Previous versions of the Sleeping Beauty fairy
tale date back to the fourteenth century, in which the film is set.
A fourteenth-century romance called Perceforest (printed
in France in 1528) contains an embryonic
version of the story we know today. An Italian soldier, Giambattista
Basile, adapted the tale for his “Sun, Moon, and Talia” story printed
in 1634. Details of these versions are shocking, even
repulsive. For instance, in some of these early versions, the King,
or sometimes even the Prince, impregnates the Sleeping Beauty character as
she’s sleeping, and then leaves her. She awakens not at
the kiss of the Prince, but at the birth of her twin children.
The credits of the film maintain that Charles Perrault’s
version, “The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood,” was the model for Disney’s Sleeping
Beauty. The story appears in Perrault’s famous 1697Histories,
or Stories of Past Times. Extreme violence permeates his
version, which continues the story after the Prince and the Princess
are united. As Perrault tells it, the blissful couple do indeed
marry and bear two children. But the Prince never tells his family
about the marriage, and Sleeping Beauty never questions his decision.
Soon the Prince must leave for war. He finally tells his mother
about the marriage and leaves his wife under her care. But the Prince’s
mother hates children and practices cannibalism, and she viciously
persecutes Sleeping Beauty. Moments before the mother throws her
two grandchildren into a pit of venomous vipers, the Prince fortuitously returns
from war and pushes his own mother into the deadly pit.
No version of the story previous to Perrault’s has Sleeping
Beauty awaken with the kiss of the Prince. The version penned by
the Brothers Grimm called “Briar Rose,” from their Children’s
and Household Tales (1812–1815),
not only includes this element but ends the story when the Prince
and the Princess reunite. Their tale involves no rape or cannibalism,
and, therefore, despite what the credits say, the film bears the
closest resemblance to this version.
Disney’s version was not the first film adaptation of
the Sleeping Beauty tales, nor was it the first animated version.
German pioneer animator Lotte Reiniger, who was best known for shadow
puppet animation, produced at least two artistically advanced animated adaptations
of the Sleeping Beauty tale. One version appeared as early as 1922.
Friz Freleng, who directed Bugs Bunny cartoons, made a 1942 adaptation
called “Foney Fables” that incorporated elements of many old fairy
tales. In the “Sleeping Beauty” segment of this cartoon, Prince
Charming yells at Sleeping Beauty for sleeping in. Izzy Sparber,
who directed Popeye cartoons, then entered the mix with 1947’s
“Wotta Knight.” Bluto and Popeye fight over Olive Oyl, playing tug-of-war
with her pigtails in a battle for her love.
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky created the score of The
Sleeping Beauty for the Imperial Ballet at St. Petersburg’s
Maryinsky Theater. First performed January 3, 1890,
the now-classic ballet was originally created by Ivan Vsevolozhsky
and choreographed by Marius Petipa. In a legendary demonstration
of passion, Tchaikovsky composed the entire score in only forty
days. Walt Disney actually wanted an original score for his motion
picture and spent a great deal of time attempting to develop one.
In the end, however, he decided that the classical grandeur of the
ballet’s score, full of waltzes, did not need to be mimicked, but
rather used outright. George Bruns adapted it.
