A Crown to Wear in Grace and Beauty; as is Thy Royal Duty

It took nearly a decade to complete 1959’s Sleeping Beauty and is easily the artisitc crowning achievement of the beautifully animated movies of the 1950’s. Production designer Eyvind Earle hand painted many of the elaborate backgrounds, so detailed that you can see the leaves from trees miles away. Live action footage of many of the characters was filmed so that the animators could make the movements as life like as possible. A beautiful score was used, adapting and repurposing the music of the famous Tchaikovsky ballet of the same name. This was obviously an epic undertaking to deliver an epic product. But after all the hard work the movie is just OK. It’s a grab bag of really good and really mediocre. 

Starting with the Princess Aurora herself, she is what every cynic thinks of when they think of the typical Disney princess trope. She is really nothing more than a plot device for the story to story around. Sure, her design is spectacular and has the stunning singing voice, provided by Mary Costa, but she only has about 20 minutes of screen time and literally does not have one line after the first half of the movie. I do like the little bit of character they give her when the Three Good Fairies tell her she is betrothed, she is genuinely upset that she is a princess and has to fulfill her royal duties, but after that she silently goes to the castle to fall asleep. Prince Philip is in the same boat, given small development when he doesn’t want to wed his betrothed, but after that he’s just there to wield a sword and kiss the girl. 

The movie makers were clearly in love with the supporting cast as evident by the fairies in the film. The Three Good Fairies (Flora, Fauna, and Merriweather) are the true protagonist. First off, they’re damn funny. I can watch the famous “Pink/Blue” scene over and over. They interact just as you’d think 3 old ladies with conflicting personalities would in this situation. Sort of a medieval Golden Girls, if you will. When they fail to protect Aurora, they feel so ashamed that they put the entire kingdom to sleep to cover their failure. Then it is them who rescue our “hero” from the clutches of the evil fairy Maleficent. And then, it’s the fairies that guide Phillip in the defeat of Maleficent. These old ladies rock! In a time where there might have been few female protagonists it’s amazing they made these women of age so powerful. 

Speaking of powerful, Maleficent is possibly the most popular villain in the Disney canon. And it’s a title that she whole heartedly deserves. Is she my favorite Disney Villain? No, but I can totally see why she gets the distinction of villainess supreme.  She’s elegant. She’s insane. She’s subdued. She’s over the top. Given that she has the flimsiest reason to be mad (she didn’t get invited to a baby shower), it’s all thanks to the awesome animation and character design of Marc Davis and the delicious vocal performance from Eleanor Audley that she became the evildoer we all love to hate. Who am I kidding? No one hates Maleficent. One particular scene I love is after she captures Prince Phillip she reveals her plan to keep him locked up for 100 years and release him to wake Aurora, who will not age in her slumber. She wants Aurora to wake up to a frail old man. That’s evil. Not one for subtlety, she summons all the forces of HELL and turns herself into a dragon and gives us one of the best climaxes in any animated film. 

Even though this film is extremely uneven, it’s one that I’m always up for watching. It’s gorgeous to look at. It’s lovely to listen to (Side note: I’ve always been curious if Disney could pull off adapting Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker in the same way they did this movie. I know that they used a lot of the music in Fantasia, but I’d love to see a good animated Nutcracker for once.) And it’s got a superb supporting cast. All hail to the Princess Aurora Mistress of All Evil, Maleficent.

Anyone Can See A Throne Would Be Your Proper Place

After nearly a decade of the package films 1950’s Cinderella was a grand return to the three act narrative. This film is a nostalgic favorite of mine as I remember watching this film over and over again with my great grandmother. She spoke very little English, and after living in the US for over 60 years I think she understood more than she let on, but she always loved watching Cinderella with me. She loved how beautiful the film looked, and she was right. This film is stunning.

Our story begins in a storybook prologue where we learn that Cinderella’s father married Lady Tremaine but passes away shortly after. Being a cruel woman and jealous of Cinderella’s beauty, Tremaine forces our titular heroine to a life of servitude to her and her 2 daughters. Cinderella herself is often criticized as being another damsel in distress but I always admire her strength given the situation that she’s in. She’s tenacious, she’s sarcastic, and she should get a lot more credit than she gets. As I stated in my write up of Snow White, I see Cinderella being another product of her times, the 50’s. This is probably what a young, strong, and independent woman was back that, and I think it still holds up.

Helping Cinderella along are the animals that inhabit the manor led by Jaq and Gus the mice. As lovable as these characters are, Gus especially providing a lot of great laughs, this is where the film falters a bit. When Cinderella is feeding the chickens in the yard she gives a few extra pieces of feed to the mice and they scramble to get their share. This scene runs a little long when I’d rather be spending more time with Cinderella and her step sisters. But it’s all forgiven when they help Cinderella make a dress for the upcoming royal ball from a vintage gown that once belonged to her mother and scraps from discarded clothing from the sister in the utterly entertaining The Work Song.

Keeping Cinderella in rags is one of my top Disney Villains, Lady Tremaine. She tries to destroy Cinderella with just and icy glare and a few choice words. She has so much power over Cinderella. My blood boils every time she is on screen. She’s just so nasty and petty for no reason other than being cursed with obnoxious, spoiled, and plain daughters. Balancing out Tremaine’s cruelty is the buffoonery of the wicked step sisters Anastasia and Drizella. During a fantastic scene, the girls are in the midst of a music lesson to Sing Sweet Nightingale, Anastasia is completely off key and Drizella is delightfully oblivious, hitting Anastasia with her flute any chance she gets. Downstairs, Cinderella is scrubbing the floor and singing along. I didn’t know until recently that Walt Disney pioneered the method of doubling up the vocal track so that Cinderella could harmonize with her image in the soap bubbles. I learn something new about that man every day.

Though thoroughly comedic the step sisters show some true rage in my favorite sequence in the film. Cinderella strikes a deal with Lady Tremaine that if she can complete her chores and finish fabricating her dress she can attend the ball. Tremaine manipulates her daughters into noticing that the dress is made up from old scraps and jewels they threw out and they proceeded to rip the dress into shreds. The opulent chateau becomes a void of crimson and black as the girls tear the dress apart. It is both striking and terrifying.  Lady Tremaine leaves the situation so smug. I get so angry, I could spit!

This is the only time that Cinderella feels she’s lost all hope and who could blame her. In her time of need her adorably absent minded Fairy Godmother comes to her aid. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo has become as pseudonymous as a magic word as Abracadabra, and for good reason. The sequence is so magical that even Disney himself has claimed that the gown transformation was his favorite single piece of animation.

When Cinderella arrives at the ball I love how massive everything looks to her. The scale is fantastic, when she enters the castle, you can feel her trepidation as the long stairways and vaulted ceilings suck you in with her. She meets a handsome and under developed Prince Charming. The King and the Duke get more time to become full characters, the Prince, he just needs to stand there and look bored until Cinderella arrives. They dance, they fall in love, midnight comes and Cinderella has to flee leaving behind a glass slipper. The search is on for a maiden to fit it. An elementary school teacher once told me that this was in the time of the cobbler, so all shoes were custom. I guess that should debunk the whole idea that someone else could have fit the shoe… but I still don’t buy it. Surely at least one other woman could have put the shoe on. And why stop at one girl if the shoe fits? What if it wasn’t Cinderella?

Logistics aside, Lady Tremaine realizes the mystery girl is Cinderella and locks Cinderella up in her room before the Duke arrives for the fitting. The mice retrieve the key and as the duke is about to fit the slipper on Cinderella, Lady Tremaine trips the Duke’s Valet and the slipper shatters. Luckily our heroine was still in procession of the matching slipper and Lady Tremaine gives the best reaction of all time. Of. All. Time. I dare you not to love the zoom in on her face. 

Cinderella marries the Charming and the scullery maid becomes a princess. This post is already longer than I intended but it’s because I love the movie. Great visuals, great storytelling and one of Disney’s best baddies, it’s just wonderful. This movie has stood the test of time and can be enjoyed by all, from little boy to an 88 year old woman who claims not speak a word of English. Disney’s Cinderella, the sweetest story ever told.