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DISNEYLAND PREPARES TO OPEN SLEEPING BEAUTY CASTLE WALKTHROUGH
July 17, 2008 - Anaheim, CA - The interior of Sleeping Beauty Castle at
Disneyland will open in time for the December holiday season, offering guests a
“reawakened” version of its classic walkthrough presentation kissed with
vibrant scenes of Aurora, her charming prince, the evil Maleficent and other
characters from the beloved fairy tale film.
“It is fitting that we are announcing the return of a classic on the 53rd
anniversary of Disneyland,” said Tony Baxter, Senior Vice President of Creative
Development for Walt Disney Imagineering, who unveiled a model of the castle on
July 17, the birthday of Disneyland park.
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty,” and
the excitement generated by the anniversary of the motion picture spurred
interest in the return of the Disneyland attraction.
Also celebrating the milestone 50th Anniversary of “Sleeping Beauty” is Walt
Disney Studios Home Entertainment, which will release a two-disc Platinum
Blu-ray™ Hi-Def disc, making “Sleeping Beauty” the first Walt Disney animated
classic title to be released in high definition, as well as on two-disc
Platinum DVD. A bonus feature on the new release will be “The Original Sleeping
Beauty Walk-Through Attraction With Walt Disney Imagineering,” an immersive
experience recreating the original castle walkthrough.
On April 29, 1957, nearly two years before the premiere of Walt Disney’s
animated feature “Sleeping Beauty,” the Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
opened with an in-park ceremony featuring Walt Disney and actress Shirley
Temple who, some 20 years earlier, had presented Disney with his special
Academy Award – one Oscar and seven little ones – for “Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs.”
The crafting of the 1957 walkthrough show fell to Walt Disney Imagineer Ken
Anderson and animation art director and color stylist Eyvind Earle, credited
with giving the motion picture “Sleeping Beauty” the distinctive and colorful
look of storybook illustrations in medieval style. An entirely new look
appeared in 1977 when the attraction’s redesign featured miniature dioramas,
including moving figurines similar to the window displays in the shops on Main
Street, U.S.A.
When the attraction is unveiled later this year, the “show” will differ from
the dioramas of the 1980s and ‘90s, returning to the unique style of the
original 1957 show and motion picture. Enhanced with new scenes and special
effects magic, the re-Imagineered attraction will employ technology not
available in the 1950s to represent scenes from the story of Sleeping Beauty,
including the magic of good fairies Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, and the more
sinister spells of the evil Maleficent.
For the first time, guests who are unable to climb stairs or navigate the
passageways of the Castle will be able to experience the walkthrough
“virtually” in a special room on the ground floor of the Castle.
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