Summary

• Sleeping Beauty's 1959 box office bomb halted Disney's princess stories for 30 years.
• Disney slowly moved away from animation after Sleeping Beauty's failure.
• The lack of marketing and critical reception contributed to Sleeping Beauty's theatrical flop.

The Disney Princesses are one of the company's most beloved series of films, but the 1959 version of Sleeping Beauty had a box office bomb that was so large it killed the franchise for 30 years. The company got its start in 1937 with the now-classic film Snow White and The Seven Dwarves before moving on to other well-known projects such as Pinocchio and Bambi. Princesses were largely ignored by the company until the premiere of Cinderella in 1950, which was a critical success.

With this success, Disney began to branch out into television and live-action, though animation was still the primary focus of the company. However, despite Cindrella's strong reception, Disney continued to focus on animating non-princess-themed stories. Many of Disney's iconic animated films, including Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and Lady and the Tramp, were released during this period, with critical reception declining with each film.

Sleeping Beauty Was A Box Office Bomb In 1959

Sleeping Beauty was one of Disney's biggest undertakings at the time. The film took a decade to create and $6 million to produce, being the first animated film to use the Super Technirama 70 widescreen process to create Sleeping Beauty's iconic characters and settings. However, the film only made back $5 million of its $6 million budget, with Disney's distribution division losing $900,000 during its theatrical run. This critical failure resulted in many layoffs in the animation department and a shift away from princess stories for almost 30 years.

Disney Didn't Make A Princess Movie For 30 Years After Sleeping Beauty

After Sleeping Beauty's critical failure, Disney completely ignored princess stories until the release of The Little Mermaid in 1989. The company continued its focus on animation throughout the 1950s and 1960s to critical success, an example being One Hundred And One Dalmatians. However, after Walt Disney's death and throughout the 1970s, animation was slowed down and was not revived until the late 1980s after the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit revitalized the animation department. The Little Mermaid became a success and sparked the Disney Renaissance, making room for the Disney movies and characters, specifically the princesses, audiences love today.

Why Sleeping Beauty Flopped On Release

Sleeping Beauty's theatrical failure was due to both critical reception and a lack of a marketing campaign. Despite the expenses, Disney could only release the film in select theaters due to the new technology it used and did little to promote the film, focusing on other movies on the slate such as The Shaggy Dog. This was paired with critics praising the visuals while simultaneously criticizing the lack of story and characterization. Upon re-release to theatrical and home media years later, however, the film became the second most successful release of 1959.

Disney's Sleeping Beauty continues to inspire audiences today and continues to be a part of the main Disney princess line-up. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 90%, Sleeping Beauty's origins are a fascinating point in Disney's history with animation. Its theatrical failure almost halted the creation of many of its most iconic sets of characters, both its princesses and its villains. However, its later success not only continued the Disney Renaissance but also gave audiences yet another great story of true love and magic to guide their childhoods.