(Walt Disney Studios, 1959) Dramatic original concept painting by Eyvind Earle for Sleeping Beauty, showing Prince Phillip fighting Maleficent in the forest of thorns. Wearing a bright red hero's cape, Prince Phillip valiantly defends himself from the massive fire-breathing dragon, deflecting a laser-like breath of fire with his 'Shield of Virtue.' Executed in dark hues of green, gray, black, and purple, the action-packed piece wholly conveys all the feeling of this sensational scene. Accomplished in gouache on 15 x 6 artist's board, signed in the lower right corner in pink paint by Eyvind Earle. In fine condition, with tack holes to corners.
Legendary Disney artist Eyvind Earle was Sleeping Beauty's production designer, and Disney gave him a significant amount of freedom in designing the settings and selecting colors for the film. Earle also painted the majority of the backgrounds himself, and his stylistic influence is readily apparent in the final product. His talents are most evident in this design from the film's climactic conclusion, one of the studio's most ambitious sequences ever conceived.
