Day 16: Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Starring: Mary Costa, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Barbara Jo Allen, Barbara Luddy, Bill Shirley, Taylor Holmes, Bill Thompson, Marvin Miller, Candy Candido, Dallas McKennon

Songs: "Hail to the Princess Aurora," "The Gifts of Happiness and Song/Maleficent Appears/True Love Conquers All, ""I Wonder," "Once Upon a Dream," "Sleeping Beauty," "Skumps"

Sleeping Beauty is Walt Disney's sixteenth animated film and his third fairy tale princess (following Snow White and Cinderella).  At the time, it was the most expensive film the studio had ever made, so it did not make up the then exorbitant production cost of over six million dollars.  The film tells the story of the Princess Aurora, who is cursed as an infant -- before she turns sixteen, she'll prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die.

Production on this film took nearly the entire decade of the 1950s.  It ceased production for about two years while Walt and the company focused on Disneyland... but because Disneyland and this movie were in the works at the same time, the castle at the entrance to Fantasyland is Sleeping Beauty's Castle, as opposed to Snow White's, as had been originally envisioned.

This movie looks and sounds so beautiful and so unique!  Everything about it is lavish and rich, starting with the charming character designs and how they stand out against the backgrounds.  The art direction, color styling, and backgrounds were done by Disney artist Eyvind Earle, whose unique and dramatic style helped to give the film the "living tapestry" look they were going for, inspired by medieval art.

Backgrounds from Sleeping Beauty:

The Unicorn Tapestries, a series of tapestries made in the Netherlands between 1495 and 1505 that influenced the art styling of the film:

The music for this film is the score to the Sleeping Beauty Ballet, written in 1890 by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky (yes, the same Tchaikovsky who wrote The Nutcracker).  The music is, of course, beautiful and paints almost as much of a picture as the beautiful backgrounds.  When people talk about Disney movies all being similar or blending together, I can only assume they've never seen this movie, because despite similar story points to earlier fairy tales, it's unlike any movie before or since.

When I first saw this movie, I immediately fell in love with it.  I was like nine then, and even now, at twenty-six, I'm still in love with it and would still call it my favorite.

What I Liked: Again, I could say everything.  But to single out a couple of things -- the scene in the cottage with the fairies trying to bake and sew and getting into a magic fight over what color Briar Rose's dress should be.  The stellar performance by Eleanor Audley as Maleficent is also amazing, one of my favorite performances ever.  And the scene at the end where Aurora and Phillip dance off into the clouds.  Walt Disney had had the idea way back in the time of Snow White, and they tried it on that picture and Cinderella but were unable to make it work until this film.

What I Disliked: Nothing.

Should You Watch This Film: It will come as no surprise to you that I say yes, you definitely should!  If for no other reason than how unique the film is compared to the other Disney movies, even to this day.