Is this the weakest of all 'Classic' Disney films?

Nope, not at all. Even with its flaws, I can honestly say that this movie aged a lot better than Cinderella and Peter Pan.

Cinderella had virtually almost no plot (until the Fairy Godmother showed up), while Peter Pan had a lame villain and an unlikable protagonist.


Let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyway...
[Formerly CosmosX9]

I thought "Cinderella" and "Peter Pan" were predictable as well. Tinker Bell was the only memorable character from those two films. The three fairies are the main characters in "Sleeping Beauty". The fact that Aurora had little screen time helped the character (it gave her an angelic quality). I think Walt Disney was tired of the princess characters and wanted a change. "Sleeping Beauty" is a flat out masterpiece that is far superior to any Disney film made before or since.

Not to mention the giant plot holes it has, and the storyline is just absurd.

Aurora's parents destroy all the spinning wheels in the kingdom just to make sure she never pinches her finger with one. Why go through all the trouble and on top of that depriving his own people of using spinning wheels? Just make her wear some freakin' heavy duty gloves and save yourself the trouble, or put guards on time shifts to ensure nothing happens to her, and if she needs some privacy because Aurora needs to take a sh*t, then make sure there are no spinning wheels or needles in the bathroom. Or just ask the freakin' fairy godmothers to come up with something.

"Aurora does absolutely nothing, she's way too passive for my liking."

I am glad that Disney did not make Aurora the lead character and kept her screen time short (it helped give her an ethereal quality). I found Cinderella and Snow White very annoying. The three Fairies and Maleficent are better characters.

"Also, the plot develops very slowly and all the characters, the only one worth mentioning is Maleficent."

I disagree. I think this film is very hypnotic and involving. It was refreshing not to have a lot of corny slapstick, cuddly animals and musical numbers every five minutes. A sophisticated and adult animated film like this could never be made today (it would have to be much more juvenile). "Sleeping Beauty" is one of Disney's most mature animated films. I also disagree about the characters. I really liked the three Good Fairies as well.

"And, as you said, full of cliches."

Disney knew this film was going to be cliched and tried to make it as different as possible with the amazing animation. They actually improved on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Cinderella" (I think of those films as rough drafts). There were limitations in the animation in those films (Disney had to limit the prince character because they could not animate him properly). "Sleeping Beauty" was the film Walt Disney always wanted to make in the first place. How could anyone find the last 20 minutes of this film dull? The climax of "Sleeping Beauty" is the most intense and thrilling piece of animation Disney ever did (it hasn't been matched since). "Sleeping Beauty" is Disney's masterwork. Its artistry IS unmatched in animation.

One huge flaw with this movie is that it never explains what's with the beef between Maleficent and the King & Queen.

Just because she was not invited to the christening all of sudden she's pissed off and she puts a curse on their baby? Seriously, they couldn't come up with anything better than that? Obviously there has to be more to the story than that, but it comes across as a huge plot hole that this was never explained on the film. Hopefully the Maleficent movie will answer this question.

Whatever it's shortcomings may be, it's way ahead of the 21st Century Disney "princess" movies, all of which will be forgotten in years to come while "Sleeping Beauty" is still acclaimed.