The Release Of Sleeping Beauty: A Historical Perspective

Sleeping Beauty, the animated Disney classic, was released on January 29, 1959, in the US. It was the 16th animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon and the last animated feature produced by Walt Disney to be based on a fairy tale.

The film's release date

The release date of Sleeping Beauty was a long time coming. Walt Disney first considered making an animated version of Charles Perrault's fairy tale in 1938, and preliminary artwork was submitted by Joe Grant. However, the project didn't move forward, and it wasn't until 1950 that Disney registered Sleeping Beauty as a planned production title.

The film took nearly a decade to produce, and was released in theatres on January 29, 1959, to mixed reviews. It was a box-office bomb in its initial release, losing $900,000 for the distributor.

Sleeping Beauty was the first animated film to use the Super Technirama 70 widescreen process, and it was released in selected theatres specially equipped to project the film in large-format Super Technirama 70 with six-track stereophonic sound.

The film was re-released in 1970, 1979, 1986, and 1995, and has since become one of the most artistically acclaimed animated films ever produced.

The plot

Sleeping Beauty, released on January 29, 1959, is an American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Film Distribution. The film is based on Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale and follows Princess Aurora, who is cursed by the evil fairy Maleficent to die by pricking her finger on a spinning wheel on her 16th birthday. To save her, three good fairies alter the curse so that Aurora will fall into a deep sleep and can only be awakened by true love's kiss.

In 14th-century Europe, King Stefan and Queen Leah welcome their newborn daughter, Aurora, and proclaim a holiday for their subjects to pay homage to the princess. At her christening, she is betrothed to Prince Phillip, the son of King Stefan's friend, King Hubert, to unite their kingdoms. The three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, bless Aurora with gifts of beauty and song. However, before Merryweather can bestow her gift, Maleficent arrives, angry at not being invited. She curses Aurora to die before sunset on her 16th birthday by pricking her finger on a spinning wheel. Merryweather changes the curse so that Aurora will fall into a deep sleep instead and can only be awakened by true love's kiss.

Fearing for his daughter's life, King Stefan orders all spinning wheels in the kingdom to be burned. The three fairies devise a plan to hide Aurora in a secluded location and raise her as a peasant, renaming her Briar Rose. On her 16th birthday, the fairies send Aurora into the forest to gather berries, where she meets Phillip, now a handsome young man, and they fall in love without knowing each other's true identities. Aurora invites Phillip to the cottage that evening, but the fairies reveal her true identity as a princess, and she is betrothed to another. Heartbroken, Aurora returns to the castle for her birthday celebration, where Maleficent lures her to a tower room and tricks her into pricking her finger on a spinning wheel, fulfilling the curse.

The fairies place the sleeping Aurora in the highest tower and cast a spell to put the entire kingdom to sleep until the curse is broken. They discover that Phillip has been captured by Maleficent and is being held in her domain, the Forbidden Mountain. The fairies rescue Phillip and arm him with the Sword of Truth and the Shield of Virtue. Maleficent surrounds the castle with a forest of thorns, but Phillip breaks through it and confronts Maleficent, who transforms into a giant, fire-breathing dragon. In the ensuing battle, Phillip kills Maleficent and finds Aurora in the highest tower, awakening her with a kiss. The kingdom awakens, and Aurora is happily reunited with her parents and Phillip.

The cast

• Mary Costa as Princess Aurora, also known as Briar Rose and Sleeping Beauty. Aurora is cursed by Maleficent to die from pricking her finger on a spinning wheel on her 16th birthday. Costa was chosen for the role after Walt Disney heard her singing at a dinner party.
• Bill Shirley as Prince Phillip, Aurora's "true love" to whom she was betrothed. He is King Hubert's son.
• Eleanor Audley as Maleficent, a powerful evil fairy and self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" who casts a curse on Aurora. Audley initially turned down the role as she was battling tuberculosis at the time.
• Verna Felton as Flora, the domineering and responsible self-appointed leader of the Three Good Fairies. Her signature colour is red.
• Barbara Luddy as Merryweather, a feisty and impulsive good fairy who challenges Flora's leadership. Her signature colour is blue.
• Barbara Jo Allen as Fauna, a sweet and affectionate good fairy who is a peacemaker between Flora and Merryweather. Her signature colour is green.
• Taylor Holmes as King Stefan, Aurora's placid and dignified father. This was Holmes' final film role before his death in 1959.
• Bill Thompson as King Hubert, Phillip's jovial and bombastic father.
• Candy Candido, Pinto Colvig, and Bob Amsberry voiced Maleficent's bumbling but loyal henchmen.
• Dallas McKennon voiced the Owl, one of Aurora's animal friends.
• Marvin Miller was the film's narrator.

The production

The story team, led by Bill Peet, Ted Sears, and Winston Hibler, made significant changes to the original tale, including discarding its second half and focusing on developing a more convincing relationship between the characters. The earliest known story outline was written by April 1951, and the full storyboard was completed by June 1952. However, Disney rejected this initial version, feeling that it was too similar to his studio's earlier films. As a result, the story team had to start over, retaining only a few key elements from the early suggestions.

Production began in July 1953, under the supervision of directing animator Wilfred Jackson. However, Disney was dissatisfied with the initial version of the pilot scene and requested extensive rewrites. In December 1953, Jackson suffered a heart attack and was replaced by Eric Larson, who would become the supervising director. By 1954, Disney's focus shifted to other projects, including the development of his theme park and several television series, which led to delays in the production of "Sleeping Beauty".

One of the most notable aspects of the film's production was its unique visual style. Disney wanted to make "Sleeping Beauty" stand out from his previous features, so he chose a more stylized approach inspired by pre-Renaissance European art. To achieve this, he hired Eyvind Earle as the production designer, who created hundreds of background paintings that defined the film's art direction. Earle's detailed and stylized backgrounds presented a challenge for the animators, who struggled to make the characters stand out and had to adapt their styles to match the backgrounds.

Another important aspect of the production was the casting of voice actors, which Disney approached meticulously. The role of Princess Aurora was particularly challenging, and Disney spent three years searching for the right voice before choosing Mary Costa in 1952. Other notable voice actors included Eleanor Audley as Maleficent, Verna Felton as Flora, Barbara Jo Allen as Fauna, and Barbara Luddy as Merryweather.

The film's musical score was also a significant component of its production. Initially, Jack Lawrence and Sammy Fain were signed to compose the songs, but they were replaced by George Bruns, who adapted the music from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping Beauty" ballet. The recording of the score took place in Germany in 1958, utilizing state-of-the-art six-channel stereo equipment.

Overall, the production of "Sleeping Beauty" was a complex and ambitious undertaking that involved numerous revisions and delays. The final product, released in 1959, was a visually stunning and musically rich film that has since become a beloved classic, despite its initial mixed reception.

The reception

However, the film's subsequent re-releases proved to be successful, and it has since become one of the most artistically acclaimed animated films ever produced. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture at the 32nd Academy Awards. In 1995, it was re-released and grossed $40 million in the United States and Canada. In 2019, Sleeping Beauty was selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress' National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

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