Origins:
Written by Charles Perrault sometime around 1330 and 1344, Sleeping Beauty was a fairy tale about a beautiful princess, a sleep enchantment and a handsome prince, and it is believed by many that Perrault wrote the tale in two parts. Part 1 focused on how the evil fairy cursed Princess Aurora on the eve of her christening - the evil fairy gifted the princess with death by pricking her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel, the Princess fulfilling the curse once she pricked her finger on the spindle and instantly fell into deep sleep, and the Princess was saved by the Prince's kiss. Part 2 suggested that Prince Philip secretly married Princess Aurora and they had two children together. The Prince's mother, who was of an ogre lineage, tried to have Aurora and the children killed, but failed miserably, as the Prince came to their rescue and they lived happily ever after.
Walt Disney Film - Plot:
Released by Walt Disney Studios on 1959, Sleeping Beauty's story goes something like this...
Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, King Stefan and his wife were blessed with a baby girl, Princess Aurora. At the eve of her christening, three fairy godmothers namely, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, bestowed gifts of magic on the child. Then came the evil sorceress named Maleficent, which caused a scene in the castle and prevented Merryweather from gifting the princess. Upset that she was not invited to the event, Maleficent cursed the princess by promising that once she turns 16, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and then die. Once Maleficent disappeared, Merryweather then used her powers to lighten the intensity of Maleficent's curse by allowing Aurora to fall in deep sleep until kissed by her true love, instead of dying by a prick on the finger. With that, King Stefan ordered for every spinning wheel in the kingdom to be burned, in an attempt to protect her daughter from pricking her finger.
To prevent Maleficent's curse from taking effect, the three fairies decided to hide their magic and change their appearances into peasant women and they changed Princess Aurora's name to Briar Rose. They took Princess Aurora with them, and proceeded to live together in an abandoned cottage. On the eve of Aurora's 16th birthday, the fairies sent her out to pick berries, as they prepared her birthday cake. She was wondering in the forest when she came across a red cape, a hat and a pair of boots, which belonged to Prince Phillip.That same day, the Prince just so happened to be riding his horse in the forest and he eventually found Aurora in the forest and the two shared a dance. As Aurora returned to the cottage, she excitedly told her three aunties that she met a man in the forest, and fell in love with him. The three aunties then revealed their true identities saying that Aurora was betrothed to Prince Philip and that she must not meet with this strange ever again.
Back at King Stefan's castle, everyone was busy preparing for the arrival of Princess Aurora and King Hubert, father of Prince Phillip, was also in attendance. Both kings discussed the future of their children and once Prince Phillip arrived, he told his father about the peasant girl he met in the woods whom he fell in love with. Prince Phillip rushed back to the forest and to the cottage to reunite with the girl.Around this same time, the three fairies brought Aurora back to the castle via a secret entrance. Still upset that she could never see the young man she meet in the woods, they gave her time to herself. Once all alone, Maleficent opened a secret passage in the castle room, and Aurora under a trance, followed the green orb through the passageway. Moments later, the three fairies entered the room and found Aurora following the green light. It was not long before Aurora has pricked her finger on an enchanted spinning wheel, and she then lay crumpled on the floor. Distraught over what happened, Flora decided to put the entire kingdom to sleep, until Aurora is awakened. Moments before King Stefan and King Hubert were put to sleep, Flora heard them talk about how Prince Phillip met a peasant girl in the woods and the fairies remembered Aurora telling them that the stranger she met would be coming to the woodcutter's cottage. Convinced that it was Prince Phillip that Aurora saw in the woods, the fairies headed to the forest to get him to wake up Aurora. However, once they arrived at the cottage, the door was open and Prince Phillip's hat was on the floor, which suggested that Maleficent captured him already and was brought to the Forbidden Mountain.
Once the fairies reached Maleficent's castle, they freed Prince Phillip and they gifted him with the 'Shield of Virtue' and the'Sword of Truth'and he set on his journey back to King Stefan's castle. Maleficent tried to stop Prince Phillip from getting to the castle with lightning bolts, but the 'Shield of Truth' defected them. She also created a forest of thorns to surround the structure, but Phillip successfully cut his way through with the use of the 'Sword of Truth'. As her last attempt, Maleficent transformed into a dragon and was only defeated when the three fairies guided the 'Sword of Truth' to pierce into Maleficent's heart.
With Maleficent defeated, and Phillip beside Aurora, he kissed her and awakened her, as well as the rest of the kingdom.They shared a dance together, and they lived happily ever after.
Did You Know:
1. Princess Aurora holds the record of having the fewest lines of any Disney main character. So much so that the princess only had 18 lines throughout the whole film!
2. Prince Phillip was named after England's real life Prince Phillip - Duke of Edinburgh.
3. Princess Aurora's looks were based on one of Hollywood's greatest actresses of all time - Audrey Hepburn.
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