Sleeping Beauty
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Key Facts
full title · Sleeping Beauty
directors · Clyde Geronimi, Eric Larson, Wolfgang Reitherman, Les Clark
leading characters’ voices · Mary Costa (Princess Aurora/Briar Rose), Bill Shirley (Prince Phillip), Verna Felton (Flora), Barbara Jo Allen (Fauna), Barbara Luddy (Merryweather)
supporting characters’ voices · Eleanor Audley (Maleficent), Taylor Holmes (King Stefan), Bill Thompson (King Hubert)
type of work · Animated Motion Picture
genre · Fairy Tale
language · English
time and place produced · 1952–1959, Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, California
awards
1960 academy awards: · Nominated, Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture (George Bruns)
date of release · January 1959
producer · Walt Disney
setting (time) · Fourteenth century
setting (place) · King Stefan’s unnamed kingdom
protagonist · Princess Aurora / Briar Rose
major conflict · The evil Maleficent curses Princess Aurora at birth to die on her sixteenth birthday by pricking her finger on a spinning wheel. Three good fairies try to help Aurora avoid this fate by altering the curse’s effect and hiding her in a forest under the assumed name of Briar Rose.
rising action · As Briar Rose reaches her sixteenth birthday, her feelings of love for a mysterious stranger combine with the three fairies’ ill-advised use of their magic powers to create a disastrous day in which the Princess cannot avoid the fated spinning wheel.
climax · When Aurora collapses into a deep sleep after pricking her finger, a war must be waged against the evil Maleficent, so the fairies put the entire kingdom to sleep until they can think of a way to approach this daunting proposition.
falling action · Using their magic powers, the fairies help Prince Phillip escape from Maleficent’s dungeon and fight an epic battle with her for the good of the kingdom and for the life of the Princess.
themes · True love conquers all; pure good will vanquish pure evil; home is where the heart is
motifs · Dreams and visions; animation; the geographical triangle
symbols · The spinning wheel; colors and shapes; animals
foreshadowing
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