Sleeping Beauty (1959) - The most beautiful traditional animation is more awake than ever

Review No. : 0020

Title : Sleeping Beauty

Year : 1959

Director : Clyde Geronimi, Les Clark, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman

Country : United States;

World’s Verdict : Rotten Tomatoes – 92% out of 100%; IMDB – 7.3 out of 10.0.

My Verdict : 3.2  out of 5.0.

I was still young when I first saw Sleeping Beauty (1959) and there are scenes and characters that stay on my mind even if I only watched it once. I remember the Once Upon A Dream scene between Aurora and Prince Phillip, the three fairies, the evil Maleficent and more.  After watching again the classic Disney film on Diamond Edition Blu-Ray I noticed, for the first time, how beautifully made is the movie.  I have no doubt that this is probably the most beautiful animation ever made.

Sleeping Beauty (1959) is based on the classic fairy tale of Charles Perrault, The Sleeping Beauty.  A princess is born in a kingdom that all the nobility and peasants are invited to join the celebration.  An evil witch, Maleficent, is the only one that did not get an invite.  Displeased upon not getting an invitation, Maleficent curses the princess, proclaiming that before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die.  One fairy alters the curse so that instead of dying, the princess will only fall asleep until a she is awakened by true love’s kiss.

The Good

• Every frame an art – it’s easy to ignore the background when you’re focus is on the characters, especially when the characters are enchanting.  When you watch this film take a closer look of the background, appreciate the details and design and you will see how beautiful and artistic the backdrops are.
• Every movement is natural – the movements of the characters in this movie are very natural and still at par in today’s standard.
• Other good stuff – Wonderful and memorable characters, the beautiful music and songs, and the good light humor.

The Bad

• Useless plan of the fairies – There are three good fairies in the story, one of them alters the death curse of Maleficent.  To ensure the safety of Princess Aurora they plan to take the baby away from the castle and raise her in the middle of the woods, the royal parents agree with this plan, with the knowledge that the princess will return on her sixteenth birthday.  The Princess’ sixteenth birthday comes and the fairies clandestinely return her to the castle where Maleficent is waiting.  That is what I don’t understand.  Why would the fairies keep the princess for sixteen years and return her on the most dreaded day?  Why can’t they wait for another day?  They did not even wait for the sun to set!

If I had to recommend a classic Disney Princess, no doubt it’s going to Sleeping Beauty (1959) despite its plot flaw.