In 1959, Life magazine published a number of live-action reference shots for "the new Disney cartoon, Sleeping Beauty." Recently placed on the InterWeb, they provide an incredible glimpse behind the scenes of one of the Mouse House's most beloved animation classics.
These pictures feature Bill Shirley (Prince Phillip), Mary Costa (Princess Aurora) and Eleanor Audley (Maleficient) acting out their roles for the Disney animators, so that the artists could make these human characters appear as realistic as possible.
Life Looks Behind the Scenes at Sleeping Beauty
These photographs show just how much work went into a classic Disney animated film, and the talent that Walt lured to his studio.
On one level you can marvel at the acting craft that enabled Bill Shirley to appear heroic while mounted on a barrel stuck to a wooden frame. At the same time, you can appreciate Walt's animators' dedication to their craft: how far they would go to get things right.
Whether it was dressing actress Eleanor Audley just like her character, dropping a blonde wig on Costa, or building sets that resembled Eyvind Earle's incredible backgrounds, the Mouse House clearly spared no expense to ensure that their animated films looked nothing less than stunning.
Live-Action Reference Images of Bill Shirley, Mary Costa, Eleanor Audley
Live-action reference shots are nothing new in animation: Disney's realistic style demanded that animators use real-life models for anything that could remotely resemble something that occurred in this world. Studios like Pixar and Aardman have gone even farther: animators will literally film themselves acting out a scene so that they can get the facial and body expressions just right.
Disney Animation did the same thing back in the day, but often they would rotoscope the images into the final movie. This was common practice, right up until 1961's 101 Dalmations.
Rotoscoping is a process where live actors are filmed, and the scenes painted over to resemble animation. Not just a Disney technique, it was also used in films like Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings and Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly. Motion-capture is a computer age version of this technique.
Sleeping Beauty Box Office Failure
On its initial release, Sleeping Beauty was considered a costly failure, making only $3 million in its initial release. Much like Fantasia 19 years before, its box office meltdown nearly bankrupted Disney. However, theatrical re-releases in 1970, 1979, 1986 and 1993 proved the film's saviour and it's now considered one of Disney's greatest achievements.
Fun Fact: Looney Tunes legend Chuck Jones worked for 4 months on Sleeping Beauty. Jones had moved to Disney when Jack Warner had closed down the animation unit at his company, believing that 3-D movies would replace animation. Jones later rejoined a re-opened Warner Animation, and he received no credit for his contributions to Sleeping Beauty.
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