Cinderella vs. Sleeping Beauty

[Dr Frankenollie]

Which is better? The story of a young orphan abused by her step-family assisted by a kindly old Fairy Godmother who falls in love with a handsome Prince (and vice versa), or the story of a cursed princess hiding out in a forest with three good fairies and falling in love with a handsome prince (and vice versa) whilst being searched for by a cruel demonic witch?

The caring and optimistic Cinderella or the curious and prince-loving Aurora? The bland Prince Charming, or the dashing and heroic Prince Philip? The whimsical Fairy Godmother or the friendly and loving Flora, Fauna & Merryweather? The loyal and helpful mice and birds, or the forest animals who dress up as a prince for Aurora? The cruel and dominating Lady Tremaine, or the powerful and malicious Maleficent?

The soft animation of Cinderella heavily influenced by live-action reference, or the exquisite animation of Sleeping Beauty that resembles classic paintings? The amusing and enjoyable music from Cinderella, or the classical Tchaivosky score from Sleeping Beauty?

In my opinion, the story of Cinderella wins; Cinderella is more likable and developed than Aurora; Prince Philip is more likable and developed than Prince Charming; the three good fairies are better than the Fairy Godmother; Cinderella's animal friends are better than Cinderella's; Tremaine is more effective a villain than Maleficent; and both the animation and music of Sleeping Beauty win.

So I prefer Sleeping Beauty overall, but I still love both the movies, despite the fact that they both have their share of bland characters.

[Flanger-Hanger]

Cinderella is the better movie (in terms of characters and storytelling), but I like Sleeping Beauty more. As with LatT/101D both of these are in the top 10 but I do prefer one over the other.

[Super Aurora]

I find Aurora hotter and my type of wommin but Cinderella is the better constructed made movie. Where Sleeping beauty has style, Cinderella has substance.

so: Cinderella > Sleeping Beauty.

[carolinakid]

Another tough one.....but I have to give it to Cinderella.....although Phillip is my all time favorite Disney prince!

[Mmmadelon]

I love them both, can't choose! I love the whole look of Sleeping Beauty, but I agree that Cinderella has the better story. They both have their own qualities and flaws.

[Dr Frankenollie]

I suppose my criteria was too focused on characters, and instead I think Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are equal despite what my first post said.

Sleeping Beauty is admittedly style over substance, but if you ignore the animation and music, sure Aurora and Philip aren't focused upon very much, but the fairies are, and they're much more interesting characters. It has a lot of substance, but Walt concentrated a lot on the look of the film as he wanted it to be his last traditional animated feature.

[KubrickFan]

I suppose my criteria was too focused on characters, and instead I think Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are equal despite what my first post said.

Sleeping Beauty is admittedly style over substance, but if you ignore the animation and music, sure Aurora and Philip aren't focused upon very much, but the fairies are, and they're much more interesting characters. It has a lot of substance, but Walt concentrated a lot on the look of the film as he wanted it to be his last traditional animated feature.

Well, Cinderella has the same issue. Sleeping Beauty has the absolutely gorgeous animation, and Cinderella has the characters with better personalities. I honestly could watch the animation of Lucifer all day. It's that good.

[rodis]

Tough one. I love both tremendously and recently watched them both a few times.

Although Cinderella is a beautiful film with a delicate visual style, SB is just as polished as anything the studio has ever released. Even the 90's films had their share of rushed animation but SB is just perfectly polished from beginning to end.

In terms of characters, Cinderella wins by a landslide. You feel sympathy for her. And she appears on the screen for most of the film, which can't be said about Aurora...

Hmm, still, I guess SB has the edge because I love its seriousness, the more muted colors, the mystery, the medieval design.

So, Sleeping Beauty, but Cinderella is right behind.

[seanjonmc]

So hard!

But I pick Sleeping Beauty, I enjoy watching that movie more. Every scene is EPIC. The animation is extraordinary and unlike anything produced before or after. Cinderella's animation fits with the time period a la Alice and Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Lady and the Tramp, so IMO it isn't as "special."

In terms of music, I prefer SB as well. The Tchaivosky score is mesmerizing.

But in regards to story, Cinderella wins by a mile. The character development there is 10x the character development of SB.

Still, Sleeping Beauty for me.

[Goliath]

I don't care much for both movies. They all suffer from far too much rotoscoping/live-action referencing, which make the main characters look stiff and lifeless. Why do an animated feature when you're not using the possibilities of 'cartoon acting'? By the 1960's, Disney avoided this trap by having mostly animal protoganists (the dalmatians, the jungle animals) and by animating the human characters much more loosely; not the rigid, far too literal style that kills all the fun and excitement in both Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty (and Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland as well).

I don't care much for the stories and characters either. But when forced to pick, I'd have to go with Cinderella, because Cinderella is more developed than Aurora, so at least I can sympathise with her; Lady Tremaine is ten times a better villain than Malificent; and I absolutely love Ward Kimball's mice and Lucifer. Granted, background animation and general style/design in Sleeping Beauty is far superior to Cinderella, but a film is more than just something to look at... one has to enjoy it as well.

[Disneykid]

Cinderella for me. Sleeping Beauty has the overall better technical qualities (animation, backgrounds, cinematography, score), but Cinderella has better qualities where it really counts (characters, story, songs, heart). Both films are admittedly full of padding, but Cinderella has many layers to it that make the fluff more organic. Sleeping Beauty, as much as I adore it, feels like it's being stretched too thin, which is odd considering it's a plot in which more technically happens than in Cinderella.

[Disney's Divinity]

Cinderella. I've never been crazy about Sleeping Beauty, although I can vaguely enjoy it.

[Semaj]

Very tough choice.

Both Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are somewhat under-developed features, where I'm left wanting more. It has plenty to do with both films focusing so little on the leading heroes and heroines.

SB could more easily have been told from the viewpoint of the Three Good Fairies with the same results, but it still feels more undeveloped, and in a way unfinished. One particular thing that bugged me about SB was how they never fully rounded out the dynamic between the Three Good Fairies. The movie ends with Flora and Merryweather resuming their color fight over Aurora's dress, but they missed an opportunity to end with a funny and ironic conclusion, like say, having Fauna change the dress green.

I listed Cinderella as my least favorite Disney princess feature elsewhere, but I'll have to give it a very slight advantage. While it's not nearly as artistic, and Cinderella isn't as pretty as Briar Rose, it has slightly less holes to fill and a few more interesting songs under its belt than Sleeping Beauty.

[Elladorine]

Aurora always reminded me of Elizabeth Montgomery. The story leaves me a little cold but I enjoy the look and feel of its design, although the entire design of the film sometimes feels too stylized and polished for its own good.

On the other hand, Cinderella's design isn't quite stylized enough for my taste; she isn't very caricatured or exaggerated so unlike some of the more modern heroines she falls a bit flat in the visual department. Still, she's quite the likable character and I enjoy the overall film immensely. It's almost the perfect model of what we still expect from a fairy tale even these days.

Oh, and Cinderella contains one of my favorite Disney scenes ever, when Lady Tremain slyly tips off Anastasia and Drizella about Cinderella's accessories, knowing exactly how they'll react. She manages to keep her word and doesn't have to lift a finger in preventing Cinderella from going to the ball (or so she thinks). It's got some very quick cuts that was unusual in its day that add to the drama of the moment, you might even say it was ahead of its time.

Anyway, I'd have to vote for Cinderella.

[Lazario]

Everyone knows Sleeping Beauty is better. It is better. That's the way it is.

Argue to the contrary, if you must, until it comes out your ears. But you can't change the truth.

The clear winner? This one:

[Super Aurora]

Everyone knows Sleeping Beauty is better. It is better. That's the way it is.

Argue to the contrary, if you must, until it comes out your ears. But you can't change the truth.

LOLLOLOLOL

[Dr Frankenollie]

Everyone knows Sleeping Beauty is better. It is better. That's the way it is.

You've raised many interesting and thought-provoking points here, Lazario. I'm impressed.

Seriously, I sort of agree with you (as I said above, I think the two films are more-or-less equally great) but read that post back to yourself. You're not going to argue why you think it's better? Really?

[DancingCrab]

Lazario

I agree. I find Sleeping Beauty to be THRILLING! While I find Cinderella to simply be "nice".

[Super Aurora]

Everyone knows Sleeping Beauty is better. It is better. That's the way it is.

You've raised many interesting and thought-provoking points here, Lazario. I'm impressed.

Seriously, I sort of agree with you (as I said above, I think the two films are more-or-less equally great) but read that post back to yourself. You're not going to argue why you think it's better? Really?

You don't know Lazario, do you?

[Wonderlicious]

I would say Cinderella. Storywise at least, I would say that it even beats Snow White, even though it has a few scenes with the mice that go on a bit too long (just how Snow White had some problems of a similar ilk). Cinderella is a very sympathetic heroine, and the stepmother seems a very real villain, the sort of horrid meddler you'd meet in real life.

Sleeping Beauty is obviously a gorgeous film to look at but there are some glaring plot holes that most have to acknowledge. The whole sending of Aurora into the forest was fine, but her return to the castle raises the question of why the fairies didn't wait another day to return her back as an act of ultimate precaution (even a line or two of dialogue to denote some form of "Tortoise and the Hare" style arrogance on the fairies' part would have been fine). Maleficent simply sends her goons out to do all the hard work of searching for the princess, and only on Aurora's 16th birthday (basically the eleventh hour) does she actually discover that they've been searching for a baby. Characterisation is fine, but again, a bit flawed. Maleficent is more of a pantomime baddy than an unsettling villain ; delightfully evil but not truly unsettling like Lady Tremaine or the Queen in Snow White Aurora is a charming character, but not as easy to root for as Cinderella. Prince Philip is obviously a better developed character than his counterpart in Cinderella, but that's really because he needed to be active. Prince Charming is essentially a human prop; he's the ticket out of misery for Cinderella and the coveted prize the stepmother and stepsisters also want their hands on.

In terms of animation and art direction, Sleeping Beauty is more striking, but the illustration-like art direction and somewhat theatrical staging of Cinderella suits the simple story so well just how the epicness of Sleeping Beauty suited its visual style. In terms of score, Sleeping Beauty wins, but it's sort of cheating as it used an already wonderful ballet score as its starting point. Either way, Cinderella has the better songs.

Sleeping Beauty is a good film, don't get me wrong, but I just prefer Cinderella.