Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Based on Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale, the production was supervised by Clyde Geronimi, and was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, Eric Larson, and Les Clark. With the voices of Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Barbara Luddy, Barbara Jo Allen, Taylor Holmes, and Bill Thompson, the film follows Princess Aurora, who was cursed by the evil fairy Maleficent to die from a prick from the spindle of a spinning wheel. She is saved by three good fairies, who alter the curse so that the princess falls into a deep sleep and is awakened by true love's kiss.
Sleeping Beauty began development in 1950. The film took nearly a decade and $6 million to produce, and was Disney's most expensive animated feature at the time. Its tapestry-like art style was devised by Eyvind Earle, who was inspired by pre-Renaissance European art; its score and songs, composed by George Bruns, was based on Pyotr Tchaikovsky's 1889 ballet. Sleeping Beauty was the first animated film to use the Super Technirama 70 widescreen process and was the second full-length animated feature filmed in anamorphic widescreen, following Lady and the Tramp (1955).
It was released in theaters on January 29, 1959, to mixed reviews from critics who praised its art direction and musical score and criticized its plot and characters. The film was a box-office bomb in its initial release, grossing $5.3 million. Sleeping Beauty re-releases have been successful, however, and it has become one of Disney's most artistically acclaimed features. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture at the 32nd Academy Awards.
A live-action reimagining of the film from Maleficent's perspective was released in 2014, followed by a sequel in 2019. That year, Sleeping Beauty was selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress' National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
King Stefan and Queen Leah, rulers of a European kingdom, welcome the birth of their daughter Aurora after many years of childlessness. They proclaim a holiday for their subjects to pay homage to the princess, and she is betrothed to Prince Phillip (the son of Stefan's friend, King Hubert) at her christening to unite their kingdoms. Among the guests are three good fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. Flora and Fauna bless Aurora with beauty and song, but Merryweather's gift is interrupted by the arrival of the evil fairy Maleficent. As revenge for not being invited, she curses the princess: before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die.
Although her magic is not as powerful as Maleficent's, Merryweather uses her blessing to weaken the curse; Aurora will fall into a deep sleep instead of dying, and will only awaken with true love's kiss. King Stefan orders all the kingdom's spinning wheels burned as a precaution, and the fairies come up with the idea of hiding Aurora in a forest cottage so she lives in safety until her sixteenth birthday. At their urging, Stefan and Leah reluctantly let them take their daughter away.
Years later, Aurora (renamed Briar Rose) has become a beautiful young woman. On her sixteenth birthday, the fairies send her to gather berries so they can prepare a surprise party. In the forest, Aurora sees her animal friends and begins to sing; this attracts the attention of Phillip, now a handsome young man. They meet, and immediately fall in love; Aurora invites Phillip to the cottage that evening. Flora and Merryweather argue about the color of Aurora's birthday gown; this attracts the attention of Maleficent's raven, Diablo, who learns the princess' whereabouts. Back at home, Aurora tells her guardians that she has fallen in love; they tell her that she is a princess, already betrothed to a prince, and must never see the man she met again. Meanwhile, Phillip tells his father about the peasant girl he met and wants to marry, despite his prearranged marriage. King Hubert unsuccessfully tries to dissuade him.
