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Real Adriatic Store - Sleeping Beauty (Special Edition)
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List Price: $24.99
Our Price: $3.99
Your Save: $ 21.00 ( 84% )
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Starring: Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Barbara Luddy
Directed By: Clyde Geronimi
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780788844720
Format: Animated
ISBN: 0788844725
Label: American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Manufacturer: American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Release Date: 2003-09-09
Running Time: 75
Studio: American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
Theatrical Release Date: 1959-01-29
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Editorial Reviews:
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Disney's 1959 animated effort was the studio's most ambitious to date, a widescreen spectacle boasting a gorgeous waltz-filled score adapting Tchaikovsky. In the 14th century, the malevolent Maleficent (not dissimilar to the wicked Queen in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs taunts a king that his infant Aurora will fatally prick her finger on a spinning wheel before sundown on her 16th birthday. This, of course, would deny her a happily-ever-after with her true love. Things almost but not quite turn out that way, thanks to the assistance of some bubbly, bumbling fairies named Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. It's not really all that much about the title character--how interesting can someone in the middle of a long nap be, anyway? Instead, those fairies carry the day, as well as, of course, good Prince Phillip, whose battle with the malevolent Maleficent in the guise of a dragon has been co-opted by any number of animated films since. See it in its original glory here. And Malificent's castle, filled with warthogs and demonic imps in a macabre dance celebrating their evil ways, manages a certain creepy grandeur. --David Kronke On the DVD
Sleeping Beauty was the last and most lavish of Walt Disney's animated fairy tales. He told the artists not to hurry and to give him "a moving illustration": The film required almost four and one-half years and one million finished drawings. Instead of the 19th century storybook illustrations that had influenced the look of Snow White and Pinocchio, the artists adapted the flattened perspective and jewel-like colors of 15th century French illuminated manuscripts. The results remain unmatched for sheer visual opulence. However, Sleeping Beauty suffers from a weak story: the vision of an ageless princess slumbering in a vine-shrouded tower was replaced with elements of Snow White and a boy-meets-girl musical. The evil Maleficent and the three Good Fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather) dominate the film, rather than Princess Aurora and Prince Philip. Sleeping Beauty was originally released in 70mm, and the Blu-ray edition restores the film to its original splendor. (Many earlier releases trimmed the wide-screen images and/or muted the glowing palatte.) The Bonus DVD looks good on a flat screen monitor, but it pales in comparison to the richness of the Blu-ray. In addition to the commentaries and a making-of documentary, the set includes myriad extras that vary widely in quality. Nostalgia buffs will enjoy the recreation of the old Sleeping Beauty's Castle attraction in Disneyland, and the TV program "Four Artists Paint One Tree" provides a welcome showcase for key talents from the film. But the CG animation of the dragon and the voice imitations of the Good Fairies fail to capture the magic of the originals in the "Dragon Encounter"; the "Maleficent's Challenge Game"--a hi-tech Twenty Questions--sounds only vaguely like the redoubtable sorceress. (Rated G: violence) --Charles Solomon
Stills from Sleeping Beauty (Click for larger image)
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Perhaps the greatest of Walt's films, fatally marred by Blu-ray technical problems
Comment: Woe is me!
I've been looking forward to this most recent release of Sleeping Beauty for a long time - my VHS tape was wearing out, and when my young son discovered the film, it was getting significantly higher playing time. It is, in my opinion, the best of the classic Disneys (herein defined as those that Walt personally supervised). Thus, it was was with great relish that I made this my first-ever Blu-ray purchase.
The film itself is as good as ever, obviously. The sound has been cleaned up some, but is still not fantastic. That's okay, because there's something charming about the thin-ness of these old films. The video looks better than ever. The extras are numerous and range from ho-hum to fascinating. The audio commentary by Pixar guru John Lassiter, film critic Leonard Maltin, and others is informative but unspectacular - it tends to cheerleading at times. There is a Wonderful World of Disney fictionalised account of Tchaikovsky's life, most interesting as a period example of what was being shown on the WWD TV show.
In fact, Disney really dug around in its vault for this disc! Also included is a short film on the Grand Canyon (apparently the preview short shown in the theatrical run) and another WWD episode on the making of the film. The best extra, though, is a short film (15 minutes) on four Disney animators playing artist for the day. They all take the same subject (a particular tree) and make a "picture" of it. The four pictures are as diverse as the personalities of the artists, and makes for an interesting case study, as well as showing art in progress. There are also a number of original songs that were written before the decision was made to blend in the Tchaikovsky ballet score, so they sound more like traditional Disney pop songs.
So why the 3-star rating? Well, this Blu-ray disc was so incredibly annoying that I wish I'd bought the DVD instead. The menus are not easily navigated and worst of all, if you stop the playback, there is no memory, it simply re-starts from the very beginning (including the FBI copyright warning and the ads - and WHY MUST I WATCH ADS WHEN I'VE PAID GOOD MONEY FOR A DISC! ARGH!). This is not a problem with my Blu-ray player (a PS3-80GB) as all the other DVDs and Blu-rays I've tried retain memory of location and will not restart cold, even when ejected from the machine.
My recommendation: buy the DVD instead. You don't get the same number of extras, but there are lots on the Platinum edition, including the commentary and the alternate songs.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very Pleased
Comment: I ordered for my grandaughter for Christmas. They offered free shipping and I was surprised how quickly it still arrived. My grandaughter just loves the movie. The price was below the store price. WOW. Every Christmas gift should be so easy and make the recipient so happy.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Defective DVD
Comment: This was a gift for our granddaughter and the DVD is defective. We will soon be going through the return process.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Sleeping Beauty Indeed
Comment: This has exceeded my expectations more than any BD I've watched thus far. The AQ is fantastic and the PQ is just breathtaking. Watching this on VHS as a child, I never realized the stunning beauty of this film, however, on the BD I noticed in every frame... the geometric backgrounds look exactly as though any given scene was plucked from an illustrated page of a gorgeous book of fairy tales. It's just beautiful.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great!
Comment: I was very excited to receive this product so quckly and in great condition. Thanks!
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