Sleeping Beauty

Release Date: January 29, 1959

Watch Date: March 13, 2023

 

    Now this, truly, feels like the start of the princess movies. We’ve moved out of beta, and we’ve figured out the formula and now we’re just going to keep fine tuning and releasing patches.

    Maleficent is the beginning, the first, great Disney villain. She has taken on a life of her own, inspired her own franchise. She walks around Disney parks like she owns the place, and in some ways, she does. She inspires art and cosplays and tattoos and so much more. It’s not too bad for a woman who is basically willing to murder because she didn’t get an invite to a party.

    Prince Philip is the real star of this movie. He has a personality, thoughts, desires. Aurora has a song, and otherwise is pretty much asleep or passive for the remainder of the film. This isn’t really her story. It’s the story of a prince choosing, true love over his arranged marriage and then doing whatever it takes to get her back. Who doesn’t want to be loved like that?

    The fairies are a cute, lighthearted addition, and they too are more active participants in the story than our titular princess. I like how they interact with one another, and it feels very much like the way my grandmother interacts within her friend group. The magical creatures feel very human, that’s all I’m trying to saying, and they’re relatable in that way.

    I even like the scene with the drunken kings. I’m not sure why. There’s just something so lighthearted about it, and I like this era of seeing the motivations and psyches of the Disney parents. King Triton doesn’t get his own song – that’s all I’m saying.

    Our daughter enjoyed this film as well, and she was about as invested as a toddler can be when Prince Philip set off to slay a dragon. Her tiny chorus of ‘oh no’ at every single moment definitely added to the effect of the climactic battle and will be an experience and memory I will hold close to my heart for the rest of my life.

    I’ve only watched this film one other time before this, and I sort of resent my parents for not having introduced this to me in my youth. Cinderella and Snow White made the cut but not Sleeping Beauty? This is a mistake that I definitely intend to correct with our children, exclusively for their benefit of course.

    Don’t be like me – watch this film before you enter your 20s, and if you can’t or didn’t, then correct your mistake as quickly as possible.