Sleeping Beauty (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)
by Clyde Geronimi
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Barbara Luddy, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Mary Costa, Verna FeltonDirector: Clyde Geronimi
Brand: Disney
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Animated, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Restored, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 75 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-10-07
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Product features:
- Awaken your senses to the majesty of SLEEPING BEAUTY, Walt Disney'sic fairy tale. See more than you've ever seen before through the magic of state-of-the-art technology, and experience this groundbreaking film restored beyond its original brilliance, in the way Walt envisioned it -- pristine, beautiful, utterly breathtaking. SLEEPING BEAUTY will transform your home into a fantastic world y
Movie Reviews of Sleeping Beauty (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)
Movie Review: Sleeping Beauty returns in sparkling new package.
Summary: 5 Stars
I won't waste your time discussing the movie, it's gorgeous graphic design, and the beautiful music, adapted from Tchaikovsky's ballet. If you're a fan, you already know this. If you've not yet discovered the movie, you'll read more about it from others. Note: This is a review of the DVD edition. I don't own a high definition TV or a Blu-Ray player, so I haven't bothered to buy the Blu-Ray edition.
Sleeping Beauty was first released to DVD in region 1 in the fall of 2003, although it had already been released in other parts of the world. This release utilized a 1990's digital restoration that was absolutely gorgeous and presented the film in both its original widescreen Cinemascope aspect ratio and pan-and-scan fullscreen. It also included a disc full of bonus materials, such as the 15-minute making-of featurette from the 1997 VHS and laserdisc editions, other short making-of featurettes, a widescreen-to-fullscreen comparison, and several short films such as Grand Canyon, the live-action Cinemascope short that accompanied Sleeping Beauty in its original 1950 theatrical release. For a non-Platinum Edition, Sleeping Beauty's first DVD release was definitely one worthy of a Disney classic. However, its release window was very short and it was vaulted just five months after its DVD debut.
Now, Sleeping Beauty has been taken out of the Disney vault and given a sparkling new DVD treatment, starting with the main feature itself. Sleeping Beauty was the second film in history to be given a full extensive digital restoration, and those efforts resulted in what I still consider to be one of the finest DVD transfers ever made. However, this new restoration blows the 2003 DVD's transfer away. The colors are warmer and more pleasing this time. The clarity is outstanding and all of the patterns and textures feel almost as if you could touch it.
Disney has been advertising this as a never-before-seen expanded version of the film, and they're right. Now, anyone who's seen it in a theater or on a widescreen home video release knows the film has always been wide, and therefore knows the expansion shown on the packaging and in commercials is a little exaggerated. However, previous widescreen versions used the Cinemascope master, which cropped a bit off all four sides of the images. Sleeping Beauty, however, was filmed in and designed for 70MM Technirama. However, once a soundtrack is added to a theatrical print, you STILL didn't see all of the full Technirama negative. This new DVD and Blu-Ray edition is the first ever home video version to utilize the complete Technirama negative. Although you won't always notice the difference, there's some scenes where you see things you never EVER saw in previous home video releases. In a film that places so much emphasis on the artwork, this is quite a revelation. This DVD, unlike the previous one, does NOT include a pan-and-scan version. Personally, I'm not very upset over this, as Sleeping Beauty should only be seen in its full Technirama splendor.
In addition, the audio transfer is absolutely flawless, but the last DVD, as well as the soundtrack CD, which has also seen a new release to coincide with the Platinum Edition DVD/Blu-Ray, also had amazing sound quality - very vibrant and full with complete clarity. I've heard recordings made AFTER this soundtrack was recorded that don't sound this good. Sleeping Beauty was not the first stereo album, nor was it the first film to have stereo sound, but it was the first time the music element itself had ever been recorded in multi-channel stereo, and therefore became the world's first stereo soundtrack album. This time, the DVD also includes the restored original 4-channel soundtrack as well. This one sounds a little less full, but its inclusion in here for posterity's sake is still to be commended. I've also heard that the 7.1 soundtrack from the Blu-Ray is also absolutely incredible.
The bonus features on this new set are, for the most part, far better than those from the previous DVD, with one exception, which I'll get to in a bit.
First and foremost, the audio commentary from the original DVD is gone and replaced with a new one, although clips from the old one are said to be included. I have yet to listen to the new commentary, so I can't say anything. The old commentary included two deleted song demos, but since these are included on disc 2 as separate bonus features, this really probably isn't missed. Nonetheless, it's a good reason to hang onto your 2003 DVD. Another good reason will be coming up soon.
Secondly, gone is the fluffy 15-minute EPK featurette from the movie's 1997 home video releases, plus other various small featurettes obviously taken from interviews for the 15-minute piece. While all of it was informative and better than no behind-the-scenes stuff at all, it left one wanting more. Well, Disney's giving us more now with a fairly meaty 45-minute documentary, Picture Perfect: The Making Of Sleeping Beauty. This one really delves into the history of Disney's film adaptation, as well as the groundbreaking achievements accomplished in the film. The only EPK spin-off featurette from the 2003 DVD one might miss is the Restoration featurette, but since it advertised how the master for the 1997 video and the 2003 video releases was done, it's not too logical here, but it was nicely informative on how digital restoration is done in general.
Disney includes the Cinemascope-filmed short film that accompanied the film on its original release, Grand Canyon, as well as the Disneyland episode promoting the film, The Peter Tchaikovsky Story. Although these were included on the 2003 DVD release, these are not merely ported over from that release. Grand Canyon was ported over onto the 2003 DVD from Sleeping Beauty's special edition laserdisc box set's non-anamorphic masters, meaning it was a letterboxed 4:3 image. This time, the film has been beautifully restored and is presented letterboxed in a 16:9 frame. In addition, The Peter Tchaikovsky Story is presented in its complete television versions. One version explains to the viewer how to use their radios and TVs to be able to view the program in 3-channel stereo sound and was shown in markets with participating radio stations broadcasting the audio. The second version, shown in non-participating markets, had different narration during that segment. Both versions, however, included TV's first ever widescreen presentations, albeit still slightly cropped on the sides, when they previewed clips of Sleeping Beauty.
New featurettes on Eyvind Earle and Aurora's walk through the forest, called Sequence 8, are also included, as are live-action reference footage - some of which was ported over from the 2003 release, some of which is new to the set - and the short film Four Artists Paint One Tree - also ported from the 2003 release, albeit from what I hear, a new transfer was made. Also included is an alternate opening with a new recording of the deleted song Holiday, as well as three deleted songs - It Happens I Have A Picture, presented as both a newly recorded song and in a spoken word version, as well as the two demos from the 2003 DVD's commentary - Riddle Diddle and Go To Sleep. All are presented with storyboards with the exception of Go To Sleep, which is actually married to the scene of the film it would have appeared in.
The most exciting new bonus, however, is the recreation of the original Sleeping Beauty Castle attraction at Disneyland. Bonus features of this type have been included on The Little Mermaid Platinum Edition DVD, which offered a virtual ride based on the abandoned Disneyworld ride, and the recent 2-Disc Nightmare Before Christmas DVD, where film of the Christmastime revamp of the Haunted Mansion was presented. This time, the viewer gets the chance to view an attraction that hasn't been seen in three decades. You can see the attraction straight-through, in a presentation that allows you to see the windows up close and get more information on how they were originally created, and a behind-the-scenes featurette on the making and history of the attraction. When any of the presentations are over and it goes back to this bonus feature's main menu, you'll see a little something highlighted. Select it and you can see still images of the pages from the souvenir book given to visitors of the attraction at the end.
The only bonus feature not completely ported over from the previous DVD are the art galleries. In some areas, it gains images, but in some it loses them. However, it's presented in the same format as galleries from all of the post-Beauty and the Beast Platinum Edition DVDs. Also, audio commentary has been dropped from all images. I personally preferred the art gallery in a castle format of the 2003 DVD's galleries as well as the audio commentary on select images, which is another reason I'll be hanging onto my 2003 DVD as well.
Despite what's been left off from the 2003 release, this new 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition of Sleeping Beauty STILL blows that DVD away because of what IS here, as well as the spectacular audio and video presentation. Without a doubt it is the best home video version ever for this fantastic movie. All fans of this movie MUST own this new DVD edition. If you happen to own the 2003 DVD, you still must upgrade to this new Platinum Edition DVD, but I'd still hang onto the original DVD for the fullscreen version, (In case you ever had to show this to someone who *gag* hates widescreen.) the original audio commentary, and the original photo galleries. Disney's first Platinum Edition of a previously-strong DVD release, based on some past downgrades, could have been a complete disaster. Instead, it's a vast improvement and I can't praise this set enough.
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