The pinnacle of Disney's Silver Age (and quite possibly of Walt Disney's entire career), Sleeping Beauty is one of the films that make you remember why people love Disney so much in the first place.
Hands down one of Disney's great artistic achievements, it's an absolutely beautiful film. Every background is a meticulously detailed work of art, almost approaching the level of a Miyazaki film, showing the influence of medieval tapestry work and old illuminated texts. The animators even make use of layered backgrounds, to fantastic effect. The quality of the animation is exemplary as well, achieving a level of graceful fluidity and smoothness of motion not seen since Snow White.
The film also gives us one of Disney's greatest villains in Maleficent, the dark fairy. Forgetting the Wicked-style treatment given to the character in the Angelina Jolie-helmed Maleficent, the original take on the character is pure, unadulterated evil on a level Disney has rarely approached since. Maleficent manages to dominate every scene she appears in, with a commanding presence that radiates menace and legitimate threat. The scenes in her castle allow Disney's artists to try their hand at some sword-and-sorcery style action and environments, with a bit of inspiration from "A Night on Bald Mountain." The film's climax, with Maleficent transforming into a beautifully menacing dragon, is one of Disney's most epic and suspenseful. In addition to Maleficent, the three good fairies are excellently conceived characters as well, managing to be amusing and sympathetic without every being annoying.
Although the romance between Prince Philip and Aurora suffers from most of the usual Disney tropes (love at first sight, the contrived coincidence of their meeting), its hardly enough to detract from the overall appeal of the film. Capping off Disney's fairy-tale trilogy started by Snow White and Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty is a masterpiece of artistry and animation, and one of the true high points of Disney's canon.
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