Being the father of two little girls, I've spent many a sleepy Saturday afternoon screening 1950's Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. The debate over which is better has come up now and then between me and my wife. As usual with meaningless arguments, they never reach a satisfying conclusion, even when I'm right.
In all seriousness, I think Cinderella is better. Although I love the visual style of Sleeping Beauty and the climactic showdown with Maleficent, Cinderella is more cohesive and thus more engaging. Allow me to explain. I'll assume you've seen both movies.
In Cinderella, the B plot featuring adorable talking mice and Lucifer, the malicious cat, complements the A plot, Cinderella's persecution by her stepmother and stepsisters. The mice repay Cinderella's kindness by helping to fashion her a dress for the royal ball, and later to free her from the attic room. Lucifer, who tries to stop the mice in the end, is effectively doing the stepmother's bidding by keeping Cinderella locked in her room. The mice's plight is her plight.
By contrast, when looking for a B plot in Sleeping Beauty, one comes up empty. Princess Aurora is shown to be friendly with the woodland creatures, but they disappear from the story when she goes for a sing and a stroll with Prince Phillip. The closest thing that comes to a B plot is the question of whether Phillip will marry Aurora, and the tension this creates between their fathers. Unlike the tension between the impatient king and bumbling Grand Duke in Cinderella that leads to the royal ball and the glass slipper fitting, the tension here goes nowhere. It's literally put on hold for the third act.
Another point of disfavor for me is the means by which that comes about. When Aurora touches Maleficent's spindle and falls into a deep sleep, the fairies' solution is to cast a sleeping spell over everyone in the kingdom until Aurora wakes up. Huh? Perhaps the fairy tale explains this better, but the movie executes this device poorly. It's only by dumb luck Phillip escapes the spell by going back to the cottage where he expects to meet Aurora. He's captured by Maleficent instead.
Now we come to the climactic third act. Here Sleeping Beauty has the action/adventure content that's more my speed. Phillip's duel with the dragon is spectacular, and I love that his shield of righteousness and sword of truth evokes Paul's advice to the church in Ephesus.
One can't help but regret Phillip wasn't the main character of Sleeping Beauty. It would have given the duel, and his subsequent waking of Aurora with a kiss, more punch. Thinking on it, without the clue in the title, it's debatable who the main character actually is. Other than falling in love with Phillip, Aurora does nothing to drive the plot forward, and she's absent for the third act. The fairies have the most consistent presence from beginning to end, but theirs is ostensibly a supporting role, first helping Aurora, then Phillip.
Well-formed narrative structure can lead to seeming contradictions, such as the payoff of the Grand Duke putting the glass slipper on Cinderella's foot surpassing Phillip's slaying the dragon. With Cinderella, nothing feels out of place. Every scene supports her as a character, highlighting her admirable qualities, unjust persecution, and yearning for happiness. I have to work harder to connect to Aurora.
I do love the visuals, though.
Interesting tidbit: Helene Stanley was the live-action model for both Cinderella and Princess Aurora.
As always, let me know what you think in the comments. If you like sci-fi, check out my books Seeds of Calamity and Tendrils to the Moon. You can find extended previews for each here and here.
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