Sleeping Beauty Discussion

[Disney Duster]

Oh, I'll have to watch Swan Princess again sometime. And yes, with Merryweather revealing she had baked before I feel there really is the irony of Flora saying they'll all help but poor Merryweather pretty much does it all! Otherwise I don't think they would have the "We'll all pitch in" line that is a great joke.

I love the 60th Anniversary logo but hate the pin with the title. The word "Beauty" is in a very non-beautiful plain text.

[JeanGreyForever]

Disney is releasing two new limited doll sets for Sleeping Beauty's 60th Anniversary so likely we'll see something similar for Cinderella's 50th Anniversary set. I'd love to see Cinderella's prince get a doll, since he's the only prince who didn't get this treatment. Anastasia and Drizella would be nice in a set too if possible, not to mention a wedding Cinderella.

[Disney Duster]

Yes I agree! And you mean 70th Anniversary, not 50th lol.

[JeanGreyForever]

Oops, lol you're right. Don't know what I was thinking.

[Disney Duster]

Do you have links to the two limited doll sets?

[Atlantica]

I know it's legendary the fact that the film was a massive flop, putting Disney off doing another fairy tale until they came up with The Little Mermaid ... but was it a real hardcore flop ? Was it just the fact that the budget was so huge, that any takings couldn't match up ? Just wondering about the two, and if it really was as dire as the little soundbites that pop up about the film say it is.

It's such a beautiful film, I don't think the beauty has ever been matched in another film before or since ! Dancing along the water in 'Once Upon a Dream' ... I mean come on, it's STUNNING !

[Farerb]

I know it's legendary the fact that the film was a massive flop, putting Disney off doing another fairy tale until they came up with The Little Mermaid ... but was it a real hardcore flop ? Was it just the fact that the budget was so huge, that any takings couldn't match up ? Just wondering about the two, and if it really was as dire as the little soundbites that pop up about the film say it is.

It's such a beautiful film, I don't think the beauty has ever been matched in another film before or since ! Dancing along the water in 'Once Upon a Dream' ... I mean come on, it's STUNNING !

The budget was too high and the film was only distributed in cinemas which had the suitable equipment to screen the film if I'm not mistaken.

[Atlantica]

So it wasn't that it didn't make money, just not enough to make back the budget ?

According to imdb.com ..

Budget:$6,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend USA: $2,548,698, 21 March 1986, Wide Release
Gross USA: $51,600,000

[blackcauldron85]

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Sleeping ... #Reception

During its original release in 1959, Sleeping Beauty earned approximately $5.3 million in box office rentals. Sleeping Beauty's production costs, which totaled $6 million, made it the most expensive Disney film up to that point, and over twice as expensive as each of the preceding three Disney animated features: Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp. The high production costs of Sleeping Beauty, coupled with the underperformance of much of the rest of Disney's 1959–1960 release slate resulted in the company posting its first annual loss in a decade for the fiscal year 1960, and massive layoffs were done throughout the animation department.

The film was met with mixed reviews from critics, often citing the film being slowly paced and having little character development.

Sleeping Beauty's successful reissues have made it the second most successful film released in 1959, second to Ben-Hur, with a lifetime gross of $51.6 million. When adjusted for ticket price inflation, the domestic total gross comes out to $478.22 million, placing it in the top 40 of films.

Box office rentals = what the company was paid, which is usually about half of what the film actually earned. So it really was its budget + the other Disney films of that period = why it was considered not a hit at the time.

[Atlantica]

Ahh ok thank you so much for showing it that way, makes sense.

Its such a shame that it's always associated in the press as such as the 'box office bomb' etc, when the film is so much more than that !

[Escapay]

Roy O. stated in the 1959 annual report that even though Walt Disney Studios made more money that year than the year before, it was a smaller margin of profit because of the high costs of several projects - among them, Sleeping Beauty. The film was, unadjusted for re-releases, a Top 10 earner for 1959 and Disney's second highest-grossing film (after The Shaggy Dog). For its time, it was the largest-grossing animated film, but again, its production cost made it prohibitively profitable in its initial release.

A contemporary example would be Superman Returns from 2006. It cost over $200 million to make, and worldwide made $391 million. To be truly profitable, the film should have made $500 million (2.5 times the budget). So, while it made a hatful of money, it wasn't enough to be considered profitable.

This is why I usually hesitate to call Sleeping Beauty a flop. It didn't make less than its budget, it made enough for a small profit, but one that ultimately could not justify the cost. It contributed to the year's loss, but was not the main culprit. Other costly films came from the studio, Darby O'Gill and the Little People and Third Man on the Mountain that did worse business than Sleeping Beauty.

The "flop" nature of the film looks more at how Walt saw it was no longer financially viable to put so much time and money into animated features, which is why the three films from the 1960s are severely scaled-back in terms of their scope and design when compared to Sleeping Beauty. One Hundred and One Dalmatians would come out two years after Sleeping Beauty, cost half as much to make ($3.6 million), and made nearly twice as much and then some ($6.2 million domestic, $14 million worldwide).

Albert

[Disney Duster]

In a Sleeping Beauty making-of, it was said Sleeping Beauty was second only to Ben-Hur. I thought they meant the year it came out, it was second only to Ben-Hur in money in both those films initial releases. Am I incorrect? What is correct?

And JeanGreyForever, if there are links for those doll sets, I would love to see them!

[JeanGreyForever]

And JeanGreyForever, if there are links for those doll sets, I would love to see them!

Sorry, I was busy yesterday so I didn't visit this site.

Here is a pic of the two doll sets. There's one of better quality linked below.


Here's one with a clearer pic of the wedding set.
https://insta-stalker.com/post/BtVa-ZpFR8P/

[Disney Duster]

Oh, wow! I love Briar Rose, and wedding Phillip!

[Atlantica]

Thank you for that Escapay, that makes it a lot clearer.

[JeanGreyForever]

This seems to be the closest we have to a Sleeping Beauty thread so I'll just post here. It's my favorite trailer for the film and used for the 1995 re-release (also featured on the Blu-Ray).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUgjBIlcMWw

While searching for it on YouTube, I also found this trailer which I had never seen before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIAD3MMgj0Y
It's all about Maleficent and I like how it compares her to other classic villains (Cruella, Ursula, and Jafar) which reminded me of the Snow White Platinum Edition trailer that connected Ursula, Jafar, and Scar to the legacy of the Evil Queen. Not sure why Disney is so insistent on the surprise villain trend when their most popular villains are these characters and not Hans, Yokai, or Bellwether.

[Disney Duster]

The 1995 trailer is my favorite Sleeping Beauty trailer, too, and my second favorite trailer ever! The first is of course the 2005 Cinderella DVD trailer with music from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. I used to play that Sleeping Beauty trailer over and over! I love the eeriness of the first music, the perfect transition with the castle, the darkness of the curse and then all the action and adventure and even making the romance exciting in the rest of the trailer! I really love the music they used in the second half of the trailer. And thank you for the nostalgic look back on that Maleficent trailer which I bet I saw when the film was coming out on VHS while I was in 4th grade and it was going to be the first time I saw the film since I was like 5!

[JeanGreyForever]

The 1995 trailer is my favorite Sleeping Beauty trailer, too, and my second favorite trailer ever! The first is of course the 2005 Cinderella DVD trailer with music from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. I used to play that Sleeping Beauty trailer over and over! And thank you for the nostalgic look back on that Maleficent trailer which I bet I saw when the film was coming out on VHS while I was in 4th grade and it was going to be the first time I saw the film since I was like 5!

We have similar tastes then hahaha, because I love the Platinum Edition Cinderella trailer as well! I love the music in the trailer but I had no idea that it was Vivaldi's so thanks for informing me about that. Another reason I love the trailer is that it uses the original colors, unlike the actual Platinum Edition, if you haven't noticed.

Glad you liked the Maleficent centric trailer!

[Sotiris]

While searching for it on YouTube, I also found this trailer which I had never seen before. It's all about Maleficent and I like how it compares her to other classic villains (Cruella, Ursula, and Jafar) which reminded me of the Snow White Platinum Edition trailer that connected Ursula, Jafar, and Scar to the legacy of the Evil Queen.

I hadn't watched that before; thanks for posting it! It reminded of the Snow White Villains trailer too. Not surprised they used the same concept multiple times in their marketing. It's a winning concept.

The first is of course the 2005 Cinderella DVD trailer with music from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

If you're referring to this trailer then it's not Vivaldi, it's James Horner! It's from the Main Title of The Pagemaster. They used the same cue for The Hunchback of Notre Dame II trailer.

[Disney Duster]

Oh, sorry guys, I was trying not to talk too much about Cinderella lol. But it seems perfectly natural now for me to post the trailer since we are talking about other movie trailers now. The trailer I am talking about is not that beautiful first trailer Cinderella's Platinum got, which I was glad to watch again, thanks, and know more info on, thanks. The trailer I mean came out when the film finally hit the stores. It has Vivaldi's "Summer" from The Four Seasons in it. That's my favorite of his songs from that symphony. I hope the link works, click here. Fun fact, Vivaldi lived around the time the fairy tale of Cinderella that the Disney version is based on was written!

Side note: Can I just say I LOVE The Pagemaster?!!!