Original hand painted and hand inked production animation cel of Princess Aurora set on a lithographic background from "Sleeping Beauty," 1959, Walt Disney Studios; Numbered 17 in ink lower right; Size - Princess Aurora: 7 1/2 x 6",Image 9 1/4 x 15 3/4"; Unframed.
"Sleeping
Beauty" is a Walt Disney animated full length feature film and was
based on "The Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault and "Little Briar
Rose" by The Brothers Grimm. The film was the sixteenth in the Walt
Disney Animated Classics series, and it was released to theaters on
January 29, 1959 by Buena Vista Distribution. This was to be the last
Disney adaptation of a fairy tale for many years, both because of its
initial mixed critical reception, and because of it's under performance
at the box office. The Walt Disney studio did not return to the fairy
tale genre until 30 years later, with the release of "The Little
Mermaid" in 1989.
"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.
"Sleeping Beauty," the 1959 Walt Disney full length motion picture,
introduced two characters that would become universal favorites;
Maleficent and Princess Aurora. Aurora, along with Snow White and
Cinderella would be forever immortalized in the public's view as the
three greatest Disney Princesses. The original design for Aurora was
developed by Tom Oreb, who based the character on the famed Hollywood
actress Audrey Hepburn; known for her thin frame and a very graceful
demeanor. Marc Davis, the head animator for Aurora, would continue the
development of the character by morphing her general appearance and the
clothing of the heroine. The fine tuning of the character continued so
that she could be combined with the very angular forms present in the
Eyvind Earle hand painted backgrounds.
As with other Disney films, an actress was hired as a live-action model
(as a guide for the animators) for Princess Aurora. Helene Stanley, who
was also the model for Cinderella in 1950, became the model for the
heroine. It is interesting to note that prior to marrying Marc Davis in
1956, Alice (Davis) designed some of costumes worn by Stanley in her
acting role as Aurora.
In 1952, the professional opera singer Mary Costa, after meeting people
at a party with her future husband director Frank Tashlin, auditioned
for the part of Disney's Princess Aurora. Walt Disney called her
personally within hours of the audition to inform her that the part was
hers. The success of the film "Sleeping Beauty," owes a chuck of those
accolades to the voice of Mary Costa. Her songs were some of the most
beautiful ever sung by a Disney Princess. In November 1999 Mary Costa
received the Disney Legends Award, and her handprints are now a
permanent part of the Disney Legends Plaza at the entrance to Walt
Disney Studios.
The majority of the film does not have Aurora on the big screen, but
rather her disguised form Briar Rose. Even though Princess Aurora is one
of the most loved of all the Disney Princesses, she has least amount of
screen time of any prior Princess; only 18 minutes to be exact and
during those 18 minutes she only has 18 lines
This cel is an absolutely wonderful work from one of the most important
key scenes in the film, when Maleficent has enchanted Princess Aurora.
Slowly Aurora climbs a stone staircase leading into an empty room, where
suddenly a spinning wheel appears. Soon Maleficent is heard urging
Aurora to touch the spindle (thereby fulfilling the evil curse) as the
three good fairies are quickly flying to save her; all the while
shouting "Don't touch anything!" This is a very rare original production
cel of Princess Aurora wearing her crown. She has both eyes open and
her hand is outstretched towards the spindle of the spinning wheel.
