Sleeping Beauty (1997, VHS)

Disclaimer I am about to do something I have never done here before - well, at least not on purpose. I am about to make a complete fool of myself. But it is for a good cause. This review is part of the Hard_to_Please Love Fest, organized by diverpam, for our friend Mark (Hard_to_Please) who was recently diagnosed with advanced cancer. All funds raised this write- off will be donated to Mark to help defray some of his expenses. Although Mark has his own wonderfully unique style we are each attempting to honor him by writing in our best Hard_to_Please fashion. We hope you will enjoy the entries.

I re-watched Sleeping Beauty this weekend for the first time in years...I've been a critic of the recent Disney attempts to regain their former glory, and I needed some affirmation that the glory was EVER there. This film put those fears to rest. "Sleeping Beauty" is indeed a Masterpiece. Every part of the film is the epitome of animated storytelling. The story is at its most basic a tale of good versus evil, and all parts of the film grow from that dichotomy. Light versus darkness, Love versus hate, Beauty versus...well, ugliness I suppose, although Maleficent is strangely appealing. If you..

This movie used to scare the living daylights out of me. I think Malificent may well be the most frightening villain ever to enter a Disney animated feature. The scene where Aurora pricks her finger is ethereally creepy, and the final battle between Prince Philip and Malificent is downright scary. For those reasons, I'm not sure that this movie is appropriate for children under five, and it may well scare children older than that. However, not all of the movie is so dark. The story centers around Aurora, a princess who is cursed by Malificent days after her birth. The evil witch declares that.

It's been an absolute bear of a day. I spent all morning with my lawyers, Fajer and Hellmann, negotiating an iron clad contract guaranteeing me the rights to my new Broadway stage spectacular, Mother Teresa: The Musical and locking in complete artistic and creative control. I've survived in this business we call show for quite some time now and I know that there'll need to be some changes made to suit my style and my public and I don't need any composer or original author putting their oar in. When we had finished, I called Bob Mackie and met him at Skybar for a little drink and some...