Sleeping Beauty (1959) Information

Sleeping Beauty

Directed by: Clyde Geronimi, Les Clark, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman
Produced by: Walt Disney
Written by: Erdman Penner (adaptation), Joe Rinaldi, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Ted Sears, Ralph Wright, Milt Banta
Based on: La Belle au bois dormant by Charles Perrault, The Sleeping Beauty by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Little Briar Rose by The Brothers Grimm
Starring: Mary Costa, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Barbara Luddy, Barbara Jo Allen, Bill Shirley, Taylor Holmes, Bill Thompson
Narrated by: Marvin Miller
Music by: George Bruns
Production company: Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by: Buena Vista Distribution
Release dates: January 29, 1959
Running time: 75 minutes
Language: English
Budget: $6 million
Box office: $51.6 million
MPAA Rating: G: "General Audiences-All Ages Admitted."
Rotten Tomatoes: Critic Score: 92%. Average Rating: 8.1/10. Reviews Counted: 37. Fresh: 34. Rotten: 3. Critics Consensus: This Disney dreamscape contains moments of grandeur, with its lush colors, magical air, one of the most menacing villains in the Disney canon. Nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney based on The Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault and Little Briar Rose by The Brothers Grimm. The 16th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was released to theaters on January 29, 1959, by Buena Vista Distribution. This was the last Disney adaptation of a fairy tale for some years because of its initial disappointing box office gross and mixed critical reception; the studio did not return to the genre until 30 years later, after Walt Disney died, with the release of The Little Mermaid (1989).
The film was directed by Les Clark, Eric Larson, and Wolfgang Reitherman, under the supervision of Clyde Geronimi, with additional story work by Joe Rinaldi, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Ted Sears, Ralph Wright, and Milt Banta. The film's musical score and songs, featuring the work of the Graunke Symphony Orchestra under the direction of George Bruns, are arrangements or adaptations of numbers from the 1890 Sleeping Beauty ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
Sleeping Beauty was the first animated film to be photographed in the Super Technirama 70 widescreen process, as well as the second full-length animated feature film to be filmed in anamorphic widescreen, following Disney's own Lady and the Tramp four years earlier. The film was presented in Super Technirama 70 and 6-channel stereophonic sound in first-run engagements.
It was accompanied by the Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. 2 short film, Disco Plaza, during its Diamond Edition release in 2014. Its home video release is on June 18, 2019.
Plot
After many childless years, King Stefan (Taylor Holmes, 80) and Queen Leah welcome the birth of their daughter, Aurora. They proclaim a holiday for the high and low estate to pay homage to the princess. At the gathering of the christening by everyone in the kingdom, she is betrothed to Prince Phillip, the young son of King Hubert (Bill Thompson, 45), so that the kingdoms of Stefan and Hubert will be forever united. Also attending are the three good fairy godmothers, Flora (Verna Felton, 68), Fauna (Barbara Jo Allen, 52), and Merryweather (Barbara Luddy, 50), who have come to bless the child with gifts. The first fairy, Flora, gives the princess the gift of beauty, while the next fairy, Fauna, gives her the gift of song. Before Merryweather is able to give her blessing, a wicked fairy named Maleficent (Eleanor Audley, 53) appears and pretends to be gracious about her having been left out. The evil fairy then curses the princess, proclaiming that, while she will indeed be beautiful and graceful, before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. Merryweather is able to use her blessing to weaken the curse, so that instead of death, Aurora will fall asleep from which she can be awakened by true love's kiss. Though King Stefan orders all spinning wheels in the kingdom to be burned, the three fairies know Maleficent's spell cannot be stopped that easily and devise a plan to protect Aurora. They disguise themselves as peasant women and with the King and Queen's consent they sneak Aurora away with them to a woodcutter's cottage in the forest until her sixteenth birthday passes.
As the years pass, Maleficent rages to her beastial minions (Candy Candido, 45; Pinto Colvig, 66; and Dallas McKennon, 39) the sheer impossibility of how the princess has managed to evade her for so many years. Her bumbling guards reveal that they had been looking for a baby the whole time, not realizing that the princess would have grown up. Disgusted at their idiocy, Maleficent dispatches her pet raven, Diablo (Dallas McKennon, 39) to search.
Years later, Aurora (Mary Costa, 28), renamed Briar Rose, has grown into a beautiful young woman with the blessings that Flora and Fauna bestowed to her. Sweet and gentle, she dreams of falling in love one day. On her sixteenth birthday, the three fairies ask Rose to gather berries in the forest so they can prepare a surprise party for her. While singing in the forest, Rose attracts the attention of Prince Phillip (Bill Shirley, 37), now a handsome young man, as he is out riding his horse, Samson (Dallas McKennon, 39). When they meet, they instantly fall in love. Realizing that she has to return home, Rose flees from Phillip without ever learning his name, but asks him to come to her cottage that evening. While she is away, the fairies' quarrel over whether Aurora's gown should be pink or blue draws the attention of Diablo, revealing the location of the long-missing Aurora. Back at home, the fairies tell Rose the truth and escort the now-heartbroken princess back to her parents. Meanwhile, Phillip tells his father of a peasant girl he met and wishes to marry in spite of his prearranged marriage to Princess Aurora. King Hubert tries to convince Phillip to marry the princess instead of the peasant girl, but fails.
In a room within the palace, Maleficent lures Aurora away from the fairies through a secret entrance behind a fireplace and up a staircase to an empty room, where an enchanted spinning wheel awaits her. Aurora touches the spindle, pricking her finger and completing the curse mere moments before sundown. The good fairies place Aurora on a bed in the highest tower and place a powerful charm on all the people in the kingdom, causing them to fall in a deep sleep 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. The fairies realize that Prince Phillip is the man with whom Aurora has fallen in love. However, Prince Phillip, arriving at the peasant girl's home, is kidnapped by Maleficent and her minions to prevent him from breaking her spell.
The fairies discover Phillip's hunting cap in the ravaged woodcutter's cottage and realise that Maleficent has taken Phillip prisoner. They then journey to the Forbidden Mountain and sneak into Maleficent's castle to rescue him. They follow Maleficent to the dungeon where she taunts Phillip (showing him the peasant girl he fell in love with was really the princess who now sleeps, saying she plans to keep him locked away until he's an old man on the verge of death then release him to meet his love, who will not have aged a day), and then she leaves him, laughing with delight at his rage. The fairies enter the chamber, release the prince, and arm him with the magical Sword of Truth and the Shield of Virtue. Phillip and the fairies then escape from the prison cell and encounter Maleficent's minions who try to stop Phillip from escaping. After their failed attempts with help by the fairies, Maleficent surrounds Stefan's palace with a forest of thorns, but when that fails to stop Phillip, Maleficent transforms into a gigantic dragon to battle the prince herself. Ultimately, Phillip throws the sword, blessed by the fairies' magic, directly into Maleficent's heart, causing Maleficent to fall to her death from a cliff and turn to ash.
Phillip enters the palace and goes up the highest tower to awaken Aurora with a kiss. The spell over her is broken and everyone else in the palace also awakens too. The royal couple descends to the ball taking place in the ballroom, where Aurora is happily reunited with her parents. The fairies resume their quarrel over the color of Aurora's dress, the last color to appear being pink. Aurora and Prince Phillip live happily ever after.
Characters
Aurora (Mary Costa) – The titular character and the main protagonist of the film. Her appearance: Slender, beautiful, 16 years old, fair skin, rosy red lips, long golden blonde hair with curl ends, violet eyes
(in her Princess form): Gold tiara, gold necklace, pink or blue off-the-shoulder dress
(in her peasant "Briar Rose" form): Gray dress with long sleeves and black bodice, black headband, white petticoat, barefoot
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather (Verna Felton, Barbara Jo Allen, and Barbara Luddy) – The three good fairy godmothers and secondary protagonists of the film. Their appearances: Flora: Obese, fair skin, gray hair in a bun, brown eyes, both red pointy hat and dress, clear red wings on her back
Fauna: Slender, fair skin, brownish-gray hair in a bun, brown eyes, both green pointy hat and dress, clear green wings on her back, black spectacles (in Sofia the First)
Merryweather: Obese, fair skin, black hair, blue eyes, both blue pointy hat and dress, clear blue wings on her back
Maleficent (Eleanor Audley) – An extremely powerful, evil fairy and the main antagonist of the film. Her appearance: Slender, tall, shallow lime skin, prominent chin, red lips and fingernails, yellow eyes, predominantly black-and-purple cloak, black horned headdress
Prince Phillip (Bill Shirley) – The love interest of Princess Aurora. His appearance: Slender, handsome, fair skin, brown hair, brown eyes, black and gray outfit, brown pants, black boots, red cape, red hunting hat
Diablo (Dallas McKennon) – Maleficent's pet raven, and the secondary antagonist of the film. His appearance: Slender raven, black feathers, orange beak and claws, and purple bags under his eyes
King Stefan (Taylor Holmes) – The father of Princess Aurora. His appearance: Slender, fair skin, black hair, moustache and beard, black-and-yellow clothes, red collar, crown
Queen Leah (Verna Felton) – The mother of Princess Aurora. Her appearance: Slender, beautiful, fair skin, dark blonde hair, dark pink-and-lavender dress, gold crown, aqua veil, dark magenta cape
King Hubert (Bill Thompson) – The father of Prince Phillip and King Stefan's neighbor. His appearance: Obese, half bald, white hair, eyebrowns and small goatee, red coat, crown with blue on the top, golden shirt with blue collar, blue necless shape like diamond, red-orange socks, black shoes with pompoms
Forest Animals (Dallas McKennon) – Princess Aurora's friends. Their appearances: Brown owl, brown squirrels, gray rabbits, and many different colored birds (including a cardinal and bluebird)
Samson (Dallas McKennon) – Prince Phillip's horse. His appearance: White with black mane and tail
Maleficent's Goons (Candy Candido, Pinto Colvig, Bob Amsbery, and Dallas McKennon) – Maleficent's minions. Their appearances: Odd creatures, neither slender nor obese, greenish skin tones, resemble hogs and bird-like creatures
Cast
Mary Costa – Aurora, the titular character and the main protagonist of the film
Eleanor Audley – Maleficent, an extremely powerful, evil fairy and the main antagonist of the film
Verna Felton – Flora, a red good fairy godmother / Queen Leah, the mother of Aurora
Barbara Jo Allen – Fauna, a green good fairy godmother
Barbara Luddy – Merryweather, a blue good fairy godmother
Bill Shirley – Phillip, the love interest of Princess Aurora
Taylor Holmes – King Stefan, the father of Aurora
Bill Thompson – King Hubert, the father of Phillip and Stefan's neighbor
Marvin Miller – Narrator
Candy Candido – Goons, Maleficent's minions
Pinto Colvig – Goons, Maleficent's minions
Bob Amsbery – Goons, Maleficent's minions
Dallas McKennon – Owl, one of the Forest Animals / Diablo, Maleficent's pet raven / Samson, Phillip's horse / Goons, Maleficent's minions
Additional Voices (Kingdom guests, castle guards, Maleficent's goons)
Charlie Adler Jack Angel Susan Boyd
Steve Bulen Hamilton Camp Nancy Cartwright
Philip L. Clarke Jennifer Darling Allan Davies
Donny Gerrard Ed Gilbert Linda Harmon
Phillip Ingram Luana Jackman Anne Lockhart
Sherry Lynn Melissa MacKay Mickie McGowan
Gene Merlino Lewis Morford Bobbi Page
Patrick Pinney Sally Stevens Bob Tebow
Jackie Ward
Places/locations
King Stefan's Castle
Forbidden Mountain
Aurora's Cottage
Forest
Directing animators
Marc Davis - (Princess Aurora, Maleficent)
Milt Kahl - (Prince Phillip)
Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston - (The Three Good Fairies: Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather)
John Lounsbery - (King Hubert, King Stefan)
Wolfgang Reitherman - (Maleficent as a dragon; also served as the director of the whole sequence of Prince Phillip's escape and his climatic battle with Maleficent as the dragon)
Eric Larson did not animate any of the characters for the film; instead, he directed the entire "Forest" sequence which stretches from Briar Rose (a.k.a Aurora) wandering through the forest with her animal friends all the way to Briar Rose running back home, promising Phillip they'll meet again later in the evening. This was the only time he directed a sequence or a film during his tenure at Walt Disney Feature Animation.
Production
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 was the last Disney animated film to use hand-inked cels. Beginning with the next feature, 101 Dalmatians (1961), Disney would move to the use of xerography to transfer animators' drawings from paper to the cels. 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 (1937) and Cinderella (1950), 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 that corresponds to the time period in which the film is set. As Super Technirama 70 was used, the backgrounds could contain more detailed and complex artwork than ever used in an animated film 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; 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; in 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.
Chuck Jones, known for his work as an animation director with Warner Bros. Cartoons, was employed on the film during the brief period when Warner Bros. Animation department was closed. It was anticipated that 3-D film would replace animation as a box office draw. Following the failure of 3-D, and the reversal of Warner's decision, Jones returned to the other studio. 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 Grimm variant. Ironically, Princess Aurora, the film's titular character, appears for fewer than eighteen minutes in the film (excluding the time she appears as an infant at the beginning). The prince was given the princely name most familiar to Americans in the 1950s: Prince Phillip. Named after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the character has the distinction of being the first Disney prince to have a name as the princes in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella are never named. The evil fairy was aptly named Maleficent, from the Latin maleficentia, "evil doing" (malus, "bad, wicked, evil" + ficens, past participle of facere, "to make, do").
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 colors just like the famed Disney duck trio Huey, Dewey and Louie. Additionally, the idea originally included seven good fairies instead of three, as there are seven good 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 Snow White's evil stepmother, the Wicked Queen's guise in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella evil's stepmother Lady Tremaine's guise in Cinderella), so 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 who was dressed elegantly devilishly 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 strip adaptation. 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. 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 101 Dalmatians, and portrayed Polly Crockett for the TV series Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.
The role of Prince Phillip was modeled by Ed Kemmer, 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.
The live-action model for Maleficent became Eleanor Audley, who also voiced the villain. Dancer Jane Fowler also was a live-action reference for Maleficent.
Among the actresses who performed in reference footage for this film were Spring Byington, Frances Bavier, and Helene Stanley.
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.
Release and later history
Theatrical release
Disney's distribution arm, Buena Vista Distribution, 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 January 1959, Sleeping Beauty earned approximately $5.3 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 there were massive lay-offs 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 films ever made, thanks to its stylized designs by painter Eyvind Earle who also was the art director for the film, its lush music score and its large-format 70mm widescreen and stereophonic sound presentation. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a "Certified Fresh" 92% from 37 reviews with an average rating of 8.1/10. Its consensus states that "This Disney dreamscape contains moments of grandeur, with its lush colors, magical air, one of the most menacing villains in the Disney canon." Carrie R. Wheadon of Common Sense Media gave the film five out of five stars, writing, "Disney classic is delightful but sometimes scary".
Like Alice in Wonderland (1951), 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 and 1995. It was going to re-release in 1993, but it was canceled. 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 $606.8 million, placing it in the top 40 of films.
From July 9 to August 13, 2012, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences organized "The Last 70MM Film Festival" at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater, where the Academy, its members, and the Hollywood industry acknowledged the importance, beauty, and majesty of the 70mm film format and how its image and quality is superior to that of digital film. The Academy selected the following films, which were shot on 70mm, to be screened to make a statement about it, as well as to gain a new appreciation for familiar films in a way it hadn't before: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Sleeping Beauty, Grand Prix, The Sound of Music, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Spartacus, along with other short subject films on the 70mm format.
Home video release
Sleeping Beauty was released on VHS, 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 September 16, 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 September 9, 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 Platinum Edition release of Sleeping Beauty, as a 2-disc DVD and Blu-ray, 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 the 2007 restoration of Sleeping Beauty from the original Technicolor negatives (interpositives 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-rays. The DVD includes a music video with a remake of the Disney Classic "Once Upon A Dream" sung by Emily Osment; and featuring Daniel Romer as Prince Charming. The DVD was released on October 27, 2008 in the UK. The Blu-ray release is the first ever released on the Blu-ray format of any Disney feature produced by Walt Disney himself.
The film was released on a Diamond Edition Blu-ray on October 7, 2014, after six years since its first time on Blu-ray.
Trailers
The first trailer for Sleeping Beauty was released on June 15, 2018, coinciding with The Incredibles 2 and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. A second trailer for the film was released on November 15, 2018, coinciding with The Land Before Time, Oliver & Company, Mickey Mouse, and Giants. The trailers is seen in theaters, including Cars 3, Darby O'Gill and the Little People, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. 4.
The trailers and promotions are seen in the 1997 home video release, including the Walt Disney Company, The Little Mermaid re-release, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, Disney Classics trailers (Old Yeller, Alice in Wonderland, The Jungle Book), George of the Jungle, Disney Magic Artist, The Wonderful World of Disney, the tagline that says "Stay tuned after the feature for a look behind the scenes at the making of Sleeping Beauty.", the Feature Presentation Handwriting Logo ("Thanks for joining us for this special preview. And now, our feature presentation."), and the 1994 Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection Logo, followed by the THX Broadway Logo.
The trailers and promotions are seen in the 2003 home video release, including Brother Bear, The Santa Clause 2, The Lion King: Special Edition, Finding Nemo, Kim Possible: The Secret Files, the Disney Princess merchandise, Disney Electronics, the tagline that says "Stay tuned after the feature for a look behind the scenes at the making of Sleeping Beauty.", the Feature Presentation Handwriting Logo ("Thanks for joining us for this special preview. And now, our feature presentation."), and the 1994 Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection Logo, followed by the THX Broadway Logo.
The trailers and promotions are seen in the 2008 home video release, including Pinocchio: Platinum Edition, The Princess and the Frog, Tinker Bell, Space Buddies, a spot for the Disney Movie Rewards program, WALL-E, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea Special Edition, "Wizards of Waverly Place", Hannah Montana and High School Musical DVD games, the Disney Parks, the tagline that says "Stay tuned after the feature for a look behind the scenes at the making of Sleeping Beauty.", the Feature Presentation Handwriting Logo ("Thanks for joining us for this special preview. And now, our feature presentation."), and the 1994 Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection Logo, followed by the THX Amazing Life Logo.
The trailers and promotions are seen in the 2014 home video release, including Disney Movies Anywhere, 101 Dalmatians: Diamond Edition, Cinderella, Maleficent, Disney Movie Rewards, Disney Parks, Doc McStuffins, Mickey's Christmas Carol Remastered, Frozen: Sing Along Edition, Planes: Fire & Rescue, Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast, the tagline that says "Stay tuned after the feature for a look behind the scenes at the making of Sleeping Beauty.", the Feature Presentation Handwriting Logo ("Thanks for joining us for this special preview. And now, our feature presentation."), and the 1994 Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection Logo, followed by Disco Plaza short film and the THX The Science of Sensation Logo.
Disco Plaza (Accompanied Short)
A Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. 2 Short: Disco Plaza is a 2014 Disney live action/CGI short directed by Paul Briggs. It first premiered August 9, 2013 at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, California and was shown in the Diamond Edition release of Sleeping Beauty. Disco Plaza is the sixth short in the Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. series and takes place shortly after the events of Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. 2. The short involves Melinda and Clamiwinkle helping the winter citizens make their party a success.
Plot
Taking place shortly after the events of Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. 2, Melinda (Mae Whitman, 26) and her sister Clamiwinkle (Sarah Bolger, 23) visit the Hall of Winter at the Winter Woods for their one-week stay to throw their first party with her friends, but none of the other guests show up. Apparently, the other Muppets had a plan to liven up the house. Using Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's (Dave Goelz, 68) inventions, the door stations, they sneak into the party at the Buckingham Palace to steal all their food and Muppet guests to fill the hall. The supply runs take them through the closet doors of a married couple's (Colleen O'Shaughnessey, 43 and Jim Ward, 55) bedroom, repeatedly disturbing their sleep.
Once they have the party fully stocked, Gulag warden Nadya (Tina Fey, 44) walks in on it. She is angry with the Muppets, but only because they did not invite her. After lighting a whiteout on a lawn, Nadya introduces all the Muppets to "door jamming," or jumping from the roof with the help of two doors to land safely on a pool. All the Muppets congratulate Melinda, Clamiwinkle, and the gang, all eager to pledge to their citizens, for putting together a great party.
In the post-credits scene, the parents wake their son Timmy (Cristina Pucelli) up and ask if they can sleep with him, saying that there is runaway bulls in their closet. Timmy vehemently replies, "That's what I've been trying to tell you!"
        Cast (in credits order)
Mae Whitman – Melinda
Sarah Bolger – Clamiwinkle
Steve Whitmire – Kermit the Frog / Link Hogthrob / The Newsman / Foo-Foo / Rizzo the Rat / Lips / Beaker / Statler
Eric Jacobson – Miss Piggy / Fozzie Bear / Sam the Eagle / Animal
Tina Fey – Nadya
Colleen O'Shaughnessey – Mom
Jim Ward – Dad
Bill Hader – Calypso
Eddie Izzard – Chlorine
Ty Burrell – Jean Pierre Napoleon
Selena Gomez – Sea Salt
Amanda Seyfried – Grotto
Kelly Macdonald – Fionnoula MacLise
Dave Goelz – The Great Gonzo / Dr. Bunsen Honeydew / Waldorf / Beauregard / Zoot
Bill Barretta – Rowlf the Dog / Dr. Teeth / Pepé the King Prawn / The Swedish Chef / Bobo the Bear
David Rudman – Scooter / Janice / Wayne / Bobby Benson
Matt Vogel – Sweetums / '80s Robot / Floyd Pepper / Lew Zealand / Crazy Harry / Robin / Uncle Deadly / Camilla
Peter Linz – Walter
Cristina Pucelli – Timmy
Martin Short – Trident
Additional Voice Talent
Lori Alan Carlos Alazraqui Paul Briggs
Debi Derryberry Kim Donovan Jess Harnell
Josh Keaton Jason Marsden Alec Medlock
Erik von Detten
Production notes
According to the short's writer/director Paul Briggs, "When you first meet the winter citizens at the Winter Woods, they go to the Hall of Winter and the first thing they say is, 'Welcome to Disco Plaza! We haven't thrown a party yet, but when we do we'll be ready,'...I kept telling Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. 2's director Jennifer Lee, 'I really want to see their party. We have to do it in the credits or something.' Then when the idea of doing a short came up, we were like, 'That could be the party!'" The short took around eight months to make, voices were recorded near the end of production of Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. 2. "We would do a couple of pickup lines with Sarah Bolger and the other actors for the movie and then we'd get the stuff we needed for the short." Disco Plaza was initially considered as a bonus feature for the Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. 2 DVD, but the decision was later made to release the short in the Diamond Edition release of Sleeping Beauty and the sing-along edition of Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. 2 at 2014.
Release
Disco Plaza premiered with the Diamond Edition release of Sleeping Beauty, on October 7, 2014. Unlike the two feature-length Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. films (which are both rated G by the MPAA), Disco Plaza received a PG rating from the MPAA for some reckless behavior. Thus, it is the first Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. short to receive a PG rating from the MPAA (unlike all of the previously-released Give a Day. Get a Disney Day. shorts, which were rated G by the MPAA) and also the Disney animated short film to have been designated that rating after 1990's Roller Coaster Rabbit, Party Central, and Flying Fairy Fest.
The short was released for streaming on May 19, 2015, on the Disney Movies Anywhere application for iPhone and iPad, and on the Disney Movies Anywhere website.
Critical reception
After being screened at the D23 Expo, BigScreen Animation noted "judging from Twitter, the response was tremendous." Newsday said "It starts with a simple plot idea and escalates in classic comedy form." Rotoscopers wrote "This short film was a cool, funny idea. Not a story. It was literally a sequence of jokes with no emotional core whatsoever."
Other appearances
Aurora is one of the seven Princesses of Heart in the popular Square Enix 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 his 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 fairies 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 (sans Maleficent) 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. Mary Costa, the original voice of Aurora, was not fond of this story and felt that it did not work.
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.
In the American fantasy drama series Once Upon a Time, a live-action version of Maleficent appeared in the second episode and the Season 1 finale, as she is an adversary of the Evil Queen, and is also sinister. Her role was played by True Blood actress Kristin Bauer. In Season 2 and Season 3, live-action incarnations of Aurora and Phillip are portrayed by Sarah Bolger and Julian Morris respectively.
Aurora and Maleficent also appear in the manga, Kilala Princess.
Aurora also makes an appearance in the video game, Kinect Disneyland Adventures.
Flora, Fauna and Merryweather appear in Disney Channel/Disney Junior's series Sofia the First as the teaching faculty of Royal Prep, the school for the various kingdom's princes and princesses. Aurora also makes a guest appearance in the episode, "Holiday in Enchancia".
In Walt Disney Pictures' live action film Maleficent, released on May 30, 2014, Angelina Jolie casts as Maleficent and Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora. The movie is directed by Robert Stromberg in his directorial debut, produced by Don Hahn and Joe Roth, and written by Paul Dini and Linda Woolverton.
Awards and nominations
Academy Awards
Best Scoring of a Musical Picture (George Bruns) (Lost against Porgy and Bess)
Grammy Awards
Best Soundtrack Album, Original Cast – Motion Picture or Television (Lost against Porgy and Bess)
Young Artist Award
Best Musical Entertainment Featuring Youth – TV or Motion Picture
American Film Institute Lists
AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
Maleficent – Nominated Villain
AFI's 10 Top 10 – Nominated Animated Film
Media and merchandise
Board game
Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty Game (1958) is a Parker Brothers 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"[33] 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 a dial spin. If the player lands on a pink star, his turn ends. If he lands on a yellow star, he draws a card and follows its instruction. If he draws a picture card, he retains it face down at his place. If a player spins a six, he is given the choice of moving six spaces or taking a magic wand. He may play the wand at any time during the game and in doing so draws two cards, following their instructions. A player must hold three different picture cards before entering the Path of Happiness. If he does not hold three picture cards, he continues around the Deep Sleep circle until he acquires the required three picture cards. Should a player land on a purple Maleficent space, that player returns one of his picture cards to the deck.
Theme parks
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.[34] 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.
Stage adaptation
A scaled-down one act stage musical version of the film with the title Disney's Sleeping Beauty KIDS is often performed by schools and children's theaters. With book and additional lyrics by Marcy Heisler and Bryan Louiselle, the show is composed of twelve musical numbers, including the movie songs.
Soundtrack (January 22, 2019)
Main Title / Once Upon a Dream / Prologue
Hail to the Princess Aurora
The Gifts of Happiness 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 Wonder
An Unusual Prince / Once Upon a Dream (reprise)
Magical House Cleaning / Blue or Pink
A Cupcake Revealed
Wine (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 (Once Upon a Dream (third-prise))
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. The 1973 LP compilation 50 Happy Years of Disney Favorites (Disneyland, STER-3513) includes "Once Upon A Dream" as the seventh track on Side IV, as well as a track titled "Blue Bird – I Wonder" labeled as being from this film with authorship by Hibler, Sears, and Bruns (same set, Side II, track 4).
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 Disc.
In the 2012 album Disney – Koe no Oujisama, which features various Japanese voice actors covering Disney songs, "Once Upon A Dream" was covered by Toshiyuki Morikawa.
In anticipation of the 2014 film Maleficent, a cover version sung by Lana Del Rey was released by Disney on January 26. The song is considerably darker and more dramatic than the 1959 version, given the new film's focus on the villain Maleficent. The song was debuted in a trailer for the film shown as a commercial break during the 2014 Grammy Awards, and was released for free on Google Play for a limited time.
Scenes
Opening Credits
In A Far Away Land Long Ago...
Hail To The Princess Aurora
The Three Good Fairies
The Gifts Of Beauty And Song
Maleficent Appears
Merryweather's Gift
The Fairies' Plan
Maleficent's Frustration
Briar Rose's 16th Birthday
Briar Rose In The Forest
Prince Phillip Hears A Haunting Voice
I Wonder
Briar Rose's Dream Prince
Meanwhile, Back At The Cottage
Dueling Wands
King Stefan And King Hubert Toast The Future
Philip's Disappointing News
Aurora Returns To The Castle
The Curse Is Fulfilled
The Sun Sets
Putting The Whole Castle To Sleep
Phillip Walks Into A Trap
In Maleficent's Domain
Maleficent Visits Phillip In His Cell
The Escape From The Forbidden Mountain
A Forest Of Thorns
Battle With The Forces Of Evil
The Spell Is Broken
A Happy Ending
End
Anniversaries
Birthdays
Birthdays
Birthdays
Birthdays