this movie is stunning. it just has this epic feel to it that i find hard to explain. i think it's just the backgrounds, they're just so big. the animation is arguably the best at this point in time, and the characters are great too. The Fairies, Prince Phillip, Maleficent, they're all so great. Aurora wasn't the strongest character, but like you said, she isn't even on screen much. i don't know, i just love this one. 10/10
I really don't understand how anyone can say the artwork was anything but breathtakingly gorgeous. This is still the most beautifuly drawn movie every made.
This movie is so dreamy and the aesthetic is perfect. This is probably some of my favorite animation work ever. I love how you can tell just how much time and detail went into every aspect. The ending scene where Aurora and Philip are dancing in the clouds while her dress changes is probably one of my favorite scenes in any movie. And not to mention the score and vocals and are just ❤️👄❤️
I think Sleeping Beauty is just a straight beautiful film artistically. I watch the movie just for all the imagery sometimes. I'm glad I just got the Blu-Ray release of it, because I always had a copy that was cropped to fit a standard screen. Now I can admire the film even more since I get to see more of it. By the way, I like the new thumbnails.
My only major issue with the movie is how bland Aurora and Philip are. The latter's last line in the film is "Goodbye father!" And that's at around the halfway point of the movie. Besides that, though, Sleeping Beauty is probably my 2nd favorite Golden Age Disney movie. The 3 fairies are very entertaining and memorable, Maleficent is an awesome villain, it has a very unique and beautiful art style, the musical score is pleasant to listen to, and the climax is arguably the best in any Disney movie ever. Now if only these elements could have been in the Maleficent movie, which, unlike Sleeping Beauty, I can't fucking stand. It was the first time in a while were I got legitimately angry while watching a movie. -_-
Yeah, like I said in the review, the best parts of the movie are everything aside from the "main characters," depending on who you even qualify as a main character. There really is a lot to like with this film, and it does really stand out in many ways from the rest
You quoted Disneycember about Prince Philip's last line. I will say that a good thing about him is that he doesn't just mope when his father tells him he has to marry Aurora, like she does when Flora tells her she can never see her anonymous guy again. He just amiably says he's going to marry the girl he loves and gallops off.
The fairies are definitely the main characters. Their actions drive the entire story and they are given much more screentime than Aurora and Phillip. In fact, Aurora is only a major presence during the second act of the film.
Well the three fairies actually are the main characters. Say what you want about Aurora but I don’t find prince Philip bland and boring boring. Sure you can argue that he doesn’t speak much but remember what you had to go through at the end of the movie to rescue princess aurora. His actions speak louder than his own words
Yes! This is one of my all time favorite Disney animated classics. I've been hoping for this review for a while. But the review was so stellar that it was definitely worth the wait! I'm never disappointed in these videos.
I loved the art style. The supporting characters and the villian were exceptionally good and the music was beautiful. One little problem I have, well two. Prince Phillip is seriously a creeper if you look at the way he grabs Aurora's wrist. Also notice, on all the toys and other Disney merch, Aurora's dress is pink. But look at the movie. From the moment she sees it to the moment she starts to dance with the Prince it is blue! Sorry but that's just me defending my favorite color.
I noticed that about Aurora too! She's in a pink dress for like, literally 30 seconds in the film, but you're right, every stitch of merchandise with her has her in pink. I guess it's to differentiate her from other characters who's primary color is blue (Cinderella mostly) but it is strange
Great review. This one just happens to be my favorite Disney movie. You're right, I never realized that Aurora can't really be the main character, which is another reason this one feels different from other Disney movies.
Ah the pitfalls of recording your script at 2 AM. I made a typo while writing it and didn't even catch it while reading it. At least the thumbnail is right!
1:00 It's interesting that, when we think of Disney, we think of animated faerie tales about princesses, even it's only a handful of their movies. It clearly shows the legacy those movies had upon pop culture.
Superb your comments on this precious movie. I'd only add that the character Aurora was originally based on the iconic Audrey Hepburn but finally it was based on Maria Felix, the Mexican diva of the 50s. Just check out her pictures of the film "Enamorada".
It has been a lllooooonnnnnngggg time since I last saw this film. But, from what I remember... it was pretty good. I loved the Three Good Fairies, Maleficent and Prince Philip (I don't really remember much of Aurora) I find the animation to be top notch and the backgrounds are just incredible. The music is... all right. I'm not that big a fan of ballet and that kind of stuff, so I may have an unfair bias, but... I can't really remove bias... As I said, I loved Maleficent and she is easily in my top 5 Disney Villains (though no one beats Frollo :P). I think the film, Maleficent, practically destroyed her character and the original story as a whole. It was doomed on arrival, Maleficent doesn't need a backstory, she just needs to be evil. However, the original animated film is still a classic and I really can't bring myself to say I dislike it, despite all its flaws and it definitely ended the Golden Age on a high note. Here's to another great era with the Silver Age! Can't wait to hear about One Hundred and One Dalmatians and The Jungle Book. :D
Oh, and one more point. To add to the legacy of Sleeping Beauty, it received a direct-to-DVD pseudo sequel, in the form of a compilation film. Disney Princess Enchanted Tales.
Baby Dogson Thanks! And yeah, like I said in the review, the side characters definitely make the movie. Admittedly, I haven't seen Maleficent yet (I know, bad Disney Guy, bad) but I keep hearing mixed things, so I'll have to give it a watch and form my opinion on it
Joe The Disney Guy I recommend you give at least one watch. The visuals are hit-and-miss, but the acting (for the most part) is pretty weak. Except for Angelina Jolie and Imelda Staunton, none of the actors feel like they're playing characters.
Oh I intend to, just never got around to it for one reason or another. Especially now that Sleeping Beauty is a little more fresh in my mind, it'll be an interesting watch
6 years. That´s cracy and that dose´t even tell us how much work it was behind all of it. I have to remember that. Even if I want to animate a short 5-10 minutes film I need a good dozens of others who works with me haha! It´s just so sad to hear all critic on Disney even after this movie. But I do understand. Now the critic about the style. Reminds me of me when I saw Hercules. I did´t like the style so much so I could imagine myself thinking the same of Sleeping B if I was just used to all the movies before it. But as it is I like the movie and I do like that the Philip got some personality, I love his scene with the horse. But to bad at cost of Aurora´s personality. There are a little there so she is´t a bland wood. But we just don´t get to know much. But as you pointed out and something I can agree with. The Farie´s are the main character´s, funny and encaging ones at that. I love how they act togheter. I am very much like the Green. (Long time sins I saw the movie and I am used to the Swedish names which are diffrent). Those goblins, scary stuff. And the end battle. That is the highlight of highlights. The sounds, effects, display of magic. So Good! And then BOOM! The Dragon Transformation. When I was a child I always thought she was so big her head went adove the clouds. But it was just her magical spoofs XD Still really big!
Maleficent’s voice actress was thorn in another princesses side. She was the evil stepmother in Cinderella. This movie is kinda nostalgic to me. 4:59 Cinderella, Aurora, and Anita Darling were all the same model. I love the animation of sleeping beauty, it still holds up today, in 2024.
I donr care what femmsita say. Being a womean is great. Revelaing beauty, vulnerabliluty and tenderness of heart are strong suits. As well as our natural capacity to multi task and nuture. Femmsit just hate being women cuz someone misused or abused those aspects so now tbey take it out on themselves and other women. Disney movies are great:) Fanatsy, love and overcoming obsticles and designed Destiny. 😙
Flora is most likely named after Disney's mother, Flora Call Disney. Also a correction. Mary Costa was not an opera singer until after Sleeping Beauty. It also be noted that she had to hide her southern accent to sound British, making her a reverse Vivien Leigh, so to speak. Another side note, I have recently seen the film in wide screen and it is easily one of the most gorgeous films I have ever seen.
Aurora's gorgeous, but I always thought the fairies were the main characters! I remember reading a version of cinderella where the prince was named Christopher
Well at least Flora gets mention of her plant powers. She makes the flowers presumably since after he plan to turn Aurora into a flower, Fauna sadly says that Maleficent ruins her nicest flowers.
My biggest flaw is that Taylor Holmes is miscasted as Stefan in which Hans Conried didn’t voice Stefan as he should have been that way Lord Duke’s voice could be solved which never did. You forgot to mention that Hans Conried was brought back to do a live action reference for King Stefan as he was meant to voice King Stefan until he was switched into voicing Duke in which they cast Taylor Holmes as Stefan.
I find it amusing that intellectuals dissect fairytales without remembering that they are ‘fairytales’ painted in broad strokes of good, evil, kindness and the rewards of being kind, humble and generous. If ‘intellectuals’ want to disseminate fairytales lets talk about the survivor’s guilt of Snow White- whose mother DIED giving birth..so on her birthday she is reminded of her mother who died. Happy Birthday Snow White. Let’s talk about the sadness of having the child you LONGED for being taken away from you for 16 years. Let’s talk about losing your mother when you were 5 and your father when you were 10 and what that does to the psyche of a child. Seriously. Nuff said.
Narna is yumbo I agree with you on a lot of points, but a good deal of intellectual interpretation of orally transmitted fairy tales (as opposed to literary fairy tales like Anderson's "Little Mermaid") is provided by folklorists and psychologists and not literary interpreters (although they've contributed as well). Bruno Bettelheim is probably the best known of these, and while a study of why these stories were told (what psychological needs did they fulfill for both teller and listener) is interesting I find most of his writing to be pretty tedious. Folklorists have seen so much in these stories, including the one time popular belief (now pretty much discredited) that they had their origins in nature myths. I'm more interested in how these stories originated and were passed on from country to country simply by oral retelling (until they were codified by Perrault, The Grimms, Basile, etc). Also, interestingly, in the original 1821 printing of the Grimms' collection, Snow White's evil stepmother is actually her birth mother (the section saying that Snow White's mother died and her father remarried was added in later editions), which, if I were going to analyze the story would put a whole new spin on it (the Grimms considered themselves folklorists and not authors, claiming they printed the stories exactly as they had been told to them by the sources they got them from, but they very often edited the stories in later editions to soften them a bit, as they did with "Snow White")
Full Voice Actor List Mary Costa: Princess Aurora - Bill Shirley: Prince Phillip - Barbara Luddy: Merriweather - Verna Felton: Flora - Barbara Jo Allen: Fauna - Eleanor Audeley: Maleficent - Taylor Holmes: King Stephen - Bea Benaderet: Queen Leah - Bill Thompson: King Hubert, Multiple Maleficent Minions - Dallas McKennon: An Owl, Multiple Maleficent Minions - Donald Messick: Multiple Maleficent Minions - Pinto Colvig: Multiple Maleficent Minions - Candy Candido: The Maleficent Minions' Leader
Originally Stefan was going to be voiced by Hans Conried until the part went to Taylor Holmes in the final version. Also the name of the actors for the Queen and the Duke remains unknown.
Anne Baxter fought for a Best Actress nom, not Supporting, at the 1950 Oscars: "The (film) title is All About Eve, and I'm Eve!" Same could be said for Sleeping Beauty's titular character.
OK. I know Cinderella is your favorite film overall of this era. But out of the other two princess movies from this era, which do you like more?? Sleeping Beauty or Snow White???
I just remembered I've only seen this movie once in my life and have recently been thinking that its one of the Disney movies I would like to see again. Anyways, I really like the new thumbnails. They look cool.
I notoriously change my mind a lot about that, but I'm gonna keep my usual answer close to the vest for a little while. There will inevitably be a personal top 10, so why spoil the fun now!
This one is probably my favorite out of what you consider as the second "half" of the golden era. The animation is gorgeous, & I really like the characters for the most part. Yes I realize that Aroura is very bland, but I really envy her! She gets to sleep for years & wakes up to a hot guy??? Sign me up!!! & I'm pretty sure every Disney princess up to this point met via song & didn't think to exchange names though...
Haha a valid point, I think most girls would sign up for that. And yeah, I'll give Snow White and unnamed Prince man the benefit of the doubt, bit Cinderella and Prince Charming ran into the same "no common courtesy of introducing themselves" issue
Thankfully people like Gary Goldman John Paul Mauroy Don Bluth and Roy Disney All fought and fought and fought to make sure hand drawn animation not only survived but made a massive Come back/restoring the artistry.
I find it amusing that feminists complain about Sleeping Beauty when the 3 fairies are the true rescuers in the film. Without the fairies, there was no way Phillip could not have defeated Maleficent. People complain how Aurora isn't the star of her movie you can't make her the main character because her role in the story is to sleep. In the actual fairytale Aurora doesn't do much & sleeps so I don't know why people still complain. Have you seen Maleficent? If you haven't I don't want to give anything away. It was an awful movie & it is even less feminist than the 1959 film.
Ben Fizz You’re so right about feminists. A lot of people say this movie is boring but it’s not IMO. A lot of people also seemed to have thought this movie was a downgrade from Snow White & Cinderella but I completely disagree with that. I personally think it’s the opposite. I thought this movie was an improvement over Snow White & Cinderella.
I really love the animation, the music, and the characters (mainly the two kings, the three fairies and Maleficent) in this movie and it's defiantly one of my favorite Disney films. Thou to be completely honest when it comes to the pinical of there fairy tail films I wold have to give it to ether Beauty and the Beast or Frozen. And my trip to Disneyland has been canceled due to a sickness going around that area.
Yeah and I agree, but it would have been a lot better if Hans Conried voiced King Stefan (as heard in the demo recording while serving as the live action reference for Stefan and possibly the unknown and minor voice of Lord Duke) and give him more energy and more emotions that Taylor Holmes struggled.
This movie does not look like it was made in the 50s, it would still hold up if it came out today and still be considered to be good artstyle wise. That's amazing to me, it's hard to believe people drew it and it wasn't made by a computer because the art is so smooth and perfect
***** You know, I didn't mention the climax because I try to stay away from plot elements when I can, but yeah, probably could have mentioned the intensity of it. And I'm probably going to do a Disney history on the relationship between RKO and Disney/the birth of Buena Vista because that is a pretty big moment in the company's history; it just got lost in the shuffle a bit when writing my review
Some other vids I've listened to/watched say that work on SB began as early as 1950 or '51, in which case it took almost a whole decade to release. This "making of" vid dates story development as far back as 1951: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-St8r-y8wWjs.html
I thought of the fairies as the main characters even though I know they're not. They're the ones trying to solve the conflict in the film while everyone else is reacting to the events of the film.
Technically they actually are. Last time I checked the protagonist of the story is the character(s) which the story follows all throughout. It can't be Aurora she was asleep for nearly half of the movie.
I got my mom a DVD/Blu-Ray of this film for Christmas of this past year. I a least watched the Blu-Ray and I will say that it's better and gorgeous Blu-Ray style. I did hear about it not doing great at the box-office the first time around. But at least it's got a following since.
Matthew Cline Honestly, that's a recurring theme with a lot of the earlier Disney movies: poor to decent box office numbers, but eventually gained recognition over time
When I saw Sleeping Beauty for my Disney Animation research, I unfortunately found it rather boring. I can see that it tried to be action packed, and it succeeded with the dragon fight, but the rest of the movie was just boring. I was a little troubled by how unless the kings knew Briar Rose actually was Princess Aurora, his love with Phillip might be forbidden. And I absolutely despise forbidden love. Also, Flora is rather bossy around Merriweather. If I wanted to say anything good about Sleeping Beauty, it would be three things. First of all, Merriweather is my favorite character in this movie because of her color, voice actress and personality. Secondly, I agree that Maleficent should be on every list of the best Disney villains. Lastly, I like how this is the first movie to have animation work from Don Bluth, the future creator of The Secret of NIMH, An American Tale and The Land Before Time. P.S. How come you did not mention Don Bluth in your trivia?!?!?!?
Aloha Joe I just want to thank you for your awesome videos I enjoy every single one of them I'm a super big fan of Disney so I just love your reaction to this movie also thank you so much for giving credit to ABC's hit show once upon a time also do you watch that show by any chance hopefully you do anyways thank you again for your videos hopefully you can write back if you have a Twitter can you follow me at @kahuhipa44 or on Instagram at @onceuponatime518 mahalo/ and thank you
I hate the fairies. First they keep Briar Rose away from her parents for 16 years. And then they fuck the whole plan up by alerting Maleficent with their petty bickering. But the movie is one of the most beautiful Disney movies, and the most memorable from my childhood, especially the fighting scenes with the dragon. Those haunted my dreams. Boy, does it suck that the movie wasn't a succes.
I'm holding that one sort of close to the chest at the moment, for 2 reasons really. 1. Because I change my mind so often and 2. Because that's an inevitable top 10, so why spoil the ending now?
