Sleeping Beauty (1959) was officially released on January 29, 1959, by Buena Vista Distribution and represents a pivotal moment in Walt Disney’s feature animation legacy. The film is widely regarded as the final entry in Disney’s classic princess fairy-tale cycle, released during Walt Disney’s lifetime, preceding his passing in 1966.

Technically and artistically ambitious, Sleeping Beauty was the first animated feature filmed using the Technirama widescreen process. It premiered in Super Technirama 70 with six-channel stereophonic sound, offering audiences a presentation unlike any animated film before it. Ken Anderson oversaw the film’s overall design, while Eyvind Earle served as color stylist and chief background designer, shaping the film’s distinctive, stylized medieval aesthetic.

Production on Sleeping Beauty began in 1951 and spanned nearly a decade, concluding with its 1959 release. Despite being the film’s central character, Princess Aurora appears on screen for less than 18 minutes—a unique distinction among Disney protagonists. The film’s elaborate backgrounds required an extraordinary level of craftsmanship, taking an average of 7 to 10 days each to complete, far exceeding the standard production time of earlier animated features. The film also marked an early experimentation with the xerographic process, a technique that would later be fully realized in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961).

All pieces featured here are original vintage production cels from the 1959 animated feature Sleeping Beauty. There are no reproductions, limited editions, or sericels. Every artwork in this collection is 100% authentic studio-produced material.