Sleeping Beauty it's finally out on DVD! After 2 years of waiting it finally hits shelves in 5
days! One of my all time Favorites! It's detailed art and stunning animation makes this
Walt Disney movie a gem! Something to be shared and cherished for generations to come!
First animated movie to use the Technirama 70 filming process. How does it look? How
does it sound? What special about this edition? What gems can we find in this set? all of
this questions will be answered so get a snack and something to drink cause you’re in for a
treat!
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Video
Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) And the not so welcomed Full Screen
(1.33:1) The Print is very clean, sharp and bright even thought there is some very small
flickering every now and then, they don't take away from the fine print that Disney has
put. Originally restored in 1998 by the same people that did a superb job on Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs. Sleeping Beauty marks the second Disney movie to receive this
kind of restoration! I give the Video a 9
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Audio
Here's where it gets complicated! The Widescreen version has the famous 5.1 Dolby
Digital Surround Sound. The Full Screen seems to get all the attention! It gets the English,
Spanish and French Language track all to itself! While dialogue mostly stays in the front,
the surrounds fill the room in a subtle manner It doesn’t overwhelm the room, I like it! I
give it a 10
Supplemental Features
As we pop in Disc 2 we get taken back to the room in Disc 1 this time the pages are
flipped to gives us two routes to take the Games, Music & Fun and History & Behind The
Scenes.
Games, Music & Fun
-Rescue Aurora Adventure Game - Yet another exciting Disney game! like pass effort this
one is directed to the kids in the family as it put some effort in problem solving as for the
adults, They will find this game boring and short. For this review I took a shot at saving
Aurora, I encountered problems as I didn’t know what to do but soon realized what the
purpose was and I proceeded to the next questions. After 5 questions the game is over and
the sad thing after all the sweat and tears you don’t get a single price! What happened to
rulers now a days? haven’t they hear about compensation for risking my life to save their
daughter?! Oh well.......
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-"Once upon (another) Dream Music Video- (3 Min 38 Sec) OMG!!!!!!! what the **** is
this? I wonder who or what convinced Disney Execs this would actually work? for those
who have seen this on the Disney channel will know what I’m talking about. if you haven’t seen
it just think of a Techno Trance Europe Teeny Bopper Cher meets Spice Girls mix! ugh
this is one that I will not watch again after this review!
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-"Once Upon A Dream” Sing Along Song - (2 Min 54 Sec) In the good sing along Disney
tradition we get the faded, grain and scratch feast of this classic song! very sad that they
couldn’t use a better transfer for this! At the end we get treated to where this song is
featured - Be Our Guest VHS which I thought was no longer in print! lol
-Princess Personality Game - Now here’s a game that has some level of fun, and yes I felt
curious about what my outcome would be lol like when you parents tell you not to do
something but you do it anyways, oh well I favor Aurora at the end of this game lol it’s a
nice game for kicks while it might go well with the little girls.
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-Sleeping Beauty Ink & Paint Game - This is mostly a coloring book, nothing less, nothing
more.
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-Disney’s Art Project - Say Hello to Lefty and Righty! Our two guides that will help all of
us make:
*Design a Princess
*Build a Dragon
While I haven’t try to even built neither, I would much like to hear everyone’s story if you
do try to built either one!
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Well this wraps the exciting features of this section! While this section is mostly for
Tweens it has some level of enjoyment in a weird way. If you are still reading this what’s
coming next is the real deal! The features all Disney buffs and fans have been waiting for!
Here’s where Vault opens for our journey into the Making of Sleeping Beauty!
History Behind-The-Scenes
-The Making of Sleeping Beauty (16 Min 18 Sec) - This featurette will seem very familiar
to everyone! That’s because it was borrowed from The CAV laserdisc, Limited Ed.
Masterpiece Collection VHS and the Widescreen Collector’s Ed. Masterpiece VHS. While
it’s short it does break it down nicely while not in depth it’s a nice piece. We get
comments from Leonard Maltin, Mary Costa, Ollie Johnston, Marc Davis and more......
-Story
*The History of The Story- This is 10 page history of the story gives us insight on how
this story came to be! this is a very interesting piece!
*The 1951 Outline - Back in April 1951 the Outline of the story was written. Here we can
hear and read how the early outline differs from what ended up in the final film!
*Storyboard Sequences
Here we get treated to a split screen with storyboards compare to the film film! we get the
1 Min and 14 Sec The Fairies Put The Castle To Sleep and the 2 Min and 14 Sec Capture Of The Prince. Both of
these are introduced by none other than Andreas Deja!
-Production
*The Music of Sleeping Beauty- ( 2 Min 45 Sec) Introduced by Leonard Maltin, We get
to chit chat with Ms Costa about her life at the time, how it affected her life, insight into
the making of the film! It’s always nice to see Mary in any interview!
*The Design - ( 3 Min 22 Sec) Eyvind Earle and others talk about the detailed design of
the animation.
*Creating the Backgrounds(1 min 6 sec) - Eyvind Earle on the backgrounds. Here he
explains how he created this and how long they took!
*Live-Action Reference:
.Briar Rose Dance Reference - (48 sec) Taken from a Disneyland episode here we get
treated and the live-action sequence animator’s used to animate Aurora.
.Prince Phillip & Dragon Reference (1min 1 sec) - Snapshots all shot together to form this
live-action where Phillip battles Maleficent! Thought to be lost, some how they found the
light of day!
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*Photographs - 23 still of more Live-action sequences that were used in the actual movie!
My favorite has to be Phillip and Aurora going down the long stairway!
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*The Restoration - (2 min 56 sec ) Here’s where it get interesting, Have you ever
wondered what a original print looks like after 44 years? Well this takes us into how the
film was restored to it’s magnificent state. Even thought the guy says their computer
deflickered the movie there’s still some light flickering in parts of the movie!
*Widescreen-To Pan & Scan-Comparison - (3 min 49 sec) Introduced by Andreas Deja,
We get the OAR talk and the P&S talk. Then we get taken to a split screen as we view
Once Upon a Dream sequence in both Widescreen and P&S. You decide which one you
like the most! as for me I choose Widescreen!
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-Sleeping Beauty Virtual Galleries - Here we get art work, concept art, backgrounds
posters, attractions everything to feed our little hearts content! Walk Stephen’s castle
through extensive galleries (11 Galleries). Exclusive galleries are Briar Rose, 3 fairies,
Maleficent and much much more!
-Publicity
Original Theatrical Teaser Trailer(1959) - This teaser released late 1958/early 1959,
shows backgrounds along with text showing the audience the wonders the Walt Disney’s
next feature would bring! I think this trailers cause they take you back to 1959 and how
people may have felt to see this.
Original Theatrical Trailer (1959) - This trailer released early 1959 as the premiere threw
nearer shows sequences from the movie in 2.35:1, with frases like join the action, new
characters, new songs, Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty! just gives me that fuzzy feeling!
Trailer-(1995) - Now this is what I call a trailer! It has the scary and intrigue factor and
the romance factor as well! now this has to be my favorite trailer of them all!
Sadly none of the 60s, 70s nor 80s trailers seem to be present in this edition!
-Sleeping Beauty Scrapbook
*Behind the Scenes -17 still from behind the scenes features Walt, Mary Costa and more!
*Publicity- 22 stills of Posters, Lobby Card anything imaginable is here!
*Merchandise - 18 still of promotional merchandise! I found my old Sleeping Beauty
Soundtrack in this scrapbook! to my surprise it’s the Original first edition one!
*Theme Parks - still of Disneyland California drafts and Disneyland’s Paris’s Chateau du
Belle Dormant attraction.
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-Grand Canyon ( 28 min 54 sec) - Release in 1959 along side Sleeping Beauty during it’s
premiere and theatrical run. The story behind this short is known by many. While critics
complained about the running time and the expensive ticket price Walt thought it would be
nice to add this 29 min short film to the movie making it longer and more of a bargain.
This short went on to win Best Short Subject in 1959. Presented in a 2.35:1
Non-Anamorphic Widescreen, It shows the sights, sound and colors of the grand canyon
over classical music a real masterpiece!
-Four Artists Paint One Tree (16 min 8 sec) - Originally aired on April 30th, 1958 as part
of the Disneyland Show An Adventure in Art show Eyvind Earle, Marc Davis and others
going outdoors and drawing the same tree using different techniques that were used in
sleeping beauty! This episode was used to promote the film!
-The Peter Tchaikovsky Story - Originally Aired on January 30th, 1959 as part of the
extensive Disneyland Show and later released in theaters overseas shows the life of the
famous composer! This is a live-action mini film!
Final Thought
It’s been nice to revisit the film with this DVD! While not everything was included in this
set like the missing trailers and the Mickey Mouse Club Sleeping Beauty episode. It does
hold to it’s purpose entertain and show how this film came to be. While it was not well
greeted in 1959 because of it’s budget and perfection, Sleeping Beauty has reached a
desired level of animation that noone can ever accomplish again. Generations have learned
to love and cherish this gems as Walt Disney’s Best animation feature since Snow White in
matters Innovating tool in animation! I recommend this set to Fans and casual viewers
cause it takes us back to 1959. There’s enough supplements to keep everyone happy
especially collector’s who wish for this DVD “Once Upon A Dream”.
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