9. Sleeping Beauty (1959)
When one looks at the movies Disney produced in the 1950s (Cinderella, Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan, Treasure Island, Sleeping Beauty, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Alice in the Wonderland,etc.), they realize how hard it is to make a ranking of the best Disney works. Almost each one of these accomplishments was pioneering in some sense (for example, Treasure Island was first Disney live-action movie, Alice in the Wonderland was one of the first cult films, Lady and the Tramp was filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen film process…). Although a few Disney movies from the 1950s accumulated great profit and critical praises, we decided to include Sleeping Beauty on our list. With $629.37 million gross revenues, it is the most profitable Disney movie from this period. The profit was not the only reason why the film found its place on this list. The appearance of Sleeping Beauty marked the end of fairy tale adaptations which started with Snow White and had been Disney’s distinguishing feature. It was not until 1989 and Little Mermaid that Disney released another fairy tale based work. Although Sleeping Beauty did not receive as much critical praise as Cinderella, which won three Oscars, the movie and its characters have remained alive ever since they first appeared on the screen. The release of Maleficent (2014) proves that Sleeping Beauty contains a universal value which transcends the time.
