Sleeping Beauty

90%

Tomatometer

48 Reviews

80%

Popcornmeter

250,000+ Ratings

Filled with jealousy, the evil witch Maleficent (Eleanor Audley) curses Princess Aurora (Mary Costa) to die on her 16th birthday. Thanks to Aurora's guardian fairies (Verna Felton, Barbara Jo Allen, Barbara Luddy), she only falls into a deep sleep that can be ended with a kiss from her betrothed, Prince Phillip (Bill Shirley). To prevent Phillip from rescuing Aurora, Maleficent kidnaps and imprisons him. The good fairies are the last hope to free Phillip so that he can awaken Aurora.

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Critics Consensus

This Disney dreamscape contains moments of grandeur, with its lush colors, magical air, one of the most menacing villains in the Disney canon.

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Critics Reviews

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

Sleeping Beauty is a masterpiece. In my opinion, it’s not just the best animated film to ever come out of Walt Disney Studios, but it is also the finest animated motion picture I’ve ever seen, period.

Rated: 4/4

Feb 22, 2024

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Kate Cameron

New York Daily News

It is a picture that will charm the young and tickle adults, since the old fairy tale has been transferred to the screen by a Disney who kept his tongue in his cheek throughout the film's animation.

Rated: 4/4

Jan 28, 2016

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Noel Murray

The Dissolve

At once modernist and classical, Disney's Sleeping Beauty takes characters who look like paper cutouts from magazine cartoons and sets them against backdrops that look like expensive wallpaper patterns.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 6, 2014

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Carson Timar

ButteredPopcorn

Often wide in scope with lovely shot composition and cinematography, Sleeping Beauty is at times a truly artistic endeavor.

Jan 1, 2024

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Eve Tushnet

Patheos

Maleficent is a ferocious creation...

Jul 23, 2021

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Bob Halliday

Salt Lake Tribune

Sleeping Beauty is romance and pageantry, humor and pathos. It's excitement and conflict, magic and counter-magic. It's fun.

May 12, 2021

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Audience Reviews

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Nick S It's much more epic than previous Disney movies. Haunting soundtrack, one of the most iconic villains... this is a true Disney classic. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/14/24 Full Review Nick R Another Disney classic with a fantastic and iconic villain in Malificent. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/04/24 Full Review Jace E Sleeping Beauty is an elegant classic. With likable characters and a legendary villain, this film paved the way for exciting future animated movies. Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/17/24 Full Review Armando G What you get most out of this film is the breathtaking animation. That & the soundtrack is enough to call this a masterpiece. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/20/24 Full Review Dale R There are many awesome concepts in this film that it is a shame that the story didn’t seem to work well. The art style is based on medieval tapestry drawings and looks amazing. The music is all Tschikovsky from his 1890 ballet of the same title. They also upped the game on widescreen and stereo sound (6 tracks) for the movie going audience. Unfortunately, no one went to see the film and it lost money at the box office and set princess films back until The Little Mermaid in 1989. The story is a little off, as the main protagonists of the story seem to be the three good fairies and not Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) herself. The prince does get more to say and do than his predecessors and the villain really steals the show. Maleficent is the best Disney villain, she knows she is evil and loves every minute of it, while being completely regal in action. While she can also lose her cool at the drop of a dime. A movie worth your time. Rated 3/5 Stars • Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/07/24 Full Review Ryland C The fairies caried this film for me. The animation is so stellar and it still holds up to this day! The fantasy theme is still so perfect! And honestly there’s a lot to like here. Only problem is that out of all the old ass Disney movies this one has definitely aged the weirdest. It’s definitely one of the weaker Disney princess movies in my opinion. Still, really good and stuff. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/26/24 Full Review Read all reviews

Sleeping Beauty

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Cast & Crew

Clyde Geronimi Director Mary Costa Princess Aurora Bill Shirley Prince Phillip Eleanor Audley Maleficent Verna Felton Flora Barbara Luddy Merryweather

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Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty: Trailer 2

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Sleeping Beauty: Trailer 1

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Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

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Synopsis Filled with jealousy, the evil witch Maleficent (Eleanor Audley) curses Princess Aurora (Mary Costa) to die on her 16th birthday. Thanks to Aurora's guardian fairies (Verna Felton, Barbara Jo Allen, Barbara Luddy), she only falls into a deep sleep that can be ended with a kiss from her betrothed, Prince Phillip (Bill Shirley). To prevent Phillip from rescuing Aurora, Maleficent kidnaps and imprisons him. The good fairies are the last hope to free Phillip so that he can awaken Aurora.

Director: Clyde Geronimi
Producer: Walt Disney
Screenwriter: Charles Perrault, Erdman Penner, Joe Rinaldi, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Ted Sears, Ralph Wright, Milt Banta
Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co: Walt Disney Pictures
Rating: G
Genre: Kids & Family, Fantasy, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 29, 1959, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 24, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $11.6M
Runtime: 1h 15m
Sound Mix: Magnetic Stereo 6 Track