Sleeping Beauty (1959)

image for Sleeping Beauty (1959)

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Not suitable under 7; parental guidance to 10 (themes, scary scenes, violence)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Sleeping Beauty (1959)
  • a review of Sleeping Beauty (1959) completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 17 February 2026.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 7 Not suitable due to themes, scary scenes and violence.
Children aged 7–10 Parental guidance recommended due to themes, scary scenes and violence.
Children aged 11 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Classification: G
Consumer advice lines: The content is very mild in impact
Length: 78 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

The classic Disney movie Sleeping Beauty tells the story of Princess Aurora (voice of Mary Costa), who is cursed by the wicked fairy Maleficent (voice of Eleanor Audley) to fall into a deep sleep on her sixteenth birthday after pricking her finger on a spinning wheel. The spell can only be broken by true love’s kiss. Raised in hiding by three good fairies (voices of Verna Felton, Barbara Luddy and Barbara Jo Allen), Aurora grows up unaware of her royal heritage. On her sixteenth birthday, Aurora unknowingly encounters Prince Phillip (voice of Bill Shirley), her destined true love. But before the curse can be stopped, Maleficent lures Aurora to a spinning wheel, and the curse is fulfilled. To save her, Prince Phillip must battle Maleficent, who transforms into a fearsome dragon, and ultimately awaken Aurora with a kiss, breaking the curse and restoring peace to the kingdom.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Separation from parents; Danger and Peril; Fantasy violence; Magical curses and spells.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Aurora pricks her finger on a spinning wheel.
  • Prince Philip is restrained and guarded by Maleficent’s goons.
  • Guards are tricked by the fairies’ bumping and clashing, as Prince Philip escapes.
  • Prince Philip uses a sword and shield to get past Maleficent’s goons and into the castle.
  • Prince Philip almost falls off a cliff into raging dragon fire, as he fights the dragon Maleficent.
  • Prince Philip fighting Maleficent as a dragon and causing her death.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • The death of Maleficent as a dragon as she is slayed by Prince Philip with a sword.
  • Maleficent transforming into a dragon from human form.
  • Maleficent’s general appearance as the wicked fairy, she has horns on her head, blue-tinged skin and an evil persona.
  • An image of Maleficent appears in the fireplace. Her outline and glowing green-yellow eyes are seen. She then disappears.
  • Aurora pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and collapses, seemingly dead, as the curse takes hold.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Maleficent takes baby Aurora away from her family in the middle of the night and her parents are frantic when they find out.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

  • None noted.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Prince Philip and Aurora share an intimate dance in the woods when they first meet.
  • Prince Philip kisses Aurora and she is awakened from the curse.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • The kings drink and sing a drinking song to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of their children. The minstrel also sneaks a few drinks and falls over drunk.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Fools
  • Idiots
  • Imbeciles
  • Hell
  • The words “evil” and “evil fairy” are used to describe Maleficent.

In a nutshell

Sleeping Beauty – inspired by Charles Perrault’s 1697 fairy tale and the Brothers Grimm’s 1812 beloved adaptation Briar Rose – is a classic animated film brought to life in 1959 by Disney Studios. The film features musical numbers, 1950’s cutting edge animation, and explores the notions of good versus evil, along with love and bravery. Due to the violence, scary scenes and themes it is best suited to audiences aged 8 and over.

The main messages from this movie are that good will triumph over evil; that love and courage will conquer adversity; and that through the power of perseverance, kindness, patience and hope, we can create our own destiny instead of allowing it to be determined for us.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Empathy
  • Unity
  • Resilience
  • Friendship
  • Goodness
  • Love
  • Patience
  • Bravery.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Taking liberties such as kissing someone without their permission.
  • Seeking revenge instead of taking responsibility for your own part in a misunderstanding.