At ‘Life, Animated’ premiere, Disney, and a young man, come to life

Animated Disney classics have served many purposes over the years, brightening children’s lives and serving as an impromptu babysitter for strung-out parents. They might never, though, have functioned in the role they do for Owen Suskind in “Life, Animated,” a new documentary from the Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams.

For much of his life, Suskind has faced challenges relating to his autism – struggling to connect socially, to function at conventional schools or jobs, to screen out a kind of mental noise. Enter an unlikely savior.

From “Dumbo” to “Beauty and the Beast,” “Peter Pan” to “Aladdin,” Disney movies have been consumed religiously by Suskind. They have helped him, as his parents Ron and Cornelia Suskind describe in Ross Williams’ film, put the world in context, not to mention brought him a great deal of joy.

That joy was evident Monday night at a downtown hotel here, where the Suskind family, including Owen, had joined Oscar-winning Walt Disney Animation composer Alan Menken and “Aladdin” voice actor Gilbert Gottfried. After the screening, Gottfried and Owen Suskind took to the front of the theater to recite lines from “Aladdin” (“he actually knows it a helluva lot better than i do,” Gottfried half-joked as Suskind fed the actor his own movie lines).

Afterward, Menken and Owen Suskind gathered in a lobby, camera-wielding premiere-goers forming a semi-circle around them as Menken sat at the keyboard and Owen sang a medley of Disney tunes. Dozens of people streamed up to Cornelia and Ron, the latter even hugging some of them.

“Owen turns the music and the dialogue into a kind of map,” Ron Suskind, a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist and author, had said a few moments before. “You can see Owen really lives inside these movies, turning them into a way of meeting the world.”

Added Cornelia, “Owen has used the music equally as much as the films to help anchor him, to bring him up when he’s down.”

The Suskinds’ extraordinary tale (it was also documented in Ron Suskind’s 2014 book “Life, Animated” and concurrent New York Times article) sees Owen first disappear into himself at age 3 with a form of regressive autism. Naturally, this sends Ron and Cornelia into parental despair. But several years later Owen emerges, with the help of Disney movies, whose bold facial expressions and ordered script he uniquely connects with.

Now 25, Suskind lives on his own at a semi-independent facility, the movie showing him going through adult crucibles, such as a romantic breakup and landing a job (at a movie theater, naturally) – all fueled by a level of devotion and savvy from Ron and Cornelia that would make even conscientious parents envious.

“It’s as much a film about love and love of family,” Ross Williams said. “Anyone can find a pathway to their family with love.” His movie, which arrives in theaters July 1 after winning a major prize at Sundance, uses skillful animation to replicate Owen’s feeling of living inside a Disney movie as well as an ethereal techno score to amplify its emotional grooves.

“We’re architects; we create structures,” Menken said. “This,” he added, gesturing to Owen,“ is the greatest evidence that people can live inside these structures.”

The film’s theme of finding one’s own way in the world (also, of course, a common Disney motif) was addressed to Owen Suskind. He invoked Sebastian from “The Little Mermaid.” “It’s like I always say: ‘Children have to be free to lead their own lives.’”

Asked what movie he most loved, Suskind demurred. :I don’t have a favorite. I love them all.”

“It’s sort of like asking what your favorite child is,” Corneilia added wryly.

Owen did, however, point to his affection for Sebastian, “because he’s fun-loving and...helps guide the hero and heroine to their dreams.”

Standing next to him, Menken added, “I just want to say Oscars are great. But this beats any Oscar.”

@ZeitchikLAT