50 Fun Facts About Sleeping Beauty

In Disney's Sleeping Beauty, what name do the three good fairies give Aurora while hiding her?

Briar Rose is the Brothers Grimm's name for the princess, so Disney folded both traditions into one heroine.

What are the names of the three good fairies in Disney's Sleeping Beauty?

Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston fought Walt's wish to make them identical, insisting each have a distinct personality.

On which birthday does Maleficent's curse say Aurora will prick her finger and die?

Merryweather softens the curse to a deep sleep broken by true love's kiss.

Which gifts do Flora and Fauna bestow on baby Aurora before the curse interrupts?

Merryweather saves her own gift and uses it to soften the curse.

Which blue-clad good fairy duels Flora with magic wands over the colour of Aurora's birthday dress?

Flora is red and Fauna green; the colour-changing dress fight is what draws Maleficent's raven to the cottage.

What is the name of Maleficent's pet raven in the 1959 film?

He ends the film turned to stone by Merryweather; the 2014 film renamed the character Diaval and made him a shapeshifting man.

What is the name of Prince Phillip's horse in Disney's Sleeping Beauty?

Milt Kahl animated the horse and modelled him partly on the drawings of Ronald Searle.

What is the name of Maleficent's domain in the 1959 film?

There she plans to keep Phillip locked up until he's an old man before releasing him to a still-young Aurora.

Which two magical items do the fairies give Prince Phillip to fight Maleficent?

The fairies enchant the sword so it flies into the dragon's heart.

Into what creature does Maleficent transform for the climax of the 1959 film?

Animator Eric Cleworth modelled the beast on a rattlesnake's heavy, muscular movement.

Who voiced Princess Aurora in Disney's 1959 film?

Walt searched three years for the voice; Costa's Tennessee accent nearly cost her the part until she proved she could lose it.

Eleanor Audley, the voice of Maleficent, had earlier voiced which Disney villain?

Walt personally suggested her; she initially declined because she was recovering from tuberculosis.

Which artist devised the film's flat, tapestry-like art style inspired by pre-Renaissance European art?

Animators found his backgrounds so detailed the characters struggled to stand out, and he refused to compromise.

Whose 1889 ballet supplied the score and songs for Disney's Sleeping Beauty?

George Bruns adapted it; only 'Once Upon a Dream' survived from the original Broadway-style song score.

'Once Upon a Dream' borrows its melody from which piece in the 1890 ballet?

Jack Lawrence and Sammy Fain wrote the lyrics; Lana Del Rey covered it for the 2014 Maleficent.

Sleeping Beauty was the first animated film released in which widescreen process?

It was only the second animated feature shot in anamorphic widescreen, after Lady and the Tramp.

Roughly how much did Sleeping Beauty cost to make, a record for a Disney animated feature at the time?

It took nearly a decade and initially lost money, leading to layoffs at the animation studio.

How did Sleeping Beauty perform at the box office on its original 1959 release?

It grossed $5.3 million and lost about $900,000; re-releases later made it a classic.

Which Disney legend was the supervising animator of both Aurora and Maleficent?

He took Maleficent's look from a painting in a Czechoslovak art book and added the horns and bat-wing collar.

Which actress, who had also modelled Cinderella, provided live-action reference for Aurora?

Walt insisted on live-action reference; animators like Milt Kahl found it constraining.

In which century is Disney's Sleeping Beauty set?

Aurora is betrothed at her christening to Phillip, son of King Hubert, to unite the two kingdoms.

What are the names of Aurora's parents in the Disney film?

Live-action reference for Stefan came from Hans Conried, better known as the voice of Captain Hook.

Which Italian author wrote 'Sun, Moon, and Talia', the first fully developed literary Sleeping Beauty?

It appeared in his Pentamerone in the 1630s; in it the sleeping Talia is assaulted and gives birth to twins before waking.

In Basile's version, what pricks the princess's finger instead of a spindle?

Perrault and the Grimms switched it to a spindle, which is why kings keep burning spinning wheels.

Which French author published the Sleeping Beauty version Disney credits, in 1697?

Perrault's tale is titled La Belle au bois dormant, and its prince wakes her with a look, not a kiss.

How many good fairies are invited to the christening in Perrault's version?

An eighth, forgotten fairy who hadn't left her tower in fifty years delivers the curse.

For how long does the princess sleep in Perrault's tale?

A good fairy puts the whole palace to sleep with her so she won't wake up alone.

In Perrault's tale, what is the prince's mother, who tries to have Sleeping Beauty and her children cooked?

The cook hides the children and serves lamb instead; the ogress ends up in the death she planned for them.

What are the names of Sleeping Beauty's two children in Perrault's version?

Disney borrowed the daughter's name, Aurore, for the princess herself.

What did the Brothers Grimm title their version of Sleeping Beauty?

They nearly rejected it as too French, but the sleeping Brynhild of Norse saga persuaded them it was authentically Germanic.

Which Norse saga heroine, asleep in a ring of fire, is cited as an influence on Sleeping Beauty?

Her tale in the Volsunga saga convinced the Grimms to keep the story in their collection.

What is Sleeping Beauty's number in the Aarne-Thompson fairy-tale classification?

Type 510A is Cinderella and 709 is Snow White; 333 is Little Red Riding Hood.

Which choreographer created The Sleeping Beauty ballet, premiered in 1890?

Petipa gave Tchaikovsky a detailed list of musical requirements; the composer had only Swan Lake behind him.

In the 1890 Sleeping Beauty ballet, what is the name of the wicked fairy?

She and the Lilac Fairy each have a leitmotif that runs through the whole score.

In which theatre did The Sleeping Beauty ballet premiere?

Guests at the wedding in Act III include Puss in Boots, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, all from Perrault.

Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland is modelled on which real castle?

Opened in 1955, it stands only 77 feet tall but uses forced perspective to look bigger.

How tall is Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle?

Elements shrink toward the turrets so it reads taller; it is the only Disney castle whose construction Walt oversaw.

Who plays the title role in the 2014 live-action film Maleficent?

She also executive-produced; the film grossed over $758 million and earned an Oscar nomination for costume design.

Who plays Aurora in the 2014 Maleficent?

In this retelling, Aurora regards Maleficent as her 'fairy godmother' and it is Maleficent's kiss that wakes her.

In the 2014 film, how does Stefan take Maleficent's wings?

Iron is lethal to fairies in the film's world; the dying King Henry had promised the throne to whoever killed her.

In the 2014 film, Prince Philip's kiss fails to wake Aurora. Whose kiss breaks the curse?

Philip's kiss fails; Maleficent's remorseful kiss on Aurora's forehead is what counts as true love.

Which director, in his directorial debut, took over Maleficent (2014) after Tim Burton left?

Linda Woolverton, who wrote Beauty and the Beast, wrote the script; the film shot at Pinewood Studios.

In what year was Disney's Sleeping Beauty added to the US National Film Registry?

The same year saw the release of the sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.

Who provided the voice of Prince Phillip in Disney's 1959 film?

Twenty singers auditioned; Shirley, a high baritone with light-opera experience, got the part.

On its 1959 release, the film was paired as a double feature with which documentary short?

It premiered at the Fox Wilshire Theater in Los Angeles on 29 January 1959.

The film's colour stylist took its key colours from which illuminated book of hours?

It supplied the yellow-green of Maleficent's flames and the pink and blue of Aurora's dress.

A visit by John Hench to the Cloisters to see which artworks set the film's visual template?

Hench brought reproductions back to the studio, and Walt Disney approved sketches based on them.

How long did Walt Disney spend searching for Aurora's voice before casting her in 1952?

He considered shelving the whole project; the eventual choice then recorded her lines from 1952 to 1955.

Director Eric Larson blamed the film's flop partly on the bigger ad campaign given to which 1959 Disney film?

The studio posted its first annual loss in a decade for fiscal 1960 and laid off much of the animation department.

What is the signature colour of Flora, the self-appointed leader of the three good fairies?

She was voiced by studio regular Verna Felton; Fauna's colour is green.