Celebrating its 50th anniversary Sleeping Beauty; the Platinum Edition is available for a limited time from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and marks the first-ever Disney Classic Animated feature in high definition. Debuting on 2-Disc Blu-ray   Hi-Def and an a 2-Disc Platinum Edition DVD (SRP $29.99), the highly-anticipated release heralds the beginning of an exciting new era for Disney's "Platinum Edition" series allowing viewers to see more than ever before in an all-new edition that will never be seen again, and launches the all-new Disney BD-Live Network.  

Sleeping Beauty began production in 1951 and was released in 1959. The story is an adaptation of the fairy tale of the same name. Drama begins immediately when Princess Aurora (voice of Mary Costa) receives a curse from the evil witch Maleficent (voice of Eleanor Audley). King Stefan (voice of Taylor Holmes) is alarmed when he learns about the curse on his daughter that she will die by a poisoned spinning-wheel. He places Aurora in a secret place and in care of three fairies Flora (Voice of Verna Felton), Fauna (voice of Barbara Jo Allen) and Merryweather (voice of Barbara Luddy).

Eleanor Audley

Barbara Jo Allen

To block the witch's spell Merryweather casts her own on Aurora that she will fall into an ageless sleep and can only be awakened by a kiss from her true love. That just might be Prince Phillip (voice of Bill Shirley).

Verna Felton

Barbara Luddy

The sweetness of Sleeping Beauty is second to none, immersed in a gentle world of birds and cute animals and of course, accentuated by wonderful songs.

Yet there's also tension that keeps young viewers enthralled and plenty of action when the Prince must defend those he loves. The story, however, is second fiddle to incredible animation and special effects in the film, and the new restoration DVD is loaded with eye-popping treasures.  

Each scene reveals so many more fine details due to the restoration. The colors are brilliant, and objects such as clothes, furniture, creatures and nature show intricate details that make each scene look like a painting.

Disney has made a practice of releasing specific classic DVDs for a "limited time" and then returning them to the vault. I suppose this is a smart business move; although to me it seems these treasures should be available for all to enjoy without restrictions.

So acquire this Platinum DVD; it provides hours of great entertainment. If includes two discs of goodies such as games and activities and booklet with chapter listings. The screen image is wider and there's a never before seen alternate opening.

Special Features

Disc One

€’ Music Video - an interpretation by Emily Osment of "Once Upon a Dream," song selection option, and on-screen lyrics that moves back and forth between the band and Emily and animated scenes.
 

Backstage Disney

€’ Audio Commentary with John Lasseter, Critic Leonard Maltin, and Lead Animator Andreas DΓ©ja - who talk about animation design, the characters, the premise of the story and make comparisons to the original film.

€’ Princess Fun Facts - pop ups during the film announce facts about creators or comments from the voice talents.

€’Grand Canyon - an orchestra plays through the "Grand Canyon Suite" while showing actual scenes from the real Grand Canyon. It's a beautiful featurette showing the canyon and animals in all seasons, but I'm not sure why it's on this DVD.

€’ Peter Tchaikovsky Story - a featurette where Walt Disney talks about stereophonic sound and it shows previews of Sleeping Beauty and talks about Tchaikovsky who wrote the score for Sleeping Beauty and his own Sleeping Beauty-like story.

Disc Two

€’ Picture Perfect: Making of Sleeping Beauty - a featurette where Mary Costa says, "they never realized what a ground breaking film it was going to be"; Andreas Deja, lead animator of Walt Disney Studios says, "it's a caliber of art and craftsmanship that would be hard to find these days"; Film Historian John Canemaker says, "it's the end of an ear," Animation Historian Charles Solomon says, "Walt told the craftsman he wanted a moving tapestry and that's essentially what they gave him," and others talk about the scope of the film, and how it affected Disney in the 1950s.

€’ Eyvind Earle: The Man and His Art - a featurette about background designer Eyvind Earle. Told through artisans such as costume designer Alice Davis, Painting Conservator Timothy Lennon, John Canemaker, Animation Professor Christine Pauschka, talk about Earle's health problems after he had polio, his somber temperament, his wide at age 20 from New York to California on a bicycle and other aspects of his life and talent.

€’ Sequence 8 - a featurette that mentions Disney's animators but specifically talks about Sequence 8, directed by Eric Larson who in Sleeping Beauty directed the scene in the woods where Aurora dances with the prince, and how it went over budget and took so long to complete.

€’ Alternate Opening - a storyboard explanation of a different idea for the opening sequence. This is good for kids because it unfolds like looking through a book but with a reader to explain it.

€’ Deleted Songs - a short explanation accompanies these deleted songs; "It Happens I Have a Picture," "Riddle Diddle," and "Go to Sleep."

€’   Storyboard Sequences - explanations of what storyboards are and a side by side comparison of "Fairies Put the Castle To Sleep" and "The Capture of the Prince" scenes in the film to their   storyboards.

Backstage Disney

€’   Live-Action References - shows the process of how animators begin to sketch movement of characters and how it ends up on screen.

€’   Sleeping Beauty Art Galleries - still art galleries of scenes in the categories of; Visual Development, Character Design, Storyboard Art, Live-Action Reference, The Sleeping Beauty Storybook, Layouts and Backgrounds, Production Photos, and Publicity.

€’ Castle Walkthrough - a fun interactive and historical journey by Tony Baxter through making the actual castle at Disneyland.

€’  Publicity - includes three trailers; the Original Teaser Trailer, Original Theatrical Trailer (1959), and Re-issue Trailer (1995).

€’    Four Artists Paint One Tree - Walt Disney narrates this segment about Disney artists Marc Davis, Eyvind Earle, Josh Meador, Walt Peregoy (all shown doing their animation) and his instructions on what he wanted to see in Sleeping Beauty and his advice to wannabe artists.

€’ Games - two kids' games are colorful and great for little kids and include Briar Rose's Enchanted Dance Game, and Sleeping Beauty: Fun With Language Game.

Photo credits:   Walt Disney Pictures

Interview and bio of Mary Costa