I'm not going to describe the plot. If you haven't seen the film or read the book... go check Wikipedia and come back. I'll wait. As some of the filmmakers point out in the "making of" documentary, it's really hard to make an entire feature length movie out of a story that is four or five paragraphs long. Apparently, it was Walt Disney's particular gift to be able to transform classic fables and make them addictive film fare for audiences young and old. He also knew how to cross-promote the hell out of his content, as I learned in "The Peter Tchaikovsky Story." This biopic originally aired as part of Wonderful World of Disney and was a history of the composer that was used to plug the heck of Sleeping Beauty. At the top of the feature, Walt talks about the forthcoming Magical Mural Screen (widescreen for those living in this century) and how it will be the first time anyone has seen this on their TV sets. He also explains about Stereophonic sound, which you can achieve by turning on the radios in your house at the same time as the TV and tuning them so they all played the special at once. And he hypes that this is the first full-length animated feature to be filmed in Technirama 70, and how this film cost a whopping six million dollars to make. The Tchaikovsky biopic is slow and skippable, but to see the widescreen broadcast is pretty damned impressive.

Also on the first disc is audio commentary by Pixar founder John Lasseter, Disney animator Andreas Deja and Leonard Maltin. Three smart guys talking about the film and the nitty gritty details, kinda fascinating. There are self explanatory Princess Fun Facts and a version of the "Grand Canyon Suite" with pictures that was released way back when and can cure even the most serious cases of insomnia. There's a convenient song selection menu that allows you to just cut straight to the sing-a-long versions of the scenes (parents will appreciate this the 100th time a toddler requests to listen to "Once Upon a Dream"). The misleading "Fast Play" is NOT a feature and a complete misnomer. It's something that Disney has on most of their DVDs now that allows parents to put on the movie and have it play all of the commercials -- you have to SKIP the Fast Play in order to get straight to the movie. It's their sneaky way of getting you to watch their commercials and I don't like it one bit. And the other thing I don't like? Emily Osment singing "Once Upon a Dream." You may not know who she is, but she's the younger sibling to Haley Joel and equally, if not more, annoying.

On Disc 2 you've got the options, but instead of picking the blue pill or the red pill, you can visit the Cottage or the Castle. Cottage takes you to games for the kiddies where you can learn to dance like Briar Rose and stuff. Castle takes you to the more grown up fare, including songs that were cut from the movie. "It Happens I Have a Picture" in which the two stupid kings expound upon the merits of their respective children (I really can't stand those dopes), the sweeping "Go to Sleep" which played as the fairies put the whole kingdom down for a nap, and the infectiously addictive "Riddle Diddle," in which the fairies prep for Aurora's birthday. There's also the Alternate Opening with another song "Holiday," which is an uplifting number with the townsfolk celebrating the birth of Princess Aurora. They completely recycled this for Beauty and the Beast because it pretty much has the same exact flavor/sound to it.

"Picture Perfect" is the making of, filled with stories from all those involved who are still around, including Mary Costa (who did the voice of Aurora). I learned so much about how it took nearly a decade to make it, and it was a conscious decision not to have talking mice or dwarves. There's a great extra called "Sequence 8" in which more of the same people specifically talk about the "Once Upon a Dream" portion of the film, which apparently went through a number of changes, cost more than $10,000 (a lot back then) to make and was nearly the cause of the film shutting down production. There's a feature on Evyind Earle, who was in charge of the art, and there's a whole history of his sad upbringing as well. And another Wonderful World of Disney special about four artists painting one tree, where Disney hypes the different personalities and styles he has working for him, and mentions they worked on Sleeping Beauty. Evil genius, that man. I swear. And if you like the art/animation stuff, there are galleries and storyboard sequences galore to be had, as well as the artists sketching from live action performers and the original trailers (hidden under the guise of publicity). It's really insanely thorough and could keep you busy for days.

My personal favorite feature (since I always wanted to be an Imagineer) was a walk-through of Sleeping Beauty's castle where there's a look at what the attraction used to look like back in it's heyday before it was shut down. There used to be peepholes where you could see Malificent's Demons, or a reflection of your own eye looking back at you like a million times. Creepy and cool. And I liked that there were multiple versions of it so you could see it with a guided explanation, or just pretend you were "wandering." Those Disney people are always thinking... and suckering me into buying more of their stuff.

Suckered in yet? Then buy it now!