Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #752 in VHS
• Released on: 2000-05-22
• Rating: Universal, suitable for all
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Animated, Closed-captioned, Digital Sound, HiFi Sound, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 72 minutes

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 Malificent'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

Synopsis
The Disney tale of Sleeping Beauty, the beautiful Princess, who is destined to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a deep sleep.

Customer Reviews

An Enchanting Restoration
Keyed to the style of Disney artist Ervind Earle, SLEEPING BEAUTY has long been renowned as one of Walt Disney Studio's most artistically beautiful films--and now with this meticulous restoration Earle's vision comes to the home market in a DVD package that is sure to win praise from every fan of hand-drawn animation.

The story, of course, is the time-honored fairy tale. Princess Aurora is cursed at birth by the evil Maleficent, who declares that on her sixteenth birthday the princess shall prick her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle and die--but fortunately the powers of good are able to mute the effect of the curse; the princess shall not die, but shall instead fall into a deep sleep from which she can be only awakened by love's first kiss.

Earle's vision for the story is drawn from a host of sources, some of them more immediately apparent than others. The result is a curious mixture of flat illustration and meticulous detail that imparts both a modernist edge and the quality of an ancient illuminated manuscript--a truly remarkable concept that gives the film a visual style completely unlike any other among the Disney classics. The DVD offers the option of viewing the film in either its original widescreen ratio or pan-and-scan format--but why any one would elect pan-and-scan is completely beyond me; if ever there was a film that made good and full use of the widescreen ratio, this is it, and you'll want to see every inch of Earle's remarkable work.

Earle's style aside, SLEEPING BEAUTY has been influenced by a number of films that are worth noting. In terms of plot detail, it has been very clearly influenced by Disney's earlier SNOW WHITE, and the designs for the evil Maleficent and her "goons" are very clearly influenced by FANTASIA's "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence--and to magnificent effect; Maleficent is easily among the darkest characters ever created for film. Interestingly, many visual set-ups also seem to have been influenced by MGM's THE WIZARD OF OZ, most notably in the scenes in which the three good fairies rescue Prince Philip from Maleficent's nightmarish castle.

Unlike some animated films, the voices are beautifully matched to the characters, with Mary Costa as Princess Aurora and Eleanor Audley (who also performed the Wicked Stepmother in Disney's CINDERELLA) as Maleficent standouts among the cast. The score, which is based on the brilliant Tchaikovsky ballet score, is also extremely well handled and includes the memorable "Once Upon a Dream."

All of this has been lovingly, shining restored, and quite frankly even if you saw the film in its first release the result here will no doubt surpass it. There is not a blip, a glitch, or a sound-surge to be found. And as is usual with Disney "limited release" DVD editions, the package includes a host of extras, some designed to appeal to the younger set (there are two simple games, neither of which require a CD-ROM) for children and a host of interviews and documentaries. Fortunately, many of the people involved in SLEEPING BEAUTY are still with us--including Ervind Earle and Mary Costa--and their various contributions make the bonus package truly superior.

All of this said, it should be noted that like FANTASIA, SLEEPING BEAUTY is more likely to appeal to adults who can fully appreciate the visual charms of the film than to children, who may find the film's tendency to linger over visuals a bit too much for a limited attention span. But this is indeed a Disney masterpiece, and it belongs in your collection.

Thoughts of a humble animator
"Sleeping Beauty", is a defining film in Walt Disney's career, breathtaking in it's visual scope and musical score. Released in 1959, the same year as "Ben Hur", "Sleeping Beauty" shares the same panoramic screen format as the former (sadly only available on the collectors DVD addition. The normal edition uses a 4:3 pan and scan screen ratio). "Sleeping Beauty" doesn’t disappoint the eye when it comes to art direction. Braking away from the traditional Disney look, it is truly one of the most artful films of Disney’s impressive film history. The music too is a brake from tradition, no "high ho, hi ho" lyrics to hum along to, "Seeping Beauty" borrows Tchaikovsky's score to beautiful effect. It is in every respect a film that is different to the norm, owing as much to Fantasia as its fairy tale counterparts, Snow White and Cinderella. And here is the catch, because "Sleeping Beauty" holds very little fascination to an audience made up of young children. True, the central story is very simple, but the films extended narrative does little to help you empathize for any one of the characters and it is this fault that makes "Sleeping Beauty" come of cold, despite it's brilliance. Valuable screen time is wasted developing the three fairies intro a comedy trio and the result is a story that is centered upon it's secondary characters instead of it's hero, Price Phillip and heroine, Aurora. It's a shame because the film boasts wonderful scenes, startling imagery and maybe the most scary of all the Disney’s villains.

All in all, a groundbreaking film that hold up every bit as much as it did forty-four years ago, it's flaws only more apparent by it's brilliance. Oh, and the animation isn't bad either.

3 stars for what could have been 5.
The film is visually stunning and beautiful which is why it was made in widescreen which was very advanced for 1959. So WHY WHY WHY is this DVD in full pan and scan screen when I know the movie was made in the widescreen format?? (It even says so in the 'making of' documentry) One of the reasons I bought this movie on DVD was to see it in widescreen. I wish i saved my money I've got the pan& scan VHS anyway. The extras though are quite good. The making of feature is very informative and the virtual galleries are very well made. The movie itself is brilliant thanks to the impressive art. (which we can only see half of)

Disney can You swap my DVD for a WIDESCREEN one!!