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Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)
Encyclopedia
Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated film
produced by Walt Disney
and based on the fairy tale
"La Belle au bois dormant
" by Charles Perrault
. The film is the sixteenth animated feature
in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, and was originally released to theatres on January 29, 1959 by Buena Vista Distribution
.
Before Merryweather is able to give her blessing, a wicked witch named Maleficent appears, expressing disappointment of not being invited to the ceremony. As revenge for the insult she curses the princess: before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, Aurora will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die.
As Maleficent disappears, the distraught King Stefan requests that Merryweather break the curse. Even though Merryweather is unable to undo Maleficent's curse, she is able to weaken it. If Aurora was to touch a spindle, she wouldn't die, but rather fall into a deep slumber that she could only be awoken from by a true love's kiss.
Though King Stefan orders all spinning wheels in the kingdom burned, the three fairies know Maleficent's spell cannot be stopped that easily and devise a plan to protect her. With the King and Queen's consent, they disguise themselves as mortals and sneak Aurora away with them to a woodland cottage.
Sixteen years later, Aurora - renamed Briar Rose - has grown into a gorgeous young woman with the blessings that Flora and Fauna bestowed to her. Sweet and gentle, she dreams of falling in love one day. As Rose gathers berries, while singing, she attracts the attention of Prince Phillip as he is out riding his horse Samson in the woods. When they meet, they instantly fall in love; Phillip believing her to be a peasant girl, and she thinking him a woodsman. Realizing that she has to return home, Rose flees from Phillip without ever learning his name.
Later that day, the fairies reveal the truth to Rose and despite her heartbreak they take her to her parents. Meanwhile, Phillip tells his father about the "peasant girl" he met, adding that he wishes to marry her in spite of his betrothal to Princess Aurora. King Hubert tries to convince Phillip to marry the princess, but fails.
In the palace, Maleficent uses her magic to lure Aurora to a strange room, where an enchanted spinning wheel awaits her. The good fairies tried to stop her, but it was too late. Spellbound, Aurora pricked her finger on the spindle and fell into a deep sleep, fuffiling the altered curse. The good fairies place her on a bed and place a powerful charm on all the people in the kingdom, causing them to fall asleep until the spell is broken.
Before falling asleep, King Hubert tells Stefan of his son being in love with a peasant girl, which the fairies overhear and realize that Prince Phillip is the man Aurora has fallen in love with. They set off on a search to find, and convince him to kiss the princess and break the curse. However, the Prince has already been kidnapped by Maleficent and taken to the dungeons on the forbidden mountain after they discover the cottage been ransacked and Phillip's hat in the floor, to prevent him from breaking her spell.
The fairies discover the Prince's whereabouts, sneak into the forbidden mountain, and free the prince. Armed with a magical Sword and Shield, Phillip and the fairies escape from the forbidden mountain. Maleficent places a massive forest of thorns around the kingdom to keep Phillip out. But as Phillip is undeterred, Maleficent calls on the powers of Hell to transform herself into a Dragon. The sword is plunged into the dragon's heart, killing her. Phillip climbs to Aurora's chamber, and awakens her with a kiss. As the film ends, the couple dance together, happy to each learn that their betrothed and their beloved are one and the same.
, Disney would move to the use of xerography
to transfer animators' drawings from paper to celluloid. Its art, which Walt Disney wanted to look like a living illustration and which was inspired by medieval art, was not in the typical Disney style. Because the Disney studio had already made two features based on fairy tales, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
and Cinderella
, Walt Disney wanted this film to stand out from its predecessors by choosing a different visual style. The movie eschewed the soft, rounded look of earlier Disney features for a more stylized one. Since Super Technirama 70 was used, it also meant the backgrounds could contain more detailed and complex artwork than ever used in an animated movie before.
While Disney's regular production designer, Ken Anderson
was in charge of the film's overall look, Disney artist Eyvind Earle
was made the film's color stylist and chief background designer, and Disney gave him a significant amount of freedom in designing the settings and selecting colors for the film. Earle also painted the majority of the backgrounds himself. The elaborate paintings usually took seven to ten days to paint; by contrast, a typical animation background took only one workday to complete. Disney's decision to give Earle so much artistic freedom was not popular among the Disney animators, who had until Sleeping Beauty exercised some influence over the style of their characters and settings.
It was also the first time the studio experimented with the Xerox process. Woolie Reitherman used it on the dragon as a way to enlarge and reduce its size, but due to the primitive equipment available in this early test, the Xerox lines were then replaced with traditional ink and paint.
Of interesting note is the fact that Chuck Jones
, who gained fame as an animation director with Warner Bros. Animation
, did some work on the film. He worked with the studio during a brief period when Warner Bros. closed its Animation department, anticipating that 3-D film
would replace animation as a box office draw. When the studio was re-opened following the failure of 3-D, Jones ended his work at Disney and returned to Warner Bros. His work on Sleeping Beauty, which he spent four months on, remained uncredited. Ironically, during his early years at WB, Jones was a heavy user of Disney-style animation.
variant. The prince was given the princely name most familiar to Americans in the 1950s: "Prince Phillip", named after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
. The evil fairy was aptly named Maleficent
(a Latin-derived adjective meaning "harmfully malicious"). Sleeping Beauty's mother is never named in the film itself or the character reference sheets but according to Disney legend around the studio she was meant to be called Queen Leah, but is otherwise always referred to as "the queen," whereas both her father and that of the prince are given names that are used several times, both in dialogue and narration.
Walt Disney had suggested that all three good fairies should look alike, but veteran animators Frank Thomas
and Ollie Johnston
objected, saying that three identical fairies would not be exciting. They chose to have the fairies in different personalities, looks, and colours just like the famed Disney duck trio Huey, Dewey and Louie
. Additionally, the idea originally included seven fairies instead of three, as there are seven fairies in the story's main reference, Perrault's version. In determining Maleficent's design, standard depictions of witches and hags were dismissed (as it would too closely resembled the Wicked Queen's guise in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
) for animator Marc Davis opted for a more elegant look. In his research of the period and artwork of the Medieval times he came across a picture of a woman of a religious nature but was dressed elegantly devilish with flowing capes and clothes resembling flames. With this image in his head he centered around the appearance of flames, ultimately crowning the villain with "the horns of the devil
." He even went as far as to give Maleficent bat-looking wings for her collar. In the final production the individual character of the three good fairies and the elegant villain proved to be among the film's strongest points.
Several story points for this film came from discarded ideas for Disney's previous fairy tale involving a sleeping heroine: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They include Maleficent's capture of the Prince, as well as her mocking him and the Prince's daring escape from her castle. Disney discarded these ideas from Snow White because his artists were not able to draw a human male believably enough at the time, although they were incorporated into the comic book version of the film. Also discarded from Snow White but used in this film were the ideas of the dance with the makeshift prince (also used as "Prince Buckethead" in the Snow White comic book), and the fantasy sequence of the prince and princess dancing in the clouds, which was also considered but dropped from Cinderella.
, who had played Commander Buzz Corry on television's Space Patrol five years before Sleeping Beauty was released. For the final battle sequence, Kemmer was photographed on a wooden buck. Among the actresses who performed in reference footage for this film were Spring Byington
, Frances Bavier
, and Helene Stanley.
Helene Stanley was the live action reference for Princess Aurora. The only known surviving footage of Stanley as Aurora's live-action reference is a clip from the television program Disneyland, which consists of the artists sketching her dancing with the woodland animals. It was not the first or last time Stanley worked for Disney; she also provided live-action references for Cinderella
and Anita from One Hundred and One Dalmatians
, and portrayed Polly Crockett for the TV series Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
. An episode of The Mickey Mouse Club television series features Stanley re-enacting scenes from the Sleeping Beauty for the Mousketeers to watch (a clip from this episode is included as a special feature on the Cinderella
Platinum Edition DVD).
All the live actors' performances were screened for the animators' reference as Walt Disney insisted that much of Sleeping Beauty's character animation be as close to live action as possible.
, originally released Sleeping Beauty to theaters in both standard 35mm prints and large-format 70mm prints. The Super Technirama 70
prints were equipped with six-track stereophonic sound
; some CinemaScope
-compatible 35mm Technirama prints were released in four-track stereo, and others had monaural soundtracks. On the initial run, Sleeping Beauty was paired with the short musical/documentary film Grand Canyon
which won an Academy Award.
During its original release in 1959, Sleeping Beauty earned approximately $7.7 million in box office rentals. Sleeping Beauty's production costs, which totaled $6 million, made it the most expensive Disney film up to that point, and over twice as expensive as each of the preceding three Disney animated features: Alice in Wonderland
, Peter Pan
, and Lady and the Tramp
. The high production costs of Sleeping Beauty, coupled with the underperformance of much of the rest of Disney's 1959-1960 release slate resulted in the company posting its first annual loss in a decade for fiscal year 1960, and massive layoffs were done throughout the animation department.
The film was met with mixed reviews from critics, often citing the film being slowly paced and having little character development. Nevertheless, the film has sustained a strong following and is today hailed as one of the best animated features ever made, thanks to its stylized designs by painter Eyvind Earle
who also was the art director for the movie, its lush music score and its large-format widescreen
and stereophonic sound presentation.
Like Alice in Wonderland, which was not initially successful either, Sleeping Beauty was never re-released theatrically in Walt Disney's lifetime. However, it had many re-releases in theaters over the decades. The film was re-released theatrically in 1970
, 1979
(in 70mm 6 channel stereo, as well as in 35 mm stereo and mono), 1986
, 1993
, and 1995
. Sleeping Beauty's successful reissues have made it the second most successful film released in 1959, second to Ben-Hur
, with a lifetime gross of $51.6 million. When adjusted for ticket price inflation, the domestic total gross comes out to $478.22 million, placing it in the top 30 of adjusted films.
, Betamax
and Laserdisc
in 1986 in the Classics collection
, becoming the first Disney Classics video to be digitally processed in Hi-Fi stereo. The film underwent a digital restoration in 1997, and that version was released to both VHS
and Laserdisc
again as part of the Masterpiece Collection
. The 1997 VHS edition also came with a special commemorative booklet included, with brief facts on the making of the movie. In 2003, the restored Sleeping Beauty was released to DVD in a 2-disc "Special Edition" which included both a widescreen version (formatted at 2.35:1) and a pan and scan
version as well.
A 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition release of Sleeping Beauty, as a 2-disc DVD & Blu-ray Disc
, was released on October 7, 2008 in the US, making Sleeping Beauty the first entry in the Platinum Edition line to be released in high definition video. This release is based upon a new 2007 restoration of Sleeping Beauty from the original Technicolor negatives (intrapositives several generations removed from the original negative were used for other home video releases). The new restoration features the film in its full negative aspect ratio of 2.55:1, wider than both the prints shown at the film's original limited Technirama engagements in 2.20:1 and the CinemaScope-compatible reduction prints for general release at 2.35:1. The Blu-ray set features BD-Live, an online feature, and the extras include a virtual castle and multi-player games. The Blu-ray release also includes disc 1 of the DVD version of the film in addition to the two Blu-ray discs. The DVD was released on October 27, 2008 in the UK. The Blu-ray release is the first ever release on the Blu-ray format of any Disney feature produced by Walt Disney himself.
game Kingdom Hearts
(although her appearances are brief), and Maleficent is a villain in all three Kingdom Hearts games, and as a brief ally at the third game's climax. The good fairies appear in Kingdom Hearts II
, giving Sora
new clothes. Diablo appears in Kingdom Hearts II to resurrect her defeated mistress. The PSP
game Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
, features a world based on the movie, Enchanted Dominion, and characters who appear are Aurora/Briar Rose, Maleficent, Maleficent's goons, the three faires and Prince Phillip, the latter serving as temporary party member for Aqua during her battle against Maleficent and her henchmen.
She is also a playable character in the game Disney Princess.
Princess Aurora, Prince Phillip, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather were featured as guests in Disney's House of Mouse
and Maleficent was one of the villains in Mickey's House of Villains
.
Maleficent's goons appear in the Maroon Cartoon studio lot in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit
. The Bluebirds from the film also appear as "tweeting birds" that fly around Roger Rabbit's or Eddie Valiant's heads in two scenes, after a refrigerator fell on top of Roger's head and while Eddie Valiant is in Toontown, the birds are seen again flying around his head until he shoos them away.
The first all-new story featuring the characters from the movie appeared in Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams
, the first volume of collection of the Disney Princesses. It was released on September 4, 2007.
Various characters from the film also appear in the board game of the same name.
Aurora is featured in a PSA for wildfire prevention with Smokey Bear
.
Flora, Fauna and Merryweather have a brief computer animated cameo appearances in Shrek
as well as Aurora, who also appeared in Shrek 2
and Shrek the Third
but looks different than her appearance in the Disney film.
In the upcoming American fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time
, Maleficent will be a recurring regular, as she will be a adversary of the Evil Queen, and is also sinister. Her role will be played by Kristin Bauer
.
Grammy Awards
Young Artist Award
American Film Institute
Lists
children's board game
for two to four players based upon Sleeping Beauty. The object of the game is to be the first player holding three different picture cards to reach the castle and the space marked "The End".
The Disney film retains the basics of Charles Perrault
's 17th century fairy tale about a princess cursed to sleep one hundred years, but adds three elderly fairies who protect the princess, a prince armed with a magic sword and shield, and other details. The Disney twists on the tale are incorporated into the game, and Disney's "stunning graphics" illustrate the game board. In addition to the board game, the film generated books, toys, and other juvenile merchandise.
The equipment consists of a center-seamed game board, four tokens in various colors, four spinners, four magic wands, and a deck of picture cards.
The first player moves the number of spaces along the track according to their spin on their dial. If they land on a pink star, their turn ends. If they land on a yellow star, they draws a card and follows its instruction. If they draw a picture card, they retain it face down at their place. If a player spins a 6, they have the choice of moving 6 spaces or taking a magic wand. They may play the wand at any time during the game and in doing so draws 2 cards, following their instructions. A player must hold three different picture cards before entering the Path of Happiness. If they do not hold 3 picture cards, they continues around the Deep Sleep circle until they attains the required 3 picture cards. Should a player land on a purple Maleficent space, they returns one of their picture cards to the deck.
Sleeping Beauty was made while Walt Disney
was building Disneyland
(hence the four year production time). To help promote the film, Imagineers named the park's icon "Sleeping Beauty Castle
" (it was originally to be Snow White's). An indoor walk-through exhibit was added to the empty castle interior in 1957, where guests could walk-through the castle, up and over the castle entrance, viewing "Story Moment" dioramas of scenes from the film, which were improved with animated figurines in 1977. It closed shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks
, supposedly because the dark, unmonitored corridors were a risk. After being closed for seven years, the exhibit space underwent extensive refurbishment to restore the original 1957 displays, and reopened to guests on November 27, 2008. Accommodations were also made on the ground floor with a "virtual" version for disabled guests unable to navigate stairs. Hong Kong Disneyland
opened in 2005, also with a Sleeping Beauty Castle, nearly replicating Disneyland's original design.
Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant
at Disneyland Paris is a variant of Sleeping Beauty Castle. The version found at Disneyland Paris is much more reminiscent of the film's artistic direction. The Château features an animatronic dragon, imagineered to look like Maleficent's dragon form, is found in the lower level dungeon - La Tanière du Dragon. The building also contains la Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant, a gallery of displays which illustrate the story of Sleeping Beauty in tapestries, stained glass windows and figures.
Princess Aurora (and, to a lesser extent, Prince Phillip, the three good fairies, and Maleficent) makes regular appearances in the parks and parades.
Maleficent is featured as one of the villains in the nighttime show Fantasmic!
at Disneyland
and Disney's Hollywood Studios
.
version of the film with the title Disney's Sleeping Beauty KIDS is often performed by schools and children's theaters.
The Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic
album includes "Once Upon a Dream" on the green disc, and "I Wonder" on the purple disc. Additionally, Disney's Greatest Hits
includes "Once Upon a Dream" on the blue disc.
No Secrets
performed a cover version of "Once Upon A Dream" on the album Disneymania 2
, which appears as a music video on the 2003 DVD. More recently, Emily Osment
sang a remake of "Once Upon A Dream", released on the Disney Channel
on September 12, 2008, and included on the Platinum Edition DVD and Blu-ray.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
produced by Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
and based on the fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
"La Belle au bois dormant
Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault or Little Briar Rose by the Brothers Grimm is a classic fairytale involving a beautiful princess, enchantment, and a handsome prince...
" by Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
. The film is the sixteenth animated feature
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, and was originally released to theatres on January 29, 1959 by Buena Vista Distribution
Buena Vista Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is a motion picture and television feature distribution company owned by Disney Enterprises, Inc. Buena Vista International was the international distribution arm, Buena Vista Home Entertainment was the firm's video and DVD distribution arm, and Buena Vista...
.
Plot
After many childless years, King Stefan and his Queen welcome the arrival of their daughter, Aurora. The newborn Princess is named after the Roman Goddess of the dawn because of how she fills the lives of the King and Queen with sunshine. While still an infant, she is betrothed to the also-young Prince Phillip, son of King Hubert, uniting their respective kingdoms. At her christening, three good fairies - Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather - arrive to bless the child with gifts. Flora gives the princess the gift of beauty, while Fauna gives her the gift of song.Before Merryweather is able to give her blessing, a wicked witch named Maleficent appears, expressing disappointment of not being invited to the ceremony. As revenge for the insult she curses the princess: before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, Aurora will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die.
As Maleficent disappears, the distraught King Stefan requests that Merryweather break the curse. Even though Merryweather is unable to undo Maleficent's curse, she is able to weaken it. If Aurora was to touch a spindle, she wouldn't die, but rather fall into a deep slumber that she could only be awoken from by a true love's kiss.
Though King Stefan orders all spinning wheels in the kingdom burned, the three fairies know Maleficent's spell cannot be stopped that easily and devise a plan to protect her. With the King and Queen's consent, they disguise themselves as mortals and sneak Aurora away with them to a woodland cottage.
Sixteen years later, Aurora - renamed Briar Rose - has grown into a gorgeous young woman with the blessings that Flora and Fauna bestowed to her. Sweet and gentle, she dreams of falling in love one day. As Rose gathers berries, while singing, she attracts the attention of Prince Phillip as he is out riding his horse Samson in the woods. When they meet, they instantly fall in love; Phillip believing her to be a peasant girl, and she thinking him a woodsman. Realizing that she has to return home, Rose flees from Phillip without ever learning his name.
Later that day, the fairies reveal the truth to Rose and despite her heartbreak they take her to her parents. Meanwhile, Phillip tells his father about the "peasant girl" he met, adding that he wishes to marry her in spite of his betrothal to Princess Aurora. King Hubert tries to convince Phillip to marry the princess, but fails.
In the palace, Maleficent uses her magic to lure Aurora to a strange room, where an enchanted spinning wheel awaits her. The good fairies tried to stop her, but it was too late. Spellbound, Aurora pricked her finger on the spindle and fell into a deep sleep, fuffiling the altered curse. The good fairies place her on a bed and place a powerful charm on all the people in the kingdom, causing them to fall asleep until the spell is broken.
Before falling asleep, King Hubert tells Stefan of his son being in love with a peasant girl, which the fairies overhear and realize that Prince Phillip is the man Aurora has fallen in love with. They set off on a search to find, and convince him to kiss the princess and break the curse. However, the Prince has already been kidnapped by Maleficent and taken to the dungeons on the forbidden mountain after they discover the cottage been ransacked and Phillip's hat in the floor, to prevent him from breaking her spell.
The fairies discover the Prince's whereabouts, sneak into the forbidden mountain, and free the prince. Armed with a magical Sword and Shield, Phillip and the fairies escape from the forbidden mountain. Maleficent places a massive forest of thorns around the kingdom to keep Phillip out. But as Phillip is undeterred, Maleficent calls on the powers of Hell to transform herself into a Dragon. The sword is plunged into the dragon's heart, killing her. Phillip climbs to Aurora's chamber, and awakens her with a kiss. As the film ends, the couple dance together, happy to each learn that their betrothed and their beloved are one and the same.
Overview and art direction
Sleeping Beauty spent nearly the entire decade of the 1950s in production: the story work began in 1951, voices were recorded in 1952, animation production took from 1953 until 1958, and the stereophonic musical score, mostly based on Tchaikovsky's ballet of the same name, was recorded in 1957. The film holds a notable position in Disney animation as the last Disney feature to use hand-inked cels. Beginning with the next feature, One Hundred and One DalmatiansOne Hundred and One Dalmatians
One Hundred and One Dalmatians, often abbreviated as 101 Dalmatians, is a 1961 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith...
, Disney would move to the use of xerography
Xerography
Xerography is a dry photocopying technique invented by Chester Carlson in 1938, for which he was awarded on October 6, 1942. Carlson originally called his invention electrophotography...
to transfer animators' drawings from paper to celluloid. Its art, which Walt Disney wanted to look like a living illustration and which was inspired by medieval art, was not in the typical Disney style. Because the Disney studio had already made two features based on fairy tales, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
and Cinderella
Cinderella (1950 film)
Cinderella is a 1950 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault. Twelfth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film had a limited release on February 15, 1950 by RKO Radio Pictures. Directing credits go to Clyde Geronimi,...
, Walt Disney wanted this film to stand out from its predecessors by choosing a different visual style. The movie eschewed the soft, rounded look of earlier Disney features for a more stylized one. Since Super Technirama 70 was used, it also meant the backgrounds could contain more detailed and complex artwork than ever used in an animated movie before.
While Disney's regular production designer, Ken Anderson
Ken Anderson (animator)
Ken "Kenneth B." Anderson was an art director, writer, and animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for 44 years.Anderson studied architecture at the University of Washington, graduating with a B.Arch. in 1934...
was in charge of the film's overall look, Disney artist Eyvind Earle
Eyvind Earle
Eyvind Earle was an American artist, author and illustrator, noted for his contribution to the background illustration and styling of Disney animated films in the 1950s...
was made the film's color stylist and chief background designer, and Disney gave him a significant amount of freedom in designing the settings and selecting colors for the film. Earle also painted the majority of the backgrounds himself. The elaborate paintings usually took seven to ten days to paint; by contrast, a typical animation background took only one workday to complete. Disney's decision to give Earle so much artistic freedom was not popular among the Disney animators, who had until Sleeping Beauty exercised some influence over the style of their characters and settings.
It was also the first time the studio experimented with the Xerox process. Woolie Reitherman used it on the dragon as a way to enlarge and reduce its size, but due to the primitive equipment available in this early test, the Xerox lines were then replaced with traditional ink and paint.
Of interesting note is the fact that Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio...
, who gained fame as an animation director with Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation is the animation division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Time Warner. The studio is closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters, among others. The studio is the successor to Warner Bros...
, did some work on the film. He worked with the studio during a brief period when Warner Bros. closed its Animation department, anticipating that 3-D film
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
would replace animation as a box office draw. When the studio was re-opened following the failure of 3-D, Jones ended his work at Disney and returned to Warner Bros. His work on Sleeping Beauty, which he spent four months on, remained uncredited. Ironically, during his early years at WB, Jones was a heavy user of Disney-style animation.
Characters and story development
The name given to the princess by her royal birth parents is "Aurora" (Latin for "dawn"), as it was in the original Tchaikovsky ballet. This name occurred in Perrault's version as well, not as the princess's name, but as her daughter's. In hiding, she is called Briar Rose, the name of the princess in the Brothers GrimmBrothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
variant. The prince was given the princely name most familiar to Americans in the 1950s: "Prince Phillip", named after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
. The evil fairy was aptly named Maleficent
Maleficent
Maleficent is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Walt Disney's 1959 adaptation of Sleeping Beauty. She is the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" who, after not being invited to the baby's christening, curses the infant Princess Aurora to "prick her finger on the spindle of a...
(a Latin-derived adjective meaning "harmfully malicious"). Sleeping Beauty's mother is never named in the film itself or the character reference sheets but according to Disney legend around the studio she was meant to be called Queen Leah, but is otherwise always referred to as "the queen," whereas both her father and that of the prince are given names that are used several times, both in dialogue and narration.
Walt Disney had suggested that all three good fairies should look alike, but veteran animators Frank Thomas
Frank Thomas (animator)
Franklin M. "Frank" Thomas was an American animator. He was one of Walt Disney's team of animators known as the Nine Old Men....
and Ollie Johnston
Ollie Johnston
Oliver Martin Johnston, Jr. was an American motion picture animator. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death. He was recognized by The Walt Disney Company with its Disney Legend Award in 1989...
objected, saying that three identical fairies would not be exciting. They chose to have the fairies in different personalities, looks, and colours just like the famed Disney duck trio Huey, Dewey and Louie
Huey, Dewey and Louie
Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck are a trio of fictional, anthropomorphic ducks who appear in animated cartoons and comic books published by the Walt Disney Company. Identical triplets, the three are Donald Duck's nephews. Huey, Dewey, and Louie were created by Ted Osborne and Al Taliaferro, and first...
. Additionally, the idea originally included seven fairies instead of three, as there are seven fairies in the story's main reference, Perrault's version. In determining Maleficent's design, standard depictions of witches and hags were dismissed (as it would too closely resembled the Wicked Queen's guise in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
) for animator Marc Davis opted for a more elegant look. In his research of the period and artwork of the Medieval times he came across a picture of a woman of a religious nature but was dressed elegantly devilish with flowing capes and clothes resembling flames. With this image in his head he centered around the appearance of flames, ultimately crowning the villain with "the horns of the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
." He even went as far as to give Maleficent bat-looking wings for her collar. In the final production the individual character of the three good fairies and the elegant villain proved to be among the film's strongest points.
Several story points for this film came from discarded ideas for Disney's previous fairy tale involving a sleeping heroine: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They include Maleficent's capture of the Prince, as well as her mocking him and the Prince's daring escape from her castle. Disney discarded these ideas from Snow White because his artists were not able to draw a human male believably enough at the time, although they were incorporated into the comic book version of the film. Also discarded from Snow White but used in this film were the ideas of the dance with the makeshift prince (also used as "Prince Buckethead" in the Snow White comic book), and the fantasy sequence of the prince and princess dancing in the clouds, which was also considered but dropped from Cinderella.
Live-action reference footage
Before animation production began, every shot in the film was done in a live-action reference version, with live actors in costume serving as models for the animators. The role of Prince Phillip was modeled by Ed KemmerEd Kemmer
Ed Kemmer was an American motion picture and television actor.-Life:Kemmer was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, and served as a fighter pilot in World War II. He was shot down and sent to a POW camp...
, who had played Commander Buzz Corry on television's Space Patrol five years before Sleeping Beauty was released. For the final battle sequence, Kemmer was photographed on a wooden buck. Among the actresses who performed in reference footage for this film were Spring Byington
Spring Byington
Spring Byington was an American actress. Her career included a seven-year run on radio and television as the star of December Bride. She was a key MGM contract player appearing in films from the 1930s through the 1960s.-Early life:Byington was born Spring Dell Byington in Colorado Springs,...
, Frances Bavier
Frances Bavier
Frances Elizabeth Bavier was an American stage and television actress. Originally from the New York theatre, Bavier worked in film and television from the 1950s...
, and Helene Stanley.
Helene Stanley was the live action reference for Princess Aurora. The only known surviving footage of Stanley as Aurora's live-action reference is a clip from the television program Disneyland, which consists of the artists sketching her dancing with the woodland animals. It was not the first or last time Stanley worked for Disney; she also provided live-action references for Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
and Anita from One Hundred and One Dalmatians
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
One Hundred and One Dalmatians, often abbreviated as 101 Dalmatians, is a 1961 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith...
, and portrayed Polly Crockett for the TV series Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier is a 1955 live-action Walt Disney adventure film starring Fess Parker as Davy Crockett. This film is an edited compilation of the first three stories from the Disney television series Davy Crockett :...
. An episode of The Mickey Mouse Club television series features Stanley re-enacting scenes from the Sleeping Beauty for the Mousketeers to watch (a clip from this episode is included as a special feature on the Cinderella
Cinderella (1950 film)
Cinderella is a 1950 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "Cendrillon" by Charles Perrault. Twelfth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film had a limited release on February 15, 1950 by RKO Radio Pictures. Directing credits go to Clyde Geronimi,...
Platinum Edition DVD).
All the live actors' performances were screened for the animators' reference as Walt Disney insisted that much of Sleeping Beauty's character animation be as close to live action as possible.
Theatrical release
Disney's distribution arm, Buena Vista DistributionBuena Vista Distribution
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures is a motion picture and television feature distribution company owned by Disney Enterprises, Inc. Buena Vista International was the international distribution arm, Buena Vista Home Entertainment was the firm's video and DVD distribution arm, and Buena Vista...
, originally released Sleeping Beauty to theaters in both standard 35mm prints and large-format 70mm prints. The Super Technirama 70
Super Technirama 70
Super Technirama 70 was the marketing name for films which were photographed in the 35 mm 8-perf Technirama process and optically enlarged to 70 mm 5-perf prints for deluxe exhibition....
prints were equipped with six-track stereophonic sound
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
; some CinemaScope
CinemaScope
CinemaScope was an anamorphic lens series used for shooting wide screen movies from 1953 to 1967. Its creation in 1953, by the president of 20th Century-Fox, marked the beginning of the modern anamorphic format in both principal photography and movie projection.The anamorphic lenses theoretically...
-compatible 35mm Technirama prints were released in four-track stereo, and others had monaural soundtracks. On the initial run, Sleeping Beauty was paired with the short musical/documentary film Grand Canyon
Grand Canyon (1958 film)
Grand Canyon is a 1958 short documentary film directed by James Algar and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It was shown as a supplement during Sleeping Beauty's initial run, and it won an Academy Award in 1959 for Best Short Subject...
which won an Academy Award.
During its original release in 1959, Sleeping Beauty earned approximately $7.7 million in box office rentals. Sleeping Beauty's production costs, which totaled $6 million, made it the most expensive Disney film up to that point, and over twice as expensive as each of the preceding three Disney animated features: Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based primarily on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a few additional elements from Through the Looking-Glass. Thirteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was released in New...
, Peter Pan
Peter Pan (1953 film)
Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J. M. Barrie. It is the fourteenth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and was originally released on February 5, 1953 by RKO Pictures...
, and Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp
Lady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen...
. The high production costs of Sleeping Beauty, coupled with the underperformance of much of the rest of Disney's 1959-1960 release slate resulted in the company posting its first annual loss in a decade for fiscal year 1960, and massive layoffs were done throughout the animation department.
The film was met with mixed reviews from critics, often citing the film being slowly paced and having little character development. Nevertheless, the film has sustained a strong following and is today hailed as one of the best animated features ever made, thanks to its stylized designs by painter Eyvind Earle
Eyvind Earle
Eyvind Earle was an American artist, author and illustrator, noted for his contribution to the background illustration and styling of Disney animated films in the 1950s...
who also was the art director for the movie, its lush music score and its large-format widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
and stereophonic sound presentation.
Like Alice in Wonderland, which was not initially successful either, Sleeping Beauty was never re-released theatrically in Walt Disney's lifetime. However, it had many re-releases in theaters over the decades. The film was re-released theatrically in 1970
1970 in film
The year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career....
, 1979
1979 in film
The year 1979 in film involved some significant events.- Major events :* March 5 - Production begins on Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.* May 25 - Alien, a landmark of the science fiction genre, is released....
(in 70mm 6 channel stereo, as well as in 35 mm stereo and mono), 1986
1986 in film
-Events:*April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Go's Belinda Carlisle.*April 26 - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver.*May - Actress Heather Locklear marries Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee....
, 1993
1993 in film
The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...
, and 1995
1995 in film
-Top grossing films:-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.* March 28 - Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett announce their plans for separation....
. Sleeping Beauty's successful reissues have made it the second most successful film released in 1959, second to Ben-Hur
Ben-Hur (1959 film)
Ben-Hur is a 1959 American epic film directed by William Wyler and starring Charlton Heston in the title role, the third film adaptation of Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The screenplay was written by Karl Tunberg, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. The score was composed by...
, with a lifetime gross of $51.6 million. When adjusted for ticket price inflation, the domestic total gross comes out to $478.22 million, placing it in the top 30 of adjusted films.
Home video release
Sleeping Beauty was released on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
, Betamax
Betamax
Betamax was a consumer-level analog videocassette magnetic tape recording format developed by Sony, released on May 10, 1975. The cassettes contain -wide videotape in a design similar to the earlier, professional wide, U-matic format...
and Laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
in 1986 in the Classics collection
Walt Disney Classics
Walt Disney Classics was a brand name used by Walt Disney Home Video on their American, Japanese, European and Australian home video releases of Disney animated features. The first title arrived in stores on December 6, 1984...
, becoming the first Disney Classics video to be digitally processed in Hi-Fi stereo. The film underwent a digital restoration in 1997, and that version was released to both VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and Laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
again as part of the Masterpiece Collection
Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection
The Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection was a line of VHS videos and Laserdiscs released by Walt Disney Home Video from 1994 to 1999. The Spanish counterparts began selling in 1995. Limited issue DVDs also have the same cover art....
. The 1997 VHS edition also came with a special commemorative booklet included, with brief facts on the making of the movie. In 2003, the restored Sleeping Beauty was released to DVD in a 2-disc "Special Edition" which included both a widescreen version (formatted at 2.35:1) and a pan and scan
Pan and scan
Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects...
version as well.
A 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition release of Sleeping Beauty, as a 2-disc DVD & Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
, was released on October 7, 2008 in the US, making Sleeping Beauty the first entry in the Platinum Edition line to be released in high definition video. This release is based upon a new 2007 restoration of Sleeping Beauty from the original Technicolor negatives (intrapositives several generations removed from the original negative were used for other home video releases). The new restoration features the film in its full negative aspect ratio of 2.55:1, wider than both the prints shown at the film's original limited Technirama engagements in 2.20:1 and the CinemaScope-compatible reduction prints for general release at 2.35:1. The Blu-ray set features BD-Live, an online feature, and the extras include a virtual castle and multi-player games. The Blu-ray release also includes disc 1 of the DVD version of the film in addition to the two Blu-ray discs. The DVD was released on October 27, 2008 in the UK. The Blu-ray release is the first ever release on the Blu-ray format of any Disney feature produced by Walt Disney himself.
Other appearances
Aurora is one of the seven Princesses of Heart in the popular Square EnixSquare Enix
is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...
game Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 video game console. The first game in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is the result of a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company. The game combines characters and settings from Disney...
(although her appearances are brief), and Maleficent is a villain in all three Kingdom Hearts games, and as a brief ally at the third game's climax. The good fairies appear in Kingdom Hearts II
Kingdom Hearts II
is an action role-playing game developed by Square Enix and published by Buena Vista Games and Square Enix in 2005 for the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console...
, giving Sora
Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
is a fictional character and the main protagonist of Square Enix's best-selling Kingdom Hearts series. Introduced in the series' first game in 2002, Sora is a cheerful teenager who originates from Destiny Islands and has been best friends with Riku and Kairi since early childhood. When they plan to...
new clothes. Diablo appears in Kingdom Hearts II to resurrect her defeated mistress. The PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
game Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
is an action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix and Disney for the PlayStation Portable, serving as the sixth installment in the Kingdom Hearts series. The game was released on UMD in Japan on January 9, 2010, in North America on September 7, 2010 and in Europe on September...
, features a world based on the movie, Enchanted Dominion, and characters who appear are Aurora/Briar Rose, Maleficent, Maleficent's goons, the three faires and Prince Phillip, the latter serving as temporary party member for Aqua during her battle against Maleficent and her henchmen.
She is also a playable character in the game Disney Princess.
Princess Aurora, Prince Phillip, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather were featured as guests in Disney's House of Mouse
Disney's House of Mouse
Disney's House of Mouse is an American animated television series, produced by Walt Disney Television, that originally aired from 2001 to 2003-Premise:...
and Maleficent was one of the villains in Mickey's House of Villains
Mickey's House of Villains
Mickey's House of Villains is a direct-to-video film produced by The Walt Disney Company. It is a film adaptation of the Disney Channel animated television series Disney's House of Mouse, starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Daisy Duck and Disney Villains that have appeared in...
.
Maleficent's goons appear in the Maroon Cartoon studio lot in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a 1988 American fantasy-comedy-noir film directed by Robert Zemeckis and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film combines live action and animation, and is based on Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which depicts a world in which cartoon characters...
. The Bluebirds from the film also appear as "tweeting birds" that fly around Roger Rabbit's or Eddie Valiant's heads in two scenes, after a refrigerator fell on top of Roger's head and while Eddie Valiant is in Toontown, the birds are seen again flying around his head until he shoos them away.
The first all-new story featuring the characters from the movie appeared in Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams
Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams
Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams is a 2007 direct-to-video animated feature produced by DisneyToon Studios. It is the first film in a planned new Disney Princess Enchanted Tales series of direct-to-video films, each featuring new stories about the Disney Princesses...
, the first volume of collection of the Disney Princesses. It was released on September 4, 2007.
Various characters from the film also appear in the board game of the same name.
Aurora is featured in a PSA for wildfire prevention with Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear is a mascot of the United States Forest Service created to educate the public about the dangers of forest fires. An advertising campaign featuring Smokey was created in 1944 with the slogan, "Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires". Smokey Bear's later slogan,...
.
Flora, Fauna and Merryweather have a brief computer animated cameo appearances in Shrek
Shrek
Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film directed by Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson, featuring the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow. Loosely based on William Steig's 1990 fairy tale picture book Shrek!...
as well as Aurora, who also appeared in Shrek 2
Shrek 2
Shrek 2 is a 2004 American computer-animated fantasy comedy film, produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury and Conrad Vernon. It is the second installment in the Shrek film series and the sequel to 2001's Shrek...
and Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third
Shrek the Third is a 2007 American animated film, and the third film in the Shrek series. It was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg for DreamWorks Animation, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was released in U.S. theaters on May 18, 2007...
but looks different than her appearance in the Disney film.
In the upcoming American fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time (TV series)
Once Upon a Time is an American fairy tale drama television series that premiered on Sunday October 23, 2011, on ABC. New episodes air Sunday nights at 8:00 pm ET/7:00 pm CT....
, Maleficent will be a recurring regular, as she will be a adversary of the Evil Queen, and is also sinister. Her role will be played by Kristin Bauer
Kristin Bauer
Kristin Bauer van Straten is an American film and television actress, perhaps best known for her role as vampire Pam in the HBO series True Blood.-Biography:...
.
Characters
- Princess Aurora/Sleeping BeautyAurora (Disney)Princess Aurora is a fictional character and the title character from Disney's 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty , as well as an official Disney Princess.The Disney version of the character was based on the French version of the tale by Charles Perrault, written in 1634 in Histoires ou Contes du...
, voiced by Mary CostaMary CostaMary Costa is an American singer, actress, and Disney Legend. She is best known for playing the voice of Princess Aurora in the 1959 Disney film Sleeping Beauty. She is also a professional opera singer....
. - MaleficentMaleficentMaleficent is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Walt Disney's 1959 adaptation of Sleeping Beauty. She is the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" who, after not being invited to the baby's christening, curses the infant Princess Aurora to "prick her finger on the spindle of a...
, voiced by Eleanor AudleyEleanor AudleyEleanor Audley was an American actress who was a familiar radio and animation voice, in addition to her TV and film roles...
. - Flora the pink/red fairy, voiced by Verna FeltonVerna FeltonVerna Felton was an American character actress who was best-known for providing many female voices in numerous Disney animated films, as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople for Hanna-Barbera...
- Fauna the green fairy, voiced by Barbara Jo AllenBarbara Jo AllenBarbara Jo Allen was an actress also known as Vera Vague, the spinster character she created and portrayed on radio and in films during the 1940s and 1950s. She based the character on a woman she had seen delivering a PTA literature lecture in a confused manner...
- Merryweather the blue fairy, voiced by Barbara LuddyBarbara LuddyBarbara Luddy was an American actress from Great Falls, Montana. Her film career began with silent pictures in the 1920s, during which time she was also a prolific radio performer....
- Prince Phillip, voiced by Bill ShirleyBill ShirleyBill Shirley was an American actor, perhaps most famous for voicing Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty in 1959. Another famous voice role of his was an uncredited role as the singing voice of Freddy Einsford-Hill in My Fair Lady...
. - King Stefan, voiced by Taylor HolmesTaylor HolmesTaylor Holmes was an actor who appeared in over 100 Broadway plays in his five-decade career. However, he is probably best remembered for his film roles, which he began in silent movies in 1917. By the 1940s, he was working more on film than on stage...
. - Queen Leah, voiced by Verna FeltonVerna FeltonVerna Felton was an American character actress who was best-known for providing many female voices in numerous Disney animated films, as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law Pearl Slaghoople for Hanna-Barbera...
- King Hubert, voiced by Bill ThompsonBill Thompson (voice actor)Bill Thompson was an American radio actor and voice actor whose career stretched from the 1930s until his death.-Early career:...
. - The Narrator, voiced by Marvin MillerMarvin Miller (actor)Marvin Elliott Miller was an American film and voice-over actor. Possessing a deep, baritone voice, he began his career in radio in St. Louis, Missouri before becoming a Hollywood actor...
. - Maleficent's Goons, voiced by Candy CandidoCandy CandidoCandy Candido was an American radio performer, bass player, vocalist and animation voice actor, best remembered for his famous line, "I'm feeling mighty low."...
, Pinto ColvigPinto ColvigVance DeBar "Pinto" Colvig was an American vaudeville actor, radio actor, newspaper cartoonist, prolific movie voice actor, and circus performer whose schtick was playing clarinet off-key while mugging....
, and Bill Amsbery. - The Owl, voiced by Dallas McKennonDallas McKennonDallas Raymond McKennon , sometimes credited as Dal McKennon, was an American actor, with extensive work as a voice actor, in a career lasting over 50 years.-Career:...
.
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards32nd Academy Awards
The 32nd Academy Awards honored film achievements of 1959 on 4 April 1960.MGM's and director William Wyler's three and a half-hour long epic drama Ben-Hur won 11 Oscars in 1959, breaking the previous year's all-time record of nine...
- Best Scoring of a Musical PictureAcademy Award for Original Music ScoreThe Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...
(George BrunsGeorge BrunsGeorge Bruns was a composer of music for film and television who worked on many Disney films. He was nominated for four Academy Awards for his work.-Career:...
) (Lost against Porgy and BessPorgy and BessPorgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
)
Grammy Awards
Grammy Awards of 1960
The second Grammy Awards were held on November 29, 1959. They recognized musical accomplishments by performers for that particular year. Duke Ellington won three awards.-Award winners:*Record of the Year**Bobby Darin for "Mack the Knife"*Album of the Year...
- Best Soundtrack Album, Original Cast - Motion Picture or Television (Lost against Porgy and Bess)
Young Artist Award
Young Artist Award
The Young Artist Award is an accolade bestowed by the Young Artist Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to recognize and award excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young artists who may be physically and/or financially challenged.The Young Artist...
- Best Musical Entertainment Featuring Youth - TV or Motion Picture
American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
- Maleficent - Nominated Villain
- AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10AFI's 10 Top 10 honors the ten greatest American films in ten classic film genres. Presented by the American Film Institute , the lists were unveiled on a television special broadcast by CBS on June 17, 2008....
- Nominated Animated Film
Board game
Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty Game (1958) is a Parker BrothersParker Brothers
Parker Brothers is a toy and game manufacturer and brand. Since 1883, the company has published more than 1,800 games; among their best known products are Monopoly, Cluedo , Sorry, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Ouija, Aggravation, and Probe...
children's board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
for two to four players based upon Sleeping Beauty. The object of the game is to be the first player holding three different picture cards to reach the castle and the space marked "The End".
The Disney film retains the basics of Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
's 17th century fairy tale about a princess cursed to sleep one hundred years, but adds three elderly fairies who protect the princess, a prince armed with a magic sword and shield, and other details. The Disney twists on the tale are incorporated into the game, and Disney's "stunning graphics" illustrate the game board. In addition to the board game, the film generated books, toys, and other juvenile merchandise.
The equipment consists of a center-seamed game board, four tokens in various colors, four spinners, four magic wands, and a deck of picture cards.
The first player moves the number of spaces along the track according to their spin on their dial. If they land on a pink star, their turn ends. If they land on a yellow star, they draws a card and follows its instruction. If they draw a picture card, they retain it face down at their place. If a player spins a 6, they have the choice of moving 6 spaces or taking a magic wand. They may play the wand at any time during the game and in doing so draws 2 cards, following their instructions. A player must hold three different picture cards before entering the Path of Happiness. If they do not hold 3 picture cards, they continues around the Deep Sleep circle until they attains the required 3 picture cards. Should a player land on a purple Maleficent space, they returns one of their picture cards to the deck.
Theme parks
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
was building Disneyland
Disneyland Park (Anaheim)
Disneyland Park is a theme park located in Anaheim, California, owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of the Walt Disney Company. Known as Disneyland when it opened on July 18, 1955, and still almost universally referred to by that name, it is the only theme park to be...
(hence the four year production time). To help promote the film, Imagineers named the park's icon "Sleeping Beauty Castle
Sleeping Beauty Castle
Sleeping Beauty Castle is the fairy tale structure castle at the center of Disneyland Park and Hong Kong Disneyland. It is based on the late-19th century Neuschwanstein Castle,with some French inspirations .-Disneyland version:Opened July 17, 1955, the castle is the oldest of all Disney castles...
" (it was originally to be Snow White's). An indoor walk-through exhibit was added to the empty castle interior in 1957, where guests could walk-through the castle, up and over the castle entrance, viewing "Story Moment" dioramas of scenes from the film, which were improved with animated figurines in 1977. It closed shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, supposedly because the dark, unmonitored corridors were a risk. After being closed for seven years, the exhibit space underwent extensive refurbishment to restore the original 1957 displays, and reopened to guests on November 27, 2008. Accommodations were also made on the ground floor with a "virtual" version for disabled guests unable to navigate stairs. Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland is located on reclaimed land in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island. It is the first theme park located inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and is owned and managed by the Hong Kong International Theme Parks. The park opened to visitors on 12 September 2005...
opened in 2005, also with a Sleeping Beauty Castle, nearly replicating Disneyland's original design.
Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant
Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant
Le château de la belle au bois dormant is a structure that stands at the centre of the Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris and is a continuation of a concept first seen at Disneyland in California....
at Disneyland Paris is a variant of Sleeping Beauty Castle. The version found at Disneyland Paris is much more reminiscent of the film's artistic direction. The Château features an animatronic dragon, imagineered to look like Maleficent's dragon form, is found in the lower level dungeon - La Tanière du Dragon. The building also contains la Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant, a gallery of displays which illustrate the story of Sleeping Beauty in tapestries, stained glass windows and figures.
Princess Aurora (and, to a lesser extent, Prince Phillip, the three good fairies, and Maleficent) makes regular appearances in the parks and parades.
Maleficent is featured as one of the villains in the nighttime show Fantasmic!
Fantasmic!
Fantasmic! is a Disney nighttime show at Disneyland in the Disneyland Resort, Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World and Tokyo DisneySea in Tokyo Disney Resort. The show features fireworks, live actors, water effects, fire, music, several boats, decorated rafts and projections onto large...
at Disneyland
Disneyland Park (Anaheim)
Disneyland Park is a theme park located in Anaheim, California, owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of the Walt Disney Company. Known as Disneyland when it opened on July 18, 1955, and still almost universally referred to by that name, it is the only theme park to be...
and Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort. Spanning 135 acres in size, its theme is show business, drawing inspiration from the heyday of Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s...
.
Stage Adaptation
A scaled-down stage musicalMusical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
version of the film with the title Disney's Sleeping Beauty KIDS is often performed by schools and children's theaters.
Soundtrack listing
- "Main Title"/"Once Upon a Dream"/"Prologue"
- "Hail to the Princess Aurora"
- "The Gifts of Beauty and Song"/"Maleficent Appears"/"True Love Conquers All"
- "The Burning of the Spinning Wheels"/"The Fairies' Plan"
- "Maleficent's Frustration"
- "A Cottage in the Woods"
- "Do You Hear That?"/"I WonderI Wonder"I Wonder" is the title of a song written by Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo, Karyn Rochelle, and co-written and recorded by American country artist Kellie Pickler...
" - "An Unusual Prince"/"Once Upon a Dream"
- "Magical House Cleaning"/"Blue or Pink"
- "A Secret Revealed"
- "Skumps (Drinking Song)"/"The Royal Argument"
- "Prince Phillip Arrives"/"How to Tell Stefan"
- "Aurora's Return"/"Maleficent's Evil Spell"
- "Poor Aurora"/"Sleeping Beauty"
- "Forbidden Mountain"
- "A Fairy Tale Come True"
- "Battle with the Forces of Evil"
- "Awakening"
- "Finale"
The Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic
Classic Disney: 60 Years of Musical Magic
-References:*...
album includes "Once Upon a Dream" on the green disc, and "I Wonder" on the purple disc. Additionally, Disney's Greatest Hits
Disney's Greatest Hits
Disney's Greatest Hits is a 3-disc CD-set, released by Walt Disney Records in 2001 and 2002.- Volume 1 - Blue :# Strangers Like Me # Reflection # I Won't Say...
includes "Once Upon a Dream" on the blue disc.
No Secrets
No Secrets (girl group)
No Secrets was an American girl group with five members: Angel Faith, Carly Lewis, Erin Tanner, Jessica Fried and Jade Ryusaki. The group debuted in the United States in 2002 with their single "Kids in America".-Debut album:...
performed a cover version of "Once Upon A Dream" on the album Disneymania 2
DisneyMania 2
- Track listing :# Jump5 - "Welcome" - 3:15# Raven-Symoné - "True to Your Heart" - 3:45# Baha Men - "It's a Small World" - 2:44# The Beu Sisters - "He's a Tramp" - 2:56...
, which appears as a music video on the 2003 DVD. More recently, Emily Osment
Emily Osment
Emily Jordan Osment is an American teen actress, singer-songwriter and voice actress born in Los Angeles, California. After working in several television films in her childhood, she gained fame for co-starring as Gerti Giggles in Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over...
sang a remake of "Once Upon A Dream", released on the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
on September 12, 2008, and included on the Platinum Edition DVD and Blu-ray.
External links
- Disney Sleeping Beauty DVD official website
- Sleeping Beauty in the Big Cartoon DataBaseBig Cartoon DataBaseThe Big Cartoon DataBase is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows and cartoon shorts....