La bella durmiente

When 'Sleeping Beauty' was first released it was the target of critical villification--perhaps because of the more stylized art work. The art work is actually a leap forward from 'Snow White' and the earlier classics. It took me awhile to get used to the new technique when I first viewed the film--but now I recognize how effectively it manages to convey the "feel" of a genuine fairy-tale. A nice discussion of the art work is featured in 'The Making of Sleeping Beauty' which accompanies the latest VHS release of the film. Aside from the richly textured backgrounds and brilliant animation, 'Beauty' is blessed with the rapturous singing voice of Mary Costa's light soprano doing full justice to the ballad, 'Once Upon A Dream'. The idea of using Tchaikovsky's 'Sleeping Beauty' music for the background score and songs was an excellent decision. This is a film that can be enjoyed on so many different levels--music, animation, story, art work--it ranks with the very best of the classic fairy-tales from Disney. And yes, Maleficent, in all of her wicked glory, makes the most impressive fire-breathing dragon you're ever likely to see!

I'm sure I've seen this film before but for the life of me I cannot remember when. Perhaps I saw it when I was very young and not since but it is equally like that my "memory" of it has just been created by cultural reference points, clips and a general knowledge that it exists. Either way when I sat to watch this the other day as a man in his mid-30's it did very much feel like I was coming to the total film for the first time and I was quite surprised by how simply it engaged and entertained me.

The plot is simple and will be known to all and within this telling we do pretty much go from one bit to the next with little in the way of extrapolation or development – a potential problem for older viewers looking to get into it, but it still manages to work. A big part of this is the sense of fairy tale that it delivers, because it puts you in a frame of mind suitable for this. The "opening on a shot of a book" start to this film has been done since many times so it is easy to overlook how effective it can be, but here it works very well and the whole film captures the feel that this opening is suggesting. The telling is lightly comic but avoids cynicism or cruel humour and instead goes for a light touch; although I do love the edge that modern cynicism gives to some films, I will concede that it was quite refreshing to have a film free of it. The broad strokes of a fairy tale are here – the good fairies are non-threatening and comic while the evil fairy is tall, lean, strict and menacing; the prince is handsome, the princess stunning etc and it does feel like being read to as a child because it is simple yet vivid in the way it is told.

It is easy (and tempting) to look at the film with a cynical modern eye and criticise it for its presentation of beauty and its gender politics but, while I do believe that things like this film and Barbie and others had a major role in shaping the view of beauty, it is not a thought that occurred to me once while watching the film. Instead it charmed me to its agenda, not my own and I would suggest anyone watching this and muttering their way through it has simply not come with an open mind. The voice work perhaps lacks the character of modern animated films, but all are good in their various roles – in particular the evil fairy is strong in her presence.

Overall Sleeping Beauty is considered a classic and it is so for good reason – because it is. It is the type of film that parents will want their children to see because it is simple, engaging, well presented, beautiful to look at and tells a story that has danger and evil in it while also showing the power of love and that good will always prevail. Of course this is not true – but this is a fairy tale and it takes you with it while you watch. It says something that over 50 years after this was made that a audience of all ages can sit to watch this and all come away loving it. A delight.

This Disney cartoon feature has the familiar-princess-in-distress theme of a lovely girl, kind fairies, a handsome prince, forbidding castles and an evil witch. A perceived slight by a king and queen enrages a sorceress who casts an evil spell on the child that will take effect on her sixteenth birthday. Only her prince charming's kiss can save the girl from an unhappy fate and the frightening Maleficent stops at nothing to locate the princess in order to bring her prophecy to fruition. There are several pitched battles between the prince and the fairies against the forces of evil that accelerates into an exciting combat at the finish. The picture is bathed in beautiful color and the music of Tchaikowsky's ballet serves as a wonderful musical accompaniment.

Simplest possible explanation of what cements Sleeping Beauty's place as an immortal classic: Maleficent.

Sleeping Beauty was never one of my favorite Disney movies, my parents having lost the tape really early. Since maybe ten years I haven't seen the movie, but now, after seeing it again, I have to admit, it's a masterpiece. I don't understand why it was so berated on first release. Where the critics expecting Snow White? 'Cause this is no Snow White. It's much better.

A long, long time ago, in a kingdom far, far away, King Stefan and the Queen have a daughter, Aurora, so-called because she brought sunshine to their lives. There is a great celebration, and the neighboring kingdom's Prince Phillip is betrothed to Aurora. The three Good Fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, are invited. Flora and Fauna bestow gifts of beauty and song upon Aurora. Before Merryweather can cast her spell, the uninvited Maleficent--the Mistress of All Evil--arrives, furious at not being invited. She curses Aurora, predicting that at the age of sixteen the princess will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning-wheel and die. Merryweather counteracts this by making Aurora go into a deep sleep were she ever to prick her finger, to be reawakened by true love's first kiss. To keep her safe, the fairies take her into the forest, no longer using magic, and calling Aurora Briar Rose. The princess knows nothing of her heritage, and meets no other humans, except for a man "Once Upon A Dream".

One of the greatest things about the movie is the style. The contrast between characters and surroundings (except for Maleficent) is stark. The backgrounds and layouts are colorful, stylized, round and angular at the same time. The characters, however, aim for total realism, except for the minor ones, who are clearly cartoon characters. The animation is beautiful. The movements smooth, the artistry unbelievably high quality. If there was no other likable thing about the movie, the animation would go a long way to saving it.

The story of Sleeping Beauty is, of course, set in stone. Despite everyone's complete familiarity with the fairy tale, the movie manages to enliven it and make it gripping, even though everyone has heard it a thousand times. A most definite improvement in the story is the scene in which Aurora pricks her finger. In the original the spinning-wheel was owned by an innocent old peasant, who just happened to own the last wheel in the land, unnoticed by the rest of the world. In the movie Maleficent hypnotizes Aurora, and commands her to prick her finger. In addition to the atmosphere of foreboding already present in the story, the movie adds genuine suspense, largely owing to the brilliant presence of the wicked fairy.

The characterization is very different from other Disney movies in some ways, but very like others. Usually in Disney's princess movies, the princess herself is something of a cypher, a passive element. This is true for Sleeping Beauty (she has no control over the three basic actions in the movie). The prince usually has an even more minute part, although the story would be nothing without him. Not so this movie. Here Phillip is a much more active character, a hero who battles dragons and witches, who goes through all sorts of hazards. In Snow White all the unnamed prince does is show up and kiss our heroine, in Cinderella Charming risks nothing and is nothing but a prop. But the ultimate character is, of course, Maleficent. Supervised by Disney's women's animator-in-chief, Marc Davis, hers has to be one of the great performances in animation. She is brilliantly drawn, amazingly voiced, and the dragon she transforms into is not just a dragon: it is HER particular dragon (a method taken to greater lengths in The Sword in the Stone). She is magnificent. The three fairies are quarrelsome all right, but they are caricatures that convey particularly clearly their good-naturalness.

Sleeping Beauty is one of those irreplaceable masterpieces. It is a magnificent retelling of a classic fairy tale, with no undue distortion of the source material. Come to think of it, the story EXISTS to be made into a movie; it's just perfect. And near-perfection is what Disney achieved.

9.5/10

"Sleeping Beauty" is definitely a classic among the Disney animated features. It bears the distinction of being the first to be shot in 70mm widescreen format. The score borrows much from Tchaikovsky's classic ballet based on the Brothers Grimm tale. The art is beautiful, being inspired by medieval art. And the characters are delightful, particularly the three Good Fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. Malificient makes for a wonderful villainess, with awesome magical powers. Even those who would not call this Disney's best animated feature should agree that it harkens back to the famed studio's golden age. It's a classic that all ages can treasure!