00:26:06,307 --> 00:26:09,180 He kind of raised his, um... 492 00:26:09,247 --> 00:26:12,420 he raised his fist... 493 00:26:12,486 --> 00:26:14,825 at Maxwell. 494 00:26:14,892 --> 00:26:18,198 That wasn't cool, because they-they 495 00:26:18,265 --> 00:26:20,269 had always been so close. 496 00:26:22,808 --> 00:26:24,745 He was a... 497 00:26:24,812 --> 00:26:26,982 he was a really good father. 498 00:26:27,049 --> 00:26:29,955 I mean, at least he tried to be a good father. 499 00:26:30,022 --> 00:26:32,928 I kept saying, "Thomas, 500 00:26:32,994 --> 00:26:35,800 "you're going to lose him, 501 00:26:35,867 --> 00:26:39,040 you're going to lose your son." 502 00:26:41,111 --> 00:26:44,785 But all he kept saying is... (sighs) 503 00:26:44,852 --> 00:26:47,624 "But this is for him." 504 00:26:49,962 --> 00:26:52,701 FRANK: I knew things were going downhill when 505 00:26:52,767 --> 00:26:54,470 Thomas's wife left him. 506 00:26:54,538 --> 00:26:57,376 Sh-She had been there from the beginning. 507 00:26:58,145 --> 00:27:00,850 And he started sleeping in his office. 508 00:27:00,917 --> 00:27:04,525 And, um, one day, there was a board meeting. 509 00:27:04,591 --> 00:27:09,333 All the Disney heads were there, and they started talking 510 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:13,175 about the budget was going a bit high on Goofy. 511 00:27:13,241 --> 00:27:16,314 And one of the guys asked Thomas, he said, uh, 512 00:27:16,381 --> 00:27:18,786 "Are you in control of the budget?" 513 00:27:18,853 --> 00:27:20,757 And Thomas said, "Of course I am. 514 00:27:20,824 --> 00:27:23,028 I'm Goofy." 515 00:27:23,094 --> 00:27:24,297 And then, 516 00:27:24,363 --> 00:27:29,407 he did this this chilling laugh. Like... 517 00:27:29,473 --> 00:27:32,948 (imitating Goofy's laugh) 518 00:27:33,014 --> 00:27:36,956 You know, l-like Goofy, but broken. 519 00:27:37,958 --> 00:27:40,597 (voice breaking): And it-it was terrifying, man. 520 00:27:40,663 --> 00:27:42,667 I almost started crying. 521 00:27:44,203 --> 00:27:47,209 He really thought he was Goofy. 522 00:27:52,954 --> 00:27:54,992 LEONARD: The company knew he had to go, 523 00:27:55,058 --> 00:27:58,766 but legally, he was still the CEO. 524 00:27:58,833 --> 00:28:02,641 That gentleman's show of hands was, uh, 525 00:28:02,707 --> 00:28:06,281 surprisingly hard to go back on. 526 00:28:06,347 --> 00:28:08,953 You know, they even tried to buy him out of his contract. 527 00:28:09,020 --> 00:28:12,794 Yeah, they offered him, like $75,000. 528 00:28:12,861 --> 00:28:14,765 No, no. 529 00:28:14,831 --> 00:28:18,506 We offered him $75 million, 530 00:28:18,573 --> 00:28:20,577 paid out over ten years. 531 00:28:20,643 --> 00:28:25,954 Um, that's how... that's how serious it was for us. 532 00:28:26,020 --> 00:28:27,423 I mean, he didn't take it. 533 00:28:27,489 --> 00:28:31,999 But, uh, maybe he should have taken it, you know? 534 00:28:33,502 --> 00:28:37,243 FRANK: He started getting really paranoid. 535 00:28:37,309 --> 00:28:40,917 He'd say he was afraid for his life, 536 00:28:40,984 --> 00:28:43,088 but he'd never say from whom. 537 00:28:43,823 --> 00:28:46,562 CHRIS: Suddenly, there were a bunch of guys in bow ties 538 00:28:46,629 --> 00:28:48,431 hanging around the office. 539 00:28:48,499 --> 00:28:50,369 He introduced us to one of them saying, 540 00:28:50,435 --> 00:28:53,174 "I want you to meet my new head of security, 541 00:28:53,241 --> 00:28:55,980 Al Shaheim X." 542 00:28:56,047 --> 00:28:58,351 The thing not a lot of people knew about, 543 00:28:58,418 --> 00:29:00,890 was Thomas had been going around town 544 00:29:00,957 --> 00:29:05,600 letting a lot of people know how huge this was going to be, 545 00:29:05,667 --> 00:29:09,206 and he had a lot of different Black empowerment groups, 546 00:29:09,273 --> 00:29:14,383 radical movements, and just straight-up gangs all wanting 547 00:29:14,450 --> 00:29:19,026 as much influence and subtle shout-outs as the other. 548 00:29:19,093 --> 00:29:21,865 You know, I think that he had made 549 00:29:21,932 --> 00:29:24,370 way too many deals at one point. 550 00:29:25,105 --> 00:29:28,044 At least, that's what... that's what I heard. 551 00:29:28,111 --> 00:29:34,524 Truthfully, it all came down to the end of the movie. 552 00:29:34,591 --> 00:29:36,829 Really. 553 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:41,371 CHRIS: Oh, man, the end of the movie. 554 00:29:41,437 --> 00:29:43,776 I heard he wanted Goofy and Max to get pulled over 555 00:29:43,843 --> 00:29:46,447 early on and, uh, you know... 556 00:29:46,515 --> 00:29:47,884 (gunshot echoes) 557 00:29:50,455 --> 00:29:53,963 Wh-Why would he do that? That makes no sense. 558 00:29:54,698 --> 00:29:58,004 FRANK: That Powerline concert at the end, 559 00:29:58,071 --> 00:30:01,077 it wasn't supposed to be all hunky-dory, dancing-dancing. 560 00:30:01,144 --> 00:30:03,816 Nah, it wasn't supposed to be like that at all. 561 00:30:03,883 --> 00:30:05,787 (electricity crackling) 562 00:30:05,853 --> 00:30:09,093 PHILIP: I heard Goofy was supposed to get shot at the concert. 563 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,999 You know, a Black man runs onstage 564 00:30:12,066 --> 00:30:14,538 like that at a major venue? Come on, man. 565 00:30:14,604 --> 00:30:16,407 There's something wrong here. 566 00:30:16,474 --> 00:30:19,046 Thomas was trying to make a statement. 567 00:30:20,082 --> 00:30:23,856 PRODUCER: Do you, uh, think his death was an accident? 568 00:30:25,125 --> 00:30:26,895 Next question, man. 569 00:30:26,962 --> 00:30:28,431 No, I don't. 570 00:30:28,499 --> 00:30:31,270 I-I've never thought it was an accident. 571 00:30:32,540 --> 00:30:34,377 PRODUCER: Why not? 572 00:30:34,443 --> 00:30:37,182 Um, well... 573 00:30:38,184 --> 00:30:40,155 ...partly because of his-his mood at the end, 574 00:30:40,222 --> 00:30:43,428 but, um, you know, there was also the tape. 575 00:30:44,564 --> 00:30:46,167 What tape? 576 00:30:54,483 --> 00:30:57,991 THOMAS: ♪♪ For the first time ever ♪♪ 577 00:30:58,058 --> 00:31:01,230 ♪♪ Seeing it eye to eye ♪♪ 578 00:31:02,767 --> 00:31:07,544 Oh, I'm so sorry. 579 00:31:07,610 --> 00:31:09,581 Oh, man, I... 580 00:31:09,648 --> 00:31:15,626 Ooh, I'm close, I'm-I'm close... 581 00:31:15,693 --> 00:31:18,064 I'm so close. 582 00:31:20,570 --> 00:31:22,339 (shudders) 583 00:31:27,751 --> 00:31:31,124 (breathing heavily) 584 00:31:31,190 --> 00:31:33,896 I got to finish this. 585 00:31:39,006 --> 00:31:41,578 (crying): I got to finish it. 586 00:31:43,916 --> 00:31:47,924 BRIAN: Back then, mental health wasn't something that we talked about. 587 00:31:47,991 --> 00:31:50,429 I didn't even know what to characterize 588 00:31:50,496 --> 00:31:53,969 what I saw him going through, what it... what it was. 589 00:31:54,036 --> 00:31:56,675 I just knew he was going through something, um, 590 00:31:56,742 --> 00:32:00,482 something that was very, very difficult for him to deal with. 591 00:32:02,186 --> 00:32:05,225 This is a little hard for me right now. 592 00:32:07,697 --> 00:32:10,168 I-I don't know why. 593 00:32:10,235 --> 00:32:14,811 When the news finally broke that Dad was officially out, 594 00:32:14,878 --> 00:32:18,451 they let him back on the lot for one final screening 595 00:32:18,519 --> 00:32:21,023 of what they were able to piece together behind his back. 596 00:32:21,090 --> 00:32:23,629 (projector clicking) 597 00:32:23,696 --> 00:32:25,098 He didn't know they had been working 598 00:32:25,165 --> 00:32:26,635 on the movie without him... 599 00:32:26,702 --> 00:32:29,340 changing and corrupting his original vision. 600 00:32:30,208 --> 00:32:33,381 He-he didn't take the news well. 601 00:32:33,448 --> 00:32:35,252 I was at that last screening. 602 00:32:35,318 --> 00:32:37,891 It was the Bigfoot stuff that put him over the edge. 603 00:32:37,957 --> 00:32:40,797 FRANK: They'd added it without his knowledge. 604 00:32:40,863 --> 00:32:42,801 He'd wanted Goofy and Max 605 00:32:42,867 --> 00:32:45,238 to wander into a thrift store 606 00:32:45,305 --> 00:32:47,811 and discover Huey Newton's rattan throne. 607 00:32:47,877 --> 00:32:51,384 And once they sat in it, Max would finally understand 608 00:32:51,450 --> 00:32:53,154 what Goofy had been fighting 609 00:32:53,221 --> 00:32:55,493 to make him understand all along. 610 00:32:55,560 --> 00:33:00,368 Instead, they took out the thrift store and the throne 611 00:33:00,435 --> 00:33:03,441 and put in that Bigfoot bit. 612 00:33:03,509 --> 00:33:06,447 It's like they were saying, "What you were after, 613 00:33:06,515 --> 00:33:10,188 "your message, it's a fantasy as elusive 614 00:33:10,255 --> 00:33:12,660 and unreal as Bigfoot." 615 00:33:13,596 --> 00:33:14,865 You're going to see... 616 00:33:14,931 --> 00:33:17,302 you're going to be proud of me... 617 00:33:18,973 --> 00:33:21,143 I'm doing this for you. 618 00:33:21,210 --> 00:33:23,682 I'm doing this for all of us. 619 00:33:23,749 --> 00:33:26,822 (breathing heavily) 620 00:33:26,889 --> 00:33:28,526 Oh, man. 621 00:33:28,592 --> 00:33:30,328 (crying) 622 00:33:30,395 --> 00:33:34,370 GARY: I could feel him get up and leave 623 00:33:34,436 --> 00:33:37,342 and I-I heard the door close and I went out after him, 624 00:33:37,409 --> 00:33:40,382 and by the time I got to the parking lot, he was gone. 625 00:33:40,448 --> 00:33:43,421 Something... I don't know, there was a look in his eye. 626 00:33:43,488 --> 00:33:47,029 He-he just got in the car and he took off... 627 00:33:47,797 --> 00:33:49,668 ...and didn't come back. 628 00:33:53,776 --> 00:33:55,312 ♪♪ ♪♪ 629 00:34:10,041 --> 00:34:12,145 MAXWELL: They, um... 630 00:34:12,212 --> 00:34:14,784 they never found his body. 631 00:34:20,362 --> 00:34:25,706 I think that was... especially hard for Mom. 632 00:34:28,679 --> 00:34:30,181 Dad! 633 00:34:32,085 --> 00:34:33,488 ♪♪ ♪♪ 634 00:34:33,555 --> 00:34:36,093 ANNA: We actually watch... 635 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:37,462 we watch the movies a lot. 636 00:34:37,530 --> 00:34:40,670 Uh, I couldn't for a while. 637 00:34:40,736 --> 00:34:46,147 But... but once I did, I couldn't stop. 638 00:34:46,213 --> 00:34:48,151 ♪♪ ♪♪ 639 00:34:50,255 --> 00:34:52,059 It's like, um, 640 00:34:52,125 --> 00:34:54,363 it was like having him around, 641 00:34:54,430 --> 00:34:57,169 you know, in a fun way. 642 00:34:57,235 --> 00:34:59,106 Yeah. 643 00:35:07,890 --> 00:35:12,332 You know that, uh, "Damn, you live like this?" meme? 644 00:35:13,101 --> 00:35:17,009 It's so funny to me because the essence of it 645 00:35:17,075 --> 00:35:19,781 is those drawings he did in college. 646 00:35:19,848 --> 00:35:24,156 Black folks living their lives, being funny, 647 00:35:24,223 --> 00:35:28,832 being free, being real. 648 00:35:28,899 --> 00:35:31,237 (scoffs) 649 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:35,345 ANNA: He would've been really proud that 650 00:35:35,412 --> 00:35:37,650 he became part of the culture. 651 00:35:38,384 --> 00:35:40,155 I think that's what he wanted in the end, 652 00:35:40,221 --> 00:35:42,827 to just be part of the family. 653 00:35:45,365 --> 00:35:47,436 And along the way... 654 00:35:48,271 --> 00:35:51,678 ...he made the Blackest movie of all time. 655 00:35:51,745 --> 00:35:54,617 ♪♪ ♪♪ 656 00:35:58,993 --> 00:36:01,397 ♪♪ Yeah, yeah ♪♪ 657 00:36:06,575 --> 00:36:09,413 ♪♪ Got myself a notion ♪♪ 658 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:14,356 ♪♪ One I know that you'll understand ♪♪ 659 00:36:14,423 --> 00:36:17,229 ♪♪ To set the world in motion ♪♪ 660 00:36:17,997 --> 00:36:21,470 ♪♪ By reaching out for each other's hands ♪♪ 661 00:36:21,538 --> 00:36:26,815 ♪♪ Maybe we'll discover What we should have known all along ♪♪ 662 00:36:26,882 --> 00:36:29,521 ♪♪ Yeah ♪♪ 663 00:36:29,587 --> 00:36:31,057 ♪♪ One way or another ♪♪ 664 00:36:31,123 --> 00:36:33,962 ♪♪ Together's where we both belong ♪♪ 665 00:36:34,029 --> 00:36:37,503 ♪♪ If we listen to each other's heart ♪♪ 666 00:36:37,570 --> 00:36:39,006 ♪♪ Oh, yeah ♪♪ 667 00:36:39,073 --> 00:36:41,343 ♪♪ We'll find we're never too far apart ♪♪ 668 00:36:41,410 --> 00:36:44,884 ♪♪ And maybe love is the reason why ♪♪ 669 00:36:44,951 --> 00:36:50,763 ♪♪ For the first time ever, we're seeing it eye to eye. ♪♪ 670 00:36:50,830 --> 00:36:53,234 Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org