Milt Banta (1922–1959)

After being cursed by the evil sorceress Maleficent, newborn Princess Aurora is taken into hiding by her three fairy godmothers to be kept safe and secret until she is 16 and Maleficent's curse wears off. However, after things go awry and Aurora is put into a sleeplike trance, the fairies and Prince Phillip must act quickly to rescue her.

One of the best Disney classics, and personally my favorite of the original Disney Princess films. Visually, the film is a work of art, one that really surpasses almost all other of the Disney films of the period, and the voice cast is pretty well-rounded (especially the good fairies). The film really hits its stride, though, in the second half, and it feels almost Tolkienesque in certain areas in the fantasy realm (this film always makes me ponder what a Disney adaptation of Lord of the Rings would've looked like in this period). This has gone down as one of the great Disney classics for good reason; highly recommended, it's truly a piece of art.

Content Concerns: Some fantasy violence with (surprisingly) a bit of blood, but it's nothing terribly graphic, as you would expect.

(April 2, 2023)… (mehr)

A princess is cursed by an evil sorceress.

Well, that was a huge surprise. I'd thought that by this point Disney had long since given up on the artistic angle and moved on to a more "kid friendly" humor-based appeal. Wrongity wrong wrong. One of the best movies visually, ever - right up there with The Third Man. I'm looking forward to re-watching 101 Dalmations (the next Disney movie chronologically) to see if it's anything like this. (But my hopes aren't high.)

Concept: D
Story: B
Characters: C
Dialog: C
Pacing: B
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: C
Music: A

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 2.9/4… (mehr)