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Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally released to theaters on January 29, 1959, by Buena Vista Film Distribution. The 16th animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon, it was the last animated feature produced by Walt Disney to be based upon a fairy tale (after his death, the studio returned to the genre with The Little Mermaid), as well as the last cel animated feature from Disney to be inked by hand before the studio switched to using the xerography process. It is also the first animated feature to be shot in Super Technirama 70, one of many large-format widescreen processes (only one more animated film, The Black Cauldron, has been shot in Super Technirama 70). It spent nearly the whole decade of the 1950s in production: the story work began in 1951, the dialogue was recorded in 1953, animation production took from the same year the dialogue was recorded until 1958, and the musical score by George Bruns, drawn almost entirely from the ballet Spyashchaya krasavitsa by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was recorded in the same year animation production finished.

Due to a lengthy problematic production and high costs, the film was originally a box office failure and did not make up the huge cost of the film. Along with the mixed critical reception, it was also noted to be the film that caused Walt Disney to lose interest in the animation medium. However, the subsequent re-releases proved massively successful, and critics and audiences have since praised it as an artistically animated classic.

Plot[]

In 14th Century Europe, King Stefan and Queen Leah of an unnamed kingdom have a daughter, whom they called her Aurora. All of high and low estate is invited to a grand christening celebration, where baby Aurora is betrothed to young Prince Phillip, the son of her father's friend who rules a neighboring kingdom, King Hubert. Stefan and Hubert both had a dream to unite their respective kingdoms through a future marriage between their respective children.

At the Princess's christening, the royal herald announces the arrival of the three good fairies who came to bless her; Flora (in red), Fauna (in green), and Merryweather (in blue).

  • Flora gives her the gift of beauty, which is described in a song as "gold of sunshine in her hair" and "lips that shame the red, red rose."
  • Fauna gives her the gift of song, so she may sing like a nightingale.

But before Merryweather can give her gift to the princess, Maleficent, a wicked fairy and self-proclaimed "mistress of all evil," appears on the scene. Angered at not being invited to the christening, she curses Aurora to die when she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, leaving everyone horrified about Aurora's doomed future while her frightened mother grabs her infant daughter from her cradle in horror. A furious Stefan orders his guards to seize Maleficent, who disappears in a flash of thunder and flame.

However, Flora and Fauna point out to Stefan that Merryweather hasn't given her gift to Aurora yet. While Maleficent's curse is far too powerful for Merryweather to undo, she does use her magic to soften the curse, whereby, instead of dying, Aurora will fall into a deep sleep that will only end with Love's First Kiss. Still fearful of his daughter's life, Stefan orders all spinning wheels in the kingdom to be burned as a preventative measure. Knowing Maleficent will stop at nothing to see her curse fulfilled, least of all a "bonfire", the fairies take Aurora to live with them in the forest, where they can keep her safe from any harm until she turns sixteen and the curse is made void after which she would be reunited with the king and queen. To protect her fully, they even change her name to Briar Rose to conceal her true identity. The King and Queen agree to the arrangement but are deeply saddened to see their child go. The years pass by and while no one knew what happened to the princess, they became excited as her 16th birthday approached.

In the Forbidden Mountains, Maleficent berates her goons after realizing that they had been looking for a baby for sixteen years. As a last resort, she sends her raven, Diablo, to look for Aurora.

Meanwhile, Aurora grows into a very beautiful young woman, with sunshine golden blonde hair, rose-red lips, violet eyes, and a beautiful singing voice. She is raised in a cottage in the forest by the fairies, whom she believes are her aunts. On her sixteenth birthday, while out picking berries, she sings to entertain her animal friends; her angelic voice gains the attention of Phillip, who has grown into a handsome young man and is out riding in the woods. While she has not met any other person up to now, she has been dreaming of meeting a handsome prince. When they meet, they instantly fall in love. Realizing that she has to return home, she flees from him without ever learning his name, nor does he learn hers. Back at the cottage, while cleaning up the mess to prepare for Aurora's sixteenth birthday, Merryweather and Flora argue about the color of Aurora's dress for it being blue and or pink, attracting the attention of Diablo, who waits by the cottage. When Aurora returns, despite promising to meet him again, she is unable to return as her "aunts" choose that time to reveal the truth of her birth to her and to tell her that she is betrothed to a prince named Phillip, and she is a princess. They also inform her that she'll be returning to her father King Stefan that very night (during this Diablo leaves to deliver the news about Aurora's discovery to Maleficent). While she tries to tell the fairies about the person she met is coming that night to see her, they tell her in sadness that it will not be. This causes her to run to her room heartbroken, neither she nor the fairies knowing that her beloved is her betrothed.

Meanwhile, Stefan and Hubert were having a conversation about their children's future, with their maître d' Minstrel serving wine to them. Hubert even shows Stefan some plans he has for when their children wed, but Stefan protest at this original idea by reminding Hubert he hasn't seen his daughter since she left and suggested they hold off the idea until their children get better acquainted. He then offends Hubert over the presumed thought of their children not being good enough for each other as a shock. When Stefan furiously loses his temper and insulted Hubert, this resulted in Stefan threatening to declare war at Hubert. After their brief brawl, however, Hubert helps Stefan reconsider the original proposal. Shortly thereafter, Phillip returns to tell Hubert about a peasant girl he met and wishes to marry despite his prearranged marriage to Aurora. Hubert tries unsuccessfully to convince Phillip to marry Aurora instead of the peasant girl, leaving him worried about how he'll tell Stefan the bad news.

PrincessAuroraSleeps

Princess Aurora, the titular character in Sleeping Beauty.

The fairies and Aurora return to the castle, where they give Aurora a royal crown as a final present. However, she is still saddened and the fairies give her some time to herself. Unfortunately, Maleficent uses her magic to lure Aurora away from her chamber and up into a tower, where an enchanted spinning wheel awaits her. Realizing their mistake of leaving Aurora alone, the fairies tried to go after and save Aurora. But at Maleficent's hypnotic order, Aurora touches the spindle, thereby pricking her finger and triggering the curse. By the time the fairies arrive in the same chamber where Aurora pricked her finger, they are too late to save her. They gasped as Maleficent taunts them for their failed attempt to defeat her by revealing them the fallen princess and disappearing, cackling in triumph. As had been foretold, Aurora has been put under a sleeping spell. Meanwhile, everyone is awaiting the return of Aurora. Hubert tries to tell Stefan that Phillip has fallen for a peasant girl, but their talk is interrupted by a fanfare that was to welcome Aurora. A celebration proceeds with cheers and fireworks, while up in the tower the three fairies cry while laying Aurora on the bed, still upset over their failure. Unwilling to break Stefan and Leah's hearts about Aurora's fate and heartbroken about their failure to protect her, the fairies place her on her bed with a red rose in her hand and cast a powerful spell on everyone in the kingdom, causing a deep sleep to fall over them until the fairies can find a way to break the curse. From a remark made by the drowsy Hubert, they realize that Phillip is both Aurora's beloved and the one fated to break the curse and save the whole kingdom. Realizing that the Prince may be in danger, the fairies leave; but when they arrive at the cottage, they discover that the prince has already been captured by Maleficent and her goons in order to prevent him from saving the kingdom and breaking the evil fairy's spell on Aurora.

The good fairies sneak into Maleficent's lair to aid Phillip in escaping, arming him with a magical sword and shield. Warned by Diablo (who got turned into a stone by Merryweather), Maleficent attempts to thwart Phillip from reaching Stefan's castle with her magic by placing a forest of thorns to surround the castle, but Phillip hacks his way through the thorns. Having enough at her own failure, an enraged Maleficent furiously decided to personally confront him. After teleporting herself to the castle and block Phillip’s path, she then transforms herself into a gigantic, black fire-breathing dragon. After having a perilous battle and being cornered on a cliff by Maleficent, Phillip flings his sword and impales her in the heart, sending her crashing down in destruction. Afterwards, the prince heads to the kingdom and climbs up to Aurora's chamber and removes the curse on her with a kiss. This causes everyone else in the kingdom, including King Stefan, Queen Leah, and King Hubert, to wake up from their slumber, thus saving them all from their endless sleeping spell just in time.

A fanfare announces Aurora and Phillip's arrival in the throne room, where the teenage princess is happily reunited with her parents; she then dances with Phillip, each happy to learn that their betrothed and their beloved are one and the same. As Merryweather and Flora argue over the dress color again, the happy couple waltzes into the clouds and live happily ever after.

Cast[]

Uncredited[]

Production[]

Imagination is the mold from which reality is created. Centuries ago, men of vivid imagination created the fairy tales which live to this day, even though in many cases the authors' names have been lost in the mist of antiquity. Of all these stirring legends of Princes and Princesses, of witches and fairies, and of the triumph of good over evil, none has ever been so inspirational to me as Sleeping Beauty.
Walt Disney's interview for the film's original 1959 press book[1]

Walt Disney first considered making an animated adaptation of Charles Perrault's fairy tale La Belle au bois dormant in 1938. Preliminary artwork was submitted by story artist Joe Grant, but the project did not move forward.[2][3] Twelve years later, in February 1950, another adaptation of Perrault's fairy tale, Cinderella, premiered and was a huge critical and commercial success, marking the rebirth of Disney animation after lean and unprofitable years of World War II.[4] Riding high on the success of Cinderella, on November 25 of the same year, Walt announced that he was developing Sleeping Beauty as an animated feature film,[5] although the production title was registered with a Motion Picture Association of America back on January 19, supposedly prompted by a preview audience's positive reaction on Cinderella.[3][6] Disney envisioned this picture as his "masterpiece", a film that he felt would be the pinnacle of his studio's achievements in the field of animation. At the same time he also realized the risk of producing another fairy tale feature due to the story's similarity to his previous films, particularly, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Cinderella.[7][8] As Walt later told in interview for Bob Thomas' book The Art of Animation, "We had a lot of problems. We were fighting to break away from what we had done in the past. Sleeping Beauty was tough, because it had many of the elements we had already used in Snow White and Cinderella. You've got to give the creators new things to work with so they'll be able to keep their enthusiasm up. You're in trouble if they start saying, "Haven't we don't this before?" We had to find out what we had and whether it would please the public. I'm never sure myself what they're going to buy."[2][9]

Story development[]

Early Ideas[]

Main article: Sleeping Beauty (1951 version)
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Early versions of the story indicated the names of the Three Good Fairies as Tranquility, Fernadell, and Merryweather (ultimately, the latter remained in the final film).[10]

Bill Peet, Ted Sears, Winston Hibler, and Ralph Wright were assigned to develop the story,[3][11], first of all, deciding to discard the "bizarre" second half of the Perrault's story, which tells about the life of a sleeping beauty married to a strange prince, and instead focus on its first half, ensuring the development of a more convincing romantic relationship between the characters.[11][12] The earliest known story outline was written in April 1951 (according to other source, on May 15[13]) and included a wake-up kiss as a climactic moment, as well as the scene of encounter between the prince and princess before the latter falls asleep: shortly before her sixteenth birthday, the princess, wishing to explore the world outside the castle walls, switches clothes with her maidservant and secretly escapes into the nearby forest, where she meets and falls in love with the prince (in another version of the story, the encounter between the prince and princess occurs at a country fair[14]). Then the prince goes on a journey to a faraway land and returns a few years later to find the princess and wake her up with his kiss.[15] That outline also indicated the names of the fairies, the number of which was reduced from eight to four, and their corresponding magical abilities: Tranquility, the Fairy of Dreams, Fernadell, the Fairy of Forest, Merryweather, the Fairy of Elements, and Maleficent, the Fairy of Darkness.[10][15]

SleepingBeauty1959MaleficentCharacterDesign3

Early concepts of Maleficent incorporated some design elements intended to make her seem more "inhuman", such as the inclusion of antennae.[16]

To strengthen the conflict in the story, the story team decided to expand the role of the evil fairy, who was also rewritten as more menacing character than her "old hag-like" counterpart from the original tale.[4][17] At this point it was suggested to have Maleficent conjure an indestructible spinning wheel, from which the king and queen would have unsuccessfully try to get rid of, until in desperation they would have been forced to hide their daughter behind the castle walls and never let her out. On the day of the princess' sixteen birthday, Maleficent, disguised as an elderly spinner, would have tricked her into pricking the finger with a spindle of the cursed spinning wheel, after which she would have surrounded the castle with an impenetrable wall of thorns, and at the climax Maleficent had to engage in a fight with the prince, obstructing his passage with various hazards.[15] At the same time, the story artists decided to increase the role of the good fairies, making them comical companions and guardians of the princess. The first outline and later versions of the story included an attempt of the fairies to surround the castle with a protective circle, through which "no evil thing that walks, or flies, or crawls could ever pass", on the day of the princess' sixteenth birthday (ultimately it would have been unsuccessful, as Maleficent was able to enter the castle, disguising herself as a fish caught by the pantry boy).[14][15] Also, the fairies were to cast a sleeping spell on the castle when Maleficent's curse would have been fulfilled, and at the climax they would have helped the prince overcome the obstacles on his way through the forest of thorns.[15] Among other things, a talking vulture, who was supposed to be Maleficent's comically incompetent "hench-bird" and would have tried to ingratiate himself with the animals of Fernadell to find out the information for his mistress, was introduced into the story[14][18]; although, the first outline depicted the hench-bird as a sinister huge falcon.[15]

Reworking[]

SleepingBeauty1959StorySketch16

According to Charles Solomon, "Disney's story crew kept very little of Perrault's fairy tale, replacing it with a mixture of Snow White and a Hollywood boy-meets-girl story."[2]

In June 1952, the full storyboard presentation was completed, but Disney rejected it, concluding that this story approach was too similar to the studio's past efforts.[3][8] Because of this, the story team had to throw out the first version of the story and start it all over again, while deciding to keep a number of important story points from the early suggestions, such as the prince's acquaintance with the titular character before the fulfillment of the curse and, consequently, a shorter duration of her sleep, which lasted a hundred years in the original fairy tale.[2][9] Part of Disney's difficulty was trying to make his third princess, who was named Aurora, different from Snow White or Cinderella. First of all, it was decided to remove knowledge of her own plight from the princess, so she could be viewed simply as a person or a personality, since there would be no requirement to inform the character's actions or behavior through her predicament. To do that, the story artists came up with an idea to have the fairies rear her up in a forest cottage, with the princess being completely unaware of her background or the danger she was in. Also, Aurora was given a different personality style—"a freshness and a modern sensibility" to make her more appealing to audience. At the same time, Walt considered it important to emphasize the character of the prince, who was named Phillip; this role had been minimized in Snow White, because the draftsmanship of a realistic male figure was rather "crude" back then, but, since his animators' skills have improved over the years, Disney felt confident in expanding the prince's role and enhancing his personality.[3][9] Initially, the storyboard artists worked out an elaborate sequence in which Aurora and Phillip would have met during a treasure hunt, organized by the king, but the idea was eventually dropped when it became too drawn out and drifted from the central storyline; instead, it was written that prince and princess would meet in the forest by random chance.[9][12] Also, to further establish Phillip's role as Aurora's "true love", story artists came up with an idea to have Maleficent kidnap him and plot to keep him prisoner in her castle for a century, which would also serve as a twist on the centennial slumber from the original fairy tale.[16]

SleepingBeauty1959ProductionPhoto10

More story sessions were held on Sleeping Beauty than on any previous Disney animated production.[19]

Trying to distinguish Sleeping Beauty from his past animated features story-wise, Walt also decided to go in a more serious direction of storytelling and make a movie without the subplots, like the mice in Cinderella, concentrating on the "reality of the story and the subtlety of the main characters".[3][4] For example, originally the Three Good Fairies, who by that time had been renamed Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, were to rule over the domains, indicated by their names: Flora was to have charge of flowers and plants, Fauna was to oversee the animals and birds, and Merryweather was to control the climate. Although this notion offered many situations for humor, Disney discarded it, feeling that it led the main story nowhere.[3][17] He also personally cut out a number of gags and comical scenes involving fairies, feeling that they were too "slapsticky" and would be more fitting for Donald Duck shorts, but not for Sleeping Beauty; one of these was a sequence in which Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather unsuccessfully try to bake a birthday cake for Aurora, but in the end they accidentally blow up the oven.[4][20] Also, in the early versions of the story, Aurora was supposed to directly encounter with Maleficent, who would have tricked her into pricking the finger on the spindle. However, Walt felt that the "eerie, haunting presentation of a victim powerless in the hands of evil" would be the strongest and best statement for the film, so the scene was changed to have Maleficent lure Aurora to her doom under hypnosis, without interacting with her directly.[21][22] Despite Disney's desire to not repeat themselves, several story elements originated from discarded ideas for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella, including Maleficent's capture of Phillip and his dramatic escape from her fortress, as well as Walt's favorite concept—prince and princess dancing on a cloud.[10][23]

"The Deluge"[]

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Walt Disney himself caused the delays in the film's production, because he could never get comfortable with the story.[24]

As of mid-1952, Disney planned to release Sleeping Beauty on Christmas 1955,[24][25] however, production did not start until July 1953.[26] By the middle of the same year, Wilfred Jackson, film's supervising director, had recorded the dialogue, assembled a story reel, and was ready to commence preliminary animation work for the pilot scene, where Aurora/Briar Rose and Prince Phillip were to meet in the forest and dance. However, Walt threw out the original version of the sequence, so Jackson, Ted Sears and two more story men underwent a rewrite of it for a number of months. The revised version also received a "lukewarm" reaction from Disney, and he approved it only with such extensive changes that the story artists had to redo the scene almost completely again. In December 1953, Jackson suffered a heart attack, after which animator Eric Larson of Disney's Nine Old Men took over as supervising director[24]; his unit would animate the sequence of Aurora's acquaintance with Phillip, which, subsequently, received the production title "Sequence 8".[27][28] By April 1954, the release of the film was scheduled for February 1957 (it was subsequently postponed to Christmas[25]), and around the same time the studio was hit by what the production stuff called "The Deluge"—Walt had entered television with Disneyland and Mickey Mouse Club, as well as engaged in the construction of his own theme park.[9][24] Most of the studio talents, who were working on Sleeping Beauty at that time, were assigned to developing it and television series, and, because of this, the production of the film was temporarily suspended[2][9]; however, work on the project was not completely abandoned, as it was handed to Erdman Penner and Joe Rinaldi for further story development, while the medieval castle built at Disneyland was specifically named Sleeping Beauty Castle as a way to promote the upcoming film.[9][29]

One of his [Disney's] greatest gifts was as a storyteller. He was famed for coming in and finding weak points in a story, throwing things out that were wasted, and moving right to the heart, and finding warmth and interest in stories. But his interest was drifting.
—John Canemaker[4]

Production of Sleeping Beauty resumed in December 1956, although it was ready for a "general storyboard discussion" back in early 1955; by that time the release date had changed again for Christmas 1958.[9][25] Walt wanted to oversee every aspect of the film or otherwise "he wouldn't accept it", but he was still very focused on Disneyland.[30][31] According to Ollie Johnston, "It was very difficult for him to put his mind on this picture, I think mainly because Walt was working on Disneyland, he was occupied with that… He just didn't have time or energy to come in as often as we'd like him to. He come in if we pressed him, but otherwise he'd just say "Well, I think you're doing okay. Why don't you go ahead, and I'll come in later"… He just didn't have the creative juices going on this picture."[3] Milt Kahl blamed Disney for the delays because "he wouldn't have story meetings, he wouldn't get the damn thing moving", and surmised that Walt cared about everything but this picture.[25] It was becoming clear that Disney's interest in making Sleeping Beauty as the "great animation", as well as in the project as a whole, was flagging. According to the diary of studio executive Harry Tytle, after a screening of finished footage on August 22, 1957, Walt "seemed to be tired, had so much on his mind; he didn't give this the treatment he would have in years past, where he'd go in for a couple of days and fine-tooth comb the whole picture… His comments were general rather than specific."[25][30] Constant delays in the production of the film led to a significant increase in its costs; in particular, the cost of "Sequence 8", which took several years to produce, amounted to $10 000, which Disney wasn't unhappy with.[28][32] Relatively late in production, he removed Larson as supervising director and replaced him with Clyde Geronimi.[33][34] Despite his general unavailability to the making of the film, Walt still managed to take part in the refinement of several story points; in particular, he personally reworked the scene where Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather discover the abduction of Prince Phillip by Maleficent so that it would have more emotion and impact (early storyboards showed that it was supposed to end on the moment when the fairies find the prince's hat). Disney himself also supplied the additional lines of dialogue, and worked with Ollie Johnston, who was the animator of the Three Good Fairies, on the timing of the scene.[3][10]

Casting[]

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Mary Costa worked closely with Marc Davis, Aurora's supervising animator, who incorporated her physical features into the character's design.[35]

Disney was very meticulous about who he wanted to provide the voice for the characters.[4][36] He had been seeking the ideal "ethereal" voice for Princess Aurora for almost three years. After initially considered abandoning work on the film altogether, Mary Costa was officially selected in 1952.[37][38]Thanks to the composer Walter Schumann, who heard her singing at a dinner party for the entertainment industry and invited her to come to the studio literally the next morning, she got to audition for the part. Since she was from Knoxville, Tennessee, Costa had a strong southern accent that nearly prevented her from being cast until she proved that she could sustain a fake "Mid-Atlantic, almost English" accent for the entire film; the filmmakers likened the situation to English actress Vivien Leigh successfully feigning a southern accent for her role as Scarlet O'Hara in the film Gone With the Wind.[3][38] On the same day, within hours of her audition,[39] Disney contacted Costa to confirm that she got the part.[38] Subsequently, Walt regularly communicated with her for nine months, giving advice or instructions, but almost exclusively via telephone, because he feared that Costa's personality or physical appearance would influence his vision of Aurora (they ultimately met two years later,[6] when Costa was recording "Once Upon a Dream").[3][40] Twenty male singers were auditioned before Bill Shirley was chosen as the voice of Prince Phillip. He had a background in light opera, enabling him to speak the "fairy-tale dialogue" with just the right touch. He also was a high baritone, giving his singing a "youthful quality" ideal for the voice of prince. But before he was cast, Bill Shirley was asked to audition together with Mary Costa to make sure their voices complemented each other.[10][36]

As for the part of Maleficent, Walt personally considered Eleanor Audley, who had previously voiced Lady Tremaine in Cinderella.[8][41] Initially, she turned the studio down because at she was fighting tuberculosis and didn't think she would be able to hold out for a long time at recording sessions; however, she started feeling better and accepted the role.[32] When speaking of her vocal performance as Maleficent, Audley said, "I tried to do a lot of contrasting, to be both sweet and nasty at the same time."[10] Due to the character outline for Flora being described as "the matriarch type, large and dominating ... talks with a great deal of authority, is the practical one of the Good Fairies—the 'Doc' type", this led to Verna Felton, who voiced several characters in Dumbo, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Lady and the Tramp, being assigned to voice Flora. Additionally, Felton was also believed to have provided two lines for Queen Leah, but as of today, the Disney corporation studios still has no clear records regarding this allegation. Barbara Luddy, who had voiced Lady in Lady and the Tramp, and Barbara Jo Allen, known as Vera Vegue in the Bob Hope Show, were selected as Merryweather and Fauna, respectively. Hans Conried, who had voiced both Captain Hook and Mr. Darling in Peter Pan, originally auditioned for the voice role of King Stefan (as heard in the dialogue version of the deleted song called "It Happens I Have a Picture"[42]) and provided some additional voice work until Walt decided to choose Taylor Holmes for the voice role of Stefan because of his "bemused, but dignified" voice as his last film role for the film's final version, just eight months before his death on September 30, 1959.[36] A character outline for King Hubert described him as "Built like Bill Thompson, fat and square... lovable but hot tempered... gets in his own traps then explodes... sincere" led to Thompson being assigned to voice Hubert, following his performances as the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Smee in Peter Pan, and Jock in Lady and the Tramp.

Art direction[]

I've always been influenced by pre-Renaissance, Medieval, Gothic. And here's a movie based on that period of time. I first started with the old medieval artists, and almost everything that was Gothic. The tapestries were perfect examples of how foregrounds ought to be. The Gothic came from the Persians, and all their little details of grasses and weeds and trees fit perfectly. And over all of that, a little tiny bit of myself came through.
Eyvind Earle[8]

Trying to figure out how to make Sleeping Beauty different from his previous films, Walt decided that a "bolder and more modern" design would be a way to go.[4] In December 1952, Kay Nielsen—whose sketches were the basis for the Night on Bald Mountain segment in Fantasia—returned to the studio and was the first to produce styling sketches for the film.[43][44] Production designer Ken Anderson was impressed with Nielsen's artwork, but felt his soft pastel paintings would be difficult to translate into animation, and then Disney tasked John Hench to help interpret Nielsen's artwork without losing their "charm" by using opaque cel paint.[45] However, Nielsen's stay was a short one—he left the studio again around April 1953.[44] The styling had its origin in a visit by John Hench to the Cloisters of Metropolitan Museum of Art's medieval galleries in Manhattan, where he saw the series of tapestries The Hunt of the Unicorn; upon his return, he brought and showed their reproductions to Walt, who replied that's "what he'll do, [the film] will be completely different".[4][32] After that, Hench made some sketches that were based on the trip to the museum, and the background artist Eyvind Earle made first trial paintings based on those drawings. Earle said that he felt totally free to put his own style into the paintings he based on Hench's drawings, stating, "Where his trees might have curved, I straightened them out… I took a Hench and took the same subject, and the composition he had, and just turned in into my style."[4][46] When a few such paintings were done, Disney held a meeting at which he said, "For years and years I have been hiring artists like Mary Blair to design the styling of a feature, and by the time the picture is finished, there is hardly a trace of the original styling left. This time Eyvind Earle is styling Sleeping Beauty, and that's the way it's going to be!"[4][47] According to Eric Larson, Walt wanted a "moving illustration", stating that "he doesn't care how long it takes. He wants that on the screen."[47][28]

SleepingBeauty1959ProductionPhoto9

Sleeping Beauty was the first time that background paintings had determined the art direction of a Disney film.[48]

Eyvind Earle joined Walt Disney Productions in 1951, first employed as an assistant background painter for Peter Pan; he was then promoted to a full-fledged background painter for the Goofy cartoon For Whom the Bulls Toil and the color stylist for the Academy Award-winning short, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom.[49][50] A key influence on Earle was the French illuminated manuscript the Très Riches Heures de Jean, Duc de Berri, an opulent Book of Hours (a devotional volume that included Psalms, prayers, and a calendar of Church feasts); from it, he took the key colors for the film, such as the lapis lazuli blue of the knight's banners, the yellow-green of Maleficent's flames, the shell pink and paler blue of Aurora's gown. Earle paired these historic influences with a second artistic vision: the modern painting of the early 20th century as interpreted by the artists of the innovative UPA animation studio, whose films had flat, boldly colored and stylized characters and backgrounds.[4][47]

Disney gave Earle a significant amount of freedom in designing the settings and selecting colors for the film. He also painted the majority of the backgrounds himself. He took much of his inspiration from medieval art (particularly the millefleurs style of 15th-century tapestries), which tended toward a certain flatness and perspective lessened, most notably the French manuscript that was written by the Limbourg Brothers. The elaborate paintings usually took seven to ten days to paint; by contrast, a typical animation background took only one workday to complete. Disney's decision to give Earle so much artistic freedom was not popular among the Disney animators, who had until the film exercised some influence over the style of their characters and settings.

Character design and animation[]

SleepingBeauty1959PrincessAuroraConceptDesign4

Tom Oreb was the first Disney artist to receive the credit of "character stylist", indicating his influence on the design of the characters.

Because of the artistic depth of Eyvind Earle's paintings, it was decided for the characters of to be stylized so they could appropriately match the backgrounds. While the layout artists and animators were impressed with Earle's paintings, they eventually grew depressed at working with a style that many of them regarded as "too cold, too flat, and too modernist" for a fairy tale feature. A major problem was that the backgrounds were so detailed and busy that it was hard for the animators to make the characters stand out and read against them. Eyvind's request to have the decision in the case of character designs and their color schemes was also met with a rather negative reaction from the animators, who always had a lot of input into the design and color modeling of their characters up to this point. On one occasion, a few of them went up to see Walt and to complain about it, but he didn't back them on this, for he wanted the visual design to carry the picture, while also claiming that the inspirational art he commissioned in the past had homogenized the animators. Tom Oreb was tasked as character stylist that would not only inhabit the style of Earle's backgrounds, but also fit with the contemporary UPA style; likewise with Earle's background styling, the animators complained that Oreb's character designs were too rigid to animate. Unlike the most of the animators, the studio's top draftsmen, Marc Davis and Milt Kahl, embraced Eyvind Earle's sophisticated style, what led to their appointment as supervising animators of the film's leading characters, Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip. Collaborating with Davis, Tom Oreb crafted a "leading lady of elegance", influenced by the features of Audrey Hepburn, who was a new film star at the time of Sleeping Beauty's production. He incorporated the strong horizontal and vertical lines of the backgrounds into Aurora's design, while Marc slightly sharpened her features and clothes to blend with the settings' angular shapes, as well as added Art Nouveau and Art Deco into her hair. The final design, that perfectly complemented Earle's backgrounds, was "more refined" than those of preceding Disney heroines, and thus required much more attention to detail than any animated character before. Quality control animator Iwao Takamoto, who also was Marc Davis' assistant during the film's production, described working with refined drawings of Aurora as a "laborious job", and ultimately limited in-betweeners such as himself to completing only seven drawings per day.

Maleficent design

In designing Maleficent, Marc Davis experimented with flamelike shapes and patterns of triangular color.

Marc Davis was also selected to supervise the design and animation of Maleficent and, by extension, her pet raven, Diablo. He decided to move on from the early suggestions for the character's design, that included more inhuman, "insect-like" elements, in favor of a more ominous figure, of whom he thought as a "giant vampire bat". Davis' primary inspiration was a religious painting from a Czechoslovakian art book he found in his home library, featuring a figure with the flame-like drapery that he thought would be great to use. He also added the horns and material, based on the bat's wings, around Maleficent's face to achieve what he called a "devil image", while her costume was endowed with a reptilian quality, foreshadowing the dragon into which she would transform at the film's climax. Marc's original designs featured red trim to Maleficent's robe to highlight its flame-like shape, but, in an act of artistic compromise, Eyvind Earle requested the change to lavender as red would come off too strong, in which Davis agreed to. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, who, on contrary to Davis and Kahl, struggled the most to adapt to Earle's style, were given the task of designing and animating Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. At first, Walt considered making the fairies identical, similarly to Huey, Dewey, and Louie, but Frank and Ollie felt that such an approach wouldn't be half as much fun, so they had to do a lot of talking to convince Walt to give the characters more distinctive looks and personalities. Ultimately, they also managed to reach the artistic compromise with Earle: the fairies received the required angularity in their costumes, based on geometrical shapes, but retained a "warm, round, cuddly" feel, akin to the previous Disney characters, with their facial features.

Live-action reference[]

SleepingBeauty1959LiveActionReference13

Helene Stanley provides the reference of Briar Rose's dance for "Once Upon a Dream" scene.

Before the animation process began, a live-action reference version was filmed with live actors in costume serving as models for the animators. This was an important requirement of Walt, who wanted the animators to make the characters "as real as possible, near flesh and blood"; however, Milt Kahl objected to this method, considering it "a crutch, a stifling of the creative effort" and claiming that "anyone worth his salt in this business ought to know how people move." Helene Stanley, who previously provided the live-action reference for the title character in Cinderella, was hired as a model for Aurora. As a part of the reference, she played in a blond wig and costumes specially designed by Alice Estes at the behest of Marc Davis, then a student of the animator at Chouinard Art Institute. 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. Stanley also provided a reference for some scenes of Merryweather. The role of Prince Phillip was modeled by Ed Kemmer, who had played Commander Buzz Corry on the then-popular television show Space Patrol. For the final battle sequence, Kemmer was photographed on a wooden buck. Cubby O'Brien, then a Mouseketeer of the Mickey Mouse Club, provided the reference for Phillip as a child. In addition to the voice acting, Eleanor Audley served as a model for Maleficent; occasionally she was replaced by Jane Fowler, who also provided the reference for Queen Leah. Among the actresses who performed in reference footage as the Three Good Fairies included Spring Byington, Frances Bavier ("Aunt Bea" from The Andy Griffith Show) and Madge Blake; the voice actresses didn't fit for they weren't "pudgy" enough. The role of King Stefan was modeled by Hans Conried, who also recorded some additional lines of dialogues in the same film. His companion in the role of Mr. Smee, Don Barclay, served as a model for King Hubert. Sir Minstrel, the castle's trusty maître d' who serves wine to the kings in the "Skumps" sequence, was modeled by Franklin Pangborn.

Reception[]

Sleeping Beauty 1990's Re-Release Poster

1986's re-release poster.

During its original release in 1959, the film earned approximately $5.3 million in box office rentals. Its 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. Its high production costs, 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 the fiscal year 1960, and massive layoffs were done throughout the animation department.

The film was met with mixed reviews from critics, often citing the film being slowly paced and having little character development. Nevertheless, it 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 it, its lush music score, and its large-format 70 mm widescreen and stereophonic sound presentation.

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a "Certified Fresh" 89% from 46 reviews with an average rating of 8.2/10. 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."

Like Alice in Wonderland, which was not initially successful either, the film was never re-released theatrically in Walt Disney's lifetime. However, it had many re-releases in theaters over the decades. It was re-released theatrically in 1970, 1979 (in 70 mm 6 channel stereo, as well as in 35 mm stereo and mono), 1986 and 1995. A 1993 re-release was initially planned, as it was advertised on the 1992 Classics VHS release of Beauty and the Beast, but due to the poor financial performance of Pinocchio's 1992 reissue, the plan was canceled and was delayed two years later to 1995. Its successful reissues have made it the second most successful on release in 1959, second to Ben-Hur, with a lifetime gross of $51.6 million. When adjusted for ticket price inflation, the domestic total gross comes out to $478.22 million, placing it in the top 40 of films.

Release[]

Disney's distribution arm, Buena Vista Distribution, originally released the film to theaters in both standard 35 mm prints and large-format 70 mm prints. The Super Technirama 70 prints were equipped with six-track stereophonic sound; some CinemaScope-compatible 35 mm Technirama prints were released in four-track stereo, and others had monaural soundtracks. On the initial run, it was paired with the short musical/documentary film Grand Canyon which won an Academy Award.

Worldwide release dates[]

Home Video[]

Main article: Sleeping Beauty (video)

In 1986, the film was first released on both VHS and Laserdisc under the Classics collection, becoming the first Disney Classics video to be digitally processed in Hi-Fi stereo. Then it underwent an extensive digital restoration in 1997, and that version was released on both VHS and Laserdisc again (this time with the Laserdisc in widescreen version, albeit letterboxed) as part of the Masterpiece collection, and in 2003, it was released to DVD in a 2-disc "Special Edition" that included both the original widescreen version and a pan and scan version as well. A Platinum Edition DVD/Blu-ray Disc was released on October 7, 2008 with a never-before-seen 2.55:1 expanded version of the film. The DVD/Blu-ray returned to the Disney Vault in 2010. It was released as a Diamond Edition title on October 7, 2014, and on September 24, 2019, it was re-released as an Anniversary Edition as part of the Signature Collection.

Videos[]

Gallery[]

Wiki
The Disney Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Sleeping Beauty.

Trivia[]

  • The film's copyright was renewed on June 12, 1986.[51]
  • "Briar Rose" is another name given to the character, and appears in the German version of the Brothers Grimm as Dornröschen.
  • Some artists who worked on this film came back to Disney in 1988-89 to work on Oliver & Company, The Little Mermaid, and The Rescuers Down Under. These artists included Don Selders (Assistant Animator), Eve Fletcher (Ink & Paint Artist), Ann Oliphant (Animation Checking), Darlene Kanagy (Ink & Paint), Gordon Bellamy (Assistant Animator), Tom Ferriter (Assistant Animator), Eleanor Dahlen (Ink and Paint), Sheila Brown (Assistant Animator), and Valentine Vreeland Paul (Ink and Paint Artist).
  • Maleficent's curse can be fulfilled at any time before sunset on Aurora's sixteenth birthday.
  • Aurora is one of the seven Princesses of Heart in the popular Disney/Squaresoft game Kingdom Hearts, and Maleficent is a villain in all three mainline Kingdom Hearts games. The good fairies appear in Kingdom Hearts II, giving Sora new clothes.
  • The character of Aurora's mother, the Queen, has no name credited to her. The only version of the story which gives her a name is a 1993 adaptation by A.L. Singer, in which she is named Queen Leah.
  • The cry voiced by Lucille La Verne as The Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was re-used for Maleficent when her dragon-form is pierced by Prince Phillip's sword.
  • Rich Animation Studio's 1994 animated film The Swan Princess was quite similar to this film. In that film, it also had a princess (in this case named Odette) being cursed by an evil enchanter (named Sir Rothbart), just as Maleficent cursed Aurora. During the climax of that film, Odette "dies" temporarily, just as Aurora fell into a deep sleep, and a prince (here named Derek) saves her by killing Rothbart, who had transformed himself into the "Great Animal," just as Maleficent transformed herself into a dragon and Prince Phillip killed her and saved Aurora with "True Love's Kiss" (as opposed to "Love's First Kiss"). Interestingly, though the story is also based on a Tchaikovsky ballet (Swan Lake), the filmmakers decided not to adapt the ballet score. Instead, they went with a generic '90's pop score by Lex de Azevedo, the score composer for the film and for the first two sequels of the Swan Princess franchise; The Swan Princess: Escape from Castle Mountain and The Swan Princess: The Mystery of the Enchanted Treasure.
  • Hidden Mickey: The biscuits the fairies eat with tea are shaped like Mickey Mouse's head and ears.
  • The film was made whilst Walt Disney was building Disneyland (hence the four-year production time). To help promote the film, Imagineers declared the castle there to be Sleeping Beauty's (it was originally to be Snow White's).
  • Second only to Dumbo (who didn't speak at all), this Disney title character has the fewest lines of actual dialogue throughout the entire film.
    • In fact, Aurora, Philip, and Leah say nothing at all in the film's second half, even after the sleeping spell is lifted from the kingdom.
  • The musical score throughout the film was provided by the then Graunke Symphony Orchestra (since 1990 called the Munich Symphony Orchestra), under the direction of the score's adapter, George Bruns, making it the first Disney animated feature to have its musical score directed by Bruns instead of Oliver Wallace.
  • The particular melody that plays as Phillip and Aurora descend the stairs toward the film's end was a branle couppé (a short, vigorous country dance) entitled "Cassandre" written by Renaissance composer Thoinot Arbeau, adapted ca. 1590 as a march in honor of King Henri IV of France, and used as something of a national anthem by French royalists; Tchaikovsky, who had a fondness for national anthems, incorporated it into his ballet score to represent the royal court of "Florestan XIV".
  • The complex and detailed background paintings, most of which were done by Frank Armitage and Eyvind Earle, usually took seven to ten times longer to paint than average, which takes about a workday to complete. As opposed to having the backgrounds be designed to match the characters, the film's characters were designed to match the backgrounds.
  • The film is the only Disney film with square trees.
  • The debate on the setting of this film has been a problem for a long time.
  • The moment where Aurora pricks her finger, as well as the fight of Prince Phillip with Maleficent, are referenced in the Nightwish song "Fantasmic", with the lyrics "Maleficent's fury/The spindle so luring/Dragon fight."
  • Upon release, the scene where Prince Phillip encounters the dragon was thought too intense for young viewers.
  • The original concept for the film began in 1950 (after the studio had animated two other princess fairy tales). Work on it was delayed because Walt Disney's attention was turned to the building of Disneyland.
  • Walt Disney had originally envisioned the film as his masterpiece.
  • On the Blu-ray releases beginning with the 2008 Platinum Edition release, the film is in 2.55:1 widescreen, unlike its previous home video releases (especially the 1997 laserdisc and the 2003 Special Edition DVD which had 2.20:1 widescreen aspect ratio). Showing more picture on the sides.
  • Because the film was such a box office disappointment, Disney focused more on live-action films for two years (there were ten before Disney released another animated feature: 101 Dalmatians. The style of animation in this one was radically different, possibly because it had been such a failure).
  • The film was in the archive for seven years.
  • The film appears as one of the transition levels in Epic Mickey, found in Dark Beauty Castle.
  • The film is the first Disney animated classic to have the 2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo at the end of current releases.
  • The Disney studio still have no clear record as to who provided the voice for the Queen, although many people often continue to speculate that Verna Felton might have allegedly provided two lines for the Queen.
    • On the other hand, the truth will never be known or confirmed by the studios as to who provided the voice of the Royal Herald, most likely because of Hans Conried's own replacement by Taylor Holmes for the vocal part of King Stefan in the film's final version.
  • Barbara Jo Allen (Fauna) was also known as Vera Vague in some of her other films and for her last film role as the Scullery Maid in The Sword in the Stone.
  • A flamethrower was used to create the dragon breath sound effect for the climax of the film, with training films supplied by the US Army.
  • Barbara Luddy (Merryweather) lent her voice to Lady in the earlier Disney film Lady and the Tramp. After this one, she would also end up being the voices of Mother Rabbit in Robin Hood and Kanga in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh for her final film.
  • Eleanor Audley, (Maleficent), also provided the voice of Lady Tremaine in Cinderella nine years earlier and the original voice of Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion five years later.
  • Before Taylor Holmes was chosen as the final voice for King Stefan in the final version of the film, Hans Conried was considered to voice Stefan as he provided some voice lines for Stefan that can be heard in the demo song called "It Happens I Have a Picture", after lending the voices and modeled for both Captain Hook and Mr. Darling in Peter Pan.
  • Verna Felton (Flora) previously lent her voice to the Elephant Matriarch and Mrs. Jumbo in Dumbo, the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, and Aunt Sarah in Lady and the Tramp. After this film as Flora, Verna's last film for Disney and for her acting career was providing the voice for Winifred in The Jungle Book.
  • Maleficent's horned headdress and bat's-wing-like sleeves, besides being reminiscent of the popular images of horned devils and dragons, reflect actual women's costumes of the fourteenth century.
  • The animators couldn't decide what dress color Aurora should wear, so they decided to make it part of the story with the fairies.
  • In the opening previews of the 1997 VHS re-released under the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection line, there was a commercial for Disney's Magic Artist on CD-ROM.
  • As filmed, the plot bears a remarkable resemblance to that of the novel and lost silent film The Goose Girl except that there is only one girl involved going by two different names.
  • When Rose gets her crown from the fairies, she begins crying still wanting to see Prince Phillip, but it's actually not her crying from her voice actress, it's actually Dopey's crying that's reused from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
  • Despite having an underwhelming box office performance, it was the highest grossing animated film of 1959, thanks to its successful reissues.
  • This is the first Disney Princess film to have bows and arrows.
  • This is the last Disney Princess film to be released during Walt Disney's lifetime.
  • This is also the first Disney Princess film where a prince gets to have a proactive role when he killed the villain in order to save the princess, their respective parents, and everyone else in the kingdom from their indefinite sleeping spell.

Goofs[]

  • During Rose's birthday party at the cottage, Flora tells Merryweather to lock the door so that they can secretly use their magic to make everything right for Rose to be surprised, but after Flora and Merryweather's color changing fight when Aurora gets home, the door is suddenly unlocked as she easily entered inside.
    • However, it could have been unlocked off-screen.

References in other media[]

  • The film was referenced in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code as an allegory of the Grail quest.
  • The music for the film was adapted by Disney's musical director George Bruns from Tchaikovsky's ballet La belle dormant au bois (literally, "The Beauty Sleeping in a Wood"), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award.
  • The sleeping spell was spoofed on Hanna-Barbera's The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo in 1985 in which Scooby-Doo must save Daphne Blake and Princess Esmerelda from this spell caused by Maldor the Malevolent. Interestingly, in the episode from What's New Scooby-Doo?, Daphne wore an outfit similar to one of Aurora's.
  • The title of the film was later referenced in the episode of Thomas & Friends, Sleeping Beauty.

References[]

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  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 Jeff Kurtti. Audio Commentary. [Bonus feature]. Sleeping Beauty: Special Edition (DVD): Walt Disney Home Entertainment. 2003.
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  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Princess Fun Facts. [Bonus feature]. Sleeping Beauty: Platinum Edition (DVD): Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. 2008.
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  51. Online Copyright Catalog search (form autofilled, pressing "begin search" brings up the entry)

External links[]


v - e - d
Goldsleepbeautytitle
Media
Films: Sleeping Beauty (video/soundtrack/The Legacy Collection) • Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your DreamsMaleficent (video/soundtrack) • Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (video/soundtrack) • Maleficent 3

Shows: House of MouseOnce Upon a TimeOnce Upon a Time in WonderlandSofia the FirstChibi Tiny Tales
Video Games: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by SleepDisney InfinityMaleficent Free FallDisney Infinity: 2.0 EditionDisney Heroes: Battle Mode
Books: My Side of the Story: Sleeping Beauty/MaleficentThe Curse of Maleficent: The Tale of a Sleeping BeautyOnce Upon a Dream: From Perrault's Sleeping Beauty to Disney's MaleficentMistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark FairyDisney Princess BeginningsPrince of Thorns & Nightmares

Disney Parks
Castle of Magical DreamsCinderella Castle Mystery TourClub VillainDisney Animation BuildingKing Arthur CarrouselLe Château de la Belle au Bois DormantLa Tanière du DragonPrincess PavilionSleeping Beauty CastleSorcerers of the Magic KingdomMidship Detective AgencySleeping Beauty Castle WalkthroughDisney Heroes: Battle Mode

Entertainment: "A Whole New World" A Magical Disney SongbookAnimagiqueCinderellabration: Lights of RomanceDisney's BelieveFantasmic!Feel the MagicMickey's Gift of DreamsMickey's Magical CelebrationOnce Upon a MouseOne Man's Dream II: The Magic Lives On!Soryo KobuThe Golden MickeysThe Starlit Princess WaltzVillains Tonight!
Restaurants: King Stefan's Banquet Hall
Parades: Disney's Dreams On Parade: Moving OnDisney's FantillusionDisney's Party ExpressDisney Carnivale ParadeDisney on ParadeDisney Stars on ParadeDreaming Up!Festival of Fantasy ParadeFlights of Fantasy ParadeHappiness is Here ParadeJubilation!Magic HappensMain Street Electrical ParadeMickey's Rainy Day ExpressMickey's Soundsational ParadeSpectroMagicThe Wonderful World of Disney ParadeNightfall GlowMinnie's Tiara of Dreams
Fireworks: Celebrate! Tokyo DisneylandDisney Dreams!Magic, Music and MayhemMagical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical CelebrationsMomentousWishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney DreamsWonderful World of AnimationWondrous Journeys
Spring: Disney Pirate or Princess: Make Your Choice
Summer: Club Mouse BeatMickey's WaterWorks
Halloween: Celebrate the MagicDisney's Maleficious Halloween PartyFrightfully Fun ParadeHappy HallowishesHocus Pocus Villain SpelltacularInferno Dance PartyIt's Good to be Bad with the Disney VillainsJack Skellington’s Villainous GatheringLet's Get WickedKooky Spooky Halloween NightRe-Villains! Halloween ParadeThe Disney Villains Halloween ShowtimeThe Villains Rockin’ HalloweenThe Villains WorldVillains GroveVillains Mix and MingleVillains Night Out!World of Color: Villainous!
Christmas: A Christmas Fantasy ParadeRoyal Christmas BallRoyal Christmas Wishes

Characters
Sleeping Beauty: AuroraPrince PhillipFlora, Fauna, and MerryweatherMaleficentDiabloKing StefanQueen LeahKing HubertForest AnimalsSamsonGoonsMinstrel

Maleficent: Forest ArmyKing HenryKing Henry's ArmyFairiesQueen IngrithConallBorraGerdaDark FeyLickspittle
See also: Vulture (deleted character) • The Duke

Locations
King Stefan's CastleForbidden MountainAurora's CottageForestMoorsUlsteadCavernous Nest
Songs
Sleeping Beauty: Hail to the Princess AuroraThe Gifts of Beauty and SongI WonderOnce Upon a DreamSkumpsSleeping Beauty

Deleted Songs: Sing a Smiling SongIt Happens I Have a PictureRiddle DiddleGo to SleepEvil - Evil
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil: You Can't Stop The Girl

See also
1951 versionSpinning WheelMaleficent's Staff


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Disney Princesses logo
Princesses
Official Disney Princesses: Snow WhiteCinderellaAuroraArielBelleJasminePocahontasMulanTianaRapunzelMeridaMoanaRaya

Other Princesses: Minnie MouseTiger LilyMaid MarianEilonwyDaughters of TritonCallaMegaraMelodySallyKida NedakhTing-Ting, Su, and MeiKilala RenoKairiPrincess of GentlehavenNancy TremaineVanellope von SchweetzSofiaAnnaElsaElena
Other Heroines: AliceWendy DarlingTinker BellNalaNakomaEsmeraldaJane PorterGiselleMirabel MadrigalAsha

Media
Films: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) • Cinderella (1950) • Sleeping Beauty (1959) • The Little Mermaid (1989) • Beauty and the Beast (1991) • Aladdin (1992) • Pocahontas (1995) • Mulan (1998) • The Princess and the Frog (2009) • Tangled (2010) • Brave (2012) • Moana (2016) • Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

Theme Songs: "If You Can Dream""It's Not Just Make Believe""The Glow""Live Your Story""Starting Now""Like a Princess"
Video Games: Disney Princess: Fashion BoutiqueDisney PrincessDisney Princess: Magical Dress-UpDisney Princess: Royal Horse ShowDisney Princess: Royal AdventureDisney Princess: Enchanted JourneyDisney Princess: Magical JewelsDisney Princess: My Fairytale AdventureDisney Princess Enchanting StorybooksDisney Princess Majestic QuestDisney Tsum TsumDisney Emoji BlitzDisney Heroes: Battle ModeDisney Magic Kingdoms
Home Video: Disney Princess Sing Along Songs: Once Upon a DreamDisney Princess Sing Along Songs Vol. 2 - Enchanted Tea PartyDisney Princess Sing Along Songs Vol. 3 - Perfectly PrincessDisney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams
Books: Kilala PrincessDisney PrincessDisney Princess BeginningsDisney Princess Comics TreasuryRoyal Weddings
Cancelled: Princess Academy

Disney Parks
Castle of Magical DreamsEnchanted Storybook CastleFairy Tale ForestFantasy FaireGolden Fairytale FanfareMickey's Magical CelebrationMinnie's Tiara of DreamsPLAY!Princess PavilionRoyal Banquet Hall

Fireworks: Disney Illuminations

See Also
Sofia the FirstDisney FairiesPrincesses of HeartPalace PetsPrincess AcademyRalph Breaks the InternetDisney Princess - The ConcertLike a Princess


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Disney1990
Walt Disney Animation Studios
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) • Pinocchio (1940) • Fantasia (1940) • Dumbo (1941) • Bambi (1942) • Saludos Amigos (1942) • The Three Caballeros (1944) • Make Mine Music (1946) • Fun and Fancy Free (1947) • Melody Time (1948) • The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) • Cinderella (1950) • Alice in Wonderland (1951) • Peter Pan (1953) • Lady and the Tramp (1955) • Sleeping Beauty (1959) • One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) • The Sword in the Stone (1963) • The Jungle Book (1967) • The Aristocats (1970) • Robin Hood (1973) • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) • The Rescuers (1977) • The Fox and the Hound (1981) • The Black Cauldron (1985) • The Great Mouse Detective (1986) • Oliver & Company (1988) • The Little Mermaid (1989) • The Rescuers Down Under (1990) • Beauty and the Beast (1991) • Aladdin (1992) • The Lion King (1994) • Pocahontas (1995) • The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) • Hercules (1997) • Mulan (1998) • Tarzan (1999) • Fantasia 2000 (1999) • Dinosaur (2000) • The Emperor's New Groove (2000) • Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) • Lilo & Stitch (2002) • Treasure Planet (2002) • Brother Bear (2003) • Home on the Range (2004) • Chicken Little (2005) • Meet the Robinsons (2007) • Bolt (2008) • The Princess and the Frog (2009) • Tangled (2010) • Winnie the Pooh (2011) • Wreck-It Ralph (2012) · Frozen (2013) • Big Hero 6 (2014) • Zootopia (2016) • Moana (2016) • Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) • Frozen II (2019) • Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) • Encanto (2021)Strange World (2022) • Wish (2023)

Upcoming: Moana 2 (2024) • Zootopia 2 (2025) • Frozen III (2026) • Frozen IV (TBA)

Pixar Animation Studios
Toy Story (1995) • A Bug's Life (1998) • Toy Story 2 (1999) · Monsters, Inc. (2001) • Finding Nemo (2003) • The Incredibles (2004) • Cars (2006) • Ratatouille (2007) • WALL-E (2008) • Up (2009) • Toy Story 3 (2010) • Cars 2 (2011) • Brave (2012) • Monsters University (2013) • Inside Out (2015) • The Good Dinosaur (2015) • Finding Dory (2016) • Cars 3 (2017) • Coco (2017) • Incredibles 2 (2018) • Toy Story 4 (2019) • Onward (2020) • Soul (2020) • Luca (2021) • Turning Red (2022) • Lightyear (2022) • Elemental (2023)

Upcoming: Inside Out 2 (2024) • Elio (2025) • Toy Story 5 (2026)

Disneytoon Studios
DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990) • A Goofy Movie (1995) • The Tigger Movie (2000) · Peter Pan: Return to Never Land (2002) • The Jungle Book 2 (2003) • Piglet's Big Movie (2003) • Pooh's Heffalump Movie (2005) • Planes (2013) • Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014)
Disney Television Animation
Doug's 1st Movie (1999) • Recess: School's Out (2001) • Teacher's Pet (2004)
20th Century Animation
Spies in Disguise (2019) • Ron's Gone Wrong (2021) • The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022)
Films with Stop Motion Animation
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) • James and the Giant Peach (1996) • Frankenweenie (2012)
Other Disney units
The Brave Little Toaster (1987) • Valiant (2005) • The Wild (2006) • A Christmas Carol (2009) • Gnomeo & Juliet (2011) • Mars Needs Moms (2011) • Strange Magic (2015) • The Lion King (2019)
Live-Action Films with Non-CG Animation
The Reluctant Dragon (1941) • Victory Through Air Power (1943) • Song of the South (1946) • So Dear to My Heart (1949) • Mary Poppins (1964) • Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) • Pete's Dragon (1977) • Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) • The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003) • Enchanted (2007) • Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
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