VHS : Sleeping Beauty (Fully Restored Limited Edition) (Walt Disney's Masterpiece)

Rating: - Too much Tchaikovsky, not enough Disney
The movie is cute, but I have a few problems with it that ultimately made me decide not to buy it after I rented it:

1) It's too much like one of Tchaikovsky's ballets, of which I'm not much of a fan. I haven't seen his version of Sleeping Beauty (on which this was based), but I have seen his version of The Nutcracker; if you like to watch ballet, you might enjoy this one, but otherwise, no. It is not the kind of thing I would expect from a Disney movie.

2) We don't see enough of Aurora or Prince Phillip. (In fact, it seems that Aurora is better known through Disney Princess products than through the actual movie.) We see them dance together one time, and then they don't do much after that. OK, we can forgive the fact that Aurora sleeps on the job (which is really what she's doing; the original tale had her sleep for a hundered years and not meet the prince until he woke her up), because it is, after all, Sleeping Beauty. But even when Phillip is trying to rescue her, he's just a paper tiger; the fairies do all the work by releasing him from his prison, giving him a sword and shield, turning the arrows that are shot at him into flowers, etc. It's really the fairies who rescue her, while the prince gets all the credit--and no one in the movie notices this! Again, this is not what I expect to see in a Disney movie.

Still, it's interesting to watch from the point of view of a student of animation. Fans of Nintendo will notice how much the castle looks like the castle from Super Mario Bros. and how much one of Maleficent's henchmen looks like Ganon (the villain from The Legend of Zelda).

If you want a better movie with a similar concept, try Snow White. If you want one of Disney's movies from around that time, try Cinderella. My absolute favorite Disney Movie is The Little Mermaid; if you haven't already, I recommend that you buy that one instead.

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Rating: - Great movie
This was my favorite movie when I was a kid, can't wait to share it with my own now that I own it again!

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Rating: - DISNEY'S DEFINITIVE MASTERPIECE: SIX YEARS & $6 MILLION FOR "SLEEPING BEAUTY"
5 STARS (HIGHEST RATING): THE MOVIE, THE MONEY, & THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY DVD:

"Sleeping Beauty" (1959) marked a stunning departure from the usual "house style" of animation at Disney Studios. The Disney Version, principally designed by artistic genius Eyvind Earle, is most definitely set in an enchanted, 14th Century, Medieval Kingdom. Earle gets his own DVD featurette entitled "Eyvind Earle: The Man And His Art."
Legend has it that "Sleeping Beauty" took six years to create (but according to the new 2008 "Picture Perfect: The Making Of Sleeping Beauty" DVD Documentary, the film was actually in various stages of development for nearly a decade) at a cost of $6 Million Dollars. And, for once, you can see every penny up on the screen. (The 2008 DVD release has an even "wider" Widescreen aspect than the 2003 release). Everything is so detailed and lush, it adds up to an addictive movie experience that invites multiple viewings. Pefection came at a heavy price; both financially and personally. Walt Disney himself spared no expense to have Tchikovsky's stirring musical score recorded at a Stereophonic Studio in Germany, and that had nothing to do with the actual animation! Upon first release, the film made an impressive $3 million, but that was only half its cost. Nevertheless, the film won prophetic and instant praise as "an unmatched vision of pagentry and adventure." Certainly, the film has now made back its cost with theatrical re-issues, video, DVD, and Blue-Ray releases.
Many artists in addition to Eyvind Earle labored on "Sleeping Beauty." Sequence director Eric Larson worked on the infamous Sequence 8 (Princess Aurora meets Prince Phillip in the forest) for well over a year. When that sequence alone cost $10,000 Disney fired Larson from "Sleeping Beauty" and put him to work on "101 Dalmations." Disney later told Larson that animated features (Once, Disney's bread and butter) were just too expensive and might well bankrupt the studio.
By the mid-1950's, Walt Disney's time and interests were occupied with opening Disneyland theme park, live-action movies and "The Mickey Mouse Club" TV Show." Disneyland opened in 1955. In 1957, Walt Disney was wise enough to promote "Sleeping Beauty" with a park attraction two years before the film's release. The original "Sleeping Beauty" Attraction is recreated as a "Virtual Walk-Through" DVD Bonus Feature.
Disney was determined not to (exactly) repeat his own fairy-tale past. Although visually sophisticated, the film tells the story in straightforward fashion. "Sleeping Beauty" is blessedly free of the "comic bits of business, tricks" and "story padding" found in "Snow White" and "Cinderella." Three tiny good faeries named Flora, Fauna and Merriweather attempt to save Princess Aurora from the curse of "Mistress Of All Evil" Malificent, voiced with chilling authority by Eleanor Audley (who also voiced Lady Tremine, the abusive Stepmother of "Cinderella"). A nice case of "mistaken identity" is also employed in the narrative. When Phillip (voiced by Bill Shirley) and Aurora meet in the forest, he thinks she is a peasant girl. Aurora falls in love with him not knowing that he is the Prince she has been betrothed to since birth. Indeed, she (going by the name Briar Rose) does not yet know she is really Princess Aurora at all. While the "Prince Charmings" in "Snow White" and "Cinderella" are bland afterthoughts; essentially footnotes to the plot, Prince Phillip takes an extremely active role in saving both Aurora and his Kingdom from Malificent. She hisses, "Now you shall deal with me, Oh Prince, and all the Powers Of HELL", as she transforms herself into a fire-spewing dragon. What follows is one of the most thrilling and nightmarish battles of good vs. evil in cinema history. Prince Phillip just barely survives, but he emerges as a strong and hunky hero we can be proud. True, Aurora herself takes a back seat to the faeries, Malificent, and Prince Phillip. But critics who complain about Aurora's secondary role should remember that, in the original fairy-tale, the title Princess does FAR LESS! Whereas Snow White is depicted as an innocent child, Aurora is very much a lovely young woman who is clearly ready for the romance she longs for. And she is beautifully voiced by soprano Mary Costa.
Animators John Lasseter, Andreas Deja, and "Entertainment Tonight's" Leonard Maltin provide lively and informative Audio Commentary that is far superior to the grim and dreary tone of the Commentary on the 2003 DVD release. Among other things, we learn that Eleanor Audley initally turned down the choice role of Malificent because she was battling tuberculosis. Fortunately, she eventually felt better enough to do the voice recordings. "Sleeping Beauty" was also the last feature to be completely drawn, inked, and painted by hand. Afterwards, the Studio moved to the less expensive Xerox process for the modern-day story of "101 Dalmations."
I find "Sleeping Beauty" to be an absolutely hypnotic and mesmerizing film; one that should be cherished forever. On the occasion of its 50th Anniversary, I hope it is finally regarded as an apex in animation and the Crown Jewel of Disney's fairy-tale features.
"Sleeping Beauty" is one of a kind, and the last one of its kind.

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Rating: - Ideal for Blu-Ray
In 1959, the New York Times called Sleeping Beauty "a crisply stylized fairyland where the colors are rich [and] the sounds are luscious." In his book The Disney Films, critic Leonard Maltin writes that Sleeping Beauty is "a very good film, but more so for older audiences than for young children." The Gospel According to Disney says the movie illustrates "an eternal promise of resurrection," while From Walt to Woodstock claims it is a "therapeutic experience" that celebrates "a male-female relationship based on true equality."

As for me, I'd say that regardless of what you read into it, Sleeping Beauty is a must-own, especially if you have a Blu-Ray system and a huge widescreen television. A true Disney classic, the movie has such colorful and stunning visuals -- and such a strong villain -- that it makes up for its one major flaw: the lack of a good lead character.

The art, for example, is astounding. Full of bright 1950s color, each background is a stylized, graphic collage of rectangles and straight lines that is also filled to the edges with meticulous details, every one in sharp focus. For each tree you see every leaf. For each shrub you see every thorn. It's as if the producers had Blu-Ray in mind when they made it.

As a whole, the characters are terrific. Kids will love the fairies. On-screen longer than anyone else, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather fly like bumblebees, have lots of personality and are truly funny. They lose their temper and make many mistakes, especially when it comes to baking a birthday cake or sewing a dress.

The villain is perhaps the scariest in any Disney film. "The mistress of all evil," devil-horned, green-skinned Maleficent is a high-class, sarcastic horror show all by herself. She curses baby Aurora to death, later imprisons a prince so that he can't save the girl, and eventually turns herself into a towering dragon that breathes green fire.

In fact, the movie's only weakness is the princess herself. Aurora -- dare I say it? -- is quite a snooze. Unlike the lead characters in Cinderella or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, this 16-year-old has an oh-so-plain, passive personality. With no history of being mistreated, she looks like a Barbie doll and sings like an opera star. You just can't relate to her.

Still, the art is fantastic, children -- especially girls -- will love the story and parents can easily sit through it. This is the first Disney classic princess movie on Blu-Ray, and it's a fine start.

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Rating: - Should be part of any child's DVD collection
In 1959, the New York Times called Sleeping Beauty "a crisply stylized fairyland where the colors are rich [and] the sounds are luscious." In his book The Disney Films, critic Leonard Maltin writes that Sleeping Beauty is "a very good film, but more so for older audiences than for young children." The Gospel According to Disney says the movie illustrates "an eternal promise of resurrection," while From Walt to Woodstock claims it is a "therapeutic experience" that celebrates "a male-female relationship based on true equality."

As for me, I'd say that regardless of what you read into it, Sleeping Beauty is a must-own. A true Disney classic, the movie has such stunning visuals and such a strong villain that it makes up for its one major flaw: the lack of a good lead character.

The art, for example, is astounding. Full of bright 1950s color, each background is a graphic collage of rectangles and straight lines that is filled to the edges with meticulously sharp detail. On each tree you see every leaf; on each shrub you see every thorn. It's a look that set the stage for other Disney movies to come, such as Pocahontas, Mulan and Hercules.

As a whole, the characters are terrific. Kids will love the fairies. On-screen longer than anyone else, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather fly like bumblebees, ooze oodles of personality and are truly funny. They lose their temper and make many mistakes, especially in their attempts to bake a birthday cake and sew a dress.

The villain is perhaps the scariest in any Disney film. "The mistress of all evil," devil-horned, green-skinned Maleficent is a sarcastic, high-class horror show all by herself. She curses baby Aurora to death, imprisons a prince so that he can't save the grown girl, and eventually turns herself into a towering dragon that breathes green fire.

The movie's only weakness is the princess herself. Aurora -- dare I say it? -- is quite a snooze. Unlike the leads in Cinderella or Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, this 16-year-old is a plain, passive Barbie doll who sings like an opera star. Unlike Cinderella or Snow White, she has no history of being mistreated. She's likable enough, but tough to relate to.

Still, that's the opinion of an adult, not a child. I give Sleeping Beauty five stars because of the art, because young kids -- especially girls -- will love it, because parents will also be entertained, and because its wholesome message that love conquers hate has rarely been presented better. A product of its time, the film is not perfect but still tough to beat. If you have kids and are building a collection of DVDs for them, this should be on your list.