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Sleeping Beauty (Special Edition) (1959) (DVD) |
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Sleeping Beauty (Special Edition) (1959)
Starring: Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley
Edition: 
List Price : $29.99
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Used Price : $26.99
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| Reviews for Sleeping Beauty (Special Edition) (1959)
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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 --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.
DVD features
Most of the beauty of Disney's Sleeping Beauty DVD comes from the dazzling restored picture that looks as sharp and vivid as films produced decades later. You can watch it in its 70mm widescreen anamorphic glory or in pan-and-scan format, but if you think you'll prefer the latter, a widescreen-to-fullscreen comparison of the "Once Upon a Dream" scene will show you how much you're missing. There's a bevy of historical material: a commentary track that includes art director Eyvind Earle, Mary Costa (the voice of Aurora), and supervising animator Ollie Johnston; a 1997 16-minute documentary that covers various aspects of production, especially the film's distinctive animation style; shorter featurettes that expand upon the documentary; art galleries; and three vintage short films related to Sleeping Beauty--"4 Artists Paint 1 Tree," in which the animators demonstrate their craft, the biopic "The Peter Tchaikovsky Story," and "Grand Canyon," the CinemaScope depiction of Ferde Grofé's famous suite. Kid fare includes the usual trivia game, art projects, a sing-along, a No Secrets music video, and a mistake-proof coloring game. --David Horiuchi
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