# Sleeping Beauty is probably the weakest of the Disney animated films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 21, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819 "2008-10-21T00:07:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/1 "2008-10-21T00:07:17Z")
I’m watching the Blu Ray of _Sleeping Beauty_. The animation is gorgeous and the Blu Ray transfer is excellent. However, the film itself isn’t that good. The characters aren’t all that memorable and the songs are forgettable. Of course, I’m not the movie’s target demographic. I’m a 39 year old male who has never wanted to be a princess. Still, I’ve watched \*Cinderella \*recently and I thought that movie held up quite well. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/2 "2008-10-21T00:13:35Z")
Dude, c’mon. _Oliver and Company_ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/3 "2008-10-21T00:17:19Z")
My least favourite is _Robin Hood_, which I find really dull. Even though it’s full of slapstick humour, it just leaves me cold. I wish they could do a modern take on it, they’d probably do an amazing job now, but I guess it’s not likely to happen. Then it’s _Sleeping Beauty_, and then _Sword in the Stone_, and then _Pinocchio_, are next in line. Everything else I pretty much like. Except _Black Cauldron_, which is so horrid it’s in a category of its own. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/4 "2008-10-21T00:22:20Z")
What about that one with the cows? With Roseanne Barr? Was that any good? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/5 "2008-10-21T00:28:11Z")
Have you ever seen _Aristocats_? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/6 "2008-10-21T00:30:28Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Have you ever seen _Aristocats_? I thought about the \*Aristocats \*as I also recently watched it as an adult. I think the music is a bit better in _Aristocats_, although the story is weak. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/7 "2008-10-21T00:34:38Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > What about that one with the cows? With Roseanne Barr? Was that any good? It’s never going to be anybody’s favourite, but it’s not too bad really. I forgot to mention _Fox and the Hound_, which though I haven’t seen it in a looooooong time, I really didn’t like much. I’ve never seen _Aristocats_, _Oliver and Company_, and interestingly enough, nor _Lady and the Tramp_. I guess I don’t like Disney dog and cat movies. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/8 "2008-10-21T00:46:19Z")
I remember being totally shocked in _Sleeping Beauty_, because the evil witch called on “all the powers of Hell.” Hell was a very bad word to my young self… But yes, as I can recall, both the price and princess were kind of dull in it. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/9 "2008-10-21T00:48:13Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > …I forgot to mention _Fox and the Hound_, which though I haven’t seen it in a looooooong time, I really didn’t like much… Hard to decide if this one is worse than _Aristocats_… ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/10 "2008-10-21T00:52:06Z")
_Sleeping Beauty_ was never one of the biggies in the Disney catalog. The only reason it got such a push back in the home video days was because the higher-ups wouldn’t allow _Cinderella_ to be released on video, so this was the next best thing. Thanks to the various video re-releases, Aurora has made her way into the realm of top Disney princesses. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/11 "2008-10-21T01:04:40Z")
I love the movie, but I’ll admit my love is almost purely based on the music of Tchaikovsky. Oh, and Maleficent kicks all kinds of ass. The scene where she becomes a dragon is magnificent. And the shot of the bonfire with all the goblins dancing around it is hellish. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/12 "2008-10-21T01:14:13Z")
You think that \*Cinderella \* is better than _SB_? 😕 Gah. I can’t stand the Cinderella hair–at the ball. It’s so 1960. ugh. And yuck. And Maleficent is a much better villianess than the stupid step-mother. She’s up there with the meanie from _Little Mermaid_ or _Snow White_. None of the princes are anything–they’re all animated Ken dolls. No idea why. Seems odd (since they are not like that in the actual fairy tales–or not to the same extent, anyway). Then again, this is Disney we’re talking about–none of it is all that great if you’re older than 7. I think that SB wasn’t released for a long time due to some legal snafu re a song or someone’s voice used out of copyright or something? Anyone remember this? ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/13 "2008-10-21T01:22:36Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > My least favourite is _Robin Hood_, which I find really dull. Even though it’s full of slapstick humour, it just leaves me cold. I wish they could do a modern take on it, they’d probably do an amazing job now, but I guess it’s not likely to happen. > > Then it’s _Sleeping Beauty_, and then _Sword in the Stone_, and then _Pinocchio_, are next in line. Everything else I pretty much like. > > Except _Black Cauldron_, which is so horrid it’s in a category of its own. Dude! Sword in the Stone is utterly priceless, and perfect in every way! Err, except for the fact that I actually consider it a comedy, and remember only three scenes despite having seen it a bazillion times. The wizard’s duel is hilarious, especially when viewed with a couple of 5 year olds. That poor, poor, pitiful, skinny, pathetic wolf trying to catch Wart is the epitome of Slapstick. FTR, even as a small child, I always hoped the Big Scary Predator would eat the cute gazelle, and then snarf down on Marlin Perkins for breakfast. Archimedes (Merlin’s pet owl) has the world’s most contagious laugh. The previously mentioned kindergarteners, now Very Cool Teenagers (read Surly, Agnsty Adolescents) drag out the old, stretchy VHS & pop in the old, almost as Surly as They VCR, so they (and their parents, grandparents and their young nephews) can laugh with Auntie Pansy. Any movie that can make three generations laugh so hard they all get the hiccups should go down in history as the greatest movie ever made. Even if the rest of it was not good. I agree, Pinocchio sucked. Robin Hood and Sleeping Beauty both had some serious flaws, but aren’t unwatchable. The all-time worst Disney flick is Peter Pan. Racist, sexist (yes, we’re talking about Disney, so those are givens, but it seems especially blatant in Peter Pan) slow, weak plot, and exceptionally minimal character development. The crocodile could have been funny. Tink could have been interesting. Smee could have been a hoot. ☹ None of them were. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/14 "2008-10-21T01:23:37Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I think that SB wasn’t released for a long time due to some legal snafu re a song or someone’s voice used out of copyright or something? Anyone remember this? Peggy Lee sued over royalties regarding _Lady and the Tramp_, but I don’t think there was any legal battle over _Sleeping Beauty_. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/15 "2008-10-21T01:25:28Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Dude, c’mon. _Oliver and Company_ Whaaat?! Oliver and Company is AWESOME! ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/16 "2008-10-21T01:30:47Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > You think that \*Cinderella \* is better than _SB_? 😕 Gah. > > I can’t stand the Cinderella hair–at the ball. It’s so 1960. ugh. And yuck. > > And Maleficent is a much better villianess than the stupid step-mother. She’s up there with the meanie from _Little Mermaid_ or _Snow White_. None of the princes are anything–they’re all animated Ken dolls. No idea why. Seems odd (since they are not like that in the actual fairy tales–or not to the same extent, anyway). Yeah, but Cinderella had the singing mice. I liked the mice. Maleficent was a _marvelous_ villainess, but Cinderelly had the mice and the goofy songs. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/17 "2008-10-21T01:31:14Z")
If we’re going to discuss weak Disney films, I think it would help to look at the company’s three distinct eras: - The Walt Disney period, in which Walt himself was overseeing most of the projects. This ended with The Jungle Book (Walt began work on the film, but died during production, IIRC). - The post-Walt period, aka The Dark Ages, when Walt’s nephew Roy was calling many of the shots. This saw a marked decline (IMO) in quality, and included Robin Hood, The Aristocats, The Rescuers, The Fox and the Hound, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, plus a lot of live-action films. - The Eisner period, which had a weak start with The Black Cauldron, but eventually hit its stride with The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. It’s direct-to-video titles seem pretty craptacular, however. Personally, I think Sleeping Beauty was ho-hum next to its contemporaries, but far superior to pointless crap like The Rescuers. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/18 "2008-10-21T01:32:20Z")
Maybe it’s just my dirty mind, but the whole movie of Sleeping Beauty strikes me as… well, gay. I mean literally gay, as in imagine that all the script and song writers were secretly gay, and originally produced an all-gay parody called “Sleeping Booty”, which was then sanitized into the version we see today. The princess is the best “female stand-in for a gay man” since Judy Garland, the prince is gay, the fairies are gay, the King is gay, the music- my God, all the songs are gay, gay, gay. I nominate Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” as one of the greats '50s “crypto-gay” masterpieces. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/19 "2008-10-21T01:42:45Z")
_Warning: heresy ahead._ I’ve just watched \*Bambi \*for the first time since I was a kid. It wasn’t that good. I’d bought it a few years ago for **maggenkid** , she watched it with her grandparents and shrugged when I asked her about it. If she’d known “meh”, that would have been her reaction. I cried _(cried!)_ during _Mama Mia_ ferchrissakes and didn’t even sniffle when Mrs Prince of the Forest took a bullet for her boy. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819/20 "2008-10-21T01:46:28Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I think the music is a bit better in _Aristocats_, although the story is weak. Tchaikovsky, that hack. I’m not sure if you’re kidding, or if you really think “Thomas O’Malley Cat” is better than “Once Upon a Dream” or “I Wonder.” Really? Wow. Maleficent is a wonderful villain, Phillip is one of the better princes, and the music is beautiful. I love this movie. Yeah, the fairies are a bit annoying at times, but so are Jack & Gus. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sleeping-beauty-is-probably-the-weakest-of-the-disney-animated-films/468819.md?page=2)