We have reached over 750 Disney facts! Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet! In honour of this occasion and ANOTHER Disney movie hiting theathres on May 30th, I will feature facts from Sleeping Beauty, where it all began, and feature facts about it's newest adaption, Maleficent which tells the story of one of Disney's all time favourite villians with the same name.
Enjoy!
"I know you're there, don't be afraid."
"I'm not afraid."
"Then come out."
"Then you'll be afraid."
Fact #751
This year (2014) is the 55th anniversary of Sleeping Beauty.
Fact #752
Aurora's true love, Prince Philip, took his name from the British prince of the same name, husband of Queen Elizabeth II.
Fact #753
"Sleeping Beauty" was the first animated feature to be filmed in the wide-screen 70MM Technirama format.
Fact #754
Walt Disney wanted to make sure the film wasn't just a retread of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," but there are a lot of plot similarities. Can you name them all? ;)
Fact #755
Bill Shirley was near the end of his film career when he played Prince Philip. It was his last credited movie role, though he went on to do uncredited singing vocals in 1964's "My Fair Lady."
Fact #756
Verna Felton, whose Disney voice roles had included Dumbo's mother, the Fairy Godmother in "Cinderella," the Queen of Hearts in "Alice in Wonderland," and Aunt Sarah in "Lady in the Tramp," voiced both the fairy Flora and Queen Leah, Aurora's mother.
Fact #757
The movie took seven years to make, the longest production schedule for any Disney animated feature until 1985's "The Black Cauldron," which was also shot in 70MM Technirama.
Fact #758
The movie's initial release was a hit, but it wasn't a big enough hit to earn back its cost. In fact, losses from "Sleeping Beauty" caused the Disney company to post a loss for the first time since the 1940s.
Fact #759
"Sleeping Beauty" was Disney's last cartoon based on a fairy tale for 30 years, until 1989's "The Little Mermaid."
Fact #760
The name “Maleficent” is a derivative of the Latin word maleficentia, meaning “evil-doing.”
Fact #761
Eleanor Audley acted out her scenes in costume, which inspired the final design for her character.
Fact #762
The flame-like detailing of Maleficent’s robes were based off of a medieval Czech illustration legendary Disney illustrator Marc Davis came across in his household collection of art.
Fact #763
Maleficent’s collar was designed to have a “bat-like” appearance.
Fact #764
Her horns were based right off the devil “so she would frighten everybody half to death.”
Fact #765
Tim Burton was originally in the running to direct the live-action Maleficent.
Fact #766
Angelina Jolie wore several different versions of the horns throughout the movie because she could have broken her neck with the heaviest version of the horns.
Fact #767
One version of the horns was magnetic and could pop off Jolie’s head.
Fact #768
Lady Gaga’s look in her music video for “Born This Way” inspired the prosthetic cheekbones Jolie wore for the film.
Fact #769
The contacts she wore while filming were based off of goat eyes, which have horizontal pupils.
Fact #770
Jolie developed her voice for the role while giving her children a bath.
Fact #771
Jolie’s daughter Vivienne plays a younger version of Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) in the movie because she was not afraid of her mother’s scary look in costume.
Fact #772
And two of her other children, Pax and Zahara, have cameos in the christening scene as young royalty.
Fact #773
Jolie reportedly hand-selected pop songstress Lana Del Rey to cover “Once Upon A Dream” for the new film.
Fact #774
It took designers 14 weeks to create King Stephan's castle.
Fact #775
There are 2,000 handcrafted costumes in Maleficent.
Fact #776
The original story of Sleeping Beauty was written in 1527.
Fact #777
Maleficent in the original story was a queen. An author called Charles Perrault changed her to a fairy way back in 1697. He’s also the one who came up with the idea of a Prince whose kiss could break the spell.
Fact #778
The spinning wheel has been the cause of spell-induced sleep for every princess across the history of Sleeping Beauty.
Fact #779
Sam Riley, who plays the shape-shifting Diaval, spent hours and hours studying the movements of ravens, which included running around a huge room flapping his arms and making cawing noises.
Fact #780
The Grimm Brothers published 7 different versions of Sleeping Beauty.
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I hope you all enjoyed these facts as much as I did!
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