Disney and a Beer: Sleeping Beauty

The Beer
Sea Dog Wild Blueberry – I like blueberry flavored beers because they are some of the more unique tasting drinks. However, Wild Blueberry brewed by Sea Dog Brewing Co. didn’t have a lot of blueberry taste to it. The aftertaste wasn’t desirable, either. I will throw this in the try again column, though, because it was in my fridge for some time because I forgot about it. Until then, I wasn’t too impressed. Verdict: Disliked it.

The Movie

Synopsis
After the evil fairy Maleficent (Eleanor Audley (voice)) puts a curse on Princess Aurora (Mary Costa (voice)), King Stefan (Taylor Holmes (voice)) hid her in the woods, guarded by the three good fairies Flora (Verna Felton (voice)), Fauna (Barbra Jo Allen (voice)) and Merryweather (Barbara Luddy (voice)) until her sixteenth birthday.

Review
Sleeping Beauty is one of those Disney classics that everyone sees every now and then but may not necessarily watch regularly. I am guilty of this myself. Let me tell you that is a mistake. Sleeping Beauty is up there as one of Disney’s classic princess films and deserves regular viewings.

Disney has made some pretty great villains over the years, but few are as menacing as Maleficent. What makes her such an intimidating character is she is evil simply to be evil. She doesn’t have any deep motivations, it’s just part of her nature. It’s those kinds of villains that make some of the most unpredictable and exciting counters to the heroes. Her design is splendid, too. Her flowing robes and those deep green and purple accents give Maleficent a sleek elegance to complement her ominous demeanor.

Another character, or I should say characters, that I really enjoyed are the three good fairies: Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. They remind me of high school friends that grow old together and are very comfortable around each other and act goofy because they are so close. Each of them have their own unique personality and they all play well off each other, creating some of the funniest moments of the movie. One of the highlights was when they were preparing for Aurora’s birthday. Every time the three of them are on screen together I had a smile on my face.

I forgot how striking the animation was in this film. The background paintings are absolutely gorgeous. They are beautifully detailed and masterpieces all their own. Not only are the backgrounds amazing but the colors of the hand animation are so bright and vivid. I’m glad I watched the blu-ray version because it really gave it justice.

As awesome as Maleficent is, she doesn’t have a lot of screen time. I would have liked to have seen more of her since she is one of Disney’s best villains. The final fight between her and Phillip especially would have been a good time to see more of what she is capable of. It was exciting but felt a little too short.

I think people tend to forget how good Sleeping Beauty is. The animation some of the most beautiful of the time, the three good fairies are some of cinema’s best comedy relief characters, and Maleficent is one of Disney’s greatest villains. I will definitely be sure to watch this again soon.

Rating
3.5/5

By an awesome coincidence, the crew over at Modern Mouse Radio wrote a highly detailed article about Sleeping Beauty‘s production earlier today, which you can read here if you want to learn more about this film’s history.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Clyde Geronimi – Director
Erdman Penner – Story Adaptation

Mary Costa – Princes Aurora (voice)
Bill Shirley – Prince Phillip (voice)
Eleanor Audley – Maleficent (voice)
Verna Audley – Flora (voice)
Barbara Jo Allen – Fauna (voice)
Barbara Luddy – Merryweather (voice)
Tyler Holmes – Stefan (voice)
Bill Thompson – Hubert (voice)