My 3 1/2 year old daughter loves Sleeping Beauty - the character that is. I was really excited to get the special release of Sleeping Beauty, the movie, that came out recently, only to find that this movies scares the bejesus out of her. I do admit she is a bit more squeamish than most but this movie is very dark and ominous. There is way too much of Malificent, as famous as she is for being the most popular of Disney's villains, she is definitely not cute and the scenes with her in it depict a hellish sort of environment. And then she turns into a dragon and it was all over at that point. Well, it was over way before that for my daughter but for me it was the last straw as well. Who makes movies like this for kids? And even as a movie for an adult (me), the story telling is not the kind of narrative we are used to with contemporary animation. This was more of a read-out-loud story with a slide show. Although I do appreciate the animation itself, this was totally remastered and restored to show the amazing hand drawn images, it has a very odd feel and mood that borders on morose. If you are a Disney fan, I don't need to tell you whether to get this movie or not, but if you have a happy, bright eyed 3 year old, do not ruin her day with this. Or worse, she now won't wear her Sleeping Beauty costume for Halloween because of this trauma so I have to get her another costume!
Poor thing. I hope she feels better. I know how you feel Kelly, my 2.5 year old is the same. She is even scared of swiper the fox from Dora the Explorer.
Far worse is an old Japanese version of The Little Mermaid from the 1970s. In second grade my grandmother picked me up at school because I was sick, and we went by the video store to pick up a video before my mom could get me. My grandmother thought The Little Mermaid would be great, and so we brought it to her house. This version actually follows the fairy tale, and instead of a happy ending, the little mermaid fails to get the prince, and instead jumps into the ocean and dies by turning into sea foam!!!!! I cried and cried, and cried so hard I started throwing up...definitely not suitable for small children.
I loved this film as a kid, I still do. My daughter, who is two, loves it. I think that kids now are too soft. Remember Bambi? You'd never find a kid's movie like that now. Heaven forbid kids should be shown that there are dark sides to life (including death). When the scary parts come in Sleeping Beauty, Evelyn cuddles up to me, and I talk her through. It's a great opportunity to show her that if you work hard enough, you can get through even the darkest of moments. The fairytale concept of "good triumphing over evil" means nothing if the "evil" in the story is as lame as the Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak (unfortunately another favourite of my daughter's). Yeah, kids get scared (my daughter cries at fireworks), but this isn't THAT bad. :/
First of all, "Sleeping Beauty" was never meant to be a "children's movie" it was made by Disney to be a moving story. Big difference.
"Sleeping Beauty" was also the first animated movie by Disney to be in Cinamascope and cost him millions to make.
So because it scared your 3 year old, it should be taken out of circulation? Does the world spin around you? Please. As Kaytey demonstrated, there are opportunities that you missed because you couldn't park your child and leave a moving babysitter.
My son who is almost 3 loves Sleeping Beauty. His favorite parts are the "bad dragon" and "bad witch."