Vintage color reproduction of an original production cel from Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, featuring Princess Aurora as Briar Rose, dipping her toe in a lake while surrounded by her forest friends, boldly signed on the mat in brown artist’s crayon, “Best wishes, Walt Disney.” Presented in the original frame, the reverse bearing a Walt Disney Productions label describing the item and detailing the animation process, measuring 17.75 x 15.5 overall. Sleeping Beauty was in production for nearly the entire decade of the 1950s. Story work began in 1951; voices were recorded in 1952; animation took place from 1953 to 1958; and the stereophonic musical score, partly based on Tchaikovsky’s ballet of the same name, was recorded in 1957. The film is notable in animation history as the last Disney feature to use hand-inked cels. During its original release, Sleeping Beauty was criticized as being slowly paced and having little character development, and returned only half the invested sum of $6,000,000, nearly bankrupting the studio. Since then, the film has gained a following and is today hailed as one of the best animated features ever made, thanks to its stylized designs by painter and art director Eyvind Earle, its lush music score, and its large-format widescreen and stereophonic sound presentation. In fine condition. PSA/DNA Auction LOA and R&R COA.
