Sleeping Beauty - the tale of Love, Loss, Excessive Magic, and Naptime. This is one of Disney's last Princess Films for a while, and one of the last to be based on classic fairy tales. Princess Aurora is born, and when the evil witch Maleficent isn't invited to the shindig, she curses Aurora. As in most Disney films, love and goodness win out in the end, and all ends happily ever after.
Eli
Rating: 8/10
Reaction: This movie is cute, short, clever, and actually gives some depth to the character of the Prince, which is very rare in Disney films. (In most cases, the Princesses are the ones who the story focuses on, while in this I'd say the Prince is just as rad.) However, it's the 3 good fairies that steal the show. Whether they're granting wishes, baking cakes and making dresses, or even using their magic to change the color of Aurora's dress, they are always entertaining and seem to be at the center of every even. (They save Aurora's life, they cause Maleficent to find the princess, they help Prince Philip, etc.) They are the essential plot point - and thank goodness, because they are amazing.
I was never really big on this movie growing up. I think it was considered too much of a girl movie, and god forbid I like girly things. (Wait...didn't my mother get me a dollhouse when I was 10 for Christmas? Anyway.) I never owned this title on VHS, and though I had seen it a few times, it has never been a film that I've watched over and over again. I'm glad, because it is still fun to watch now, and not knowing all the little tidbits that happen in the film make it even more enjoyable (whereas in Aladdin, say, I can quote the whole damn movie.) So I would (and will) watch this movie again, and it could totally be a drinking game. Every time Merriweather turns the dress blue, boys take a shot. Every time Flora turns it to pink, girls take a shot. See who is drunkest by the end of the movie! Yay!
Regan
Rating: 7/10
Reaction: This movie is curious in that the main character is not the eponymous Sleeping Beauty, nor is it even Prince Phillip (who is much, much more interesting and likeable than the princes in Snow White and Cinderella)--instead it's the three witches, who in their general silliness are rather reminiscent of Cinderella's animal friends (Merriweather in particular resembles GusGus, albeit a more intelligent version). It's a fun story, but may be the fairytale princess movie most lacking in plot (which is really saying something). There's no particular reason for Maleficent to have cursed Aurora or to expend so much energy trying to kill her (the reason that's given is sheer evilness, which is always a bit boring--now if she'd been a step mother it would have made absolute sense!). Still, I really enjoyed the scenes of the three fairies trying to prepare for Aurora's birthday, and especially the blue/pink battle (blue, of course!), even if that's what gave away their location to Maleficent's evil crow. The big battle between Phillip and Maleficent was appropriately terrifying, if ended a bit too easily--one would think a sword, no matter how shiny, would bounce off of a dragon's scales!
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