85 Sleeping Beauty Trivia Questions & Answers

Answer: Medieval or Renaissance Europe

The knights, the horses, the flags, the castles, the fairies are all evocative of late Medieval and Renaissance Europe. As a matter of fact, art designer and creative director Jon Hench, with Walt Disney's approval, based the artistic style for "Sleeping Beauty" on the Flemish Hunt of the Unicorn tapestries (c. 1495) in The Cloisters museum, Fort Tyron Park, Washington Heights, New York City (managed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which received the tapestries in 1938). Hench's concept was developed by Kay Nielsen, who had made the initial sketches for the "Night on Bald Mountain" segment in "Fantasia" (1940). Eyvind Earl further developed the styling, colors, and background for "Sleeping Beauty" before leaving the project before its completion. Over their objections, animators were ordered by Walt Disney to conform to the realistic and flat and ironically modernist style, in a departure from earlier animated features.

Answer: Aurora

Her name was Aurora, which means "the dawn".

Answer: King Stephan

Aurora and Phillip's fathers betrothed the two of them when Aurora was born.

Answer: blue

Yes - her eyes change color when they reopen after love's kiss.

Answer: Merryweather

Maleficent's spell originally stated Aurora would die when she pricked her finger. Merryweather couldn't undo the spell because Maleficent was too powerful, but she was able to change it so that she'd only sleep when she pricked her finger and true love's kiss would break the spell.

Answer: the throne room

He's a {boy;} she's a baby in her cradle.

Answer: Technirama

Alongside the rich Technicolor process long used by Disney, the opening titles and the posters of the movie's initial run boasted of using the Technirama screen process, an anamorphic widescreen technology yielding a 2.35:1 ratio when projected, identical in size to CinemaScope, but much sharper. To be more accurate, however, "Sleeping Beauty" employed the "Super Technirama 70" process, meaning it was done on 70-mm film rather than 35-mm film. From "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) through the mid-1980s, none of Disney's animated features used widescreen but rather the standard Academy ratio (roughly the same aspect as used in pre-digital television), with the exception of "Sleeping Beauty" and "The Lady and the Tramp", both in widescreen. With the release of "101 Dalmations" (1961), the next feature film after "Sleeping Beauty", the Disney company reverted to the smaller aspect ratio. Not until "The Black Cauldron" (1985) did Disney return to widescreen for animated movies, which has been the company's standard since.

"Sleeping Beauty" makes excellent use of Technirama, taking full advantage of the extra space for panoramic vistas. It is especially effective for taking the viewer through the dark corridors of the castle, for example, during the opening scenes.

Answer: No

Although a song was written for the movie, the song was cut and Maleficent did not sing any songs. At this point in the history of the Disney animated classics - which went back to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" - no villain had sung a song about them. Songs were sung about them (like Brom Bones singing about the headless horsemen in "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad") or songs sung by villains but had nothing to do with the villains themselves (like Honest John and Gideon singing "Hi Diddle Dee Dee" in "Pinocchio").

Answer: Phillip

Prince Phillip met the princess when she was just a baby. When he met her later, just before her 16th birthday, he fell in love with her.

Answer: Merriweather and Flora

The two fairies were Flora and Merriweather. At the end of the story, right before the book closes, the dress is pink.

Answer: chipmunk

Although it looks like she's kicking the chipmunk, I think it was just a coincidence.

Answer: Clyde Geronomi

In reality, three supervising directors shaped the production of "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), although only one, Clyde Geronomi, would ultimately get the official credit as such on screen, and aside from Disney, had the final say.

First is Wilfred Jackson, who had worked on the original Mickey Mouse cartoons and "Silly Symphonies" of Disney's early days and the animated segments of "Song of the South" (1946) and the "Bald Mountain" segment of "Fantasia" (1940) and ended up leaving "Sleeping Beauty" following a heart attack. Second is Eric Larson, who animated none of the characters but directed all of the Forest sequences and was briefly supervising director before he was fired; he remains listed in the credits, however, as a sequence director. Lastly was Clyde Geronomi, who became supervising director until the film was finished; he conflicted with artist Eyvind Earl (credited with "Color Styling") over the backgrounds, and simplified them when Earl left Walt Disney for a more favorable work environment.

Answer: Crow

Maleficent had a pet crow named Diablo that was almost always by her side. One such time in which Diablo wasn't by her side was when Maleficent had him search for Aurora, who was hiding from Maleficent. Eventually, Merryweather turned the crow into stone and that was the last time Diablo was shown in the movie.

Answer: Maleficent

In the middle of Aurora's christening, Maleficent crashed the ceremony and scared the people who were there. She made an announcement that frightened everyone. She stated that she would cast a spell on Aurora where she would prick her finger on a spindle on a spinning wheel before the sun set on her sixteenth birthday and fall to her death.

Answer: A fairy

Maleficent was actually a fairy, though she was nothing like the good fairies who are in this movie.

Answer: blue

The bird hears Aurora singing in the forest and flies to her, singing along. That bird is also one of the birds that wake up the other animals to see her.

Answer: pick some berries

Even though she picked berries yesterday, she still goes.

Answer: Briar Rose

The fairies changed her name to protect her from Maleficent.

Answer: Beauty, song, lessen Maleficent's curse

Each of the three good fairies (Flora, Fauna, Merryweather) would bestow a single gift onto Aurora. Flora gave Aurora the gift of beauty; Aurora would have blonde hair. Fauna gave the gift of song; Aurora's singing voice would sound beautiful. Before Merryweather could give her gift, Maleficent appeared and gave Aurora her own "gift" - that Aurora would prick her finger on a spinning needle and die. Merryweather wasn't able to undo the curse but she was able to change it, from dying after pricking her finger to being in a deep sleep until true love's kiss would awaken her.

Answer: Prince Philip's

Aurora pricked her finger on the spindle and fell asleep because ot the earlier gift from Merryweather. The gift was, should Aurora prick her finger on the spindle, she would simply fall asleep and could be awakened by true love's first kiss. Prince Phillip was the one who planted a kiss on Aurora's lips which caused her to wake up.

Answer: 16

The princess lived with the good fairies until her 16th birthday. On her birthday they took her back to her parents, the King and Queen.

Answer: Clean up

Merriweather isn't very happy about it, but she does it anyway.