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ASIN : B001BBEDLY
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Review
Disney's 1959 Sleeping Beauty was the studio's most ambitious effort to date, a lavish spectacle boasting a gorgeous waltz-filled score adapted from the music of Tchaikovsky.
In the 14th century, the malevolent Maleficent (not dissimilar to the wicked queen in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) taunts a king that his infant Aurora will fatally prick her finger on a spinning wheel before sundown on her sixteenth birthday. This, of course, would deny her a happily-ever-after with her true love. Fortunately, some bubbly, bumbling fairies named Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are on hand to assist.
It's not really all that much about the title character--how interesting can someone in the middle of a long nap be, anyway? Instead, those fairies carry the day, as well as, of course, good Prince Phillip, whose battle with the malevolent Maleficent in the guise of a dragon has been co-opted by any number of animated films since. See it in its original glory here, alongside Maleficent's castle, which, filled with warthogs and demonic imps in a macabre dance celebrating their evil ways, manages a certain creepy grandeur. --David Kronke, Amazon.com
Customer Reviews
Reconsidering Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" as a restored classic (2008-10-07)  I have been trying to remember the first time I saw Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty," and I cannot remember if I ever saw it in a theater, caught it on television some time, or never sat down to watch it until it came out on videotape. What I did remember is not being particularly impressed by the movie. Certainly I did not consider it to be a classic Disney animated film like "Bambi" or "Cinderella," which is a way of saying that it was not on my "must have" list of Disney movies. Then I watched this 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition of "Sleeping Beauty" and all I can say is that however I saw this film for the first time it was NOT in this expanded version that has restored the original Super Technirama 70 dimensions of the film. I would have remembered a film that had art this gorgeous, even when it is this stylized and even when the music is classical high brow stuff. In the final analysis, "Sleeping Beauty" is clearly like no other Disney animated film, and that is a good thing. Disc 1 includes "Grand Canyon," a contemporaneous Disney feature (1958) that combines photography of the national park with Ferde Grofe's "Grand Canyon Suite," and it would be the classical music that is the common denominator to the main feature. Disc 2 has Games & Activities over in the Cottage, while the Castle is devoted to the Backstage Disney special features. The games are pretty much geared for younger children (e.g., see "mop" and click on the item the word represents), so most of the goodies on the second disc are for the adults. There is a new documentary on "The Making of 'Sleeping Beauty,'" which combines archival footage with contemporary interviews. The "Never-Before-Seen Alternate Opening" and "Deleted Songs" are not animated but storyboard drawings accompanying the original, more traditional Disney-like, songs that were written for the film before Walt decided to go primarily with a score based on Tchaikovsky's ballet version of the fairy tale. If you have picked up any of these platinum editions, then you should be well versed in the sort of extras you can expect here in terms of storyboards, artwork, live-action reference footing, music video by some teenage singer, etc. The other one that stands out here is the fully immersive virtual tour of the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, a Disneyland attraction that actually existed before the part opened and years before the movie was released. Besides reminding us again that Walt Disney was a true visionary, the special features highlight the pivotal role of Eyvind Earle, the film's production designer. It was Earle who was given an amazing amount of freedom by Walt to design the settings and to paint most of the film's elaborate background paintings (which usually took a week to do, rather than a single day like in most animated films). The interviews with surviving members of the studio make it clear that Earle did not play well with others, but he was fully committed to creating a unique animated film and now that we can see the expanded version, there is no denying that is exactly what they accomplished. Consequently, I am confident I can remember in the future that "Sleeping Beauty" is a beautifully stylized animated film that is a unique jewel in the Disney crown.
"Now, Father, You're Living in the Past. This is the 14th Century." (2008-09-13)  This is another classic fairy tale given the Disney treatment. The story is rather familiar. When the Princess Aurora is born, she is presented to her kingdom. Yet the celebration is short lived when the evil enchantress Maleficent (Eleanor Audley) shows up uninvited. As retaliation, she curses the baby to prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die by the evening of her sixteenth birthday.Fortunately, the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, are there to soften the curse. Aurora won't die, just fall into an enchanted sleep so only love's first kiss can wake her. They even plot to hide and raise Aurora as their own to keep the curse from coming true. Will that plan succeed? Is there any way to defeat Maleficent?This movie is often praised for it's look, and rightly so. Based on artwork from the Middle Ages, it provides a stylized look. The amount of detail in the backgrounds alone is amazing. The characters fit this stylized world while still looking real. Additionally, the background music is majestic. It is adapted from bits and pieces of Tchaikovsky's ballet based on the fairy tale, and it fits the look of the film perfectly.And as much as it looks and sounds great, this isn't my favorite of the Disney princess movies. There is only one song from the movie that is at all memorable. "Once Upon a Dream" is great. The others are choral pieces that slow things down. Speaking of slowing things down, the prologue, while needed to set up the story, is very slow. Once we get to Aurora's sixteenth birthday, things pick up. But even then, the princess comes across as a boring character. The thing that saves this film story wise are the fairies. The three good fairies are wonderfully funny. And Maleficent is an exciting evil villain. In fact, she might scare young kids.Don't get me wrong, this is a good movie. But when compared to Disney's other fairy tales, it is a little weak.
at long last (2008-09-01) i was a disneyaholic when i was little girl and this was by far my favourite disney film, the bit that i always remembered and was lovely to watch is when the fairies are making aurora her birthday treat and everything changes colour! i've waited so long for this dvd to come out and can't to get it on dvd at long last!!! thanks disney
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