View from the Valley

As quoted from a newspaper today:

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.