Sleeping MacGuffin, er, Beauty.....is one of two Disney films in which I was fortunate enough to have taped off of the t.v back when Disney was cool and would do big specials for their canon films complete with extra cartoon shorts and the like. For the longest time, this vhs was the only way for me to watch Sleeping Beauty and now I am able to watch it quite easily on my dvd copy. Though I do still have that original vhs, after all it does have Fieval Goes West on it too!
To get the huge plus out of the way, the animation here is at Disney's peak for the 1950's era if not at it's best until the early 90's films. All around this film is beautiful to look at, looking like a intricate tapestry. The characters do pop out ever so slightly but not distractingly so, and all of them are so well animated that it doesn't hurt the film very much, if at all. The opening scene is one of parts that I remember best as a kid, watching all of the interesting knights in armor riding about on their horses, as well as the visual scenes that accompany each of the three fairies gifts to Aurora.
Oh the three fairies. How they do seem to carry the film, if not overshadow the main leads. The character department is where Sleeping Beauty really seems to stumble a bit. On one hand we get some really great and enjoyable characters out of the three fairies as they try to survive without magic and guide our main leads to their happily ever after. On the more villainous side, we get Maleficent who is one of Disney's most memorable villains and is a personal favourite especially as she takes on her dragon form at the finale after throwing everything she has at Prince Phillip. Some people have stated their dislike for our prince, and yet out of Disney's original three he is given the most to actually do. Instead of simply disappearing after singing with Aurora in the woods, he sticks around to have a few more scenes with the other characters, escapes from the dungeon with a lot of help and finally slays Maleficent before awakening Aurora. Quite a bit more than our previous two Prince Charming's. Our leading lady however is where things really stumble. Aurora is not much more than a macguffin and doesn't really do a whole lot in her film, and yet after having a good cry and a nap is handed everything she could possibly want. Despite having an Ariel-type happy ending, she was at least more tolerable than our mermaid heroine.
Surprisingly, for a Princess film, Sleeping Beauty doesn't really have a lot to offer in the music department. "Once Upon A Dream" is the one big song that really stands out in peoples minds, while "I Wonder" does have it's own good qualities but lacks that extra bit to really make it stand out more. Aside from these two songs, we have our opening song which is fun, but more so visually than lyrically.
Ultimately, Sleeping Beauty is really pretty to look at but the ever so helpful fairies do drag things down a bit as they overshadow our main leads.
4/5
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