Review of Sleeping Beauty (1959) by Shellby O — 10 Jan 2011

Despite the fact the film borrows heavily in terms of plot from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" and also caters to a young female audience, "Sleeping Beauty" still highly succeeds thanks to wonderful animation and some unbelievable plot sequences.

Of course, most people know the story of Sleeping Beauty, although I have to admit, I lacked the memory of this famous fairly tale. It follows the life of girl who was cursed upon birth by an evil witch who said she would die on her sixteenth birthday from touching on the point of a spinwheel, essentially an old-fashioned sewing machine.

It is then up to the fairies who live at the kingdom and bless all the babies born within the castle. They are essentially the people baptize the babies upon their birth. The "Sleeping Beauty" fairies are some of the most underrated heroes in movie history.

To take into responsibility, voluntarily that is, for protecting the princess and securing at a cottage deep in the woods in order to protect her predicted death is phenominal. The are truly magnificent and the American Film Institute missed them on their "Heroes" list completely.

In addition, the music and singing are splendid, along with the terrific innovative animation of the entire film. Great Disney classic.