| Sleeping Beauty (Special Edition) | 
| Directors: Charles A. Nichols, Clyde Geronimi, James Algar, Wilfred Jackson
Actors: Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Barbara Luddy
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $8.65
You Save: $21.34 (71%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $8.65
Avg. Customer Rating:   (353 reviews)
Sales Rank: 6547
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), English (Unknown)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Media: DVD
Running Time: 75 minutes
Number Of Items: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
UPC: 786936213645
EAN: 0786936213645
ASIN: B00005JKHN
Release Date: September 9, 2003
Theatrical Release Date: 1959
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Description
Heralded by audiences and critics alike, SLEEPING BEAUTY was the final fairy tale to be produced by Walt Disney himself. Now fully restored with revolutionary digital technology, its dazzling colors, rich backgrounds, and Academy Award(R)-nominated orchestrations shine brighter than ever. When an enchanted kingdom and the most fair princess in the land fall prey to the ultimate mistress of evil, the fate of the empire rests in the hands of three small fairies and a courageous prince's magic kiss. Their quest is fraught with peril as the fellowship must battle the evil witch and a fire-breathing dragon if they are to set the Beauty free. From spectacular action to the breathtaking pageantry of the princess and her kingdom, SLEEPING BEAUTY has something to charm every member of your family.
Amazon.com
Disney's 1959 animated effort was the studio's most ambitious to date, a widescreen spectacle boasting a gorgeous waltz-filled score adapting Tchaikovsky. In the 14th century, the malevolent Maleficent (not dissimilar to the wicked Queen in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs taunts a king that his infant Aurora will fatally prick her finger on a spinning wheel before sundown on her 16th birthday. This, of course, would deny her a happily-ever-after with her true love. Things almost but not quite turn out that way, thanks to the assistance of some bubbly, bumbling fairies named Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. It's not really all that much about the title character--how interesting can someone in the middle of a long nap be, anyway? Instead, those fairies carry the day, as well as, of course, good Prince Phillip, whose battle with the malevolent Maleficent in the guise of a dragon has been co-opted by any number of animated films since. See it in its original glory here. And Malificent's castle, filled with warthogs and demonic imps in a macabre dance celebrating their evil ways, manages a certain creepy grandeur. --David Kronke On the DVD
Sleeping Beauty was the last and most lavish of Walt Disney's animated fairy tales. He told the artists not to hurry and to give him "a moving illustration": The film required almost four and one-half years and one million finished drawings. Instead of the 19th century storybook illustrations that had influenced the look of Snow White and Pinocchio, the artists adapted the flattened perspective and jewel-like colors of 15th century French illuminated manuscripts. The results remain unmatched for sheer visual opulence. However, Sleeping Beauty suffers from a weak story: the vision of an ageless princess slumbering in a vine-shrouded tower was replaced with elements of Snow White and a boy-meets-girl musical. The evil Maleficent and the three Good Fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) dominate the film, rather than Princess Aurora and Prince Philip. Sleeping Beauty was originally released in 70mm, and the Blu-ray edition restores the film to its original splendor. (Many earlier releases trimmed the wide-screen images and/or muted the glowing palatte.) The Bonus DVD looks good on a flat screen monitor, but it pales in comparison to the richness of the Blu-ray. In addition to the commentaries and a making-of documentary, the set includes myriad extras that vary widely in quality. Nostalgia buffs will enjoy the recreation of the old Sleeping Beauty's Castle attraction in Disneyland, and the TV program "Four Artists Paint One Tree" provides a welcome showcase for key talents from the film. But the CG animation of the dragon and the voice imitations of the Good Fairies fail to capture the magic of the originals in the "Dragon Encounter"; the "Maleficent's Challenge Game"--a hi-tech Twenty Questions--sounds only vaguely like the redoubtable sorceress. (Rated G: violence) --Charles Solomon
Stills from Sleeping Beauty (Click for larger image)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 348 more reviews...
 On the Blu-Ray Edition January 10, 2009
I rented the remastered standard edition dvd a while back and was not impressed while watching with my six year old daughter. In fact, I was probably catching up on something else when it was playing.
After I popped in this blu-ray addition, wow! The colors and detail, especially the background images were amazing which made the overall movie more enjoyable. This is probably how people felt when it was released in the theaters. Every scene just made me want to grab a screen shot and make it my wallpaper on my computer or something.
The sound was great in that the musical score didn't sound monotone and dated like these movies often due. While it supports 7.1, the surrounds weren't really engaged. My left surround seemed louder than the rest which made me think I needed to calibrate my receiver or it could have been the movie itself.
The only flaws in the movie itself was the fact that the fairies didn't know how to make a cake or dress after taking care of Aurora for 16 years? Also the prince got way too much help from the fairies in my opinion. Will be using that as a lesson somehow for my daughter in the future. Don't count on no prince charming, etc.
You got to get this disc, it's like watching it for the first time.
The best in Blu-Ray January 7, 2009
This is yet another reference Blu-ray title from Disney! I've come to expect nothing less than the best from them and they keep delivering. I have owned Sleeping Beauty, in VHS, Laserdisc, DVD Platinum and now Blu-ray format. It has never come close to looking or sounding as good as it does now. Disney Blu-rays are an automatic purchase for me!
 Great, but not perfect January 7, 2009
I ordered this Blu-Ray disc as a Christmas gift for my girlfriend. The disc arrived in time and was perfectly playable. It was, however, missing the cardboard sleeve that comes with the original product. Not a big deal, since the content of the disc is what is important. But it should not have been advertised as "Like new". Again, the disc and seller were great, just the minor details of missing original packaging had an affect on the final score.
 Perhaps the greatest of Walt's films, fatally marred by Blu-ray technical problems January 5, 2009
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Woe is me!
I've been looking forward to this most recent release of Sleeping Beauty for a long time - my VHS tape was wearing out, and when my young son discovered the film, it was getting significantly higher playing time. It is, in my opinion, the best of the classic Disneys (herein defined as those that Walt personally supervised). Thus, it was was with great relish that I made this my first-ever Blu-ray purchase.
The film itself is as good as ever, obviously. The sound has been cleaned up some, but is still not fantastic. That's okay, because there's something charming about the thin-ness of these old films. The video looks better than ever. The extras are numerous and range from ho-hum to fascinating. The audio commentary by Pixar guru John Lassiter, film critic Leonard Maltin, and others is informative but unspectacular - it tends to cheerleading at times. There is a Wonderful World of Disney fictionalised account of Tchaikovsky's life, most interesting as a period example of what was being shown on the WWD TV show.
In fact, Disney really dug around in its vault for this disc! Also included is a short film on the Grand Canyon (apparently the preview short shown in the theatrical run) and another WWD episode on the making of the film. The best extra, though, is a short film (15 minutes) on four Disney animators playing artist for the day. They all take the same subject (a particular tree) and make a "picture" of it. The four pictures are as diverse as the personalities of the artists, and makes for an interesting case study, as well as showing art in progress. There are also a number of original songs that were written before the decision was made to blend in the Tchaikovsky ballet score, so they sound more like traditional Disney pop songs.
So why the 3-star rating? Well, this Blu-ray disc was so incredibly annoying that I wish I'd bought the DVD instead. The menus are not easily navigated and worst of all, if you stop the playback, there is no memory, it simply re-starts from the very beginning (including the FBI copyright warning and the ads - and WHY MUST I WATCH ADS WHEN I'VE PAID GOOD MONEY FOR A DISC! ARGH!). This is not a problem with my Blu-ray player (a PS3-80GB) as all the other DVDs and Blu-rays I've tried retain memory of location and will not restart cold, even when ejected from the machine.
My recommendation: buy the DVD instead. You don't get the same number of extras, but there are lots on the Platinum edition, including the commentary and the alternate songs.
Very Pleased January 5, 2009
I ordered for my grandaughter for Christmas. They offered free shipping and I was surprised how quickly it still arrived. My grandaughter just loves the movie. The price was below the store price. WOW. Every Christmas gift should be so easy and make the recipient so happy.
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