Sleeping Beauty (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) [1958] - DVD (Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton - Dir: Clyde Geronimi)

Disney's 1959 Sleeping Beauty was the studio's most ambitious effort to date, a lavish spectacle boasting a gorgeous waltz-filled score adapted from the music of Tchaikovsky.

In the 14th century, the malevolent Maleficent (not dissimilar to the wicked queen in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) taunts a king that his infant Aurora will fatally prick her finger on a spinning wheel before sundown on her sixteenth birthday. This, of course, would deny her a happily-ever-after with her true love. Fortunately, some bubbly, bumbling fairies named Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are on hand to assist.

It's not really all that much about the title character--how interesting can someone in the middle of a long nap be, anyway? Instead, those fairies carry the day, as well as, of course, good Prince Phillip, whose battle with the malevolent Maleficent in the guise of a dragon has been co-opted by any number of animated films since. See it in its original glory here, alongside Maleficent's castle, which, filled with warthogs and demonic imps in a macabre dance celebrating their evil ways, manages a certain creepy grandeur. --David Kronke, Amazon.com

Customer Reviews of Sleeping Beauty (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) [1958]

Mr. S. Fernandes
London, UK
27th November 2008

5 stars for the film, only one for the DVD
I'm afraid I have to agree with the earlier reviewer who said there is a fault with the DVD.

I have a 4:3 television and set my DVD player to letterbox. The film does not play in the correct aspect ratio, losing some of the picture at either side. Considering that one of the selling points of the 50th anniversary edition is that you get the entire original picture this is really disappointing. In addition, the picture appears to be somewhat squashed together so that the characters in the film appear far thinner then they should.

Initially I thought it was my DVD player causing the problems but I have no trouble with any of my other disks. After doing some research online at several other DVD review sites it appears that this is a problem experienced by quite a few other people.

I enjoyed the film, it's absolutely fantastic but please do not buy the standard (non Blu-ray) version of the disc until Disney get off their backsides and release a properly authored version. How Disney can make such a huge mistake with a release like this is beyond me, do they even have a quality control department?

I am VERY disappointed.

H
London
13th November 2008

They don't make 'em like this any more
This has always been my favourite Disney film, and I am so glad it's been given the loving restoration it deserves.

The fantastic detail and 1950s graphic take of gothic and medieval styles is positively breathtaking. For Walt Disney it was ground breaking (and almost bankrupting) to create something so meticulously detailed and stylistically consistent right down to the backgrounds, and the result is beautiful and atmospheric. The extras are all interesting, detailing the conceptual side of things, and added a whole new perspective on what was always my favourite childhood film (even though I was terrified of Maleficent and convinced she was under my bed).

Amazing as the new computer technology is, it just doesn't for me have the artistic soul and wonder of this kind of traditional animation (no offence to those talented folk who work long and hard creating it, it's just not my bag). Now we strive for 3D realism, in movies like this it was for a blending of styles/genres and a stylistic vision that I feel lost in the computer age. I doubt we'll see animation like this again, and for me that's a crying shame.

And on the character side of things... Flora, Fauna and Merriweather still crack me up, twenty years later.

He's the strongest, he's the quickest, he's the best!
Doncaster, Yorkshire, UK.
10th November 2008

Pink! Blue! Pink! Blue! PINK!
My daughter, like many others, is obsessed with Disney Princess and has watched this a few times now.

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the transfer. The picture quality is superb - and the animation is the smoothest I've seen in a hand-drawn feature. It's probably wrong of me to assume that an animated film released 50 years ago wouldn't have the same level of animation quality as a modern film, and this has certainly quashed my preconceptions.

The story is simple, and the humour is basic - but there's a real charm to this early Disney film. Maybe it's the flawless animation, or the jaunty songs - but you soon see past the cheesy Prince Charming and enjoy this for the fairy tale that it is.

Stevie Wayne
England
31st October 2008

Sleeping Beauty
This region 2 UK 50th anniversary 2 disc edition has I'm sad to say, an authoring fault. It is not properly flagged as anamorphic 16x9, it appears the initial batch as I have had two copies now, are non anamorphic, resulting in the main feature playing with black bars on all four sides of the screen, rather than the usual widescreen bars top and bottom.

And before anyone asks, I have my dvd player and screen set up correctly.

scifihorror fan
Cornwall,UK
25th October 2008

Simply a remarkable and truely inspirational Disney film
very few animations can meet this standard of film making.
this was Walt Disneys' final fairy tale before his tragic death (r.i.p Walt...you are a true inspiration).
Sleeping Beauty had a complex style of animated style never ever before done to make it look extremely realistic.
and it all definately paid off to a great level...it is Disney (yet again) at its very best.
very few can beat it.
it blends its horror, fantasy, action and comedy together extremely well which earns it a high place on my list of ultimate films by Disney only beaten by The Little Mermaid and The Lion King.
a quality film that introduced us to the ultimate Disney villain ever created...Malefecent.
for me the fairy godmothers just steal it every time.
masterpiece is an understatement...well it beats Snow White and Pinocchio(not being controversial).
a well deserved re-release...i've been waiting and now i can watch it in high-definition...i can't wait till it gets to my doorstep:).
sheer movie magic.