Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Written by Erdman Penner
Directed by Clyde Geronimi

LOOK

Everyone is always shocked by this statement: I’ve never seen Sleeping Beauty. It’s true, for whatever reason, I’ve never had the opportunity to watch it. My only exposure to the story is the Castle walkthrough at Disneyland, and the film Maleficent. So, was it worth the wait?

AT

YES. Sleeping Beauty is a beautifully made animated film, that is such a departure from the established “Disney Style” that its a breath of fresh air; it legitimately feels reinvigorating.

HOW

The production design, primarily the work of Eyvind Earle and John Hench, is such a distinctive look. Where previous Disney films have a lot of curves and flowing lines, much of Sleeping Beauty’s backgrounds are angular and straight, which allows the characters, designed with more fluidity, to really leap off the screen. There’s still the limitations of the time and technology (compare the coronation scenes between this film and Tangled or Frozen to see what I mean), but at least it all feels like a storybook, so the style is consistent.

GORGEOUS

The music verges on the cusp of being catchy, but still doesn’t quite get there, for me, which is something I’ve noticed about these earlier films. Perhaps it’s just because musical sensibilities have changed, but where I feel most modern Disney films have a plethora of memorable music, these early films have one, maybe two, and that’s if there’s enough luck to be any at all. “Once Upon a Dream” is okay, but I more enjoyed the coronation song, “Hail to the Princess Aurora”. It lasts all of like, a minute, but rhythmically it was the most interesting.

THIS

Plot and character-wise, I had no major issues, although I was unaware that Aurora is betrothed from birth...Philip is about 12 years old, and she’s like 12 hours old; I know age ain’t nothing but a number, but good lord. Aurora also made me laugh when she crosses paths with Philip in the forest: “You’ll never see me again! I mean, maybe! Let’s meet tonight!” SOME RESOLVE, AURORA (I knew I was getting old when she said, as an argument, “I AM sixteen,” YES, WHICH MEANS YOU’RE NOT AN ADULT YOUNG LADY CALM DOWN).

ANIMATION

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this film. It’s a shame that, when it was released, it underperformed, and put a hold on princess films until the release of The Little Mermaid, thirty years later. Not that I think there’s a dearth of princesses, but who knows how far the form would have come by this point had there not been a thirty year gap.

IS!

FINAL GRADE: A-