Sleeping Beauty

I know, I know, another Sleeping Beauty post… just be thankful that this is only the second time I chose this film to write about for a Visual Language blog post (I could have written about it in my spinning animation blog post, but I didn't, did I?)

Live Action models Helene Stanley and Ed Kemmer during the production
of Sleeping Beauty

Disney films throughout the years have always been known for their quality animations, especially when it came to the fluid movements of their characters, regardless of whether they were more realistically or exaggeratedly designed, or whether they carried out actions that might seem impossible in real life, this is all thanks to the fact that the animators were always made to do their research before dishing out such quality works (Going all the way back to Snow White, while the more realistic characters were rotoscoped, animators still carefully studied various other aspects before drawing them out, such as the way clothes moved, the way leaves blew in the wind, and how shadows would look on different surfaces), and Sleeping Beauty is shining example to all of that.

Live action references were still shot before animation production began, with the live actors also being made to wear costumes for further referencing (Though notably some changes were made to the costumes for the end product, perhaps to further bring out the characters' already stylized shape and design, particularly Aurora).

Aurora's model Helene Stanley had also provided live-action references for Cinderella and Anita from 101 Dalmatians. Interestingly, two models were used for Maleficent, that being her voice actress Eleanor Audley (Who also performed as Cinderella's wicked stepmother, Lady Tremaine) and dancer Jane Fowler for live-action scenes. The reference shots of Eleanor Audley was used more so as a form for inspiration for the animators when they worked on her character, stating that her alluringly fierce and dominating voice proved challenging to animate for. Other actresses were also used for the reference footage, such as Spring Byington and Frances Bavier.

All of the performances were screened for the animators' reference (Which to me, definitely makes things easier, even if they were not rotoscoping directly from them), as Walt Disney insisted that most of the character animation should stay as closely as possible to the live-action reference.

I always remembered the times when the Disney channel would show behind the scenes footage (Normally it was the footage of Prince Phillip's model Ed Kemmer that was shown, where he is acting out the epic battle scene with Maleficent) for Sleeping Beauty, even as a child, I found it amazing how much was put into this animation (Remember how long it took them to design and paint out each background as well? It made sense why this was the most expensive Disney film up to that point, and it is such a pity that it underperformed during its initial release), so much effort was honestly put into every single aspect of the film, and that especially included the character animation.