Ah, Sleeping Beauty. Although Aurora's mostly a cardboard cutout, there are a few scenes that make me like her, and Mary Costa's singing performance is freaking phenomenal. Animation and art look gorgeous (it cost a lot of money, and it shows!), the music is sweepingly touching, and the villain is among Disney's most memorable.
I still gasp in awe at the dragon fight scene, but some of Maleficent's most terrifying scenes were the subtle gestures and looks she had (just check the bit where Phillip gets captured). The combination of Eleanor Audley's terrific voice work and Marc Davis's stunning animation elevated Maleficent into the cast of epic villainesses. It's quite creepy how Audley voiced both Cinderella's Lady Tremaine and Maleficent in this film; it shows her skills as an actress.
I liked the three fairies. They're basically the protagonists of the film. Prince Phillip also has a great personality and has some great character-driven scenes.
The soundtrack is one of the few cases where Disney actually used an earlier composition. The way composer George Bruns adapted Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty ballet into a film score was a daunting task and should be commended. As much as I love Tchaikovsky's music, I have to agree that it's not Disney's finest, but it's still a hauntingly beautiful work, IMHO.
It looks very gorgeous on DVD that I got as a present. Perhaps once I'll have enough money I'll consider double-dipping. This film certainly deserves nothing less.The film is gorgeous, like watching a moving painting. If you can see it on the bluray Disney released it on a year or so ago, you should; the level of detail in the film, for a traditionally animated film (of it's age no less) is simply incredible.
Definitely. The animation is top-notch, and I really dig Eyvind Earle's visual style. Too bad its lush, angular look kind of drowns the animation in a way and doesn't work as well as it does in stills. Still, Sleeping Beauty is among the most visually stunning films in the Disney canon.