Sleeping Beauty (DVD)

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One caution: the Special Edition offered a full screen (1.33:1) option, whereas the Platinum Edition does not. And the bonus features are different.

Audio:
The Special Edition featured a THX-certified Dolby Digital 5.1, while this one offers an "All-new 5.1 Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix," which we'll be seeing a lot of since Disney is providing an acronym: DEHT (and hopefully we won't have to go into debt to keep upgrading). To my ears, the DEHT is more dynamic, with more rear-speaker effects than the old 5.1. Purists will appreciate that Disney restored the original theatrical soundtrack, and that's included here as an option. It's far less dynamic, but a classic like this deserves a full restoration. Additional options are French and Spanish 5.1 DEHT.

Extras:
A ton--really too much to talk about in the brief space of a review. In addition to the all-new restoration, there are a number of all-new bonus features on Disc 2, all of which lead to a no-brainer decision to upgrade:

"Holiday" (3:28) is a musical number that celebrated Aurora's birth and was originally slated to open the film. Great decision to cut it, since the Broadway and pop-style song really doesn't jive with the medieval pageantry. The sequence is shown in rough animation.

"Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty" (43:32) covers every aspect of the film's conception, pre-production, production, and legacy. There are rare shots of live-action models juxtaposed against their cartoon doubles, and a treasure trove of anecdotes and factoids that are brought to life by talking heads whose love for the project is still very evident. Chief among them is Costa, who helps us understand the whole relationship between the animators and live-action models, and who tells wonderful stories about her interaction with Disney. This feature alone will make fans want to buy the new Platinum Edition or (assuming it's also included) Blu-ray.

"Original Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough Attraction" takes viewers on a virtual tour of the park attraction, with a behind-the-scenes look at how the special effects were created and used in the castle. It's a nice bit of Disneyland history.

"Once Upon a Dream" is a new music video, this time starring Emily Osment (a.k.a. Hannah Montana's sidekick).

"Enchanted Dance Game" lets you choose whether to learn how to waltz via footstep patterns or click on an icon to dance with the woodland animals. This game wouldn't activate on my dvd player, but it played on my Mac. The woodland dance asks viewers to watch a waltz sequence with four animals and repeat the pattern. There's not much dancing and not much waltzing--just the bare minimum of movement. The waltz lesson encourages kids to get up, and they can dance as the prince or princess (yeah, like boys are going to do this). Kids are to follow the footsteps to get a basic box pattern down.

A "Fun with Language Game" offers instructions that are so slow I almost fell asleep trying to pay attention, and there's no way of by-passing it. You choose from a mop game, dress game, and cake game, where the s-l-o-w voiceover continues. It's obviously geared for pre-schoolers, and it shows an object with a word and repeats it so kids can learn basic words. And as I "played" this on my computer, it wouldn't allow me to close out until the lesson ended.

Also on Disc 2: "Eyvind Earle: The Man and His Art" (7:33), a feature on the man behind the backgrounds, and "Four Artists Paint One Tree" (16:08), that shows how he taught his style and how it was incorporated into the production. In the first one, it's fascinating to hear how Earle bicycled from L.A. to New York in 42 days and painted a painting a day, then sold them at an art show. There are also plenty of art galleries that cover all aspects of the production and publicity, and four deleted songs that stand out as being absolutely wrong for the film.

Disc 1 features an audio commentary with John Lasseter, Andreas Deja, and Leonard Maltin. That's the only commentary, and so real fans of the film will want to retain their Special Editions, which had a commentary track that featured Earle and other Grand Old Men from Disney animation.

In addition to 30 scene selections there are five song selections. Rounding out the bonus features are a Princess Fun Facts trivia track (there they go again!), "The Peter Tchaikovsky Story" (from a 1959 Disneyland TV broadcast), and the short feature "Grand Canyon," which ran in theaters before the main feature, "Sleeping Beauty."

It's a worthwhile package, with some nice new features, but so much was omitted from the Special Edition features that it forces people to make a tough choice or else keep both versions . . . unless (and we can only hope) the Blu-ray, with its increased storage capacity, allows Disney to include both commentaries. That missing commentary is really the biggest loss.

Bottom Line:
"Sleeping Beauty" has been regarded as a minor classic for too long. This restored edition should reinforce that it's a classic, period. The animation is gorgeous, the story deftly told, and the villain as memorable as they come. Will you need to upgrade? Absolutely. But don't be so quick to get rid of your Special Edition. And if you're thinking of getting a Blu-ray in the future but want to watch the movie now, be advised that the 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition BLU-RAY will also contain a standard edition DVD copy of the restored film!

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