Sleeping Beauty (Special Edition)
by Charles A. Nichols, Clyde Geronimi, James Algar, Wilfred Jackson
List Price:
Our Price: $21.92
You Save: $8.07 (27%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.54 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barbara Luddy, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Mary Costa, Verna FeltonDirector: Charles A. Nichols, Clyde Geronimi, James Algar, Wilfred Jackson
Writer: Bill Peet
Writer: Charles Perrault
Writer: Erdman Penner
Writer: Jeff Kurtti
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 75 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-09-09
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Movie Reviews of Sleeping Beauty (Special Edition)
Movie Review: Classic Animated Film Gets Classic DVD Treatment
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all, this comes in Widescreen or Fullscreen. You chose when you hit play. This was the first animated film to be made in 2.35 aspect ratio.
Aurora is the first child of the king and queen. There is a royal baby shower and everyone is invited except the evil witch Maleficent. The first two fairies give Aurora her gifts when Maleficent arrives and gives Aurora her gift, "She will prick her finger on a spindle and die." As Maleficent has the strongest magic, the final fairy, Merryweather, cannot change it but modifies it to she will sleep until awaken by true love's kiss.
To prevent this from coming true, the king burns all spinning wheels and sends Aurora to be raised by the fairies in the forest. Aurora grows up as Briar Rose and just before her 16th birthday she meets a gallant stranger in the forest. Thinking it is safe, Aurora goes home and there is a big party for her. Maleficent fulfills her curse. To spare the kingdom the loss, the fairies cast a spell across the entire land putting everyone to sleep until Aurora awakens.
As it turns out, the man in forest is Prince Philip, Aurora's betrothed. And it is his kiss will wake her up.
This is a beautiful classical Disney animated film. The colors are vibrant and the widescreen gives the film extra depth. Add in another great song score including Once Upon a Dream, and you have a true classic.
DVD EXTRAS:
Disc One - Commentary by Mary Costa (Aurora) and various animators involved in making of the film.
Disc Two -
Games, Music & Fun:
Disney Art Project - Tells you how to build a princess or dragon using ordinary household items like egg cartons and milk cartons
Rescue Aurora Adventure Game - A simple but fun game where you are given three answers and a clue. If you choose correctly, then you advance. If wrong, it's to the beginning.
Princess Personality Profile Game - You answer 15 questions and then are told which of the six princesses you are most like. (If you have a favorite, it is easy to figure out the right answers.)
Once Upon a Dream Sing a Long - Karaoke version of the song using the film footage.
Once Upon (Another) Dream video by no secret - a new music video set against the movie.
Sleeping Beauty Ink & Paint Game - Choose a character and then you are told to choose a color to paint a region. But if you choose the wrong color you must choose until you get the right one.
The Making of Sleeping Beauty - A sixteen minute making of featurette with classic footage from the vaults.
Story -
The History of the Story: A written history of the story from early lore to the ballet to Disney.
The 1951 Outline: The original film outline written and read (23 minutes).
Storyboard Sequence: 2 two minute sequences that show the storyboard with the actual film.
Production -
The Music: 3 minute featurette with Mary Costa (Aurora) discussing the music.
The Design: 3 minute featurette with Pocahontas animators discussing how the unique production design was created.
Creating the Backgrounds: one minute interview with background creator Eyvind Earle
Live Action Reference: A staged sequence that shows how the animators would use actual people to choreography movement. An actual filmed sequence with drawn in effects for another scene and live action photographs for various scenes.
The Restoration: A 3 minute featurette that tells about the extensive restoration of the film.
Widescreen to Pan-and-Scan Comparison: A four minute comparison of the 2.35 original theater aspect ratio to the 1.33 television screen aspect ratio. The scene used is Once Upon a Dream widescreen above the full screen. It is surprising to see the difference. Even when all the action is caught in the full screen, the extra animation on the widescreen adds to the sequence.
Sleeping Beauty Galleries -
Layouts and Background Galleries: A series of original concept sketches for the backgrounds with certain layouts and backgrounds having commentary.
The Sleeping Beauty Storybook Gallery: The book used for transitions is shown here with each transitional page.
Poster Gallery: 15 different posters and lobby cards used in advertising the film over the decades
Disneyland Walkthrough Gallery: This is the Eyvind Earle original concept art for Sleeping Beauty's Castle at the entrance of Fantasyland in Disneyland.
Concept Art Gallery: A series of original concept art sketches with certain concept pictures having commentary.
Character Design Gallery: Five character design galleries similar to the concept art gallery.
Storyboards Galley: Same as the above with Storyboards.
Sleeping Beauty Scrapbook: Various stills broken out between Behind the Scenes, Publicity, Merchandise and Theme Parks.
Four Artists Paint One Tree - A 16 minute segment of the TV show Disneyland that talks about animation using Sleeping Beauty. (Disney often used his television show to promote upcoming films.)
The Peter Tchaikovsky Story - A 30 minute live action short subject on the life of Tchaikovsky was originally used on TV show Disneyland, as part of a larger show promoting Sleeping Beauty. Later released theatrically as a short subject.
Grand Canyon - A 29 minute Oscar Winning Live Action Short Subject which was paired with Sleeping Beauty in its original release. I remember seeing this many times in school. It is stunningly beautiful. The music is The Grand Canyon Suite. You are going to have to click through a number of screens to get to this but find it. It is worth the effort.
As you can see, this DVD is chocked full of extras. Some fantastic and some just okay.
Summary of Sleeping Beauty (Special Edition)
Heralded by audiences and critics alike, SLEEPING BEAUTY was the final fairy tale to be produced by Walt Disney himself. Now fully restored with revolutionary digital technology, its dazzling colors, rich backgrounds, and Academy Award(R)-nominated orchestrations shine brighter than ever. When an enchanted kingdom and the most fair princess in the land fall prey to the ultimate mistress of evil, the fate of the empire rests in the hands of three small fairies and a courageous prince's magic kiss. Their quest is fraught with peril as the fellowship must battle the evil witch and a fire-breathing dragon if they are to set the Beauty free. From spectacular action to the breathtaking pageantry of the princess and her kingdom, SLEEPING BEAUTY has something to charm every member of your family.Disney's 1959 animated effort was the studio's most ambitious to date, a widescreen spectacle boasting a gorgeous waltz-filled score adapting Tchaikovsky. 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 16th birthday. This, of course, would deny her a happily-ever-after with her true love. Things almost but not quite turn out that way, thanks to the assistance of some bubbly, bumbling fairies named Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. 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. And Malificent's castle, filled with warthogs and demonic imps in a macabre dance celebrating their evil ways, manages a certain creepy grandeur. --David Kronke
On the Blu-ray
Sleeping Beauty was the last and most lavish of Walt Disney's animated fairy tales. He told the artists not to hurry and to give him "a moving illustration": The film required almost four and one-half years and one million finished drawings. Instead of the 19th century storybook illustrations that had influenced the look of Snow White and Pinocchio, the artists adapted the flattened perspective and jewel-like colors of 15th century French illuminated manuscripts. The results remain unmatched for sheer visual opulence. However, Sleeping Beauty suffers from a weak story: the vision of an ageless princess slumbering in a vine-shrouded tower was replaced with elements of Snow White and a boy-meets-girl musical. The evil Maleficent and the three Good Fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) dominate the film, rather than Princess Aurora and Prince Philip. Sleeping Beauty was originally released in 70mm, and the Blu-ray edition restores the film to its original splendor. (Many earlier releases trimmed the wide-screen images and/or muted the glowing palatte.) The Bonus DVD looks good on a flat screen monitor, but it pales in comparison to the richness of the Blu-ray. In addition to the commentaries and a making-of documentary, the set includes myriad extras that vary widely in quality. Nostalgia buffs will enjoy the recreation of the old Sleeping Beauty's Castle attraction in Disneyland, and the TV program "Four Artists Paint One Tree" provides a welcome showcase for key talents from the film. But the CG animation of the dragon and the voice imitations of the Good Fairies fail to capture the magic of the originals in the "Dragon Encounter"; the "Maleficent's Challenge Game"--a hi-tech Twenty Questions--sounds only vaguely like the redoubtable sorceress. The BD-Live features require an awful lot of bother: after wading through (or ignoring) 130 screens of legalese, participants must enter their Social Security number or other personal information in the drawn-out sign-on process. Once that's finally done, viewers can send special messages to pop up during the film, chat online with others who are watching, and view it in synch with others. The question is whether or not you want to. (Rated G: violence) --Charles Solomon
Stills from Sleeping Beauty (Click for larger image)
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
 |  |  |
Similar DVD Movies
Aladdin (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)Aladdin; Release date: 2004-10-05; DVD
Best price: $27.77
Price in other shops:
DumboDIS; Release date: 2011-09-20; DVD
Best price: $15.74
Price in other shops:
Alice in Wonderland (Two-Disc Special Un-Anniversary Edition)Disney; Release date: 2010-03-30; Published: 2010-03-01; DVD
Best price: $16.00
Price in other shops:
Bambi (Two-Disc Diamond Edition)Disney; Release date: 2011-04-19; DVD
Best price: $14.45
Price in other shops:
The Little Mermaid (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2006-10-03; DVD
Best price: $24.98
Price in other shops:
Pinocchio (Two-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition)Disney; Release date: 2009-03-10; Published: 2009-03-01; DVD
Best price: $20.97
Price in other shops:
Snow White and the Seven DwarfsDisney; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $41.25
Cinderella (Two-Disc Special Edition)Walt Disney Home Entertainment; Release date: 2005-10-04; DVD
Best price: $27.50
Price in other shops:
Beauty and the BeastDisney; Release date: 2010-11-23; DVD
Best price: $17.24
Price in other shops:
Lady and the Tramp (Diamond Edition Two-Disc Blu-ray/ DVD Combo in DVD Packaging)Release date: 2012-02-07; DVD
Best price: $17.55
Price in other shops: