Review: "Sleeping Beauty" Diamond Edition Blu-ray brings beautiful look at classic Disney film's past and artistic inspirations

An iconic film like “Sleeping Beauty” deserves the royal treatment whenever released from the Disney Vault and the new Diamond Edition Blu-ray gives it just that, enhancing an excellent copy of the film with outstanding new bonus features.

Few animated films match “Sleeping Beauty” in beauty. With so many of Disney’s legendary animators and painters involved in creating its classic characters and stunning backgrounds, it needs to be shown off in the best format available. The latest Blu-ray release does just that, presenting crisp visuals in the original wide aspect ratio, preserving its theatrical presentation, also accompanied by clear audio that brings the whole film to life.

But for those who have seen “Sleeping Beauty” many times, this release is all about the extras. “The Art of Evil,” “Picture Perfect,” and “Eyvind Earle: A Man and His Art” remind fans why they love not only this film, but Disney villains in general. With a focus on Disney Legends Marc Davis and Eyvind Earle – but also featuring many other talents – these extras will make all who appreciate animation smile, giving a glimpse at not only how these pieces of pop culture history were created but also who were the people who made it happen.

As a fun surprise, actress Sarah Hyland hosts a fun look at Walt Disney World’s Festival of Fantasy parade, telling the backstory behind the parade through a tale set in New Fantasyland. It’s a neat little addition to the Magic Kingdom’s best parade in many years.

Deleted scenes on the disc drag on a bit – as they tend to do (they were deleted for a reason, after all) – and this release’s “@DisneyAnimation” extra isn’t as enthralling as previous Diamond Editions, focusing only on one artist’s “Sleeping Beauty” inspired paper piece. It’s impressive, but leaves the audience wanting more.

Fortunately, the other bonus features and the main movie itself more than make up for those, making this release a solid new version of one of Disney’s best.

“Sleeping Beauty” Diamond Edition Blu-ray is now available on Amazon and other major retailers.

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