Sleeping Beauty (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) [1958]
![Sleeping Beauty (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) [1958]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EiJtFRgFL._SL160_.jpg) RRP £19.99 Lowest New Price £12.74 
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Universal, suitable for all Disney Release date: Monday 27th of October 2008 Starring: Director(s): Format: PAL, Region code: 2 Running time: 75 minutes |
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
RRP: £19.99
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
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.
Superb!
Review date: 2008-12-23 Rating: 10 out of 10
Like the title of my review says: Superb!
When I first started the film (DVD Region 2) the screen showed black bars at the sides (as well as at top and bottom) and the ball on Maleficent's stick was not circular. I fixed this by changing the setting of my DVD player from 16:9 Fix to 16:9 Auto. That made the picture perfect. For those who have the same problem doing the same may fix it. I have found that some wide screen DVDs need the DVD player to be set at 16:9 Auto while others need it to be set at 16:9 Fix.
Reviews
Beautifully restored Disney classic with very good extras
Review date: 2008-12-11 Rating: 8 out of 10
I first saw this at primary school, aged 6 so it must have been the first film I saw there and I loved it. I'm now an adult, and while it does have flaws within the aspects of character and some other niggles, it still stands up as a classic.
Disc 1: The Film - Opening with the classic Disney storybook being opened, the gold jewelled cover represents how much money and time went into making this, which is Disney back at what they do best, adapting fairy tales.
The vocal performances are outstanding, especially the evil villian Malificent's. They just carry the animated performances the artist did so well and bring them to life. My fave characters are the three good fairies and the best pure evil antagonist in a Disney fairy tale-based film.
Plot wise, it's a straightforward telling of the fairy tale, no 100 years between the Prince finding Sleeping Beauty and changes things like the number of fairies and some comic relief thrown in to make it more cinematic and Disney-fy the quite short fairy tale.
The film's running time is short(72 mins) and even if I'd prefer it a bit longer, it's tightly paced and doesn't go on too long.
The animation has a medieval, paining type feel, with it's detailed hand painted backgrounds and boasts arguable their most beautiful (if lacking noteworthy personality traits) princess Aurora/Briar Rose. The tour de force climax for me in this fairy tale film has never been bettered and scared me as a child.
A lovely, wonderful score that drives the emotion and great songs like my fave One Upon A Dream complete the film.8/10
Scene Selection
Bonus Features: Music & More: "Once Upon A Dream" Music Video By Emily Osment - A colourful pop-rock take on the memorable song, with a high-pitched teenybopper-pandering vocal from Osment. I don't think the 'rock' elements of the song work, so I could live without this version of it. Instead, Broadway singers doing a duet covering it would've been so much better.
Disney Song Selection - Once Upon A Dream(Main Title), Hail To The Princess Aurora, I Wonder, Once Upon A Dream and Sleeping Beauty. Jump to these places in the film, either by picking just one at a time or selecting the PLAY ALL option.
Play Film with lyrics on Screen - On or Off option too.
Set Up
Sneak Peaks - Trailers for WALL.E, Space Buddies, DisneyLand Paris 15th Anniversary, Pinnochio, The Princess and the Frog, Bolt and Tinker Bell.
Disney Fast Play - Starts the film straightaway.
Backstage Disney: Audio Commentary - with John Lasseter, Andreas Deja and Leonard Maltin. A chance to switch this option ON to listen with the film as Lasseter(Toy Story director), Maltin(lifelong Disney fan and film buff) and Deja(an animator at Disney). You'll also hear snippets from some of the original filmmakers who made this classic.
Princess Fun Facts - pop up pink boxes of information about the film making and of course, princesses.
Grand Canyon - A pictoral interpretation of Ferde Grofe's "Grand Canyon Suite", conducted by Frederick Stark. Photographed in Cinemascope.
In four parts - Painted Deserts & Sunrise, On The Trail, Cloudburst and Sunset & Finale. Not sure what it has to do with Sleeping Beauty but interesting all the same.
The Peter Tchaikovsky Story - Tow versions of a show (which was the first widescreen presentation and stereo simulcast on TV).
Version 1 sees Walt talk briefly about the history of Disney(also explains what the veiwer has to do to be able to hear the steroe simulcast on TV), then introduce the short drama of the composer in colour then it goes back to Walt in black and white to introduce a preview of the forest and escape sequences from Sleeping Beauty.
Version 2 is the same as above but without the set up for stereo bit.
Disc 2: Bonus Features -
<--- Cottage
Castle --->
Castle --->
Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty - a more in-depth discussion on the sophistication, the design and decorative look of the film and it's influence by Eyvind Earle.
Eyvind Earke: The Man and His Art - a short doc on the background artist on the film.
Sequence 8 - The forest sequence and it's troubles and costs($10,000 apparently).
Alternate Opening - Shows the pinned up rough black and white storyboard with narration esablishing the kingdoms of Stefan and Hubert and the celebration of Aurora's birth.
We then see the unused joyous Broadway-type song 'Holiday'. This section is both balck and white and coloured storyboards.
Deleted Songs: It Have A Picture - was planned to follow Holiday.
Vesrion 1 uses a newly recorded version of the song after the original dialogue. Version 2 uses the exact same lyrics of the song as original recorded dialogue. It's a nice, light song.
Riddle Diddle - a song sang by the fairies making the cake and dress with magic. It's a sprightly, fast little bop.
Go To Sleep - set when the fairies put the rest of the people to sleep wth Aurora.
Storyboard Sequences: The Fairies Put The Castle To Sleep - introduced by Deja. The film version and storyboard version are shown, one ontop of the other, showing the similarities.
The Capture of the Prince
Live Action References: Briar Rose Dances, Prince Phillip Fights The Dragon and The Queen and a Good Fairy. All in black and white and very brief.
Sleeping Beauty Art Galleries: Visual Development, Character Design, Stroyboard Art, Live Action Reference, the Sleeping Beauty Storybook, Layouts and Backgrounds, Production Photos and Publicity.
Original Disnland Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthough Attraction:
chhose between - Auto Mode or With Guided Tour by Disey Imagineer, Tony Baxter. A side icon lets you view the book on the menu screen for this.
History of the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough Attraction
Publicity: original Teaser Trailer, Original Theatrical Trailer and Re-Release Trailer.
Four Artists Paint One Tree
<--- Cottage
Briar Rose Enchanted Dance Game
Sleeping Beauty Fun With Language
8/10 for the extras.
5 stars for the film, only one for the DVD
Review date: 2008-11-27 Rating: 2 out of 10
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.
They don't make 'em like this any more
Review date: 2008-11-13 Rating: 10 out of 10
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.
Pink! Blue! Pink! Blue! PINK!
Review date: 2008-11-10 Rating: 8 out of 10
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.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Verna Felton
Eleanor Audley
Mary Costa
Bill Shirley
Creators:
Mary Costa (Primary Contributor)
Bill Shirley (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: Disney
Manufacturer: Disney
EAN: 8717418177447
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-10-27
Audience rating: Universal, suitable for all
Region code: 2
Running time: 75 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1958
Tech info, cast and quotes/trivia when available. Exclusions may apply with free delivery. Price and availabiltity subject to change
