Nowadays, my favourite Disney fairy tale would be TANGLED. I love the romance, the adventure, the songs.
But this post is going to be about my very first favourite Disney cartoon.
And that would be SLEEPING BEAUTY.
The animated film is based on the fairy tale by the same name. There are some changes. Instead of the twelve fairies, the film features just three; Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. Instead of the hundred-year sleeping curse that the original story contained as an alternative to death, the curse in the movie would only last until "True Love's Kiss" awakened the sleeping beauty. And the wicked fairy who casts the spell in the first place has a much more prominent part in the film.
Also, the movie adaption contains a DRAGON!!! :) And I love evil dragons.
After Princess Aurora's birth, there is a great celebration held, and three good fairies are invited to bestow gifts upon the little princess. Flora and Fauna give their gifts of beauty, and song. Before Merryweather can give hers, the evil fairy Maleficent comes billowing into the room on a burst of wind, lightning, and an eerie green flame, carrying a green-orbed scepter and bearing a raven on her shoulder. Angry at being uninvited, she proclaims that the princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, but before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. After this, Maleficent vanishes in a furl of her green flame.
In order to protect his daughter, King Stefan proclaims that all the spinning wheels in the kingdom must be burned. However, knowing this won't be enough to stop Maleficent, the good fairies persuade the King and Queen to deliver Aurora over to them. The three of them raise the child in a little house deep within a forest, and to prevent discovery they stop all use of magic, and call Aurora by the name Briar Rose.
Briar Rose grows up, all unaware of her destiny. On the evening of her sixteenth birthday the good fairies shoo her out of the house to collect berries, so they can prepare a birthday celebration for her. As they are busy baking a cake, cleaning the house, and making a gown, Briar Rose wanders into a clearing. There, her singing catches the ear of a young man, Prince Philip, who is enchanted by the singing and rides to discover who it is that sings so beautifully. There is a cute dance scene here, and the two of them fall in love. But Briar Rose has been warned against talking to strangers, and in a burst of conscience she runs away - but not before giving Philip directions on where to meet her again!
Meanwhile, back at the cottage, the fairies are facing a disaster. Despite being without magic for nearly sixteen years, Flora is a terrible seamstress, and Fauna can't cook. At all. (Apparently, Merryweather has taken care of all that for them, since she seems to know what she's talking about.) In a fit of despair that they shan't be able to give Briar Rose the kind of birthday celebration she deserves, Merryweather pulls their magic wands out of hiding and the three of them get to work. Unfortunately, Merryweather and Flora don't exactly get along, and the magical battle that ensues between them attracts the attention of Maleficent's evil pet raven, who roars back to his mistress to tell her he has found the lost princess.
Briar Rose returns to the cottage, and tells the fairies she has found the love of her life. Dismayed and not realizing the man is Prince Philip, to whom she was betrothed as an infant, the fairies tell Briar Rose her true heritage, and that she cannot see her mysterious young man again. Instead, she must return to the castle and resume her role as Princess Aurora.
The fairies dress Aurora in the new gown they made for her birthday, and a cloak, and take her secretly back to the castle. But what they don't know is that Prince Philip is on his way to the cottage for a rendezvous with his mysterious forest maiden, and Maleficent, thanks to her raven, has gone to the cottage to trap him - since he is Aurora's true love, and the one person who can break her spell. There is a skirmish, and Prince Philip is taken away to Maleficent's evil mountain lair. After this, Maleficent returns to the castle, where she lures Princess Aurora to a tower and commands her to prick her finger on a spindle of a magic spinning wheel.
In order to spare their monarchs the distress of their failure, the fairies cast a sleeping spell over the entire household. As the sleeping spell takes effect, the muttered words of a man let Flora realize the young man Aurora fell in love with in the forest is none other than Prince Philip himself. Knowing he is the only one who can waken the princess, the three fairies fly to Maleficent's fortress and free him.
There is a lot of magic assistance here, and Maleficent casts trap after trap. But Philip overcomes them all, even the hedge of thorns Maleficent commands to spring up around the castle. Seeing that none of her spells can keep Philip from Aurora, Maleficent herself confronts the prince at the threshold of the castle, in the guise of an enormous dragon. There is an epic, epic battle, wherein Maleficent is defeated. Philip wakens his sleeping beauty with a kiss, and the entire castle awakes in time to see Aurora's return.
I hope you enjoyed this post! I'm linking to Amanda's blog here,
Old Fashioned Girl, and if anyone wants to enter the giveaway, you have until Saturday, August 24th. The prize is a ring similar to that of Maid Marion's in the Disney Robin Hood, and a pair of matching earrings.
Have a great week!
God bless!
Cat
