IMDb > Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Sleeping Beauty
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Sleeping Beauty (1959) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 41)
Sleeping Beauty (1959) -- A snubbed malevolent fairy casts a curse on a princess that only a prince can break, with the help of three good fairies.
Sleeping Beauty (1959) -- MyMovies.Net - Clip - Waltzing
Sleeping Beauty (1959) -- A snubbed malevolent fairy casts a curse on a princess that only a prince can break, with the help of three good fairies.
Sleeping Beauty (1959) -- A snubbed malevolent fairy casts a curse on a princess that only a prince can break, with the help of three good fairies.
Sleeping Beauty (1959) -- A snubbed malevolent fairy casts a curse on a princess that only a prince can break, with the help of three good fairies.
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Overview

User Rating:
7.4/10   18,600 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 4% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Clyde Geronimi
Writers:
Erdman Penner (story)
Charles Perrault (story)
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for Sleeping Beauty on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 February 1959 (Brazil) more
Genre:
Animation | Family | Fantasy | Musical | Romance more
Tagline:
Now the magic moment! Full-length feature fantasy - Beautiful beyond belief more
Plot:
A snubbed malevolent fairy casts a curse on a princess that only a prince can break, with the help of three good fairies. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(41 articles)
Breillat's Bad Love becomes a Must Read, not a Must See
 (From ioncinema. 30 November 2009, 1:32 AM, PST)
Why 'The Princess and the Frog' is Great Entertainment for Everyone
 (From CinemaSpy. 26 November 2009, 9:05 PM, PST)
User Comments:
Hail to the Princess Aurora! more (96 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)
Mary Costa ... Princess Aurora (voice)
Bill Shirley ... Prince Phillip (voice)
Eleanor Audley ... Maleficent (voice)
Verna Felton ... Flora (voice)
Barbara Luddy ... Merryweather (voice)
Barbara Jo Allen ... Fauna (voice)
Taylor Holmes ... Stefan (voice)
Bill Thompson ... Hubert (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bill Amsbery ... Maleficent's Goon (voice) (uncredited)
Candy Candido ... Maleficent's Goon (voice) (uncredited)
Pinto Colvig ... Maleficent's Goon (voice) (uncredited)

Dal McKennon ... Owl (voice) (uncredited)
Marvin Miller ... Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Thurl Ravenscroft ... Singer (voice) (uncredited)
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Directed by
Clyde Geronimi (supervising)
 
Writing credits
Erdman Penner (story adaptation)

Charles Perrault (story "Sleeping Beauty")

Joe Rinaldi (additional story) &
Winston Hibler (additional story) &
Bill Peet (additional story) &
Ted Sears (additional story) &
Ralph Wright (additional story) &
Milt Banta (additional story)

Original Music by
Jack Lawrence (musical score) (uncredited)
 
Film Editing by
Roy M. Brewer Jr. 
Donald Halliday 
 
Production Design by
Ken Anderson 
Don DaGradi 
 
Production Management
Ken Peterson .... production supervisor
 
Sound Department
Robert O. Cook .... sound supervisor
 
Visual Effects by
Jack Boyd .... effects animator
Jack Buckley .... effects animator
Ub Iwerks .... special processes
Eustace Lycett .... special processes
Dan MacManus .... effects animator
Joshua Meador .... effects animator
Bob Abrams .... effects animator (uncredited)
Abra Grupp .... digital paint artist (restored version) (uncredited)
Dorse A. Lanpher .... assistant effects animator (uncredited)
 
Animation Department
Hal Ambro .... character animator
Dick Anthony .... background artist
Ray Aragon .... layout artist
Frank Armitage .... background artist
Bob Carlson .... character animator
Eric Cleworth .... character animator
Tom Codrick .... layout artist
Basil Davidovich .... layout artist
Marc Davis .... directing animator
Al Dempster .... background artist
Eyvind Earle .... color stylist
Blaine Gibson .... character animator
Don Griffith .... layout artist
Victor Haboush .... layout artist
Joe Hale .... layout artist
Jack Huber .... layout artist
Ralph Hulett .... background artist
Ken Hultgren .... character animator
Ollie Johnston .... directing animator
Homer Jonas .... layout artist
Milt Kahl .... directing animator
John Kennedy .... character animator
Hal King .... character animator
Fred Kopietz .... character animator
Bill Layne .... background artist
John Lounsbery .... directing animator
Don Lusk .... character animator
Fil Mottola .... background artist
George Nicholas .... character animator
Ernie Nordli .... layout artist (as Erni Nordli)
Ken O'Brien .... character animator
Tom Oreb .... character stylist
Walt Peregoy .... background artist
Anthony Rizzo .... background artist
John Sibley .... character animator
McLaren Stewart .... layout artist
Henry Tanous .... character animator
Frank Thomas .... directing animator
Richard H. Thomas .... background artist
Harvey Toombs .... character animator
Thelma Witmer .... background artist
Robert W. Youngquist .... character animator (as Bob Youngquist)
Don Bluth .... assistant animator (uncredited)
Chuck Jones .... layout artist (uncredited)
Gary Mooney .... assistant animator (uncredited)
Floyd Norman .... clean-up artist (uncredited)
Floyd Norman .... inbetween artist (uncredited)
Phil Roman .... assistant animator (uncredited)
 
Casting Department
Ken Peterson .... casting: animation artists (uncredited)
 
Music Department
Tom Adair .... songs
George Bruns .... songs
Sammy Fain .... songs
Winston Hibler .... songs
Evelyn Kennedy .... music editor
Jack Lawrence .... songs
Erdman Penner .... songs
John Rarig .... choral arrangement
Ted Sears .... songs
Frederick Stark .... conductor (uncredited)
 
Other crew
Les Clark .... sequence director
Walt Disney .... presenter
Eric Larson .... sequence director
Wolfgang Reitherman .... sequence director
Eleanor Audley .... live action model: Maleficent (uncredited)
Frances Bavier .... live action model: Fairy (uncredited)
Madge Blake .... live action model: Fairy (uncredited)
Spring Byington .... live action model: Fairy (uncredited)
Jane Fowler .... live action model: Maleficent (uncredited)
Ed Kemmer .... live action model: Prince Phillip (uncredited)
Helene Stanley .... live action model: Princess Aurora (uncredited)
 
Crew verified as complete


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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
75 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Stereo (original release) | 70 mm 6-Track (RCA Sound Recording) (70 mm prints) | Dolby Digital (DVD version) | Mono (35 mm prints) (RCA Sound Recording)
Certification:
West Germany:o.Al. | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/6 | South Korea:All | USA:G (re-rating) (1970) | Canada:G (video rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #19062) (original rating) | Finland:K-3 (2008) (DVD release) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:K-8 (1959) | Peru:PT | Spain:T | Sweden:7 (re-release) | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | Brazil:Livre
Company:
Walt Disney Productions more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The first feature film released in Super Technirama 70. more
Goofs:
Plot holes: The spinning wheel that put Aurora to sleep was not real, but a shadow of one. Technically, because of that, shouldn't have activated the curse, due to its false properties. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
Narrator: In a faraway land, long ago, there lived a King and his fair Queen. Many years they had longed for a child, and finally their wish was granted. A daughter was born, and they called her Aurora. Yes, they named her after the dawn, for she filled their lives with sunshine. Then a great holiday was proclaimed throughout the land, so that all of high or low estate could pay homage to the infant Princess. And our story begins on that most joyful day...
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "The Girls Next Door: Surely, You Joust! (#3.13)" (2007) more
Soundtrack:
Once Upon a Dream more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
38 out of 41 people found the following comment useful.
Hail to the Princess Aurora!, 9 July 2006
9/10
Author: phillindholm from Rohnert Park, CA

"Sleeping Beauty" was envisioned by the great Walt Disney as his masterpiece--the feature-length cartoon par excellence. And, in many ways, it is. The then-record budget (six million dollars) was the largest ever for an animated motion picture. The widescreen Technirama 70 process had never been used for an animated feature. The six-track magnetic stereo sound was a step upward from the "Fantasound" system employed in "Fantasia" (1940). Also new and trend-setting was the style of the animation--a more realistic, geometric design which, surprisingly left many critics and audiences cold. The extra expense needed to showcase the widescreen film properly, together with the lukewarm reviews, prevented "Sleeping Beauty" from turning a profit at the box office when it was released (with much fanfare) in 1959. But time has been kind to the film, subsequent reissues have finally put it in the profit margin, and both viewers and critics are appreciating it for the beautiful fantasy it has always been. However, like it's predecessor "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) which was Disney's first fairy tale, as well as his first full-length film, this screen adaptation of "Sleeping Beauty" strays from it's origins. While the Charles Perrault version of the tale is given as the source, there are new variations.

The original story is as follows: When a baby girl is born to a King and Queen, they invite seven (or, in the Grimm version, twelve) Fairies to the christening. Uninvited is an evil fairy, who shows up anyway, and curses the child with death on her 16th birthday. Although a good fairy is able to alter the spell, the princess is doomed to sleep (along with the court) for 100 years. Despite the precautions taken, the curse is fulfilled (accidentally, in most versions of the story) and the princess does indeed sleep for a century, after which a prince awakens her. Understandably, Disney's telling departs from Perrault here as well, because in Perrault's version, the King and Queen are the sole members of the court who do not succumb to the sleeping spell, and, eventually die of old age. The Disney version of the tale whittles the number of good fairies down to three, giving them the appearance and personalities of elderly women. Meanwhile, the evil fairy, dubbed Maleficent, is a cold, flamboyant villainess who, for better or worse, overshadows everyone else in the film (but then, the villain always does). Disney's retelling also dispenses with the Heroine's 100 year sleep which lasts merely one night. There is much emphasis put on the three fairies who secretly, in the guise of peasants, raise the baby princess Aurora, (whom they dub "Briar Rose" interestingly, the name given the Princess in the Grimm retelling) and, unwittingly make it possible for Maleficent to execute her curse. Also new, is the introduction at the beginning of the film of Prince Phillip, who is immediately betrothed to Aurora. The climatic battle he has with the evil fairy, here transformed into a dragon, has become one of the most memorable parts of the film, though it was purely the scriptwriter's invention. In the end, however, it is best to appreciate the film as a stand-alone creation, rather than a faithful adaptation of a classic story.

Indeed, as some latter-day critics have pointed out, "Sleeping Beauty" has been embraced by the young and old audiences who find in it many of the same sword and sorcery elements in films like "Legend" and "Excalibur". And every penny of it's then-unprecedented budget is on the screen. One marvels at the intricate design of the animation, all accomplished well before the advent of computers, which the Technirama screen showcases to full effect. The voice talent is perfect. Mary Costa, who went on to an estimable opera career, is a lovely and expressive Aurora, while Bill Shirley is an ingratiating Prince Phillip. Eleanor Audley (so deliciously cold as the stepmother in Disney's "Cinderella") is the embodiment of majestic evil as Maleficent. Verna Felton (the Fairy Godmother in Disney's "Cinderella"), Barbara Jo Allen and Barbara Luddy are the delightful (and all too human) fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. Aurora's father, King Stefan, is voiced by Taylor Holmes, with Bill Thompson as Phillip's father King Hubert. A word should also be said for Candy Candido, who provided the sounds made by Maleficent's goons. The Tchaykovsky ballet score provides both the background music and melodies used for the new songs. All this blends perfectly in an epic adventure/fantasy seldom experienced on screen, and one with enough heart to capture the most cynical viewer.

The Special Edition DVD, released in 2003, and currently out of print, is another example of what a "Special Edition" truly encompasses, including a fully restored widescreen print of the film, a new 5.1 stereo mix which fully showcases the Academy Award nominated score, as well as many bonus features with appeal to all ages (including a widescreen/fullscreen comparison which should be the last word on that subject). Also included are several complimentary historical shorts like the Academy Award winning "Grand Canyon" which accompanied "Sleeping Beauty" on it's initial release. Trailers, games, interviews with Mary Costa and surviving animators, vintage featurettes which delve into the making of the film, and last, but not least, footage of Disney himself, complete the dazzling package. Finally awakened from her long slumber, and more refreshingly lovely than ever, "Sleeping Beauty" is a film (and DVD) for the ages.

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Were the Songs original? onelostfanpaul
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The Good Fairy Trio ChristinaBarrettOrl86047
Which princess is the prettiest? Charlie1992
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