Blu-ray Review: Sleeping Beauty (50th Anniversary Platinum Edition)

Release Date: October 7th, 2008
Running Time: 75 minutes

The Film

Whenever I think of a princess related fairy tale, one film comes to mind: Sleeping Beauty. It’s not my favorite Disney film, but its place in history is undeniable. Years of blood, sweat, and tears resulted in a masterpiece that has become synonymous with the magic of Disney. The 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition is the closest version to what Walt had imagined. With a never-before-seen aspect ratio shown in High Definition, and wonderful lossless audio, this is every Disney fan’s dream presentation of the classic film.

A massive project that spanned from 1951 to 1959, Sleeping Beauty was an undertaking unlike anything Disney had attempted before. The cost of the project was so huge that it nearly broke down the animation department. Shot on 70mm film, and featuring Tchaikovsky’s 1889 ballet score in groundbreaking 6-channel sound, there’s no doubt that Sleeping Beauty was a passion-driven technical marvel of the time.

The story has the simplicity of a basic fairy tale. At her birth celebration, Princess Aurora is cursed by the dark faerie Maleficent for not being invited to the festivities. The curse says that Aurora will die before her 16th birthday after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel. Three good faeries named Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather manage to counteract the spell, making it so that rather than dying, Aurora would fall into a deep sleep until kissed by her true love. To keep the horrible curse from coming true, and to protect Aurora from Maleficent, the faeries raise her in the forest surrounding the kingdom. They don’t even let her know she is a princess, giving her the name Briar Rose to further hide the truth.

Nearing her sixteenth birthday, Aurora heads out into the woods to pick berries and serenade her animal friends. There she meets a young man and falls in love. Before she can learn his name, Aurora finds out her true heritage. She is destined to marry a prince, and cannot see the anonymous boy again. Unbeknownst to Aurora, however, is that the stranger actually is the prince she is supposed to marry. To make matters worse, Maleficent’s evil raven finds Aurora, and Maleficent bewitches her into touching a spindle. Aurora falls into a deep sleep, and Maleficent captures the prince so that he cannot wake her up. With the prince as their only hope for waking Aurora, the three faeries decide to help the prince put an end to Maleficent once and for all.

Sleeping Beauty may very well be the “perfect” fairy tale. It’s not groundbreaking in terms of story, but the spectacle in which it is portrayed is the stuff legends are made off. Maleficent is Disney’s premiere evil character. No bad guy since has captured the pure venom of the evil faerie. The climactic battle between Phillip and the dragon is epic. Remember, this film is 50 years old! When all is said and done, Sleeping Beauty has a level of time and care invested in it that is evident in every single moment of the film. We may never see an animated undertaking on this scale again.

The Disc

The video is presented for the very first time in an ultra-wide 2.55:1, 1080p High Definition transfer that literally shows you more of the film that you’ve ever seen before. The level of detail is insane, and truly shows off what Blu-ray can do for traditional 2-D animation. The animation and the backgrounds feature a level of clarity that resurrects the film into a whole new experience. The colors are vibrant and rich, simply gorgeous. Black and white levels are perfect with no crushing of fine detail. The print is pristine, and the transfer doesn’t feature any glaring digital problems. For a film that is half a century old, I cannot imagine it looking any better.

The audio is offered in DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Surround Sound, as well as English Dolby Digital 4.0 with English subtitles. The audio has received every bit as masterful a restoration as the video. Every last minute detail of the sound mix has been meticulously restored, presenting each distinct element in perfect clarity. The 7.1 mix isn’t forced or over-the-top either. Rather, the track has been produced from the ground up, preserving the original feel of the mix while updating it for modern technology. The rear channels feature heaps of ambience and atmosphere. The score is completely engrossing, and balanced with the dialogue. The only negative comment I have is that the Blu-ray doesn’t have any language offerings outside of English. It doesn’t bother me, but others may be somewhat miffed.

The Extras

Tons of special features are spread across the 2-disc Platinum Blu-ray.

Disc One:

Picture-in-Picture commentary is offered with John Lasseter, Film Critic/Historian Leonard Maltin, and animator Andreas Deja. The three have a candid, informative discussion about the film’s place in Disney history, and animation history overall. Supplemental photos appear on the screen to back up their talking points as well. You can also choose to hear the same commentary in just audio form.

The “Princess Fun Trivia Track” is an optional factoid track.

The 29-minute short feature “Grand Canyon” that premiered in theatres in front of Sleeping Beauty is offered in HD with lossless audio.

“Dragon Encounter” is essentially a 5-minute surround sound tech demo meant to take you through the spookiness of Maleficent’s dungeon.

The “Disney Song Selection” allows you to skip directly to the songs from the film. Emily Osment’s “Once Upon A Dream” Music Video is offered as well.

If you have a compatible player, you can access a bunch of innovative BD-Live features. These include: chatting and creating video messages with friends as you watch the film; menus that change based on your geographical location; and additional downloadable add-ons.

The disc is polished off with HD Previews for other Disney films.

Disc Two:

“Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty” is a brand-new, 44-minute HD featurette on the entire process of creating the animated classic. Featuring a wide range of interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, the piece sheds light on the meticulous, passion-driven production, and proves why Disney became known as the leader in animation.

“Eyvind Earle: The Man And His Art” is a 7-minute biography on the man responsible for the gorgeous backgrounds in the film.

“Four Artists Paint One Tree” is an awesome, 16-minute segment with Walt Peregoy, Josh Meador, Eyvind Earle, and Marc Davis each studying a tree and providing their different takes on it.

The “Original Disneyland Sleeping Beauty Walkthrough Attraction” is a 7-minute CG recreation of the display that used to be inside the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland, complete with commentary snippets from the imagineers. The three good fairies guide you through the display, each offering more behind-the-scenes information. “History of the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough Attraction” contains 10 more minutes of historical information to supplement the CG tour.

“Sequence 8” is a 5-minute look at the challenging, infamous sequence whose nearly 2-year development cycle almost tanked the animation department.

“The Sound of Beauty: Restoring a Classic” is an 11-minute featurette with the sound restoration technicians that worked on the lossless mix. Before and after comparisons let you really hear the difference.

“Live Action Reference” is 2-minutes of footage and photos the animators used for reference.

“The Peter Tchaikovsky Story” is a 49-minute, vintage biography of the famous Russian composer that was featured on Walt Disney’s Disneyland television show.

Storyboard Sequences are available with introductions by Andreas Deja for “The Fairies Put The Castle To Sleep,” and “The Capture Of The Prince.”

Three basic games are available. “Maleficent’s Challenge” is a 20-questions type game. “Briar Rose’s Enchanted Dance” is a Waltz-teaching memory game, and “Sleeping Beauty Fun with Language” is a vocabulary game.

An Alternate Opening is available, as well as three cut/alternate songs.

A gaggle of Art Galleries contains hundreds of images across various categories.

Finally, the Trailers for the film polish off the jam-packed set.

Final Thoughts

Beautifully restored, and bursting with extra content, the Sleepy Beauty: 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition is a homerun as Disney’s first classic animated title on Blu-ray. If you like the film, there is no reason whatsoever that you shouldn’t add this title to your collection.