Sleeping Beauty Discussion

[Redadoodles]

I just posted a clip of Sleeping Beauty with commentary by John Lasseter and Andreas Deja. I thought that their commentary about Briar Rose's animation was quite touching. Enjoy !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4BuUuuHLfg

[Disney Duster]

I really loved watching those commentary scenes again. It really is the most beautiful animated movie ever made.

[Redadoodles]

I've read many times that it's boring and slow (I thought so myself when I was a child) but I think it's beyond beautiful, poetic and majestic and so many films that came afterwards have copied the film wether it's the design, art direction or plot elements.

By the way, someone should correct the title of this topic.

[Disney Duster]

It's true. Don Bluth copies Aurora's hair in almost every girl he makes, and even I made hair resembling hers for my own version of Cinderella. And yes, this thread title should be corrected!

[Redadoodles]

It's not just Don Bluth.. I mean sure, some of his designs do look like Aurora (especially Princess Daphne and Kimberly) but there are also some plot points from both Anastasia and Thumbelina that are borrowed from Disney's Sleeping Beauty.
There is also the cancelled version of Don Bluth's Beauty And The Beast that looks like Aurora as well.

In The Swan Princess, there are many and I do mean MANY shots that are directly inspired by Sleeping Beauty.
In fact, Princess Odette herself vaguely reminds one of Princess Aurora as well.

In the Black Cauldron, animators including legendary animator Milt Kahl, directly used Aurora as a reference for princess Eilonwy and thus ignoring completely what the character was supposed to look like originally.

The art direction from Pocahontas is copied on Sleeping Beauty's art direction by Eyvind Earle as Pocahontas's art director,Michael Giaimo, was a huge fan of not only Sleeping Beauty but also Earle's work as well.

The ending shot of Beauty And The Beast was also traced frame by frame on the last moments appearing at the end of Sleeping Beauty.

The climax of both The Little Mermaid and Aladdin were inspired by the end battle of Sleeping Beauty in terms of scope. It is also common knowledge that Andreas Deja used Marc Davis's Maleficent as direct reference for his character, Jaffar. Both character have a magical staff tools and birds companions.

Some live action filmmakers also referenced Sleeping Beauty in their films such as Brian De Palma in his version of Carrie (1976) and John Boorman in the sequel of The Exorcist. A few years later, John Boorman would help Don Bluth finish his version of Thumbelina when the animator ran out of money.

In Mark Swan's The Princess And The Pea (2002), character designer Kevin Gollaher directly used Briar Rose as a reference for the heroine of the film, Princess Daria. One should also note that Daria also shares a very similar backstory to Briar Rose as they're both innocent princesses who are raised as peasant girls away from their families and who are not aware of their royal heritage. The romance between Daria and Rolo is also inspired by the romance between Aurora and Phillip.
Kevin Gollaher was also assigned the task to design Rapunzel in Don Bluth's cancelled version of Rapunzel (1992) and the character was also inspired by Briar Rose.

If you take Aurora's hair and especially her beautiful iconic curls, you'll find that the style has also influenced the design of Disney gals Megara and Esmeralda. Those same curls are also used on Daria (The Princess And The Pea), Snow White (Happily Ever After) and of course, Anastasia.

Finally, Sleeping Beauty has inspired filmmakers from all around the world to produce their own animated musical version of a Tchaikovsky fairy tale such as the Japanese version of Swan Lake (1981) and the Canadian animated musical The Nutcracker Prince (1990).
These are just a few examples that show that Sleeping Beauty really is a masterpiece in the world of animation..

[DisneyFan09]

I've read many times that it's boring and slow (I thought so myself when I was a child) but I think it's beyond beautiful, poetic and majestic and so many films that came afterwards have copied the film wether it's the design, art direction or plot elements.

You know what? Those were exactly my thoughts when I saw the film for the first time as a child (boring, slow, monotonous)! But when I grew older, I started to appreciate the film more. And now it`s one of my favorites, despite it`s flaws (seriously, Maleficent`s goons feels too cartoony and out of place. Fortunately they don`t have much screentime, but they are jarringly awful).

[Redadoodles]

I've read many times that it's boring and slow (I thought so myself when I was a child) but I think it's beyond beautiful, poetic and majestic and so many films that came afterwards have copied the film wether it's the design, art direction or plot elements.

You know what? Those were exactly my thoughts when I saw the film for the first time as a child (boring, slow, monotonous)! But when I grew older, I started to appreciate the film more. And now it`s one of my favorites, despite it`s flaws (seriously, Maleficent`s goons feels too cartoony and out of place. Fortunately they don`t have much screentime, but they are jarringly awful).

I'm quite sure they were added later on in production because the tone of the film was deemed too cold and dark. They only have one big scene so I don't mind them. Besides, they have that awesome scene when they're dancing around the fire which reminds me of a similar moment in The Goddess of Spring.

[Disney Duster]

That really is a lot of imitation, Redadoodles! Which of course is the sincerest form of flattery! I forgot about Snow White in Happily Ever After. I think the Beauty and the Beast tracing was more about reaching the deadline though. Remember, Disney has recycled a lot of animation from other films other than Sleeping Beauty.

The goons are not jarring and awful. They add good humor just like the fairies and we know the fairies weren't added just because it was too cold and dark before.

I always thought the forest scene was so boring as a kid, but now I see it's one of the best scenes because it's so beautiful visually and audibly!

[Redadoodles]

Deadline or not, they still used Sleeping Beauty and that's why I mentioned it.

There's also an ABC special called The Magic Flute that aired in 1994 and that used several elements from Sleeping Beauty. The short film used some famous cues from the opera of the same name by Mozart. They tried to use Mozart's music the same way Disney adapted Tchaikovsky's ballet for the screen.

The characters are clearly inspired by the ones from Sleeping Beauty with the antagonist being a cheap knockoff of Maleficent (she even transforms as a dragon at the end of the film) and the heroine, Princess Pamina, does fall asleep just like Aurora after drinking a magical potion to save her love interest.

Even though, the film is absolutely awful, I do own it on Dvd and I do love it as it makes a wonderful guilty pleasure especially thanks to it's (unintentionally) hilarious dialogue and lame jokes.

[Disney Duster]

True, they still used Sleeping Beauty.

That Magic Flute looks interesting if I could find a free version to watch.

[lord-of-sith]

True, they still used Sleeping Beauty.

That Magic Flute looks interesting if I could find a free version to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxulyWLQ1UI

[blackcauldron85]

Princess Pamina definitely appears to have hair similar to Eilonwy's, and Eilonwy's design isn't so far off from Aurora's...

[Disney Duster]

That Magic Flute looks interesting if I could find a free version to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxulyWLQ1UI

Thank you very much! I watched it and it was awful. Lol They also stole the three fairies and their colors from Sleeping Beauty and stole Scuttle and how he listened for a heartbeat from The Little Mermaid!

[Redadoodles]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxulyWLQ1UI

Thank you very much! I watched it and it was awful. Lol They also stole the three fairies and their colors from Sleeping Beauty and stole Scuttle and how he listened for a heartbeat from The Little Mermaid!

The scene of Pamina and Tamino singing their love to each other makes me laugh each single time especially how she mentions him by name when he literally never introduced to her. It's clearly scenes like that one that inspired Enchanted.

[Disney Duster]

That is a very horribley funny scene, but there is no way Disney looked at other films other than their own to make Enchanted. They were poking fun at Disney, not anything non-Disney.

[DisneyFan09]

You know what? Those were exactly my thoughts when I saw the film for the first time as a child (boring, slow, monotonous)! But when I grew older, I started to appreciate the film more. And now it`s one of my favorites, despite it`s flaws (seriously, Maleficent`s goons feels too cartoony and out of place. Fortunately they don`t have much screentime, but they are jarringly awful).

I'm quite sure they were added later on in production because the tone of the film was deemed too cold and dark. They only have one big scene so I don't mind them. Besides, they have that awesome scene when they're dancing around the fire which reminds me of a similar moment in The Goddess of Spring.

OK, fair enough. While they (fortunately) don`t have much screentime, they do appear when Philip gets captured and in the first part of the climax.

[Redadoodles]

That is a very horribley funny scene, but there is no way Disney looked at other films other than their own to make Enchanted. They were poking fun at Disney, not anything non-Disney.

The Magic Flute is a Disney film as it was produced specifically for ABC.

[blackcauldron85]

^ Disney didn't buy ABC until 1995, and Ruby-Spears w/ Greengrass created The Magic Flute.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305784/co ... _=tt_dt_co

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby-Spears

As of 2019, it is unclear where Ruby-Spears' post-1991 library is held; two exceptions are the Mega Man series, which is at least partially owned by DHX Media (now WildBrain), and Skysurfer Strike Force, which is owned by Invincible Entertainment Group, along with most of the Bohbot Entertainment library.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_p ... roductions

Greengrass Productions was incorporated in California on February 10, 1992.[1] On June 7, 1996 due to the merger with Disney, Capital Cities/ABC indicated that its ABC Productions division operations would be shut down while keeping its boutique production companies: Victor Television Productions, ABC/Kane Productions, DIC Entertainment and Greengrass Productions.[2][3] Greengrass was transferred into ABC Entertainment from ABC Productions.[4]

So I guess technically it might be Disney-owned now, but the creation of The Magic Flute had nothing to do w/ Disney.

[Redadoodles]

But it was a Disney property when Enchanted was put in production. Either way, I always pictured Enchanted making fun of Thumbelina or The Swan Princess more than any other Disney title..

[Disney Duster]

Thanks for the backup, Amy!

I disagree with you Redadoodles, but you are entitled to your beliefs! It's just Disney always said they were parodying themselves and no one else.