Parent Movie Guide, Parental Site.com - Review:Sleeping Beauty

	Film Title: Sleeping Beauty		Best for ages: 6 and up.

	Movie Website: Click Here	Year Released: 1959	Rated: G (US, Canada)

SYNOPSIS
The King and Queen are expecting their first child, and when she is born they name her Princess Aurora, the whole kingdom and those from afar are all invited to come share in the King and Queen's joy. But one uninvited guest, the evil witch Maleficent, shows up and puts a curse on the Princess that on her sixteenth birthday something bad will happen to her. Fearing the worse for their daughter, the King and Queen send Princess Aurora away to live with three good fairies named Flora, Fauna & Merryweather. Scared about the curse and what it will bring to Aurora on her sixteenth Birthday, the fairy Merryweather tries to reverse the deadly curse by putting a ageless sleeping spell on the Princess in an attempt to stop the curse. The only way it can be broken is if her true love kisses her and awakes her from the spell. However when that day arrives Aurora meets Prince Phillip, for years the good fairies have been trying to keep Aurora's where bouts' hidden from the evil Maleficent. but living up to her promise Maleficent kidnaps Prince Phillip and bestows the curse on Princess Aurora. Now the only way to break the curse is for Prince Phillip to try to get away from the evil Maleficent, and with the help of the good fairies defeat her once and for all and awaken Princess Aurora from her ageless sleep. Click Here
VIOLENCE/GRAPHIC CONTENT/language
It is said that the original story of Sleeping Beauty ( written by German writer Charles Perrault in 1697) second act is very violent. However it is known that Disney took most of what he knew from the story from the Tchaikovsky's ballet, of which it's creator omitted the violence from the second act in order to bring about a more respectful story. Disney took from that and created his own part of the story which included a few changes to some of the scenes and the characters. Still the movie does have a few things that might be of concern to parents. The main source of anger and violence in Sleeping Beauty come from the character of Maleficent whom is full of a lot of anger and just wants to end the life for the princess and some of the people and characters that surround her, it's more of a question of why Maleficent is so angry, and what can be gathered from watching the film it's either power, acceptance or both. She has an evil army that also accompanies her, as they try to stop Price Phillip from fighting his way past them in order to get away. There is also a fight with a dragon in the film, that might be a little scary for young ones, but is not all that bad. Prince Phillip does cut his way with his sword though thorn bushes and trees when he enters an evil forest. The three fairies also do argue with one another in the film, but it can be viewed more in the eyes of being sibling rivalry than anything. And sure you also have your few things here and there that can be conceived as being somewhat violence related or taken in another context, but overall Sleeping Beauty is a fun adventure for young children to watch. There is no bad language in the film either. On another note, parents who want to raise their children with strict Christian beliefs, might not particularly care for the spells and magic that are part of this film. Sure the majority of it is seen as evil, but we do have some good characters in the film that use magic as well. It is of course a fairy tale, but I figured I let parents know about it's magical content. And yes there is the big kiss scene at the end, of which reveals that love is the true gift that conquers all evil.
OVERALL VIEWS
Sleeping Beauty is a film that many young girls grow up loving as one of their favorite princess movies. It has that wonderful fairy tale book ending with the handsome prince coming to the rescue, kissing the princess and that happily ever after ending. It's one of Disney's better films, one of which he spent over a decade to get made, and the animated feature had a budget of six million dollars to be made with. It made close to ten million in it's U.S. release back in 1959, but instantly became one of Disney's most loved classics making over twenty one million dollars in video rentals alone. It's unfortunate that of all of Disney's princess films; Cinderella, Snow White and even as recently as The Little Mermaid that Sleeping Beauty is one of the films that takes a back seat to those films. If Sleeping Beauty has one thing over those films is that it appeals to both young girls and boys. The girls love the princess and the fairies, while the boys relate to the price and how he fights a dragon and an army to get to the one he loves. Overall despite it's girly title it is a film that both boys and girls can enjoy together. It's a wonderful Disney Adventure for the whole family to enjoy. The Two-Disc Platinum Edition DVD has many features such as and all new music video for "Once Upon A Dream" performed by Hannah Montana star Emily Osment. A never before seen alternate opening, deleted songs, an all new featurette on the making of Sleeping Beauty, and there is the virtual parts of the DVD such as a tour and walkthrough of Sleeping Beauty castle and an all new game where you can learn to dance with the help of Aurora and her forest friends and much more... Overall, The Two-Disc Platinum Edition DVD of Sleeping Beauty is well worth a buy for not only your little princess, but for your little prince as well.
BUY THIS MOVIE.