Sleeping Beauty (Special Edition)

Rating:
Summary: The Best of Disney
Review: SLEEPING BEAUTY is a beautifully made film. It takes the grace of the ballet and shows it in a form that makes it easy to watch, easy to listen to and easy to own. This is the story of the Princess Aurora, cursed by an evil witch upon her first royal event. In an effort to save the Princess from her fate, the three good fairies (also excellently done as comic relief) raise her deep in the forest without the use of magic to help them out. Upon her 16th birthday, Aurora is told the truth of her past and the tale takes off from there. While I'm sure that most of you have already seen this wonderful film, I will not spoil any more of the details of the movie.

The singing in this is truly amazing. The girl voicing Aurora is a beautiful, clear soprano, hitting notes that amazed me as a child and still amaze me today. Prince Phillip is all a prince should be. Malificient is truly the most wicked villan ever put on a Disney screen. She still gives me some chills into my adulthood.

I highly recommend SLEEPING BEAUTY, not just for your children, but for you as well.

Rating:
Summary: A highlight in Disney's canon
Review: I always used to call Sleeping Beauty an updated re-telling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Princess Aurora has a magnificent voice who dreams of her prince and who has many animal friends. Prince overhears her and joins in but she gets frightened and runs off. Instead of 7 distinct dwarves, you get a shortened 3 distinct fairies. Maleficent turns into a dragon while the Queen turns into an old hag. Aurora and Snow White are put into a coma by doing something that the villain has made them do(bite the poisoned apple/prick the needle). But I greatly prefer this and even without the Snow White comparison, I still call it a classic.

On Aurora's birth, the entire townsfolk descends on the castle to see. 3 fairies: Flora, Fauna and Merryweather give their gifts beauty and song. But before Merryweather gives hers, Maleficent shows up and is upset she wasn't invited. In response, she casts a spell that Aurora will prick her finger on a needle before sundown on her 16th birthday and die. Merryweather than casts a spell that instead of death, it's more of a coma that can be broken if she receives true love's first kiss.

Aurora, re-named Briar Rose, is now living with the 3 fairies in a cottage in the forest. While out, she encounters Prince Phillip and says for him to meet her that night. However, she gets upset and runs off. They re-enter the castle but Maleficent puts her in a trance that makes her prick her finger and on top of that, Phillip is captured. The fairies break in her castle where Phillip must get to the castle while battling Maleficent's spells, including herself.

Now I don't know about you, but when Maleficent turns into a dragon, it's still seems frightening even after all these years. "Now you must deal with me O Prince, and all the powers of HELL!" and she rises high in the air to become a dragon is still probably the better final battles Disney has done, which I would include with the one in Lion King and Little Mermaid.

It's also a really beautiful film that was shot for the first time in widescreen which required more detailed drawings and a very pristine transfer. 1 of 2 Disney films I'm recommending one after another(the other, ironically being Snow White).