Aurora (Disney)

Princess Aurora
Promotional image of Princess Aurora.
First appearance	Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Created by	Marc Davis
Voiced by	Mary Costa (original film) Erin Torpey (speaking, sequels/some merchandise) Cassidy Ladden (singing, sequels) Christie Houser (singing, studio) Jennifer Hale (House of Mouse, Kingdom Hearts, speaking, some merchandise)
Aliases	Briar Rose

Princess Aurora is a fictional character and the title character from Disney's 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty (which she is sometimes referred to as), as well as an official Disney Princess.The Disney version of the character was based on the French version of the tale by Charles Perrault, written in 1634 in Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé. She is also known as Briar Rose.^[1]

Development

The original character design of Aurora was done by Tom Oreb, who modeled the princess after the elegant, slender features of actress Audrey Hepburn. Aurora's lead animator, Marc Davis worked with Oreb to sharpen her features and clothes so that they would blend with the backgrounds' angular shapes.^[1]

As done with other Disney films, Walt Disney hired an actress to perform live-action scenes as a reference for the animation process. Actress Helene Stanley performed the live-action reference for Princess Aurora. She did the same kind of work for the characters of Cinderella and Anita in One Hundred and One Dalmatians.^[2]

According to Christopher Finch, author of The Art of Walt Disney:

“

Disney insisted that all scenes involving human characters should be shot first in live-action to determine that they would work before the expensive business of animation was permitted to start. The animators did not like this way of working, feeling it detracted from their ability to create character. [...] [The animators] understood the necessity for this approach and in retrospect acknowledged that Disney had handled things with considerable subtlety.[3]

”

Appearances

Sleeping Beauty

Main article: Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)

Princess Aurora was born from King Stefan and his wife, Queen Leah. At her christening, she was given gifts by two of the three fairies that showed up. Following this, the bad fairy named Maleficent showed up, angry at not being invited, and put a curse on Aurora stating that at the age of sixteen, she would prick her finger on the spindle from the spinning wheel and die. Luckily the third good fairy, named Merryweather, had not presented a gift yet and is able to change the curse to sleep instead of death. Concerned, the three good fairies take Aurora to a secluded cottage in the wood and change her name to Briar Rose. When Aurora grows to be a teenager, she is dancing and singing in the forest when she meets a handsome man who happened to hear her singing. Briar Rose does not realize he is Prince Phillip, and they agree to meet again that evening.

Meanwhile the three good fairies are preparing for her birthday and to surprise her with the news that she is a princess. But when Briar Rose returns with the news of meeting a strange but enchanting man, the fairies must tell her she can never see him again. The three fairies tell her about the future that is set for her and that night they take her back to the castle. Aurora is saddened that she will never see the man from the forest and asks to be left alone. The three fairies oblige. Aurora suddenly sees a floating spark of light cast by Maleficent and, in a trance, follows the spark to a spinning wheel. All the three good fairies try to stop her, but Maleficent's spell is too strong and Aurora touches the spindle, pricking her finger. She has been put in a bed by the fairies where she can sleep peacefully. To prevent further hurt in the kingdom, the fairies put the whole kingdom to sleep. They discover that Prince Phillip is the man in the forest and he's walking in to a trap, and they help him confront Maleficent. After Prince Phillip fights and seemingly kills Maleficent, who transformed into a dragon, he moves upstairs to Aurora's bedroom and kisses her; she wakes up from the spell and smiles. They dance at the ball announcing her betrothal.

Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams

Main article: Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams

In the beginning of the movie, Princess Aurora introduces herself. This is very important, since little can be known about Aurora's personality from Sleeping Beauty. After she asks a question, she guides the viewer to the scene where she is told by her father, King Stefan and her mother, Leah, that being a princess is so easy. Then after both her parents and Prince Phillip leave, she has some duties to do when as a princess. During the "Keys To The Kingdom" musical number, she orders her servants to cook food, plant tulips, lilies, and orange trees, cut topiary, and paint the trellis pink. She has been taken to the table in a chair where she can wait for her guests to come for the party. Later on, the clumsy Duke helps her sign the forms and reviews what she has found. There is a speech sheet with a golden medal on it King Hubert has forgotten to take. She instantly sends it to the three good fairies and is told by Merryweather that she has to use her wand for magic. When she uses it to make the brown cows appear, one of them headbutts the Duke. She then manages to sell cows to the farmer who meets her and the other peasants who wait for too long. After Prince Phillip, King Hubert, her parents and the Good fairies return, they all attend a banquet together and she talks about how she enjoyed her own duties. After the movie Aurora thanks the viewer for watching her story and gives a goodbye wave.

Kingdom Hearts

Main article: Kingdom Hearts

Princess Aurora (オーロラ・ローズ, Arōra Rozu^?) appears in the Kingdom Hearts series as one of the seven Princesses of Heart (maidens who lack darkness in their hearts). In the first Kingdom Hearts game, she is the first Princess of Heart to be kidnapped by Maleficent. Soon after being kidnapped, her world, the Enchanted Dominion, is destroyed by the Heartless. She is held hostage at Hollow Bastion along with the other princesses through most of the game. Eventually, Riku (while being possessed by Xehanort's Heartless) uses her heart (along with the hearts of Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Alice and Jasmine) to create the Keyblade of People's Hearts, a mysterious weapon which can unlock the darkness in people's hearts. Eventually, after the main protagonist Sora sacrifices himself to awaken Kairi (the seventh princess), the Keyblade of People's Hearts is destroyed and Aurora's heart flies back to her body, but not before the Princesses' Hearts leave darkness flowing out of the Keyhole of Hollow Bastion. Aurora and the other princesses remain in Hollow Bastion, using the light in their hearts to hold the darkness back until the keyhole is sealed. At the end of the game, Sora, Donald Duck and Goofy defeat Xehanort's Heartless, the Enchanted Dominion is restored, and Aurora returns to her home.

She is briefly mentioned in Kingdom Hearts II, where her name is part of the password for Ansem's computer.

She also appears in the prequel Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, in her homeworld, the Enchanted Dominion. Like in the film, she was cursed by Maleficent at a young age. Soon after the curse in fulfilled, Maleficent hypnotises Terra into using his Keyblade to extract her heart from her body, so Maleficent may use its powers for her own evil purposes. Later, Ventus, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather sneak into Maleficent's lair and free Aurora's heart, which flies back to her body. After Maleficent is defeated by Prince Phillip and Aqua, she is awakened by Phillip with a kiss. During the games credits, she is seen dancing with Phillip while Flora and Merryweather continue to argue over the color of her dress.

Kilala Princess

Main article: Kilala Princess

Princess Aurora also appears in the Japanese fantasy/romance manga, Kilala Princess. It is produced by Kōdansha that debuted in Nakayoshi in April 2005, which revolves around a sweet young girl named Kilala and the stubborn Prince Rei as they try to find Kilala's kidnapped friend with the help of the six Disney Princesses, who are Aurora and Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, and Jasmine.

Disney Theme Parks

Princess Aurora is often seen in the theme parks as a meet-and-greet character, played by a cast member. She usually wears her pink ball gown and tiara.^{[citation needed]}

Attractions

The iconic castle in Disneyland is called the Sleeping Beauty Castle. There is also a Sleeping Beauty castle in Hong Kong Disneyland and in Disneyland Paris, called Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant (French for previously mentioned title). Park visitors are able to walk through the castle and view several dioramas depicting scenes from the Disney film Sleeping Beauty. The original dioramas were designed in the style of Eyvind Earle, production designer for the film. In 2012, Aurora and the other Disney Princesses will have a new meet and greet attraction called Princess Fairytale Hall at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World.^[4]

Merchandise

The Princess Aurora character is a featured part of the Disney Princess line of products.

Trademark

The Walt Disney Company currently has a trademark application pending with the US Patent and Trademark Office, filed March 13, 2007, for the name "Princess Aurora" that would cover all live and recorded movie, television, radio, stage, computer, Internet, news, and photographic entertainment uses, except literature works of fiction and nonfiction.^[5] This has caused controversy because "Princess Aurora" is the name of the lead character in The Sleeping Beauty Ballet, from where Disney acquired the name and some of the music for its animated film, and which is performed live on stage and sometimes television and often sold later as a recorded performance on video.^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Sleeping Beauty Character History". Disney Archives. http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/characters/sleeping/sleeping.html. 
2. ^ "Cinderella Character History". Disney Archives. http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/characters/cinderella/cinderella.html. 
3. ^ "Walt's Masterworks: Cinderella". Disney Archives. http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/collection/masterworks/cinderella/index.html. 
4. ^ Rumor no more: Magic Kingdom Fantasyland expansion to include Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Princess Fairytale Hall, The Great Goofini
5. ^ "US Patent and Trademark Office - Princess Aurora trademark status". http://tarr.uspto.gov/tarr?regser=serial&entry=77130191&action=Request+Status. Retrieved March 25, 2010. 
6. ^ "An Attempt To Stop The Disney Machine". http://www.deadline.com/2009/05/an-attempt-to-stop-the-disney-machine/. Retrieved March 25, 2010.  Deadline Hollywood / Niki Finke, May 1, 2009

External links

• Princess Aurora at Disney's Archives
• Official Disney Princess site