Merryweather's magic isn't strong enough to undo the curse, so she uses her gift to change it so that Aurora will instead fall into a deep sleep until true love's kiss breaks the spell.

[37] Disney registered Sleeping Beauty as a planned production title with the Motion Picture Association of America on January 19, 1950, after a preview audience's positive response to Cinderella.

[36][40] Recognizing the difficulty of producing another fairy-tale feature which would not be too reminiscent of his previous films, notably Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Cinderella (1950), he repeatedly told his staff during production that it had to be different.

[37] Shortly before her sixteenth birthday, the princess was to switch clothes with her maidservant and secretly escape to a nearby forest (or country fair) where she would meet and fall in love with the prince.

[44] Story ideas of that period also included the good fairies attempting to surround the castle with a protective circle and Maleficent having a comically incompetent vulture sidekick, although the earlier outline depicted him as a sinister falcon.

[40] The story artists discarded the original version and started from scratch, deciding to retain several ideas from earlier suggestions, such as the prince's acquaintance with the princess before the curse is fulfilled, and a shorter sleep.

[51] The good fairies were originally intended to rule the domains indicated by their names: Flora would be in charge of flowers and plants, Fauna would oversee the animals and birds, and Merryweather would control the climate.

[55] Several story elements originated from discarded ideas for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Cinderella (1950), including the prince and princess dancing on a cloud (Disney's favorite concept) and Phillip's escape from Maleficent's domain.

Earle's main inspiration for Sleeping Beauty was the illuminated book of hours by Herman and Jean Limbourg, Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, from which he took key colors such as the yellow-green for Maleficent's flames, and the pink and blue for Aurora's royal dress.

[98] Although the layout artists and animators were impressed with Earle's paintings, they became discouraged by working in an unfamiliar style, and worried that a modernist aesthetic didn't suit the fairy tale feature.

[107] Stanley's costume for Aurora's woodland disguise, Briar Rose, was created by Alice Estes at the behest of Marc Davis as her first job assignment for the Disney studio.

[108][117] Davis also added horns and a collar resembling bat wings to give the character a more diabolic look, and endowed her costume with a reptilian quality to foreshadow her dragon form.

[20][122] Oreb's early designs portrayed the characters in a stricter geometric style, reflecting the three primary shapes (square, triangle, and circle), but this was too difficult to animate, and was discarded.

[35][123][124] Thomas and Johnston studied the movements of old women they saw at wedding receptions and grocery stores for help in animation, and the fairies' costume design was influenced by wardrobe books for medieval Scandinavian and German-style attire.

[143] Bruns made several attempts to create a song from the "Silver Fairy" theme, resulting in "Riddle, Diddle, One, Two, Three" (sung by Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather as they prepare birthday presents for Aurora).

[135][147] Recording of the music began in the United States, but due to a musicians' strike, Bruns was sent to a state-of-the-art studio in Berlin which permitted a new stereo sound system for the film.

[144][152] The episode was the first television show simulcast in stereo, and included a loose version of Tchaikovsky's life, Walt Disney's explanation of the Super Technirama 70 process, and clips from Sleeping Beauty.

[156] Eric Larson blamed the studio's publicity department for the film's underperformance, feeling that The Shaggy Dog (released later that year) had a far more extensive and successful advertising campaign.

[150] The production costs and box office failure of Sleeping Beauty, coupled with the underperformance of much of the studio's 1959–1960 release slate, caused Walt Disney to lose interest in animation.

[150][187] Ren Grevatt of Billboard called the film a "Disney best", and complimented its score, colors, and the final battle scene, which he described as a "hair-raiser for the youngsters and grown-up alike.

"[189] For The New York Daily News, Kate Cameron wrote that the film "will charm the young and tickle adults" and praised its story, voice acting, and character animation.

"[191] Lorna Carroll, writing for the St. Petersburg Times, called the film a "masterpiece and the last word in the art of animation"; however, although Sleeping Beauty is "far more magnificent, far more advanced, it does not touch the heart as did Snow White.

[193] Bosley Crowther wrote for The New York Times that "the colors are rich, the sounds are luscious and magic sparkles spurt charmingly from wands", but felt that the film's plot and characters were too similar to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

[197] Time harshly criticized the film, particularly its design: "Even the drawing in Sleeping Beauty is crude: a compromise between sentimental, crayon-book childishness and the sort of cute, commercial cubism that tries to seem daring but is really just square.

Solomon praised its visual design, the character of Maleficent, and the finale battle scene, but felt that it lacks "the strong story line of the other Disney features" (particularly the "not very interesting" romance between Aurora and Phillip).

"[202] A Time Out reviewer wrote that although Sleeping Beauty "rarely achieves the heights of classics like Snow White and Dumbo, it still has its moments", highlighting its "polished if sometimes stodgy" animation, soundtrack, and the final confrontation between Maleficent and Phillip.

[76] In 1957, Walt Disney and Shirley Temple opened an indoor walk-through exhibit with a series of dioramas depicting the story of Sleeping Beauty (designed by Eyvind Earle and Ken Anderson).

[240] DisneyToon Studios released a 2007 direct-to-video animated film, Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams, featuring two new stories about Aurora and Jasmine from Aladdin (1992).

[241] Many of Sleeping Beauty's characters make cameo appearances in the 2001–03 television series House of Mouse, as well as in the films Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and The Lion King 1½ (2004).

[248] Live-action versions of Sleeping Beauty characters are featured in the 2011–18 fantasy television series Once Upon a Time (produced by Disney-owned ABC Studios), including Maleficent, Aurora, Prince Phillip, and King Stefan.