Sleeping Beauty: 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition

By: The Dweeb

November 2008

DVD Features Video: 2.55:1 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1 - All-New “Once Upon A Dream” Music Video: Performed By Hannah Montana’s Emily Osment - Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough: A Fully Immersive Virtual Tour - All-New Enchanted Dance Game: With Help From Aurora’s Forest Friends, You Can Learn How To Dance - Never-Before-Seen Alternate Opening - Deleted Songs - All-New “Making Of Sleeping Beauty” Theatrical release: 1959 DVD released on 10/07/2008 by Disney/ Buena Vista Running time of 75 minutes Starring: Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley Director: Clyde Geronimi Plot: A snubbed malevolent fairy casts a curse on a princess that only a prince can break, with the help of three good fairies

It is a testament to the lost art of fine animation. Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty is a classic, a true work of art that cannot be recreated today, nor even shortly thereafter.  This film represents the finest hand drawn animation that they ever produced, even under the watchful eye of the mega control freak Walt Disney, and it was the end of an era for this type of animation.  It was a bold risk, running over budget and taking years to finish the project, even threatening to close down the studio. The end result speaks for itself, and in honor of its 50th anniversary, Disney has opened the vault and restored this film to its former glory for all of those who care to see.

It is a classic Disney film, but it stands out for its distinctive style and lacks of much the ‘Disneyification’ (I just invented a word there) that other films succumb too. Sure, its another film about some Princess finding her true love, but its not dripping in cutesiness, the animals don’t talk, and there are few musical numbers. Really its a simple tale, and its a relatively short film to boot. One thing to note is the gorgeous animation and backdrops, a lot of effort was made in the details and it really shines on the screen and in a style that makes it stand out from the typical production designs in Disney movies.

Another element that strikes me differently is the characters in this film really stick out. They aren’t the usual Disney types, well some of them anyway, the three fairies and the two kings actually are very likeable. They go beyond the 2 dimensional approach and are portrayed as well, flawed and human. They aren’t the typical image of the ‘ideal’ or perfect person (ie Prince Charming and Princess Aurora, the Ken and Barbie of the cartoon world). They have some really funny moments, like the drunken argument between the kings or the fairies trying to live like regular folk, which makes this film enjoyable even for an adult. The dragon at the end of the film was pretty cool stuff too, more intense than the usual fare.

The remastering process for the film has paid off, it looks simply fantastic on a large screen television. Scratches, dust, errors or lines are simply not present, at least I didn’t notice. Disney of course makes up for the films short run time by cramming the rest of the DVD package full of all kinds of things to see and play. From lengthy interviews and documentaries to interactive games, original trailers what have you its easy to lose a lot of time on this DVD.  If you haven’t seen this movie since your childhood, now may be the time to relive some of the magic.

Reviewer’s Opinion: BUY IT!!