The second highest-grossing film of 2017 didn’t have a superhero, a spaceship, or even a fast car in it. It was a tale as old as time—one that’s been told at least a few times by Disney itself. But as the world fell back in love with Belle, her prince, and the anthropomorphic crockery that populate this version of Beauty and the Beast, musical fans and Disney die-hards also reckoned once again with the tragic backstory of one of its creators.

Howard Ashman, the show’s genius lyricist, didn’t live to see the original animated movie premiere in theaters back in 1991—but his legacy lives on in works including Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Little Shop of Horrors, an impressive run for a talented man cut down in his prime by complications from AIDS. In Howard, a new documentary from director Don Hahn premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival, Ashman’s friends, family, and collaborators reflect on how the brilliant man was, and the many songs and stories he never got to tell.

Ashman’s legacy has never exactly vanished. His longtime creative partner, composer Alan Menken, said in a phone call that thanks to Broadway re-stagings of their classic Disney collaborations, sequel films, international concerts, and so on, the world that Ashman created has remained a vital part of the culture in the 27 years since his death. And now, with Disney on a live-action remake kick, Beauty and the Beast dominating the box office, and live-action productions of Aladdin and The Little Mermaid in the works, a whole new generation will have a chance to be part of that world.

The time was ripe for legendary Disney producer Don Hahn, a man with credits that stretch from 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit to 2017’s Beauty and the Beast remake, to ensure via this documentary that even as Ashman’s family-friendly confections enjoyed a renaissance, the darker story of his life got the attention it deserved.

Ashman was grappling, at first secretly and then openly, with AIDS throughout the process of creating The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and a good portion of Aladdin. The closing credits to 1991’s Beauty and the Beast are dedicated to him.