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Credit: Walt Disney Animation StudiosJanuary 29, 2024, marked the 65th anniversary of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1959), and the Walt Disney Company shared how instrumental the film was in creating the studio’s identity. However, recent box office failures and divided audiences are far from the opulence and magic represented by the classic fairytale.
Sleeping Beauty was the gold standard for Disney’s fairytale features for the longest time. Its imagery was so impactful that it spread from the movie screens to the Disney Parks as King Stephan’s castle inspired the focal point of Disneyland.
That all being said, recent news suggests that Disney needs to truly look to the past as its present struggles to stay afloat. After its newest fairytale, Wish (2023), failed to live up to the hype, the studio needs a wake-up call from Sleeping Beauty.
How Sleeping Beauty Set the Bar
As a straight film, the 1959 medieval fairytale of princesses, dragons, and “Once Upon a Dream” isn’t exactly the most concrete entry in Disney’s filmography. Like many examples of the studio’s earlier work, it thrives on emotion rather than logic, something that Disney seems to have forgotten how to do.
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Rebecca Cline, director of the Walt Disney Archives, described the film in the company’s official statement as follows,
Today, Sleeping Beauty is considered one of the most artistically-acclaimed and important films ever produced by the animation industry.
Cline later goes on to illustrate how the iconography of the film, such as the storybook seen in the film’s opening and Maleficent’s transformation into a fire-breathing dragon, helped establish Disney’s identity. But how has that dedication to imagery and storytelling honestly held up?
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In the aftermath of Disney’s “Flop Era,” many have noticed a decline in the storytelling expertise made famous by the Walt Disney Company. By charging up the audience’s emotions, films like Sleeping Beauty focused more on letting the characters and story do the narrative work than the plot itself.
The consequences of Disney’s recent direction haven’t gone unnoticed. Even Bob Iger has felt the effects of the company’s cinematic shift. As the CEO of the Walt Disney Company told MSNBC,
“Creators lost sight of what their No. 1 objective needed to be… We have to entertain first. It’s not about messages.”
Many, including Disney, seem to have forgotten that the animated empire was built on fairytales made larger than life. Not all animated features need some lesson, moral, or message to be successful. As seen with the early days of the studio, sometimes a familiar story brought to life with beautiful visuals and a dash of Disney magic is all anyone really needs.
Has Disney forgotten how to make movies like Sleeping Beauty? Tell Inside the Magic what you think in the comments below!