Sleeping Beauty (1959)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Clyde Geronimi

Writers:

Erdman Penner (story)
Charles Perrault (story)

Release Date:

6 February 1959 (Brazil)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Music | Romance

Tagline:

Now the magic moment! Full-length feature fantasy - Beautiful beyond belief

Plot:

A snubbed malevolent fairy casts a curse on a princess that only a prince can break, with the help of three good fairies.

Plot Keywords:

Prince | Fairy | King | Princess | Birthday

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Mary Costa	...	Princess Aurora (voice)
Bill Shirley	...	Prince Phillip (voice)
Eleanor Audley	...	Maleficent (voice)
Verna Felton	...	Flora (voice)
Barbara Luddy	...	Merryweather (voice)
Barbara Jo Allen	...	Fauna (voice)
Taylor Holmes	...	Stefan (voice)
Bill Thompson	...	Hubert (voice)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo (original release) | 70 mm 6-Track (RCA Sound Recording) (70 mm prints) | Dolby Digital (DVD version) | Mono (35 mm prints) (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:o.Al. | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:All | USA:G (re-rating) (1970) | Canada:G (video rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #19062) (original rating) | Finland:K-3 (2008) (DVD release) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8 (1959) | Peru:PT | Spain:T | Sweden:7 (re-release) | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | Brazil:Livre

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

Several story points for this film came from discarded ideas from Walt Disney's previous fairy tale involving a sleeping heroine: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). They include Maleficent's capture of the Prince and the Prince's daring escape from her castle. Disney discarded these ideas from Snow White because he believed that his artists were not able to draw a human male believably enough.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the fairies rescue Prince Philip from Maleficent's castle and grant him the sword and shield, there is no sign of his cape anywhere nearby. When they leave the dungeon in the very next shot, Philip is suddenly wearing the cape.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: In a faraway land, long ago, there lived a King and his fair Queen. Many years they had longed for a child, and finally their wish was granted. A daughter was born, and they called her Aurora. Yes, they named her after the dawn, for she filled their lives with sunshine. Then a great holiday was proclaimed throughout the land, so that all of high or low estate could pay homage to the infant Princess. And our story begins on that most joyful day...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Teacher's Pet (2004)

Soundtrack:

Hail the Princess Aurora

This High-Def Transfer Will Blow You Away!

Quick......what was "Sleeping Beauty's" name? Answer: Either "Princess Aurora" or "Rose," depending on where she was.

Most of you probably know that but I didn't, probably because I hadn't watched this movie since it came out about a half century ago! I was a little kid, and never did see this again on TV or VHS. I only saw it again because several high-definition DVD websites said this looked spectacular on Blu-Ray.

How right they were; this looks incredible! I cannot believe how fantastic the artwork is, and sharp the picture comes through on this restored high-def disc. The colors and the amount of details in all the art are astounding. Many of the scenes had my jaw dropping in admiration. The story, frankly, is not anything that great for a man my age but the visuals are so fantastic that I enjoyed the experience.

I also appreciated the 2.55:1 widescreen picture. If you've only seen this on formatted-to-TV 4:3, and love the movie, you owe it to yourself to see this version. You won't believe how good this 1959 film looks.