Review for Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty is the wonderful animated fairy tale from Walt Disney is a timeless classic. The evil witch Maleficent casting a spell on the Princess Aurora that she will prick her finger on a spindle and die. Instead she is put to sleep only to be awoken by love's kiss. It's the simple tale and one that has been used over and over. Set to the wonderful Tchiakovsky music, this has become one of the most beloved of Disney's classics, inspiring the castles at Disneyland and was a triumphant return to the fairy tale roots of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

I will not deny that this film looks beautiful. The colours are vibrant, the characters are amazing and the music is perfect well deserving of its Oscar nomination, but I do have to admit that this film is so boring. I don't know what it is, but I just never enjoyed this film. The character of Aurora is bland, the Prince is boring and the whole setup takes far too long for what is essentially the most simple of stories.

What does save this film is the wonderful performances by the Three Good Fairies. The Three Good Fairies have that wonderful, grandmotherly feel that is just perfect. Their constant bickering over colours, which is a running joke is possibly some of the best parts of this film.

This film also boasts the greatest Disney Villain of all time in Maleficent. It will be interesting to see how well Angelina Jolie pulls off the character in the new live action film, but in this film I cannot think of a better villain. Her voice provided by Eleanor Audley is chilling and the design of the character is just wonderfully creepy and makes the film a lot more enjoyable.

The extras on Sleeping Beauty could possibly be described as a 'hodge podge' of everything and anything they could find connected with the film. Two versions of 'The Peter Tchaikovsky Story' from 1959 are interesting, mainly for the introduction by Walt Disney and it is fascinating that this early they were trying to achieve stereo sound with the combination of radio and television. The story itself is fine, just not something you would want to watch more than once.

Grand Canyon is the Oscar winning short that came with the original theatrical production and really at nearly half an hour it would be surprising if any kids could actually sit through this before the film. That being said, it is beautiful, set to Ferde Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite. It is the kind of film that is surprising that it has not been remastered for an IMAX screen or for 3D as it would suit that format perfectly. However, it is far too long.

A Disney Song Selection is basically the songs isolated with the option to view them with lyrics. This is fine, but I always think if they are going to do this, maybe a Karaoke version should also be included. A music video by Emily Osment totally destroying Once Upon A Dream in that weird teeny bop pop/rock way. This is the kind of song you would give to someone like a Kelly Clarkson or a Christina Aguilera to really show off with, not this?

Finally there are a Princess Fun Facts and a Commentary which actually makes the film more enjoyable to at least learn something as you are watching. The Commentary features Pixar's John Lasseter, Andreas Deja and Leonard Maltin. Deja is one of Disney's noted animators having worked on such films as The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, Maltin is a noted film critic. All three have a blast with this film and I think I enjoyed it more watching with the Commentary than without. What is also interesting, is that instead of just them talking they inter-cut sections of people involved in the film like Walt Disney himself.

My only issue with this release is its lack of anything to do with the new Maleficent film which takes this film as its main inspiration. With so much hype surrounding that film I expected a 'First Look' or at the least a 'Trailer', but there is nothing and if you have the previous version of this film then there is really no difference in this version.

Sleeping Beauty is a beautiful looking film with a classical score, but ultimately the film is slightly boring. Nothing really happens in it, but if you are a fan of classic Disney, this is definitely one to watch as there are enough elements to enjoy.