Herbie Murray
The 1959 Disney animated film Sleeping Beauty is considered a classic. It was the last animated feature produced by Walt Disney based on a fairy tale and the last cel-animated feature from Disney to be inked by hand. The film's ending sees Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip descend a staircase to the melody of a Renaissance branle couppé, entitled Cassandre. The film concludes with a climactic dragon battle sequence, directed by Wolfgang Reitherman.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Title | Sleeping Beauty |
| Year of Release | 1959 |
| Production House | Walt Disney Productions |
| Distributor | Buena Vista Film Distribution |
| Animation Style | Hand-inked cels |
| Filming Technique | Super Technirama 70 |
| Music Director | George Bruns |
| Orchestra | Graunke Symphony Orchestra (now Munich Symphony Orchestra) |
| Dance in the Final Scene | Branle Coupé |
| Composer of Branle Coupé | Thoinot Arbeau |
| Live-Action Scene at the End | Yes, according to some viewers |
| Re-releases | 1970, 1979, 1986, 1995 |
| Box Office Collection (adjusted for inflation) | $478.22 million |
| Awards and Recognition | Nominated for Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture; Selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry |
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What You'll Learn
The film received mixed reviews
The animated film Sleeping Beauty, released in 1959, received mixed reviews from critics. While the film was praised for its art direction and musical score, it was criticized for its plot and characters.
Sleeping Beauty was produced by Walt Disney Productions and was initially released in theatres on January 29, 1959, by Buena Vista Film Distribution. It was the 16th animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon and was the most expensive animated feature film for Disney at the time, costing $6 million (equivalent to $64,719,178 in 2024) to produce. The film took nearly a decade to produce, with story work beginning in 1951 and animation production spanning from 1953 to 1958.
The film's artwork and tapestry-like art style, inspired by pre-Renaissance European art, received particular acclaim. The background artist Eyvind Earle created trial paintings based on sketches by John Hench, who had been inspired by the Unicorn Tapestries series at the Cloisters museum. Disney gave Earle unprecedented control over the film's visual appearance, appointing him as both the color stylist and artistic director to ensure a unified look throughout the film.
The musical score, composed by George Bruns, was also well-received. It was based on Pyotr Tchaikovsky's 1889 ballet of the same name, and it was Bruns' first time directing a musical score for a Disney animated feature. The film also included original songs by Jack Lawrence and Sammy Fain, with a song score produced by Walter Schumann.
Despite the positive reception for its artistic and musical elements, Sleeping Beauty faced criticism for its plot and characters. The film's story and character development were found lacking, particularly in comparison to other Disney animated films of the time.
Sleeping Beauty's initial release was a box-office bomb, grossing $5.3 million (equivalent to $57,168,607 in 2024) and losing $900,000 (equivalent to $9,707,877 in 2024) for the distributor. However, its subsequent re-releases in theatres over the decades made up for this initial loss, with successful reissues in 1970, 1979, 1986, and 1995. The film's lifetime gross eventually reached $51.6 million, and when adjusted for ticket price inflation, the domestic total gross comes out to $478.22 million, placing it in the top 40 of films.
Sleeping Beauty has since become one of Disney's most artistically acclaimed features, with nominations for major awards. In 1995, it became the second-most successful release of 1959 in terms of box office earnings, second only to Ben-Hur. In 2014, a live-action reimagining of the film from Maleficent's perspective was released, followed by a sequel in 2019. In the same year, 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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It was Disney's most expensive animated feature at the time
The 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty is a unique entry in the Disney canon. It was Disney's most expensive animated feature at the time, with a production budget of $6 million (equivalent to $64,719,178 in 2024). The film took nearly a decade to produce, and its lengthy and complicated production process contributed to its high cost.
Walt Disney, a notorious perfectionist, was dissatisfied with the writing, deeming it uninteresting and lacking in originality. He threw out entire sequences, causing delays and increasing costs. The film's artistic vision also proved challenging to execute. Disney wanted a unified look for the film, so he gave background artist Eyvind Earle unprecedented control over the film's visual appearance. Earle's intricate, tapestry-like style, inspired by pre-Renaissance European art, was technically demanding and detailed-oriented, requiring a high level of attention to detail.
The character designs also added to the complexity. Supervising animators Marc Davis and Milt Kahl embraced Earle's sophisticated style, and they crafted elegant, refined designs for the leading characters, Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip. Aurora's design, in particular, incorporated elements from the angular shapes of the film's backgrounds, requiring a careful blend of Art Nouveau and Art Deco influences in her hair.
Additionally, Sleeping Beauty was the first animated film to use the Super Technirama 70 widescreen process, which likely contributed to the film's high production costs. Despite the film's initial box office failure, its subsequent successful re-releases, artistic acclaim, and cultural significance have solidified its place in Disney's history.
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It was Walt Disney's last animated movie worked on full-time
"Sleeping Beauty", released in 1959, was Walt Disney's last animated movie worked on full-time. The movie took nearly a decade and $6 million (equivalent to $64,719,178 in 2024) to produce, and was Disney's most expensive animated feature at the time. Its development began in 1950, with story work commencing in 1951. In 1952, Jack Lawrence and Sammy Fain were signed to write the film's original songs, and Walter Schumann was slated to be the film's composer. However, he left the project due to creative differences with Walt Disney, and was replaced by George Bruns. By 1953, the dialogue had been recorded, and preliminary animation work was set to begin. However, Walt Disney threw out the original version of the sequence, and a rewrite was undertaken, which received a lukewarm response from Disney. Despite these setbacks, production continued, and the movie was released to theatres on January 29, 1959.
"Sleeping Beauty" was a very specific end of an era for Disney animation. It was the amalgamation of technology and art, pushing Disney forward. The movie's artistic director, Eyvind Earle, was responsible for the film's unified look, with its tapestry-like style inspired by pre-Renaissance European art. The film was also the last cel-animated feature from Disney to be inked by hand before the studio switched to using the xerography process. Additionally, it was the first animated feature to be shot in Super Technirama 70, a widescreen process that allowed animators to play with foreground, background, and action.
The film's musical score and songs were composed by George Bruns and were based on Pyotr Tchaikovsky's 1889 ballet "Sleeping Beauty". The musical score was recorded in Berlin, Germany, due to a musicians' strike in 1957. The film's music received acclaim, with the movie being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture at the 32nd Academy Awards.
"Sleeping Beauty" was also significant as it was the last Disney Princess film to be released during Walt Disney's lifetime. It introduced elements that had not been seen in previous Disney Princess films, such as the princess using bows and arrows, and the prince playing a proactive role in saving the princess and the kingdom. The character of Aurora, also known as Briar Rose, had very few lines of dialogue throughout the film, and neither she nor Prince Phillip spoke in the film's second half.
Despite its initial underwhelming box office performance, "Sleeping Beauty" went on to become a success through its re-releases in theatres over the decades. It became one of Disney's most artistically acclaimed features and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2019 as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
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It was the last Disney film to be inked by hand
The 1959 animated feature "Sleeping Beauty" was the last Disney film to be inked by hand. The film was produced by Walt Disney Productions and originally released to theatres on January 29, 1959, by Buena Vista Film Distribution. It was the 16th animated feature in the Disney Animated Canon and was based on the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty." The film spent nearly the whole decade of the 1950s in production, with story work beginning in 1951 and animation production taking place from 1953 to 1958. The musical score was composed by George Bruns and was based on Pyotr Tchaikovsky's 1889 ballet of the same name.
"Sleeping Beauty" was a box-office bomb when it was first released, grossing just $5.3 million. However, it has since become one of Disney's most artistically acclaimed features, with successful re-releases in 1970, 1979, 1986, and 1995. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture at the 32nd Academy Awards.
The film's unique art style was devised by Eyvind Earle, who was inspired by pre-Renaissance European art. Earle served as both the film's color stylist and artistic director, giving him unprecedented control over its visual appearance. The detailed background paintings and hand-painted animation cels contributed to the film's $6 million production cost, making it Disney's most expensive animated feature at the time.
The decision to film "Sleeping Beauty" in Super Technirama 70 also presented challenges for animators and layout artists, who had to work with large sheets of paper and create twice as much art to fill the frame. Despite these difficulties, "Sleeping Beauty" stands as a landmark in Disney's history, representing Walt Disney's effort to elevate animation to an art form.
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The musical score was directed by George Bruns
The musical score for the 1959 Disney film Sleeping Beauty was directed by George Bruns. It was Bruns' first assignment for Disney, which he joined in 1953. The score was adapted from Pyotr Tchaikovsky's 1889 ballet of the same name. The film was Bruns' first foray into composing for animation, and it was also the first Disney animated feature to have its musical score directed by Bruns.
Bruns was an American composer of music for film and television, particularly for Walt Disney Studios. He composed the scores for numerous Disney films, including One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, and The Aristocats. He also provided the theme song for Herbie the Love Bug. In addition to his work for Disney, Bruns composed music for live-action films such as The Absent-Minded Professor and Babes in Toyland.
Bruns had a long and successful career in music. He began playing the piano at age six and later learned to play the bass tuba. He became proficient in 15 different instruments and performed with various bands in the Portland, Oregon area during the 1930s and 1940s. In 1946, he was appointed musical director at radio station KEX in Portland. He moved to Los Angeles in the late 1940s, where he continued to perform and record with different bands. He joined Disney in 1953 and became the studio's music director, serving in that role until his retirement in 1976.
Over the course of his career, Bruns received four Academy Award nominations and three Grammy Award nominations for his work. He was posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend in 2001.
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Frequently asked questions
1959.
Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora descend a staircase together while a branle couppé, entitled "Cassandre", plays.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky's 1889 ballet.
Yes, it was the last animated feature film he worked on full-time.
Some viewers remember a live-action scene at the end of the film, but this has not been confirmed.
