Sleeping Beauty (Special Edition) (1959) Front Cover Actor Mary Costa Bill Shirley Eleanor Audley Movie Details Genre Animation; Box Sets; Classics; Disney; Family Viewing Director Fritz Genschow; Clyde Geronimi Studio Walt Disney Video USA Language English Audience Rating G (General Audience) Running Time 1 hr 24 mins Country USA Color Color Plot 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 Personal Details Seen It Yes Index 416 Collection Status In Collection Quantity 1 Links IMDB DVD-Shop Amazon US Product Details Format DVD Region Region 1 UPC 786936213645 Release Date 2003 Nr of Disks/Tapes 2 Extra Features Animated Color Closed-captioned Widescreen Dolby