The Walt Disney Studios has released the details on the upcoming Blu-ray re-release of its 1959’s animated classic Sleeping Beauty. Most likely to coincide with promotions for Disney’s live-action Maleficent film (we anticipate the Blu-ray release for Maleficent on or near the same date), the Sleeping Beauty Diamond Edition will be released on October 7th. It will be available in a 2-disc “Superset” which will include a Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy. It will also be re-released as a standalone DVD.
Sleeping Beauty was one of the first animated feature films from the Disney Animation canon to get the HD Blu-ray treatment when it was released in 2008 (the Blu-ray transfer on the 2008 edition was stunning, so we expect the same from this one, too). This new Diamond Edition will include features from the previous Blu-ray and DVD releases along with some new content (and with Maleficent as a very integral part of the cover art). It will also be the first time the film is available for Digital HD download.
The Blu-ray release will include the following bonus features:
- ‘Once Upon A Parade’ – Join Sarah Hyland from ABC’s Modern Family as she tells us the tale of Walt Disney World’s new “Festival of Fantasy” parade. (The new parade features a very cool fire-breathing Maleficent dragon float.) This magical “in world” short film goes behind the scenes of the new parade and shows how the residents and characters of Fantasyland created this parade to tell their stories.
- Art of Evil: Generations of Disney Villains – This legacy piece spotlights Disney’s favorite villain animator, Marc Davis and his infamous creations of characters such as Maleficent and Cruella. Throughout the piece, we will talk to modern-day animators like Andreas Deja and also the new generation of animators (Lino DiSalvo Animation Director of Frozen) on how Marc’s designs and characters influenced what they do today.
- @DisneyAnimation: ARTISTS IN MOTION – Join Walt Disney Animation Studios’ visual development artist Brittney Lee as she goes through the process of creating a three-dimensional sculpture of Maleficent, completely out of paper. In this extended edition, go deeper into Britney’s process
- Three Never Before Seen Deleted Scenes – “The Fair,” “The Curse Is Fulfilled,” and “Arrival of Maleficent (Alternate Scene).”
- BEAUTY-OKE – Sing along to this kinetic text video of Princess Aurora’s signature song “Once Upon a Dream.”
- Classic DVD Bonus Features – Includes “The Sound of Beauty: Restoring a Classic,” “Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty,” “Eyvind Earle: A Man and His Art,” and the audio commentary track provided by John Lasseter, Andreas Deja, and Leonard Maltin that was included in the 2008 release of the film.
Technical details are as follows:
- Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1 formatted for 16×9 TV screens
- Sound (Blu-ray): 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (English); 5.1 Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix, Dolby® Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
- Languages: English, French and Spanish
- Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish
Make sure to check out the Sleeping Beauty page on Facebook and the Walt Disney Studios’ Twitter feed (#SleepingBeauty), too.
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