1. BACKGROUND
2. PLOT
3. CHARACTERS & CAST
4. PRODUCTION
5. MUSIC
6. RECEPTION
7. LEGACY
8. FINAL THOUGHTS
9. REFERENCES

BACKGROUND

Aesthetically beautiful, yet financially disastrous. That was the legacy of Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping Beauty was created by those at the Disney Studios to be “a masterpiece”, to look like “a moving tapestry”. These were high bars for the animators to reach, but it is undeniable that they did succeed in making one of the most artistically stunning Disney animated features. But to achieve greatness like this costs money – and it cost them.

At $6 million, Sleeping Beauty cost double the amount of money to make than the previous Disney animated films of the 1950s, with production spanning the majority of the decade as well. Because of the already high spend, the movie was unable to recoup its costs, at least initially. This financial failing led to Disney Animation replacing their traditional Ink-and-Paint method with Xeroxing for their 1960s movies in order to lower their spending. It also meant that another fairytale-inspired Disney movie would not be made again until after Walt Disney’s death, that being The Little Mermaid (1989).

Sleeping Beauty has done well from subsequent re-releases, both theatrical and home, but now faces a different kind of criticism; that around the “passive princesses” of Disney’s oldest royalty, namely Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora. Many now dismiss this film, stating that Aurora is a bad role model, with some parents even going so far as to claim that they won’t let their children watch Sleeping Beauty because of this.

I’ve always liked Sleeping Beauty; it was my childhood favourite, where my three or four-year-old self apparently referred to it as “Pippin’ Boopy”, as I’m constantly reminded by my parents. I still class Sleeping Beauty as my second-favourite Disney animated film, so I clearly do not agree with the modern-day criticism surrounding this film, or the other “princess films”.

Though Disney’s Sleeping Beauty has a basis in the Charles Perrault fairytale La Belle au Bois Dormant, as well as Tchaikovsky’s ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, Disney made several changes to these storylines for their own movie, making it unique.

PLOT

The movie begins with a traditional Disney storybook opening – it’s my favourite of all them; the book is decorated with loads of jewels, and I even bought the notebook of it from the Disney Store a couple of years ago when they were making replicas of all the famous Disney storybooks. Anyway, a narrator reads the opening pages of the book, saying that for many years a king and a queen had longed for a child, and one day, their wish was granted with the birth of a baby girl. They named her Aurora, after the dawn, for “she filled their lives with sunshine”. They decide to throw a party, a christening for the new princess, where everyone in the kingdom can attend.

We see the kingdom parading to the castle, where hundreds of guests have arrived to see baby Princess Aurora. During the ceremony, the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, arrive to bestow gifts on the princess. Flora goes first, giving her the gift of beauty. Fauna follows with the gift of song. But just as Merryweather is about to bestow her gift, she is interrupted by a wind blowing open the doors and lightning crashing. It’s Maleficent, the Evil Fairy, with her raven, Diablo. Maleficent is upset at not having received an invitation to this supposedly-open-to-all party. Merryweather informs her she wasn’t wanted, at which point, Maleficent claims she’ll leave. Queen Leah, Aurora’s mother, asks if Maleficent is offended by this, to which she responds that she is not, and wants to bestow her own gift on the child. Except it’s not a gift, but a curse; a curse that states before the sun sets on Aurora’s 16^th birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. King Stefan, Aurora’s father, orders his guards to seize Maleficent but she disappears. Merryweather is asked to undo Maleficent’s curse, but Maleficent’s magic is too great, so Merryweather alters the curse, stating that should Aurora prick her finger, she will fall into a deep sleep, to be awaken by true love’s kiss.

King Stefan is still concerned so orders all the spinning wheels in the kingdom to be burnt. As the fairies watch over this bonfire, they know it’s not enough to stop the curse from being fulfilled and think about how they can help. Suddenly, Flora has an idea: to turn Aurora into a flower, until Merryweather counters by saying Maleficent will just send a frost. Then, Flora has another idea: the three of them will take the child away to the forest to raise her themselves, without magic; this being something Maleficent wouldn’t expect them to do as she has no concept of helping others. The King and Queen need some convincing but allow it, heartbroken at being apart from their only child, but seeing it’s the only way.

Sixteen years pass, and the kingdom starts to rejoice at the thought of seeing Princess Aurora again. They know that Maleficent’s curse has not been fulfilled as her lair, the Forbidden Mountain, continues to thunder with her anger. Maleficent asks her goons if they have found Aurora yet, but they have not, saying they’ve checked everywhere, including in every cradle. To which Maleficent laughs, because for sixteen years they’ve been looking for a baby. The goons are confused and laugh with her, only for Maleficent to call them idiots and fire at them with her magic. Maleficent instead sends her raven to look for a maid of 16.

At the Woodcutter’s Cottage, deep in the forest, we come back to Aurora, now 16 and using the name Briar Rose. She is lonely with just Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather for company, and she dreams of love. On this day, her 16^th birthday, Briar Rose is sent out to pick berries, while the fairies organise gifts for her: a handmade dress and birthday cake. Flora decides she’ll do the dress, whilst Fauna makes the cake, much to Merryweather’s dismay as she seems to have been the only one to cook or sew for the sixteen years they’ve looked after Aurora! Merryweather tries to convince them they can use magic as the sixteen years are over, but Flora insists they mustn’t until the end of the day. Merryweather becomes Flora’s dummy whilst she makes the dress, with Merryweather saying it looks awful.

In the forest, Briar Rose is singing. She tells the animals that she met a prince and that they danced all evening, only for her to reveal that it was just a dream. Little does she know that a prince has been riding through the forest, Prince Phillip and his horse Samson. He tries to follow the sound of her voice as he is entranced by it, except Samson gallops too quickly and sends Phillip falling into a stream. The forest animals want to make Briar Rose happy, so they dress up as a prince, stealing some of Phillip’s clothes to make the perfect disguise! They dance together, but Phillip has followed the thieving animals and steps in to dance with Briar Rose instead. Briar Rose is reluctant to speak with him as he is a stranger, but he encourages her to, saying they met “once upon a dream”. Briar Rose is asked her name by Phillip, snapping her out of her dreamlike state. She runs home, saying that she’ll never see Phillip again, before inviting him to the cottage that evening to see her.

Back at the cottage, Flora and Fauna’s birthday gifts aren’t going to plan, with an annoyed Merryweather going up to collect their wands so they can do things properly. Flora is still concerned about being discovered, so tells them to close every door and window, and block up every hole before they begin. Flora and Fauna successfully make a beautiful dress and birthday cake, with Merryweather cleaning up the house. Merryweather hates the dress being pink, so makes it blue instead with her magic, annoying Flora who changes it back. The two start a colour-changing war, which alerts Maleficent’s raven to the area, as he sees the magic coming up through the chimney. He waits, as Briar Rose returns home. She’s excited to tell the others about who she met, but the three fairies aren’t so happy, and tell her that she is betrothed to Prince Phillip and that she is Princess Aurora and will be returned to her parents and kingdom this evening. That’s enough for the raven who flies off satisfied with what he’s heard. Aurora is heartbroken and runs up to her bed and cries.

At the castle, King Stefan and King Hubert, Prince Phillip’s father, are discussing Aurora’s return, with Hubert saying how he’s already had a castle built for the two of them, which upsets Stefan who hasn’t seen his daughter for sixteen years and doesn’t want her leaving straight away. He is also concerned that all these big reveals might shock her, to which Hubert is insulted, asking what is wrong with Phillip that might cause him to be a shock to her. Stefan tries to calm the situation but fails, with Hubert challenging him to a swordfight – instead of grabbing his sword though, Hubert picks up a swordfish, and the two laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. They call for wine to celebrate, and see that their minstrel is drunk under the table, having drunk most of the wine for himself! Phillip returns to King Stefan’s castle at this point and tells Hubert he’s found the girl he’s going to marry and that it’s not Princess Aurora. Hubert is horrified and tries to get Phillip to think about it, but he doesn’t and rides off to the cottage in the woods to meet with her again.

Aurora has been brought to the castle by the fairies, who give her a crown to wear as she is a princess after all. Aurora is still devastated, so the fairies leave her alone and wait outside. They’re just as upset that Aurora can’t marry the man she wants to, when they hear some strange noises. Aurora has been lured away from the room by a strange orb of green light. The fairies follow, but they’re too late: Maleficent has managed to get Aurora up to the castle tower and to touch the spindle of a spinning wheel. The fairies put a sleeping Aurora in her bed, and decide that, instead of telling the kingdom that they failed in their duty to protect Aurora from the curse, they’ll put the whole kingdom to sleep until she wakes. Whilst doing this, Flora hears Hubert mumbling about Phillip and “once upon a dream”, alerting Flora to the fact that Phillip was the man Aurora met in the woods. They hurry to the cottage, hoping to see him and get him to kiss Aurora and break the spell, but it’s clear that he has been captured by Maleficent by the time they get there. They bravely decide to go to the Forbidden Mountain to rescue him.

At the Forbidden Mountain, Maleficent is celebrating her win, and tells Phillip that the “peasant girl” he met was actually Princess Aurora and that she is asleep, waiting for her true love’s kiss, but he shouldn’t worry as she’ll release him in a hundred years’ time so he can be with his love again, knowing that he will likely not live to that age, leaving Aurora asleep forever. Maleficent leaves the cell, and the fairies come in and free him. Flora arms him with the Shield of Virtue and the Sword of Truth to help him on this journey to save Aurora. Unfortunately, as they are about to leave, Maleficent’s raven spots them and alerts the goons. They pursue the four, with the fairies magicking their obstacles into harmless items, such as rocks into bubbles, arrows into flowers, and tar into a rainbow, to get them out of Maleficent’s lair. Merryweather even turns the raven into stone! They are on their way to Stefan’s castle, much to Maleficent’s shock, and she tries everything to stop them, destroying bridges, sending rocks tumbling on to them, and summoning a forest of thorns to encircle the castle. But it’s not enough and Phillip, with the fairies help, gets through easily, so Maleficent goes over to sort this herself, turning herself into a huge dragon. Phillip and dragon Maleficent battle, with Flora enchanting the Sword of Truth so that it will kill Maleficent on impact. Phillip throws the sword and sure enough, Maleficent is killed.

Phillip and the fairies rush up to Aurora’s tower, with him kissing her and breaking the curse. Aurora awakens, overjoyed that the man she met is Prince Phillip, the man she was betrothed to from birth. The rest of the kingdom awakens, and just as Hubert is about to tell Stefan that Phillip won’t marry Aurora, the two make their grand entrance into the hall. The two dance together, seemingly all the way into the clouds, and the storybook closes.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Although she is the title character and the one the whole movie revolves around, Princess Aurora is only seen in the movie for about eighteen minutes in total, roughly a fifth of the entire runtime of the film[1]. Because of this, we don’t get to see a lot of personality from her, but it is clear that Aurora is kind, elegant, graceful, and a hopeless romantic. Typical of a Disney princess, she likes to sing, specifically with forest creatures, such as birds and squirrels, but this is because the fairies have tried to keep Aurora from harm by not letting her speak to anyone, so the animals are the only ones she can talk to, away from her guardians! All of this means that viewers are quick to dismiss Aurora as simply a pointless character and a terrible example of a good female role model. I disagree with this because there is nothing wrong with dreaming of romance, and there is also nothing wrong with being kind and considerate of others. Her character lives in the 14^th Century; I’m sorry to have to point out that there wasn’t going to be much career progression for her at that time, princess or not! She doesn’t go out on a big adventure, like more contemporary Disney princess, but that’s because she’s spent her whole life being protected from the impact of Maleficent’s curse; she’s not given the opportunity to do this.

Aurora’s character design was based on a few people, with one apparently being Audrey Hepburn. This was more in terms of her posture, to give Aurora poise, elegance and grace. Her design was also inspired by Aurora’s live-action reference model, Helene Stanley, who had ballet experience, and can be seen dancing in Aurora’s costume in behind-the-scenes footage. Her voice artist was also a strong inspiration for the character, Mary Costa. Mary Costa had been chosen in part for her operatic singing voice, which is integral to the story as Aurora is given the “gift of song” from birth. Walt Disney loved Costa’s voice and encouraged her to “paint with her voice”[2]. Disney had been auditioning women for the part for three years by the time they found Costa! Mary Costa had the perfect fairytale speaking voice too, but she had to put on an English accent to work with the European fairytale setting, as Costa was born in Tennessee and had a natural Southern accent. Marc Davis watched Costa’s recording sessions to include her natural expressions and gestures into the character of Aurora. Costa would go on to become a successful opera singer.

Again, many people like to ignore Prince Phillip as well, saying that he is just a typical Disney prince, with not much going for him in way of a personality; he’s just there to marry the girl at the end of the movie. Though I might agree with this comment for Prince Charming and Snow White’s Prince, I disagree for Prince Phillip. Unlike the other two princes, I think Prince Phillip actually gets to say quite a lot and certainly does more for the story. Prince Phillip is charming and handsome, but also kind of funny, in both his conversation with Aurora in the woods, as well as later with King Hubert. Prince Phillip even gets some action scenes, getting to fight off Maleficent and rescue the girl, though he does get a lot of help from the three fairies here! Woolie Reitherman directed the whole sequence of Phillip escaping Maleficent’s lair, and that includes the dragon battle. Reitherman got some stick in the company for the fact that Phillip gets through all the thorns even on his horse and for elements of it not being “logical”, but Walt didn’t care; he loved it. This sequence is considered to be one of the biggest climatic scenes in Disney history, so Reitherman must have done something right! It is such a huge part of the movie that it has even been built in LEGO and can be seen outside the LEGO stores at both Disney Springs in Walt Disney World and Downtown Disney at Disneyland.

Prince Phillip, and his horse Samson, were animated by Milt Kahl. Most animators did not like animating the princes, thinking they are a bit bland and boring, but I’m hoping Kahl didn’t mind designing Prince Phillip. I definitely think he’s different to the other Disney princes that came before him. Prince Phillip is voiced by radio performer and pop singer Bill Shirley, who also provided the live-action reference modelling for the character, even acting out the final battle scene on a makeshift horse contraption! Disney chose Shirley for the role because of his singing range and his youthful voice. Bill Shirley would later go on to dub the singing voice of Freddy Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady (1964). Regardless of what anyone says, I like Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora; I like them as characters and as a couple.

Then there is Maleficent, considered to be the best villain in Disney history to many, who has spanned her own personal legacy from this movie, but more on that later. Maleficent doesn’t have a backstory in Sleeping Beauty, so we don’t know why she wants to curse a baby or why it’s so important to her that Aurora dies. I personally don’t need one, I just like villains being evil for evil’s sake, but if you need one, Disney made the live-action Maleficent (2014) to do this. Maleficent is an evil fairy, who dabbles in dark magic. She lives in her fortress, the Forbidden Mountain, with a gaggle of hopeless goons, who just irritate her, and her beloved raven, Diablo, the only thing she can trust. Maleficent is cruel and terrifying, but has a grace and elegance to her, like Aurora. She is formidable and stern, and her magic allows her to do anything she wants, like turning herself into a dragon, which makes her even more scary! I’m a big fan of Maleficent as a character.

Marc Davis, as well as animating Aurora, also worked on Maleficent’s design. He wanted her gown to look like flames, which it does by having triangular wisps coming from. Davis also gave her a bat-wing shaped collar and horns of the devil to show how evil she is[3]. Davis didn’t particularly like the fact that Maleficent is such a straight, sharp, calm character, so when he got to design Cruella de Vil for Disney’s next animated feature, One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), he was pleased to be able to do more with the expressions and make Cruella very over-the-top! Marc Davis had ample inspiration from Maleficent’s voice artist, Eleanor Audley, who had a particularly powerful and impressive voice. According to Mary Costa, many of the voice actors would go to watch Audley’s voice recordings because they loved how expressive she was[4]. Eleanor Audley had voiced the role of Lady Tremaine in Cinderella (1950) and would later voice Madame Leota for Disney Parks attraction The Haunted Mansion. Marc Davis also animated Maleficent’s raven, Diablo, using footage of ravens from Disney’s True-Life Adventures series as guidance.

For the three good fairies, originally Walt Disney wanted the trio to all be the same, but the animators, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnstone, fought for them to all be likeable but different – and they got their way, thankfully, because the fairies bouncing off each other’s personalities gives the movie some comedy! Flora, who wears red, is the bossy one, the leader of the group, even though she may not be the smartest or have the best ideas. Flora is voiced by veteran Disney voice artist Verna Felton, who had worked on numerous Disney movies, even by this point, such as being the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland (1951) and the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella (1950). Some have alleged that Verna Felton also provides the voice for Queen Leah, Aurora’s mother, however, it has since been pointed out to me that the voice artist for Queen Leah remains unknown, as there are no specific records detailing who this actually was.

Fauna, the green one, is the sweet but ditzy fairy! Apparently, Fauna was based on a woman that Frank Thomas met in Colorado, who was sweet but not “quite all there”. She is funny because she makes lots of mistakes, and doesn’t seem to fully understand what’s going on all the times. Her silliness is apparent during her baking scene, when she has to ask what a “tsp” is and literally folds whole eggs into her batter! Fauna is voiced by Barbara Jo Allen, who portrayed Vera Vague on radio around this time. She would also voice the Scullery Maid in Disney’s Sword in the Stone in 1963.

Finally, we have Merryweather, in blue, who is the feisty one who always speaks her mind. Merryweather is voiced by Barbara Luddy, who also had a long history with Disney voice acting, starting with Lady in Lady and the Tramp (1955), in the movie before Sleeping Beauty. Merryweather is quite the contrast to the proper and posh Lady!  She is probably my favourite of the three but I like them all together. I do agree with Merryweather though about making Aurora’s dress blue instead of pink. I used to think that her pink dress was great, but one day, I realised that blue looks so much better with Aurora’s blonde hair, and she also ends up blending into the pink floor in the final scene of the film in the Great Hall…

For the last of the characters, we have King Stefan and King Hubert, kings of neighbouring kingdoms who seem to have forged a strong friendship. They only have a couple of scenes together, but the main one, where they are talking over a banquet, the “Skumps” drinking scene, is very funny, and was used to liven up the film a bit as it isn’t the most humorous of Disney movies. The two have a bit of a pointless argument, which escalates to petty insults, a lacklustre declaration of war, and a sword fight with a fish, but they see the silliness of their actions and quickly move on! It was animated by John Lounsbery, with the lute-playing minstrel being animated by John Sibley to add some slapstick humour to the scene[5]. King Stefan is generally calmer than King Hubert, more softly-spoken whereas King Hubert is bolder, yet mostly jolly. King Hubert is voiced by Bill Thompson, who is another cast member in Sleeping Beauty who had a history with Disney! Thompson voiced characters such as Mr. Smee in Peter Pan (1953), the White Rabbit and Dodo in Alice in Wonderland (1951), and various voices, including Jock, in Lady and the Tramp (1955). The part of King Stefan seemed at one point to have gone to Hans Conried, the voice of Captain Hook in Peter Pan (1953) as his voice features in a deleted song, but actually went to Taylor Holmes, who had roles in movies such as Mr. Esmond Sr. in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), and as Ebenezer Scrooge in the Vincent Price-narrated 1949 television version of A Christmas Carol. Taylor Holmes died eight months after the release of Sleeping Beauty.

PRODUCTION

Production on Sleeping Beauty was advertised as being six years in the making, but in actual fact, work on the story began as early as 1951, meaning that the movie took almost a whole decade to make. As other Disney films of the 1940s and 1950s had been either “hit or miss”, Walt Disney wanted to go back to his fairytale roots, especially as Cinderella (1950) had boosted the studios financially and showed Disney were back at their best post-war. Walt wanted Sleeping Beauty to be similar to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Cinderella (1950) in terms of story, but wanted the imagery to be unique and beautiful.

Even though work on Sleeping Beauty’s storyline began in 1951, work on the movie took a while to progress as the Disney Studios were incredibly busy in the 1950s, with numerous live-action films in the making, as well as three television series, and the construction of Disneyland theme park. The story was also problematic as the original Charles Perrault tale that Disney used as the basis of the film was only a few paragraphs long, and Walt did not want the story to be fleshed out with elements like gags, that had been featured in Snow White, or subplots like in Cinderella. By 1952, the storyboard was well-refined enough and the movie ended up being pretty much exactly as was storyboarded at this time[6].

The earliest recorded version of Sleeping Beauty as a fairytale is from the 14^th Century, where it was called Perceforest. There was then an Italian version written in 1634 by Giambattista Basile, called The Sun, the Moon and Talia. The tale got to Charles Perrault who published La Belle au Bois Dormant in 1697, which is the most well-known version of the fairytale, and the one that Disney used as a loose basis. But the differences are that Perrault’s tale has the curse go on for 100 years, whereas the Disney film takes place over one night, and the prince just being in the room, without a kiss, is enough to wake her, but the Disney film talks of “true love’s kiss”. There is also an additional part to Perrault’s tale after the awakening where the prince’s ogre mother tries to eat the new bride and their children. Gross. Perrault’s fairytale was updated by Brothers Grimm in 1812 under the name Little Briar Rose. Then, the Grimm’s version was adapted for Russian ballet, scored by Tchaikovsky, called The Sleeping Beauty. The ballet also uses the idea of the 100-year curse, but nowadays has a kiss to awaken Aurora. There are multiple good fairies in the ballet, but only one helps the curse be broken, the Lilac Fairy, and Maleficent is sometimes known as Carabosse[7].

In terms of changes being made to the story, there were multiple different approaches and scenes that were cut from Sleeping Beauty during production. One of these was an alternate opening, which would have had similar dialogue to the final film and still have a storybook opening, but the song was different, a song called “Holiday Song”, which sounded more like a traditional Disney film song. It followed all the regular townspeople attending the christening, as we are told in the final film, all of high or low estate were invited. The final film doesn’t really show that, with everyone attending looking to be quite noble and majestic, but this type of song wouldn’t have fit with the artistic choice of the final film. Other songs of this type were also cut, such as “It Happens I Have A Picture”, where the two kings sang of their children’s virtues. This is where Hans Conried can be heard auditioning for King Stefan, along with Bill Thompson. This sounded similar to the final “Skumps” scene.

In the cottage when the fairies are making the birthday cake and dress with magic, words were written to match the “Magical Cleaning” instrumental that is played in the scene to create the song, “Riddle Diddle”. I hated it; it was strange and must have been meant to resemble a spell with the magic words, but it takes away from the instrumental which is one of my favourites. Another close song to the final decision was “Go To Sleep”. It wasn’t as calming as the kept song but the tune was relatively similar, just slightly louder.

Some other deleted scenes include one of Aurora dressing as her maid servant to attend a nearby fair, as she has been kept inside the palace walls all her life to keep her away from Maleficent. Maleficent’s bird, in this version a talking vulture, who reminded me of Iago from Aladdin (1992), is told to follow Aurora and lead her to Maleficent. Maleficent disguises herself as a gypsy woman and tells Aurora she’ll meet a “tall, dark stranger”. She offers to give Aurora a gift of a spinning wheel but before she can, a “tall, dark stranger” comes in and leads Aurora away. Maleficent’s vulture is told to tell Maleficent when she is alone again, but he gets distracted and misses her. Another scene is of Aurora being cursed. In this case, she sees an old woman on a spinning wheel in the tower, and is told to make a wish on this woman’s wishing wheel. Aurora makes a wish to see her true love again, touches the spindle, and is cursed. Maleficent’s original arrival into the christening was going to be slightly different but not overly. She would’ve been referred to as “Mistress Maleficent” and is announced into the room, instead of appearing in a rush of wind and storm[8].

Once the story was decided, the artistic look for Sleeping Beauty then had to be confirmed. Walt Disney specifically chose artist Eyvind Earle to complete the concept art and backgrounds for the movie, as he had a stylised look in mind for the film. Earle particularly favoured gothic, pre-Renaissance and medieval styles of art, which was perfect to achieve Walt’s plan of a “moving tapestry”. Earle even got ideas for the art from Persian tapestries, as well as using ideas from the book Très Riches Heures by Duc de Berry. Despite this older art style, Earle managed to make the style feel contemporary. Earle was a hard-working, but quiet, man at the Disney Studios, where he began working in 1951, starting as an assistant background artist on the short The Little House (1952). He then moved on to working on the films of the 1950s, like Peter Pan (1953) and Lady and the Tramp (1955). Earle has said that he either painted or at least touched every background in Sleeping Beauty, where he taught his assistants how to recreate his exact style, including landscaping, like bushes and trees, and his method of painting in layers[9].

This very detailed, sophisticated approach, though, caused some clashes of ideas between the animators and Eyvind Earle. Because of the stylisation of the backgrounds, the animators were concerned that they would overtake their character animations. It also became an annoyance to them that they had to make their design choices fit in with Earle’s overall artistic choice for the film. One example of this is that Merryweather’s scene where she is doing a balletic-type dance whilst cleaning, where she seems to be floating, was “spoilt” in the animator’s mind by her having to have a black bodice, as it “anchored her to the ground” and made the scene work less well than envisaged[10]. Clean-up and Ink and Paint had to be meticulous to deliver the artistic results that Earle and Walt Disney wanted. This was not necessarily a problem, however on this specific movie, these processes were taking so long that by 1957, people were being taken off jobs in other departments and put on Sleeping Beauty. Disney animator Floyd Norman was one of those people, with his department being assigned clean-up of the three good fairies. He also reiterated that there was annoyance at Earle for having some ornate and complex backgrounds, with fears of them upstaging the characters[11].

But this wasn’t the only area that contributed to budget and time issues. Another was “Sequence 8”, which is the scene of Aurora in the woods, where she dances with Prince Phillip right up to the song “Once Upon a Dream”. Eric Larson, who animated characters such as Figaro in Pinocchio (1940) and Peg in Lady and the Tramp (1955) directed this sequence. It was the first scene that was worked on for the movie, but it took ages to complete. The animators wanted to prove they could make this look amazing, however, due to the precise drawings, only eight drawings on average were completed in a day, meaning that they only had one second of footage after three days – and this is a long sequence!

To make matters worse, when Walt first saw the sequence he thought it was dull and asked that more forest animals be included to liven it up. It had already cost $10,000 to complete. Because of the loss of budget control, Larson was removed from directing the sequence, something that he was irritated by as he had not been told they were going over budget. Luckily, the sequence is one of the most important and most beautiful, so although it caused some troubles financially, now it shows the artists’ talent[12].

MUSIC

Walt also wanted Sleeping Beauty to stand out from his other movies not just artistically, but musically as well. Originally, they tried some normal Broadway-type songs, such as “Holiday Song” and “It Happens I Have A Picture”, as I’ve mentioned, but it was decided these didn’t fit in with the stylised beauty of the production. The only original song to stay in was “Once Upon a Dream”, which is actually from the “Garland Waltz” within Tchaikovsky’s ballet. It was written by Sammy Fain and Jack Lawrence. Fain contributed to the scores of Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Peter Pan (1953) for Disney, and Lawrence had written “Never Smile at a Crocodile” for Peter Pan. “Once Upon a Dream” is the iconic song of the whole movie, appearing in the scene where Phillip and Aurora dance in the forest, as well as in the final scene when Aurora and Phillip dance in the hall after Aurora’s awakening. I love it, it’s a beautiful, romantic song, and I don’t even mind when the whispery choir comes in to finish it after hearing Mary Costa and Bill Shirley begin in!

Apart from this song, many viewers have found the remaining songs to be “forgettable”. I find “Hail to the Princess Aurora”, the opening song of the kingdom arriving at the coronation, to be less enjoyable, but it does resemble royal occasion music, so it works in that respect. I like the calming music of “The Gifts of Beauty and Song”, when Flora and Fauna bestow the two gifts on baby Aurora, and I also like “Sleeping Beauty”, when the fairies are putting the kingdom to sleep after Aurora is cursed, for the same reason. But I will admit, they aren’t particularly memorable if you’ve only watched the film once or twice. “I Wonder”, sung beautifully by Mary Costa when Aurora is walking through the forest, is a nice operatic tune, typical of Disney princesses singing with birds. I like it, but it’s hard to sing along to! The other song is called “Skumps (Drinking Song)”, which is a silly song to match one of the few comic scenes in the movie. It is “sung” by King Stefan and King Hubert as they await Aurora’s return to her home and are celebrating, but end up arguing instead.

But the major highlight of Sleeping Beauty’s music is its score. George Bruns, who was an in-house composer for Disney and went on to score multiple Disney animated films such as The Sword in the Stone (1963) and The Jungle Book (1967), was selected to compose the score for Sleeping Beauty, using Tchaikovsky’s original ballet score as a basis. Bruns said that it would’ve been easier for him to have composed a new score for Sleeping Beauty instead of having to use Tchaikovsky’s score, however, he did say that he had a lot of choice of melodies and motifs. Bruns conducted the Berlin Symphony Orchestra to record the score, with recording taking place in Germany from September to November 1958. It used state-of-the-art six channel stereo equipment. The score ended up being nominated for an Academy Award[13], losing to Porgy and Bess (1959), co-written by Ken Darby, who had worked for the Walt Disney Studios as a composer in the 1940s.

My favourite piece within the score is “Magical House Cleaning/Blue or Pink”, when the fairies are baking and sewing for Aurora’s birthday. It’s a lovely piece of music to accompany a fun scene; my sister and I used to watch that scene multiple times when we were younger. I also like “Awakening” as it’s a romantic tune for when Phillip kisses Aurora awake, and signifies hope returning to the kingdom after evil has been slayed, and “Battle with the Forces of Evil”, which plays during Phillip’s epic battle with Maleficent. But really, the whole score is nice, and for this reason a year or so ago, I decided to watch a version of the ballet The Sleeping Beauty on television and I loved it. It’s interesting to see where the pieces I know from the Disney score actually fit within the ballet. For example, when Aurora touches the spindle and falls asleep in the ballet, Disney uses this melody for the scene where the fairies go to their cottage to find Phillip before Maleficent. When Maleficent first appears at the christening of Aurora in the ballet, this music appears in the film as “Forbidden Mountain”, when the fairies go to Maleficent’s lair to rescue Phillip. Strangely enough, the music Disney used in their film for when Aurora is led by Maleficent to touch the spindle is the same music as the White Cat and Puss-in-Boots dance in the ballet; they are wedding guests of Princess Aurora and her Prince.

RECEPTION

Sleeping Beauty was released on 29^th January 1959 in Technirama 70. The movie was released alongside the roughly thirty-minute theatrical short Grand Canyon, which was a live-action documentary, showing imagery and photos of the Grand Canyon, set to Ferde Grofé’s “Grand Canyon Suite”. It ended up winning the Academy Award in 1959 for Best Short Subject.

Multiple Disney productions were released to promote Sleeping Beauty before its release, such as The Peter Tchaikovsky Story, which was an episode of the television series Walt Disney Presents, released in 1959. It begins with Walt discussing Sleeping Beauty and all its advancements in sound and format, mentioning Technirama 70. He says that Sleeping Beauty took six years and $6 million to make. Walt then mentions that the team were inspired by Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty ballet when making the film. The episode then goes into a live-action dramatized version of Tchaikovsky’s life, from childhood to him writing The Sleeping Beauty. This section would later be released as a standalone programme. After this, Walt shows the first images and clips of Sleeping Beauty, including the sequence of Aurora and Phillip in the forest[14]. Another promotional television programme, this time for Disneyland on ABC, was called Four Artists Paint One Tree, broadcast in 1958. It was about how artists have different ways of showing or drawing the same image, but it showed a few images from Sleeping Beauty, including designs of Aurora, and the backgrounds by Eyvind Earle[15].

Despite these promotional activities, the reviews for Sleeping Beauty were not great, though many critics did appreciate the artistic quality and the use of Tchaikovsky’s original ballet score in Disney’s own score. However, it was considered to be less heartfelt and touching than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), with some even claiming that Sleeping Beauty and its characters were simply a carbon-copy of all those in Snow White, which I feel is unfair. Some also found the lack of memorable songs disappointing.

The biggest issue was just how much Sleeping Beauty cost to make, as it did not recoup its costs in its initial run despite a relatively successful box-office result. This led to Walt Disney taking much less of an interest in his animated movies for a while, deciding instead to focus on other pursuits. However, Sleeping Beauty is now considered a financially successful movie for Disney, after numerous re-releases and home releases, becoming the second most successful film of 1959, with the top one being Ben-Hur (1959)[16]. 

LEGACY

Sleeping Beauty was a driving force behind the sudden obsession, as I’d call it, of Disney making live-action remakes of their animated films, as it led to the release of the 2014 movie, Maleficent, though this one is slightly different to some of the later remakes, as it tells the story of Sleeping Beauty from Maleficent’s point of view, with her being given a backstory around being betrayed by her love, Stefan. Angelina Jolie was chosen to portray the evil Maleficent. Though the film received mixed reviews, it did well financially, and led to a sequel, titled Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019). A third film is said to be in early development currently. I have not watched either, and will not, because I don’t want Maleficent to become weak in my eyes with a sad childhood love story.

Also in the movie world, Maleficent’s daughter, Mal, is the main figure in the Disney Channel Original Film Series, Descendants (2015-present), which spanned a total of three films, three short films, an animated spin-off television series, multiple novels, and potentially two further spin-offs. Maleficent features in the first Descendants film, but is only mentioned in the remaining two, after Mal turns her mother from a dragon into a lizard, which she keeps as a pet. It’s a clever series, and one I don’t mind watching, because it feels completely separate from the Disney franchises as it is a fairly comedic take on the characters. Maleficent is portrayed by Kristin Chenoweth, known for originating the role of Glinda in the musical Wicked, amongst numerous other screen roles, with Mal being played by Dove Cameron, who starred in the Disney Channel television series Liv & Maddie (2013-17) and has recently had starring roles on stage as well as beginning a promising singing career.

Characters from Sleeping Beauty have also appeared in Disney video games, such as Kingdom Hearts (2002-present) and Disney Infinity (2014-2016). The three good fairies had a recurring role in the Disney Junior television series Sofia the First (2012-2018).

But the Disney Parks is where Sleeping Beauty has had more impact, with her castle being the symbol for both Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. Sleeping Beauty Castle was also the focal point for Hong Kong Disneyland, which looked similar to Disneyland’s one. It only lasted from 2005 until 1^st January 2018 when the castle was closed for a redesign for the park’s 15^th anniversary, reopening in November 2020 as Castle of Magical Dreams.

Herb Ryman was tasked with creating a visual concept of Disneyland in 1953, with Walt wanting a castle to be the symbol of the whole place. Ryman was inspired by Neuschwanstein castle in Germany; he could not have used the movie as inspiration as that would not be released for another six years. Walt wanted the castle to have a blue roof to make it look taller, as the castle is only 77 feet tall. This feature would be used on all other Disney castles, with every Disney Park getting a castle to be the visual beacon of the area[17].

Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland opened with the park on 17^th July 1955, and is one of the rare occasions when a Disney Park opened an attraction based on a film that has not yet been released. It wasn’t originally designed to be Sleeping Beauty’s castle, with it being referred to as “The Medieval Castle”, “Fantasyland Castle” and even “Robin Hood Castle”, to tie-in with the live-action Disney film, during early planning stages. Walt designed referred to the castle on his television show in December 1954 as “Snow White’s Castle”.

But on opening day, it was named Sleeping Beauty Castle, with the space inside completely empty, with no plans to become an attraction. That didn’t stop some curious guests from managing to get inside the castle through an unlocked door on opening door and sitting on the balcony though! It soon became clear that guests wanted to go inside the castle so Walt Disney asked Ken Anderson to come with him inside the castle to see what they could do with the space. They were not aware that the castle was full of about a hundred feral cats, who had left fleas everywhere! In the end, the cats were cleaned up and rehomed, despite “quicker options” being available to remove them. Disneyland’s castle became such an icon that the silhouette of it became the logo of many divisions of the Walt Disney Company, including its movie division.

The internal area was official dedicated by actress and child star Shirley Temple as the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough attraction on 29^th April 1957, complete with a 25-cent booklet available to purchase at the end of the experience to tell the story of the still-unreleased Sleeping Beauty film[18]. This walkthrough consisted of storybooks, telling the guests parts of the story, with dioramas representing some of the movie’s scenes, using special effects such as Pepper’s Ghost. The dioramas displayed were: spinning wheels being burnt; the fairies bestowing gifts on Aurora; Aurora being cursed; the kingdom being sent to sleep and Aurora asleep. Then there was an interactive part where guests could peep through keyholes and see goons staring back at them. These were soon removed as they blocked traffic as guests waited to try them out, causing queuing on the stairways. Then there was a scene of Maleficent summoning her goons, which did not end up in the film, as well as a bottomless pit, and a scene of Maleficent celebrating her curse. The final scene of course shows the final kiss, but just as guests went to go down the stairs to leave the attraction, a silhouette of Maleficent would pop out from the shadows and laugh. This scared guests and stopped them moving, so this feature only lasted a month before being removed. Concept art from Eyvind Earle was used for this attraction to match the styling to the movie.

As the walkthrough was developed before the release of Sleeping Beauty in 1959, many guests starting questioning the dioramas as they did not follow the plot of the movie after its release. In 1977, the walkthrough was redesigned, with miniature sculptures being used, resembling the window displays on Main Street, U.S.A. It also followed the movie more closely. In October 2001, the walkthrough was closed, with some speculating that this was due to safety concerns after the September 11^th attacks. This was apparently not the case but actually due to much needed maintenance on the castle and the declining popularity of the attraction[19]. Finally, in November 2008, the walkthrough was reopened after a further redesign, with this version looking back at the designs of the original walkthrough from 1957 for style inspiration. The storybooks and diorama scenes are still included but follow the film closely, unlike 1957’s version. They also are enhanced with special-effects.

At Disneyland Paris, the opening of that park showed their icon, Sleeping Beauty Castle, or in French, Le Château de la Bella au Bois Dormant. It is the most fantastical in appearance, but is the most similar to the castle that appears in the movie, even having square topiary trees around it, matching the artistic style of Eyvind Earle in the film. The Imagineers were also influenced by Mont St. Michel in France. The castle is 148 feet tall[20]. This is supposedly a favoured Disney Park castle by many. I disagree as I feel it looks a bit tacky, with the pink paint and gold trim being a bit garish, but I agree that it is better than Disneyland’s tiny castle, but not as good as Cinderella Castle!

The castle also features a walkthrough attraction titled La Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant, or Sleeping Beauty Gallery, which details the movie’s story through huge ornate tapestries and stained-glass windows. It was beautiful inside that gallery, and I really enjoyed seeing it when I last went to Disneyland Paris. Maleficent in her dragon form can also be found as an audio-animatronic being moody and blowing smoke at you in La Tanière du Dragon, or The Lair of the Dragon. This is located beneath the castle in the “dungeons”. Both these attractions opened with the park and castle on 12^th April 1992.

Princess Aurora can be found as a meet-and-greet character in multiple locations in the Disney Parks. At Walt Disney World, for example, she can sometimes be found at Princess Fairytale Hall and the character dining experience, Cinderella’s Royal Table, in Magic Kingdom, and at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall character dining meal in Epcot as well as in the France pavilion of World Showcase. An interesting fact about Cinderella’s Royal Table is that the restaurant was originally named King Stefan’s Banquet Hall, from its opening in 1971 to 1997, despite Walt Disney World’s iconic castle being named after Cinderella and not Aurora. It was a confusion that bothered guests so much that it led to the name being changed, only 26 years later!

At Disneyland Paris, Aurora may be available for photos at the Princess Pavilion. At Disneyland, she may be seen at Royal Hall in Fantasy Faire in Fantasyland. At Shanghai Disneyland, Aurora may be found at Storybook Court, within the castle grounds or at Royal Banquet Hall, the castle’s dining area. There is a restaurant called Aurora at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel. It is a fine dining restaurant with views of Shanghai’s impressive Enchanted Storybook Castle. At Hong Kong Disneyland, Aurora may be one of the characters around at Royal Banquet Hall, the castle restaurant, or in and around the castle. At Tokyo Disneyland, Princess Aurora is likely to be around the castle at some point.

Prince Phillip and Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are most likely to only be available for meet-and-greets at certain special events, however, they do all feature in Walt Disney World’s Festival of Fantasy parade in Magic Kingdom, along with dragon Maleficent. This specially designed float actually caught fire back in 2018, and was out of action for a while, before returning in 2019. Maleficent can also be found in her dragon form at Fantasmic! in Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, where she appears in more of a puppet-form. At Disneyland, there used to be a very impressive animatronic Maleficent dragon which debuted around 2009 in the show. Unfortunately, in April 2023, the Maleficent dragon caught on fire, destroying it entirely. Fantasmic! at Disneyland has since been suspended until Spring 2024, where it will likely return without a replacement dragon. Maleficent in human form is likely to be available for meet-and-greets around Halloween, and feature in parades, but may also appear at special events, or even randomly.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Sleeping Beauty may have had a difficult history, but it deserves to be remembered for its romance, charming characters, enchanting score, and brilliant Disney story-telling. Its characters are frequently featured in Disney Parks and in other Disney media products. Their popularity has lasted a long time, and it remains one of the most popular franchises, with Princess Aurora being one of the signature Disney Princesses.

So, stop reading so much into Sleeping Beauty, and all this talk of Aurora being “passive”, and enjoy the film for what it is: an artistic masterpiece from Disney Animation that has not been equalled since.

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REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Fanning, ’11 Royal Facts You Might Not Know About Sleeping Beauty’, D23.com, 24^th January 2019.

[2] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘The Secret Princess’, p. 57.

[3] Credit: Disney, Once Upon A Dream: The Making of Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1997).

[4] Credit: Anna Tims, ‘How we made Sleeping Beauty’, The Guardian (online), 17^th June 2014.

[5] Credit: Disney, “Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[6] Credit: Disney, “Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[7] Credit: Alex Reif, ‘From the Vault: The History of “Sleeping Beauty”, LaughingPlace.com, 6^th October 2014.

[8] Credit: Disney, “Alternate Opening” “Deleted Songs” “Deleted Scenes”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[9] Credit: “Eyvind Earle: The Man and His Art” from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[10] Credit: Disney, “Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[11] Credit: Anna Tims, ‘How we made Sleeping Beauty’, The Guardian (online), 17^th June 2014.

[12] Credit: Disney, “Sequence 8 from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[13] Credit: Jim Fanning, ’11 Royal Facts You Might Not Know About Sleeping Beauty’, D23.com, 24^th January 2019.

[14] Credit: Disney, “The Peter Tchaikovsky Story” from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[15] Credit: Disney, “Four Artists Paint One Tree” from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[16] Credit: Disney, “Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[17] Credit: Sophie Jo, ‘Once Upon a Dream: The History of Sleeping Beauty Castle’, The Walt Disney Family Museum Blog, 19^th December 2018.

[18] Credit: Wade Sampson, ‘A Walk Inside Sleeping Beauty Castle’, MousePlanet.com, 23^rd July 2008.

[19] Credit: Disney, “Original Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough Attraction”, from Sleeping Beauty (1959) 50^th Anniversary Platinum Edition 2-Disc DVD (2008).

[20] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘Castle of Dreams’, p.180.