S.L. Enjoys Premiere Of 'Beauty'
By Bob Halliday, Tribune Staff Writer
Salt Lake Tribune, 4 June 1959, page 24
'Sleeping Beauty' is romance and pageantry, humor and pathos. It's excitement and conflict, magic and counter-magic. It's fun.
First-nighters attending the benefit premiere of the film enjoyed this latest and most ambitious of Walt Disney's full-length fables, particularly the children who were liberally sprinkled throughout the audience.
Other Fairy Tales
It's a charming successor to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Cinderella," "Peter Pan," and other fairy tales lifted from print to screen.
With his virtual monopoly on the secret of breathing life into painted figures, Disney has filled a trophy room with "Oscars" and will likely have to make room for another batch on this one.
New Sound System
In "Sleeping Beauty" he has added the latest wrinkle in sound to his typical perfection in animation and color artistry. A six-throated stereophonic system enveloped the audience with Tchaikovsky's lovely "Sleeping Beauty Ballet" and six lilting tones based on the score.
The musical theme offered a complementary pleasure to the action, heightening the emotional appeal of the romantic scenes, punctuating the humorous sequences, and adding excitement to the final thunderous battle between the prince and the witch.
Remember Voice
Salt Lakers may recognize the voice of Princess Aurora as that of Mary Costa, the blonde beauty who sang here in the stage production of "Candide" last November. She sings the two catchiest songs. "I Wonder" and "Once Upon a Dream."
The characters are more vivid than ever conjured in the mind of youth. The sorceress, Maleficent, is horrifying. The three good fairies - Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather - are adorable plump matrons with capricious wands and rusty magic.
Charming Couple
Phillip and Aurora are as charming a couple as ever fell in love.