Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty

Disney's Sleeping Beauty (1959). Walt Disney, producer.

Click here for background information on the film.

In this well known animated film set in Medieval Times, the princess (Aurora) is promised to a prince at her christening. Two good fairies present her with the gifts of beauty and song, but then the uninvited Maleficent arrives with the curse (she is clearly evil and even has horns). The last good fairy softens the curse by declaring that she will not die, but fall asleep, and will be awakened by true love’s kiss. There is conveniently no mention of a hundred year time frame for the spell, and it is also convenient that there are only three good fairies and all the princess needs are to be beautiful and have a good singing voice. They take her away into the forest to protect her from the spell, and she lives unaware that she is a princess, having been given the new name of Briar Rose. The animals of the forest love her (this seems a Disney requirement). When the fairies do tell her she is a princess and that she is betrothed to a prince, she is disappointed because she has just met a man in the woods she has fallen in love with (unaware that he is in fact the same prince to whom she was promised). The prince has fallen in love with her as well, even though he thinks she is a mere country girl. He is determined to marry her despite the difference in status. I think this element is there to show that the love is true.

When she returns to the kingdom unharmed, it seems that Aurora has escaped her fate, until Maleficent comes to the castle and puts her under some sort of spell. When the fairies are not around, the princess is led to prick her finger on the spindle in what appears to be a trance. When they discover her asleep, they put everyone else to sleep as well. In the meantime, Maleficent has captured the prince and is torturing him in a dungeon. The fairies assist him by setting him free and providing him with a sword of truth and shield of virtue (obviously showing how good triumphs over evil). Maleficent summons all the powers of hell, turning herself into a dragon in an attempt to defeat the prince, but he kills her with his sword. The thorns she has surrounded the castle with are gone. The prince awakens the prince and arm in arm they descend the stairs. The sleep conveniently only lasts one day!

I probably wouldn’t like this retelling so much if I was just seeing it for the first time. Fortunately or unfortunately, it was one of my favorites as a child and I still love the music, fairies, and animals. While there were many changes made that folklorists are probably not happy about, I have to admit I still love it.

Click here for character analysis.

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Sleeping Beauty

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Sleeping Beauty (1983) (TV). Jeremy Kagan, director.

Click here to watch it on YouTube!

This was really entertaining for me, especially because I remember watching the series as a child and I now better understand the humor. In fact, I felt like maybe this was a little too risqué for children and am curious if it was originally intended for kids? The queen is unhappy but she doesn’t know why. A little woman pops out of what appears to be a jewelry box and explains to her that the reason she is sad is because she wants to have a baby. She then whispers to her how to go about making one (we don’t hear this), the queen whispers to the king, and they go under the covers. Another scene I thought was a bit much was between the prince (Christopher Reeve) and an ill-intentioned princess (Bernadette Peters). The prince has been searching and searching for a bride, but cannot find someone who is as kind as he. He is very interested in helping the poor, so this princess convinces him to take all the pearls off of her midriff top, with his teeth (claiming that the pearls could be used to help the needy). It turns out that this princess was in fact the evil fairy in disguise. The evil fairy makes another disguised appearance as the old lady who leads the princess to prick her finger. The prince encounters the wicked one as he attempts to get through the briars, and this time she is a giant (I have to say that I think the special effects were probably not that great, even for 1983). Like in the Disney film, he kills the fairy and then enters the castle to save the day.

The presentation of the woodcutter telling the tale to the prince and his squire was reminiscent of the frame stories often used in traditional tales, and I liked this aspect. Setting the story in Russia was also an interesting twist (although it bothered me that some characters had accents and some did not). I did enjoy watching this, but I’m just not sure that such suggestive scenes are appropriate for young kids. I could definitely see older kids and adults developing a new appreciation for fairy tales through this series, however.

Click here for a complete list of Faerie Tale Theatre episodes.