La belle au bois dormant

Elf (Kenny Baker) is told by his master to do some good for the kingdom. He decides to give a gift to the Queen (Morgan Fairchild). The Queen asks for a child and the Elf collects ingredients for a magic potion. The King throws a party for the new princess Rosebud and invites all nine fairies. However, they only have eight golden plates. The King invites everybody except for the Fairy of Red. She takes offense and curses the princess. At 16, Princess Rosebud (Tahnee Welch) will get prick by a spindle to kill her. The White Fairy is able to modify the curse to put her to sleep for 100 years until she's awaken by a prince. To stop the curse, the King decrees all spinning wheels to be destroyed.

This is a Golan-Globus production which means saving money is key. The sets look good enough. It is definitely not top level. The story is told in a very flat manner. The actors are professional but they aren't used well. The movie has no flow. It may be better served to get rid of the elfs and concentrate more on either the Queen or Rosebud.

I remember loving this movie as a kid, and of course always asking my parents, "Why didn't they just make another golden plate? They are the king and queen, they have to have gold." .... As an adult, I still think that lol.... But I guess that may be part of the moral of the story or something, who knows.... But I prefer the Grimm's version to the older one where she is basically raped while asleep and has twins but never wakes up.... I dug too far on that one and wish I had stopped with the Grimm's version.... But anyways, the acting is not great, out of these Cannon series fairy tale movies I think Rumpelstiltskin is my favorite, although it has plenty of its own issues. As a kid you don't realize how shallow fairy tales really are... That said, it was fun watching this once for old times sake.... I doubt I will be watching it ever again though after seeing it through adult eyes, maybe I am just jaded as an adult... But it is what it is.

Now I can't imagine Kitty from "Cocoon" as being Rosebud anymore, she just barely seems like the same woman... but this is a pretty good film. I loved it as a kid, and the Red Fairy ... needless to say... scared the bejeezus out of me. The prince in the end has such a small role that it's pathetic -- but I love the little people. This version I dislike the most out of the Cannon Tales as an adult, but I still adored them as a child.

Cannon Movie Tales tackles Sleeping Beauty, with Raquel Welch's daughter Tahnee in the title role. I think this might be her biggest part outside of the Cocoon movies, where all she had to do was look good. That's saying something since she doesn't show up in this until about the halfway point. Before that, it's all set up with her parents and elves and fairies and singing. Directed by David Irving (brother of Amy), the rest of the cast includes Morgan Fairchild as Sleeping Beauty...err, Rosebud's mother the Queen, David Holliday as the King, Jane Wiedlin and Sylvia Miles as good and bad fairies respectively, Kenny Baker and Shaike Ophir as elves, and Nicholas Clay as the Prince who awakens her with a kiss. Yes, Sleeping Beauty's name is not Aurora here but Rosebud. I prefer that since it allows me to view the ending to Citizen Kane in a whole new light.

For the most part, I enjoyed this. It's not perfect, of course, and it doesn't compare to the animated Disney classic. It's not even the best of the Cannon Movie Tales series. But thankfully it's also not the worst. As with the others, the biggest issue (besides the low budget that means we have cheap sets and costumes and special effects) is that they take a short story and stretch it to the breaking point. The best part of the movie are the really cheesy songs, many of which are (unintentionally?) funny. The song about ripped pants (I kid you not) had me rolling. The cast does a fine job. Most of them are playing it up like they are in a kids movie. It's not very good but it's worth a look for a variety of reasons, not the least of which are the corny songs.

a flat version, nice for good intentions, conventional at all, interesting, maybe, only for the performance of Kenny Baker. but it is not surprising. because it is not easy to give the right nuances of the fairy tale with a modest budget. and this does this version comfortable because it has one duty - to remind, with few small innovations, the universe of the text of Charles Perrault. nothing more. and, having this as start point, it is almost unfair to have great expectations. each actor does a reasonable work, the Charming Prince is not the most inspired choice, Tahnee Welch is a nice Rosebud and the White Fairy an admirable example of kitsch. but this is it. so, nothing unexpected.