Sleeping Beauty Castle is the
fairy taleA fairy tale is a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, gnomes, and talking animals, and usually enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events...
structure at the center of Disneyland Park and
Hong Kong DisneylandHong Kong Disneyland is the first theme park inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and is owned and managed by the Hong Kong International Theme Parks, an incorporated company jointly owned by The Walt Disney Company and the Government of Hong Kong....
Park. It is based on Neuschwanstein Castle, with some French inspirations (
Notre Dame de ParisNotre Dame de Paris is a Gothic, Roman Catholic Cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the "cathedra", or official chair, of the Archbishop...
and the
Hospices de BeauneThe Hospices de Beaune or Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune, a former charitable almshouse of the XVth century that is now a museum, is located in Beaune in Burgundy....
especially).
Opened July 17, 1955, the castle is the oldest of all Disney castles. It reaches a height of 94 feet (28.5 meters). The castle initially featured an empty upper level that was never intended to house an attraction, but
Walt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. As the co-founder Walter Elias...
was not satisfied with what he viewed as wasted space, and challenged his
ImagineersWalt Disney Imagineering was formed by entertainment mogul Walt Disney on December 16, 1952 as WED Enterprises to develop plans for a theme park and to manage Disney's personal assets. It was an independent, private company, owned by Walt Disney himself, but on February 3, 1965, was merged into...
to find some use for the space.
Sleeping Beauty Castle is the
fairy taleA fairy tale is a fictional story that may feature folkloric characters such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, gnomes, and talking animals, and usually enchantments, often involving a far-fetched sequence of events...
structure at the center of Disneyland Park and
Hong Kong DisneylandHong Kong Disneyland is the first theme park inside the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and is owned and managed by the Hong Kong International Theme Parks, an incorporated company jointly owned by The Walt Disney Company and the Government of Hong Kong....
Park. It is based on Neuschwanstein Castle, with some French inspirations (
Notre Dame de ParisNotre Dame de Paris is a Gothic, Roman Catholic Cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the "cathedra", or official chair, of the Archbishop...
and the
Hospices de BeauneThe Hospices de Beaune or Hôtel-Dieu de Beaune, a former charitable almshouse of the XVth century that is now a museum, is located in Beaune in Burgundy....
especially).
Disneyland
Opened July 17, 1955, the castle is the oldest of all Disney castles. It reaches a height of 94 feet (28.5 meters). The castle initially featured an empty upper level that was never intended to house an attraction, but
Walt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. As the co-founder Walter Elias...
was not satisfied with what he viewed as wasted space, and challenged his
ImagineersWalt Disney Imagineering was formed by entertainment mogul Walt Disney on December 16, 1952 as WED Enterprises to develop plans for a theme park and to manage Disney's personal assets. It was an independent, private company, owned by Walt Disney himself, but on February 3, 1965, was merged into...
to find some use for the space. Beginning April 29, 1957, visitors were able to walk through the castle and view several dioramas depicting the story of
Sleeping BeautySleeping Beauty is a fairy tale classic, the first in the set published in 1697 by Charles Perrault, Contes de ma Mère l'Oye ....
. The original dioramas were designed in the style of
Eyvind EarleEyvind Earle was an American artist, author and illustrator, noted for his contribution to the background illustration and styling of Disney animated films in the 1950s. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Rahr West Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum and Arizona State University Art Museum have...
, production designer for Disney's 1959 film
Sleeping BeautySleeping Beauty is a American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "La Belle au bois dormant" by Charles Perrault. It was released to theatres on January 29, 1959 by Buena Vista Distribution...
, and were then redone in 1977 to resemble the window displays on
Main Street, U.S.A.Main Street, U.S.A. is the first "themed land" inside the entrance of the many Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world....
. The walkthrough was closed for unspecified reasons in October 2001; popular belief claims the September 11th attacks and the potential danger that ensued played a major factor in the closing.
On July 17, 2008, Disney announced that the Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough would reopen in the style of the original Earle dioramas, enhanced with new technology not available in 1957. The walkthrough reopened on November 27, 2008 at 5:00 PM, drawing long lines going as far back as the Hub. Unlike previous incarnations, visitors who are unable to climb stairs or navigate the passageways of the Castle can still experience the walkthrough "virtually" in a special room on the Castle's ground floor. This room is lavishly themed, and presents the closed-captioned
CGIComputer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
walkthrough recreation on a high-definition TV. This same virtual recreation is included on the
Sleeping Beauty 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD.
During the 50th Anniversary
In celebration of Disneyland's
50th anniversaryThe Happiest Homecoming on Earth was the eighteen-month-long celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Disneyland theme park, which opened on July 18, 1955...
, the castle was repainted and five turrets were decorated with stylized crowns, each representing a decade in the park's history.
- The creation of Disneyland is represented by a pair of famous "Ears" peeking up over the horizon to see the wonders to come.
- "A World on the Move", otherwise known as the "New Tomorrowland" of 1967, is represented by rocket ships and accented by opalescent planets.
- The Blue Fairy represents the debut of the Main Street Electrical Parade
The Main Street Electrical Parade was a regularly-scheduled parade, created by Bob Jani and project director Ron Miziker, famous for its long run at Disneyland at the Disneyland Resort most summers between 1972-1974, 1977-1982, and 1985-1996...
.
- The Indiana Jones Adventure is represented by the evil Eye of Mara, guarded by snakes.
- The 50th Anniversary of Disneyland is represented by fireworks and Tinker Bell.
Facts
- The drawbridge of the castle used to be functional but was rarely used. It has only been publicly lowered on two occasions: when the park opened in 1955, and when Fantasyland was rededicated in 1983. The gears that control the drawbridge were removed during a refurbishment in 1996 and have not been replaced.
- While being filmed, Walt Disney accidentally referred to the castle as Snow White's Castle. This blooper sparked false speculation among fans that the castle was originally going to be called "Snow White's Castle" but was changed to coincide with the release of Sleeping Beauty.
- The coat of arms
A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways. Historically, they were used by knights to identify them apart from enemy...
over the entry archway is not that of the Disney family, despite popular belief. Rather, it is the English coat of arms.
- When the moat surrounding the castle is dredged, any money retrieved from it is given to charity.
- The Castle was originally blue, like the Cinderella Castle
Cinderella Castle is the fairytale castle at the center of two Disney theme parks, the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort and Tokyo Disneyland at the Tokyo Disney Resort...
, but was then changed to its current pink, gold, and light blue color scheme.
- Starting in late October, Sleeping Beauty Castle is slowly transformed into Sleeping Beauty's Winter Castle with over 80,000 LED lights & projections. Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle, first introduced in 2007, is decorated even more elaborately during the holiday season with additional snowdrifts and icicles. After dark, a sensational new holiday lighting and special effects show carries the magic of the holidays from the Castle all the way to the Christmas Tree in Town Square. For the first time in 53 years, the Christmas Tree is completely artificial, which enables Disneyland to present a holiday light show with more than 62,000 energy-efficient LED lights. The Sleeping Beauty’s Winter Castle presentation unfolds throughout the evening in three acts, each of them featuring a touch of winter snow on Main Street, U.S.A. The finale of the show includes the legendary "Believe … in Holiday Magic" fireworks show, which takes guests on a journey of sights and sounds of the season and ends with a touching rendition of "White Christmas
"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about a White Christmas. It is the second-best selling single of all time, and won an Academy Award. The morning after Berlin wrote the song in 1940 at the poolside — he often stayed up all night writing — he told his...
" along with a climactic snowfall swirling down on Main Street, U.S.A., "small world mall", and New Orleans Square.
Hong Kong Disneyland
The Sleeping Beauty Castle located at Hong Kong Disneyland is of the same design as Disneyland's version. The paint scheme of Hong Kong Disneyland's structure is identical to that used when Disneyland's original opened in 1955. The final turret of Hong Kong Disneyland's castle was put in place on November 18, 2004, and the castle opened to the public on September 12, 2005. It is notably smaller than all of its other siblings (it is the same size as the original California castle, but the mountains make it appear smaller. Walt Disney said that Disneyland castles should be kept small to be warmer and friendlier and not intimidate the guests. It is the focal point for the daily firework display: "Disney In The Stars".
Logo usage
As Sleeping Beauty Castle is a Disney icon, it has become the basis for the logo of
Walt Disney PicturesWalt Disney Pictures refers to several different entities associated with The Walt Disney Company:Walt Disney Pictures, the film banner, was established as a designation in 1983, prior to which Disney films since 1954 were released under the name of the parent company, then named Walt Disney...
,
Walt Disney TelevisionWalt Disney Television was the television production division of The Walt Disney Company with Walt Disney name. It was formed in 1983, as Walt Disney Pictures Television Division, the name was later shortened to Walt Disney Television in the mid-1980s....
, Disney Music Group and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is also heavily featured in advertisements for the
Wonderful World of Disney, currently on the
Disney ChannelDisney Channel is a cable television channel specializing in television programming for children through original series and movies as well as third party programming. It is marketed to mostly children; however, in recent years the diversity of viewers has increased with an older audience,...
.