"Don't touch anything!" - Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather
"Sleeping Beauty" was directed by Les Clark, Eric Larson, and Wolfgang Reitherman, under the supervision of Clyde Geronimi. The story was written by Joe Rinaldi, Winston Hibler, Bill Peet, Ted Sears, Ralph Wright, and Milt Banta. The film's musical score and songs, featuring the Graunke Symphony Orchestra, was under the direction of George Bruns. Arrangements and/or adaptations were derived from numbers from the 1890 "Sleeping Beauty Ballet" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. In addition, Igor Stravinsky's music compositions were also adapted into the film. "Sleeping Beauty" was the first animated film to be photographed in the Super Technirama 70 widescreen process, as well as the second full-length animated feature film to be filmed in anamorphic widescreen; following "Lady and the Tramp" four years earlier. In select first-run engagements, the film was presented in Super Technirama 70 and 6-channel stereophonic sound.
The
style for "Sleeping Beauty" was based on the art of Eyvind Earle, who
was known for his 'Pre-Renaissance' style; accomplished with strong
vertical lines combined with Gothic elegance. Earle was involved with
the design of all the characters in the film, and he designed and
painted most of the backgrounds. The early sketches for Maleficent
depicted a hag-like witch, however it was later decided that her final
design should be more elegant; as it better suited Earle's backgrounds.
The principal animator for Maleficent, Marc Davis, decided to make
Maleficent a powerful fairy rather than an old crone that had been
described in the original source material. A contributing factor for
this decision may have been influenced by the choice of Eleanor Audley
to be the voice of the character. Audley had previously worked for
Disney by providing the voice for the cold and calculating Lady Tremaine
(The Stepmother) in "Cinderella." It is known that Frank Thomas who
animated Lady Tremaine and Marc Davis who animated Maleficent,
incorporated the facials features of Eleanor into both characters.
Audley was also the live-action model for Maleficent, and Marc Davis
claimed that her movements and expressions were ultimately incorporated
into the animation.