‘Life, Animated’ documentary full of warmth

Published 1:30 am Friday, July 15, 2016

We all know grown-ups who are obsessed with Disney movies. Maybe you are one of them.

But even the most dedicated superfan might be amazed by the knowledge residing in the complicated brain of Owen Suskind. Owen is the subject of the documentary “Life, Animated,” inspired by a nonfiction book by his journalist father, Ron.

Twenty-three-years old when filming took place, Owen is a high-functioning autistic man. The film flashes back as his parents recall their bewilderment when he became silent and withdrawn as a child.

After years of Owen speaking gibberish, his parents realized that they could communicate with him by reciting dialogue from the many Disney cartoons he’d watched. Not only had Owen memorized all the dialogue, he’d taught himself to read from watching the credits.

He had many setbacks (as Owen says of his teenage years, “I fell into darkness and walked the halls of fear”), but Owen has advanced a great deal. The documentary follows him as he prepares to leave the security of school and therapy and live independently in an assisted-living apartment.

This is difficult, because Owen doesn’t like change. One therapist suggests this is why he is drawn to repeat viewings of the Disney films — they are always the same, and they always have happy endings.

Another suggested reason for Owen’s Disney fixation is that cartoon characters have exaggerated features, gestures and voices. That makes it easier for him to interpret meaning.

So when his parents are preparing to drive him to his new condo, Owen needs to slow down the departure. “Can we watch three scenes from ‘Dumbo’ first?” he reasonably requests.

Occasionally director Roger Ross Williams (“God Loves Uganda”) nudges the parallels between Disney films and Owen’s life a little hard. “Life, Animated” begins with a clip from “Peter Pan,” about a boy who can’t grow up. And when Owen is left alone for the first time in his new place, he watches the scene in “Bambi” where the mother dies.

But overall this is a warm portrait of a family navigating a profound challenge. The other member of the clan is Owen’s older brother Walter (prophetically, he shares the same first name as the founder of the Disney empire). Walter worries about his own responsibilities in the future, and that his brother might struggle with issues like physical intimacy. Because there is no sex in Disney movies.

“Life, Animated” raises a lot of fascinating questions. And, as documentaries regularly do, it vividly testifies to the remarkable resilience of human beings.