Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Headscratchers / SleepingBeauty

Go To

1[[foldercontrol]]
2!!Disney version
3[[folder: Could have gone the diarchy route]]
4* If Kings Stefan and Hubert wanted to unite their kingdoms THAT badly, instead of subjecting their children to an arranged marriage, why didn’t they just publicly unite their kingdoms as a diarchy (a kingdom with 2 kings or 2 queens)? That way, they wouldn’t risk their kids falling in love with someone else (like what the fairies and King Hubert thought was going on in the movie).
5** If I had to guess, exactly, going with the setting (I think the UK/England, during the medieval times), diarchies weren't really a thing in part of the world. However, as far as marriages go, that wouldn't have eliminated the kids from potentially falling in love with someone else anyways.
6** Because arranged marriages were pretty much the standard method for medieval diplomacy in real life too, presumably this fairy tale world is no different.
7[[/folder]]
8[[folder: Couldn't they have waited?]]
9* Why didn't they just wait until after her 16th birthday to reveal Aurora's identity? We could have avoided this whole mess if they'd just waited until then.
10** A troper on the FridgeLogic page suggested that Maleficent's magic, being more powerful than that of the good fairies, overruled everyones common sense and forced the events to play out as they did.
11** Maybe they just got confident? The plan was ''working'' after all. If Flora and Merryweather hadn't engaged in a petty magic battle, Maleficent never would have found them. By the time it occured to her to see if Aurora had returned to the castle it would have probably been too late to do anything.
12** They weren't about to present her until after sunset on her birthday - the exact time the curse expired. She arrives at the castle only a few minutes before sunset. But presumably the fairies were planning to bring her later on just to be safe but had to move her because she'd agreed to meet Philip at the cottage. They felt it was more convenient to leave the cottage before he got there rather than trying to explain to an apparent peasant boy that his crush was in fact the princess. Essentially they had planned to keep her under careful observation until sunset but Flora's conscience got the better of her and they left her alone for a few minutes.
13[[/folder]]
14[[folder: Secret Lantern Meeting, don't tell Mal!]]
15* The three fairies lock themselves into a lantern to discuss their plans. This is so Malificent can't overhear. Then they reveal the whole plan to the king and queen, out in the open. What, Maleficent didn't overhear that?
16** It's never specified ''where'' they told the King and Queen. Or how.
17** Not just Maleficent, but ''anyone'' who might be listening in. In the chance they might accidentally spill it out.
18** ^ This. A royal castle is full of servants, who often go overlooked or BeneathSuspicion. Maleficent could have spies anywhere.
19[[/folder]]
20[[folder: "Well, it would make me happy!"]]
21* Why ''couldn't'' Merryweather turn Maleficent into a toad anyway? Flora and Fauna say that their magic can only bring happiness, but turning her into a toad ''would've'' made Merryweather happy, and probably a lot of other people, too.
22** Because Maleficent is magical too, and much more powerful than them. She'd probably be not only able to turn herself back to normal, but to also return the favor considerably.
23** Its possible that Fairies cannot attack or harm each other directly, either out of some law/code of conduct that all members of their race follow or because their magic will not allow them to. Maleficent is clearly FAR more powerful than the three good faeries combined, yet she never seems to attack them directly, only hurting the things they care about (sending frosts to ruin Flora's flowers, etc.). And yes, Philip kills Maleficent with Flora's help, but it is still Philip that throws the sword, making for some pretty interesting LoopholeAbuse.
24** I've always thought this was a case of SemanticSuperpower. Merryweather couldn't turn Maleficent into a "fat old hop-toad" when her only motivation was her ''own'' happiness; Fauna specifically mentions that their magic only works "to bring joy and happiness," presumably to other people. But when Philip got involved and was working to save Aurora (and, by extension, both of their kingdoms), the Good Fairies ''were'' able to enter combat (with Merryweather turning Diablo to stone in particular) because stopping Maleficent was now directly "bringing joy and happiness" to everyone involved.
25[[/folder]]
26[[folder: They can cast spells but not cook or clean]]
27* The fairies seemed to have a pretty hard time cooking and sewing. Not that those things are effortlessly easy, but they'd been living like mortals for 16 years and taking care of a kid. Shouldn't one of those have come up by now?
28** The implication is that Merryweather has been doing the cooking and sewing this whole time (and has to be somewhat competent or Briar Rose would be dead by now). Fauna is directly stated to have tried baking for the first time. The only reason Merryweather uses her powers to get the cleaning done is because it is tedious.
29** Note that when Merryweather says, "I never baked a fancy cake!", she puts emphasis on the ''fancy'', which indicates she did at least some of the cooking all those years. She also helps define "tsp" for Fauna.
30*** Likewise with the dress. It wasn't just any dress, it was an elegant dress fit for a princess. Tailoring peasant clothes is one thing, but beautiful and quite expensive royalty attire made from the finest fabrics is an entirely different matter, as it requires quite delicate procedures.
31[[/folder]]
32[[folder: It's a girl, let's rejoice!]]
33* I know it's a fairy tale, but why is a daughter being born celebrated so much? In the film the whole kingdom was rejoicing, but in real life a [[HeirClubForMen princess would not be considered as important. ]]
34** It's quite possible that women are respected in this fairy tale setting. Not only that, but the Queen and King hadn't had ''any'' children up to that point which meant ''no'' heirs. So, yes, being a fantasy setting, Disney was free to make a princess be an heir.
35** What about Queen Elizabeth II? I am not that familiar with the monarchy in the UK, but wasn't she the heir to the throne? Wasn't there a big celebration in her honor when she was born? Keep in mind, I was born in 1989, so...yah.
36*** Yes, but that was in the twentieth century, when the monarchy didn't have that much power any more any way so it didn't matter as much, plus the fact that by this point England had had several successful - or at least tolerable - queens. In the Middle Ages, having a strong male heir plus a spare was absolutely vital to ensure the succession, and nobles were pretty iffy about having a woman on the throne. Witness the conflict between Stephen and Matilda, two cousins who engulfed England in the first of many civil wars...
37*** Plus Elizabeth the II's father wasn't even supposed to be king, originally. He only became king because his brother abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, a twice divorced American. So technically she was third in line to the throne until her dad became king, which is when she became the Heir to the throne.
38*** Elizabeth was the daughter of the Heir Presumptive (the second in line to the throne). Her chances of reaching the throne were estimated at roughly -0 when she was born, so there wasn't a huge outpouring for her. As for Aurora, well, the main reason for having a princess was to marry her off for political gain. As quickly as tempers flew between the two kings, odds are that Aurora's birth was the lynchpin in a peace treaty between the two nations, since Phillip was betrothed to her before they'd even cut the umbilical cord.
39** Well, depending on how old the parents are (I'm going to say the Queen's in her late 30s and the king maybe a bit older then that) which means Aurora would probably be the only child they ever have. So Aurora is by default the heir to her dad's throne (or parents, if they co-rule)
40** A princess was still valuable in the Middle Ages. Any daughters were used to secure alliances with other important kingdoms via marriage. Which is exactly what happened with Aurora and Philip. Any royal child is better than none.
41** It's one of those cases of we've-waited-so-long-for-a-child-that-we-thought-we-would-never-have-one-but-at-long-last-a-miracle-has-happened. The people were celebrating that their king and queen finally had the child they'd been longing for.
42** In the middle ages it's better for the peasants if the King and Queen are happy about something than if they are depressed, frustrated, and never attentive to anything but having sex 24/7 in an effort to conceive. The movie only shows the pre-Aurora kingdom through saintly illustrations and pastoral music as told from Stefan and Leah's perspective. For the peasants it may well have been very good news that their monarchs were out from under a black cloud of bitterness and sorrow.
43** I'm not sure why this was even asked since the OP acknowledges that they ''know'' it's a fairy tale and not real life, but even if we look beyond that, the film tells us that Aurora's parents had been hoping for the opportunity to unite their kingdom with King Hubert's by marrying their children. We're never told that Prince Phillip has any sisters (or any other siblings whatsoever), so if we assume that he's an only child, then Stefan's first child being born a girl would be exactly what everyone had been hoping would happen. Especially since Hubert is clearly getting on in age, the chances of him being able to sire another heir had Aurora been born a boy instead are pretty slim.
44*** In some tellings of ''Sleeping Beauty'' fairy tale, the King and Queen were once childless and so wished to have a child, so they could be celebrating that she exists, considering that the King and Queen didn't have any kids for a long time and child and maternal mortality were realy, real, real high.
45[[/folder]]
46[[folder: Dying on her 16th birthday]]
47* First, Maleficent's curse says (to my knowledge), "Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die." It says nothing about that curse coming into effect any other time, ONLY on that date. If so, that makes the rest of the story completely useless. They didn't need to burn every spinning wheel in the kingdom (which probably seriously hurt their kingdom's ability to make clothes or sew cloth for trade), they didn't need the fairies to hide her away, they didn't need to be separated from their daughter for 16 entire years. They could have very easily hired the three fairies as Aurora's bodyguards. On her birthday, all they would have to do is lock away all of the spinning wheels for that one day and up the security in the castle. It would also help to keep her busy and contained to mostly one section of the castle, far away from any of the locked-away spinning wheels. Twenty-four hours of this, and she would have been perfectly fine. Plus, Maleficent would have probably expected the baby to be hidden. Hiding in plain sight, anyone?
48** Actually, it's "''before'' the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday". The curse in effect from when it was cast till the sun sets over the horizon. That's why extreme measures were necessary. Surveying her for twenty-four hours still might not have done the trick; the fairies only left Rose alone for a ''minute'' and that's all it took.
49** That's also why Maleficent has her subjects search the kingdom for sixteen years. If the curse could only work ''on'' her sixteenth birthday then she would have only sent them out then.
50** This is a case of AmbiguousSyntax. As stated, it could easily be interpreted either way. Stefan, of course, as the father of a child who was difficult to conceive and the king of a kingdom that has only one possible heir (and a less-than-ideal one at that since she's not only a girl but now a cursed girl), errs on the side of caution.
51** The fairies also display some awareness that what Maleficent wants is to ''kill Aurora'', not necessarily to make sure that her curse plays out exactly as planned. That's why they dismiss Flora's plan to prevent the curse by turning the princess into a flower -- because they reason Maleficent will send a frost to kill the flower instead.
52** As per a few versions of the fairy tale, the last fairy [[note]] In a Perrault's version, there were seven fairies[[/note]] states that she can't undo or change the spell (though she does try) but she could change the outcome and so made it where the girl would fall into a deep sleep for 100 years.
53[[/folder]]
54[[folder: Aunties' mistake.]]
55* The fairies know that since Aurora's sixteenth birthday is coming up, Maleficent is probably getting desperate. Even if they still believed she didn't know about the cottage, they had to have realized she'd guess they were taking Aurora back to the castle So that now brings up the question...''why did they leave her ALONE?'' They could have EASILY moved to the other side of the room and let her cry, but no - they LEFT. And guess what happened?
56** It's acknowledged in the movie itself that the fairies made a mistake. Fauna moans and cries, "Oh, why did we leave her alone?!" and later, Flora weeps and says, "I'll never forgive myself!". They were too confident they had eluded Maleficent, and they felt truly sorry for their foster daughter. It was a pretty tragic time for them, too - they had to give her up, and were grieving themselves. Also, they didn't yet know Maleficent had learned where they'd been hiding.
57[[/folder]]
58[[folder: Shouldn't this have been extended...?]]
59* Aurora was cursed to sleep until she was kissed by her true love...so was wasn't magically putting the rest of the kingdom to sleep until their princess woke up kind of counterproductive? Any of those people could been her true love. That would have sucked.
60** When they do that, they've already found out that Aurora fell in love with some boy she met in the woods. They were probably planning to go after him and see if he really was her true love. Finding out he happened to be the man she was betrothed to just motivated them more.
61*** But they didn't know anything ''about'' the boy in the woods. They had no reason to assume it was not someone from the nearest kingdom passing through. Alternatively, if Aurora told the fairies he was going to meet him at the cabin that evening and the fairies were ''absolutely convinced'' he'd show up then at least one of them ought to have been on their way to the cabin to fetch him. It's lucky the boy turned out to be Phillip, because if he were someone else, they'd have blown their best shot and ever finding the guy and breaking the spell.
62*** Aurora was heartbroken that she couldn't see him again. Seems like a candidate for true love especially back in those days. Plan A was to put the castle to sleep and the fairies would have presumably discussed how to find the true love. However when King Hubert is falling asleep, he lets slip about Philip. Perhaps before that they assumed Philip was in the castle somewhere and it'd be easier to search for him with everyone asleep? Then they'd wake him up with their magic and get him to kiss Aurora.
63*** Assuming Maleficent hadn't kidnapped him and they'd missed him at the cottage, who says they couldn't have used magic to track him down again?
64** As long as Aurora and her true love were both alive, the spell could be broken. That means there should have been a rush - it was only logical for Maleficent to target the only person could break the spell.
65*** Except she specifically states that's ''not'' what she's going to do. She says she's going to keep Phillip locked up until he's an old man, then release him and let him go wake Aurora.
66*** That isn't quite what Maleficent says. She ''does'' heavily imply that Phillip will eventually be released after a very long time, but the animation which accompanies depicts Phillip as not only aged and broken-down but slightly transparent, suggesting that what Maleficent really plans is to keep him locked up until he dies of old age and that he'll be "free to go his way" only as a ''ghost''.
67** Who says they can't lift the sleeping spell? It was their own magic, after all. The only reason they cast it in the first place was so the King and Queen wouldn't have to discover after all their sacrifice was for nothing.
68[[/folder]]
69[[folder:Disney's version vs the Grimm version]]
70* Why do people keep trying to compare this Disney version to the version where she's raped by the prince and has his twins, even though it's obviously based on the Thcaikovski ballet (the music is a rather big clue, if you happened to miss the opening credits)?
71** Because people enjoy {{Grimmification}}, whether or not it actually makes sense or is at all relevant.
72** Well all of which is of course still relevant. No art work really is made in a vacuum, most have long standing paths that evolve as time goes on. Most of which will draw comparisons. All of these examples being evolved along the same path that existed before them and continued after them. Why exactly can't people compare and contrast them?
73[[/folder]]
74[[folder: True Love breaks the spell]]
75* What exactly is the point of the third fairy bringing the curse down from death to an endless sleep that can only be broken by true love's kiss? In every version of the story I've heard of, nothing is ever done with this gift until after it becomes a last resort - instead, it's always the king sending Aurora to live with the pixies, Maleficent finding her anyway, and the curse taking effect without a hitch, and Aurora falling in love along the way always seems to be just a lucky coincidence. Why not just let her grow up normally, have her meet someone she could fall in love with, and then if the curse ''does'' take effect, you'll have a surefire way to wake her from the sleep, anyway. Why not do this instead of hiding Aurora and ''hoping'' the curse doesn't play through?
76** A few reasons: 1. Aurora is betrothed. The fairies are actually horrified she fell in love in the movie, because she still has to marry the prince (obviously not realizing they were the same person). 2. If Aurora did fall in love with someone at the castle, Maleficent would find out. In fact, she does in the movie, and successfully captures Phillip.
77** Aurora is vulnerable every day from her christening until she turns sixteen. You think Maleficent is going to wait for her to grow up, fall in love with someone and risk breaking the curse? The fairies decide to keep Aurora hidden away because [[EvilCannotComprehendGood Maleficent wouldn't suspect them giving up their lives and magic for sixteen years to raise a child as their own]]. They also warn Aurora never to speak to strangers in case it could be one of Maleficent's spies.
78** And you should note that they don't come up with the plan to hide Aurora until later. Merryweather softening the curse from death to sleep is a desperation move to make the king and queen feel better. In fact that's why they decide to hide Aurora away - because there's still ample room for Maleficent to come after her, even with the kiss escape clause.
79*** In Perrault's version, it wasn't exactly "true love's kiss", it was that she had to be kissed by a king's son.
80[[/folder]]
81[[folder: What was Merryweather's initial gift]]
82* If Maleficent didn't appear at the party in the beginning of the movie, what would've been Merryweather's gift for Aurora?
83** Maybe love? For example, the gift of her one true love she would meet one day, or something? Which might've been weird, considering she was already betrothed to Phillip, but maybe the gift was specifically for love to bloom between her and Phillip, which would also explain why love factors into the gift she ultimately gives.
84** Wisdom or wit? Merryweather is far more practical than the other two and either would be useful for a future queen.
85** If you take into account that the fairies were originally going to have powers based off their names, the gifts make a little more sense. Flora with powers over flowers gives Aurora the beauty of them, Fauna with powers over wildlife gives her a voice like a songbird. Merriweather would have had powers over the weather, so maybe something that ties into that - a sunny personality? Gentle like the breeze? Although if you think about it, the gift she does give ties into that as well - giving Aurora the chance to wake from the curse could parallel that the sun will always come out from behind a storm cloud.
86*** And in the sequence of Merryweather giving Aurora her gift, the motif is a ray of sunlight falling on her. Flora's had flower motifs, and Fauna's had birds.
87** The filmmakers have stated that Merriweather’s gift would have bestowed happiness if she hadn’t been interrupted. This is also the gift given by the blue-themed fairy in ''Maleficent'', that Aurora may never be blue. (It’s the green fairy’s gift that’s interrupted in that version.) And it does tie back to her powers being weather-related, like was suggested above — sunshine commonly correlates to happiness just as flowers do to beauty and birds do to song.
88[[/folder]]
89[[folder: Inconsistent Power]]
90* So the three fairies state that Maleficent is far too powerful for them, yet they can magic up a sword that can easily kill her with just a flick of their wands, why did they never do this years ago? All this time and they never summoned that sword and told one of the kings knights to throw it or just do it themselves?
91** Even with the sword and shield, Maleficent proved to be a very powerful threat to Phillip. Odds are the fairies didn't dare to send someone directly into her domain, even if they were armed and capable of killing her - they gave the weapons to Phillip because they were his only chance of escape at that point.
92** It's LoopholeAbuse of their powers. Fauna says they can only use their magic to bring joy and happiness. They do however find ways around that, using it for defence to stop the arrows and boulders thrown at Philip. Merryweather is also able to turn Diablo to stone, presumably because he was directly threatening their mission. So my guess is that the fairies can't use their magic to stop Maleficent, but they ''can'' conjure up tools and weapons for someone else to stop her.
93** And really, Maleficent left herself much more vulnerable as a dragon. In that form she could only snap and breathe fire. So it looks like the fairies just saw an opportunity to get her while she was defenceless. Flora's spell says "sword of truth fly swift and sure, that evil die and good endure" - so perhaps the sword would have killed Maleficent anyway and the spell was just making sure it would hit whatever it was aiming at.
94[[/folder]]
95[[folder: How did she know?]]
96* Kidnapping Phillip and keeping him locked up implies that Maleficent had learnt that her curse was modified and that Aurora fell in love with him. Her only source of information was the raven, who was eavesdropping on the fairies and they were talking about a man the girl fell in love with, but how did she find out about the modified curse?
97** Merryweather altered the curse in front of the entire court, it wouldn't have been difficult to find out she had even without magic powers or minions.
98** Well when the princess first disappeared, wouldn't the first place Maleficent sent her servants be the castle? To spy on the king and queen, hoping to get information about Aurora's whereabouts. They presumably found out then.
99** Also, keep in mind that when Maleficent is casting her curse, she specifically mentions "the princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty," which correspond to the gifts that Flora and Fauna gave, even though she wasn't in the castle until after the good fairies had offered their blessings. Later, Merryweather laments that Maleficent "knows everything," so it's possible that she has some kind of extra-sensory perception in addition to her other powers. When Merryweather gives her own blessing to weaken the curse, Maleficent might have sensed it and thus known the new condition.
100[[/folder]]
101[[folder:The color changing dress 1]]
102* Why does Aurora's dress continue to change between pink and blue in the book illustration at the end?
103** RuleOfFunny? Although if you want to take it at face value, the book might be implying that Flora and Merriweather never stopped the colour war, and Aurora spent her whole life with a dress that was constantly flashing between pink and blue.
104*** Well, it can't go on forever. They should let Aurora decide what color her dress should be, even if she chooses green over pink or blue, thus settling the debate more in Fauna's favor than Flora or Merryweather's.
105** Because the fairies are standing off-camera while we're looking at the book, and they ''still'' can't decide what color that dress should be.
106[[/folder]]
107[[folder:Why didn't they intervene]]
108* In the scene where Maleficent hypnotizes Aurora, the Fairies are waiting for Aurora on the other side of a door, as Maleficent's oboe {{Leitmotif}} chugs away, with nothing else heard in the sequence apart from the Faeries talking. However, Flora puts her ear to the door and immediately recognizes Maleficent's presence. So the question is: [[BreakingTheFourthWall can the Fairies hear Maleficent's presence through hearing the]] {{Leitmotif}}?
109** If you listen to the music, you can hear a faint ghostly wail calling out "Aurora". Maybe that's what Flora heard? And maybe the music was what Maleficent was using to hypnotise Aurora.
110** Maybe fairies also have better hearing than humans.
111** Or maybe they were just listening for the sound of Aurora crying. They left her in there alone and were presumably outside the only door, so if they can't hear her anymore, it either means she's stopped crying or has found another way out, and that could only be due to Maleficent.
112[[/folder]]
113[[folder: Mal's Sadism]]
114* So Maleficant, the evil sorceress so evil and petty that she curses a newborn baby with death because her parents didn't invite her to the celebration, captures Prince Phillip, the only man who can save Aurora from an endless slumber, and instead of going to kill the Prince in the dungeon, she goes to the dungeon... and tells Phillip that she'll let him out when he's old and that then he can try to awaken Aurora. While cruelty fits Maleficant, the fact that she's letting Philip ''live'' in the dungeon does not. She should either be torturing him to near death (which I understand they can't really do for a kids film), or outright going to kill him herself (which she only does after Phillip escapes).
115** Maleficent intends to keep him there for a hundred years, so in her mind she's got plenty of time. She had no idea that the fairies were sneaking into the Forbidden Mountain, as she didn't know they knew about Prince Philip. As she's on a massive ego trip at the moment - her curse finally being fulfilled, and the potential curse breaker safely locked in her dungeon, she has effectively won. She didn't bank on the fairies being able to sneak into her home. She pretty much says that she's going to get a good night's sleep, while her minions appear to be having a celebration.
116** If you look at Maleficent as a character, she's not exactly to the point. She could have killed Aurora instantly when she showed up at the christening; but she chose to curse her in such a way that would torture her parents even more. Even when she finally traps Aurora, she doesn't just sneak up on her and prick her with the spindle; she hypnotises her and tortures the fairies with a little chase. Maleficent prefers to tantalise her victims.
117** My impression was that Maleficent was trying to cleverly nullify Merryweather’s gift. By leaving Prince Philip alive until he was about to die of old age, then letting him go to wake up Aurora, the terms of Merryweather’s gift would be fulfilled, yet everyone involved would be as miserable as possible – maximum win! If she killed Philip she would be trying to fight fate and directly oppose the power of the gift, and we now from numerous stories that trying to defy prophecies is a very dangerous endeavor with unpredictable results. By killing Philip, she might just guarantee that “True Love’s Kiss” is interpreted in some other way that she has no control over.
118** Maleficent is also very powerful, evil, and, like many fae, probably very long-lived if not immortal. She probably prefers playing the long game if doing so will wreak more suffering in others, and it never occurs to her that she could lose until things suddenly stop going her way.
119[[/folder]]
120[[folder: Pink vs Red]]
121* As we know, Flora is the red fairy due to the color she dresses in. However, her magic sparkles are pink and the dress she makes for Aurora is pink. Why not have her be the pink fairy? Or have the magic sparkles be red for most of her magic, but only pink when she colors Aurora's dress? In fact I think the only time she ever really uses red colored magic is when she turns her own clothes from blue to red.
122** Well, Pink is a lighter shade of red and both have similar French names (rouge and rose, respectively). That said, her outfit is probably colored red to make her better stand out, given animation limits in the 1950s (note that there's a lot of other characters don't wear pink or lighter colors).
123** True, but I feel as though the pink should have been a specific color choice that Flora chose just for the dress while her main magic color being red.
124[[/folder]]
125[[folder:How did Phillip get away?]]
126* During the final battle, when Philip finally kills Maleficent by throwing his sword into her chest, Maleficent lets out a scream of agony before throwing herself upon Philip to bite him in one last attempt to kill him and drag him along with her off the cliff. The problem is that Philip narrowly avoids being bitten by Maleficent but the cliff goes down along with her immediately and Philip isn't seen running to the cliff's edge. How does Philip avoid falling with Maleficent and safely appear on the cliff's edge along with the Three Fairies? Does he somehow teleport?
127** Maybe the Fairies teleported him with their magic.
128[[/folder]]
129[[folder:Who's the protagonist?]]
130* So, who is the protagonist of the film? Most people say it's Aurora for being the titular "Sleeping Beauty", but her curse just kicks off the plot: she meets Prince Philip, never interacts with Maleficent and then she falls asleep until the film's ending. Is the protagonist Philip then, as he fights Maleficent and his minions to wake Aurora from her endless slumber? Or the Three Good Fairies, for taking care of Aurora and freeing Philip so he can save her with TrueLovesKiss?
131[[/folder]]
132[[folder:Now she notices!: The color changing dress 2]]
133* How did Flora not notice that Aurora's dress was blue during the whole climax of the film until the end when she and Philip are dancing? Then the color war between her and Merryweather resumes.
134** She's distracted by other things. From Aurora being heartbroken about losing the boy she loves, to Aurora falling under the sleeping curse, to the Fairies having to free Phillip from imprisonment and help him defeat Maleficent, too many important things happen for Flora to even think about the color of the dress until it's all resolved.
135[[/folder]]
136[[folder:Nobody ages in 16 years?]]
137* Other than Philip and Aurora, absolutely nobody shows any signs of aging in the movie. At least the fairies and Maleficent are likely immortal and would never age. But neither King Stefan or his wife have any grey in their hair. King Hubert started off with white hair but I think he should have started off with brown in the beginning of the movie and white afterwards. Stefan should have either gone grey/white or have streaks of them in his hair and beard.
138** You’re overthinking things a bit. Obviously the characters ought to have aged noticeably; the animators were likely aware of this, but chose to ignore it so they wouldn’t have to go to the trouble of making slight changes that weren’t overtly necessary.
139** Also, sixteen years are not ''that'' long. There are men who don't show any greying in the hair well into their 40s; if Stefan was, say, 30 at the start of the movie and 46 at the end, that would check out. Conversely, Hubert could be the type who starts greying relatively early - he could easily be in his mid-forties at the start of the movie and over 60 by the end.
140[[/folder]]
141[[folder:Why No Invite?]]
142* I have to ask: why ''didn't'' King Stefan and Queen Leah invite Maleficent to Aurora's christening? Yes, I know she's a dangerous and powerful evil fairy, and they didn't want her there, but it's precisely ''because'' she's so dangerous and powerful that sending an invitation was a proper thing to do, especially considering that the christening was the biggest and most important event to happen in the kingdom in years. Leah even calls Maleficent "Your Excellency"--despite being a queen herself--suggesting that Maleficent is a peer to royalty. It's also possible that having Maleficent as a guest might have invoked some kind of SacredHospitality rule, especially since she seems to have at least a bit of respect for decorum and propriety (look at how she speaks to Stefan and Leah politely at first). So why snub her? I know it's not a perfect comparison, but it feels like not inviting an opposing world power (to use an example from the time of the film's release, the USSR to the United States of America) to an important global summit or state funeral. Plus Stefan and Leah didn't take any precautions against Maleficent showing up unannounced; they must have known she was going to hear about it. It seems wiser to, at the very least, genuinely invite her and pray she doesn't show up instead of completely ignoring her and saying "Well, let's hope she doesn't learn about this event that we've been parading about the kingdom for days now." The "real world" justification, of course, is that without the snub, there'd be no plot--but what reasoning could be behind their choice in-universe?
143** Because the self-proclaimed “Mistress of All Evil” who sends frosts to ruin Flora’s flowers doesn’t need the non-vitation as a reason to put a curse on Aurora. There’s no indication that the rules of SacredHospitality apply in this universe, so inviting a knowingly evil and vindictive fairy to your infant daughter’s christening would be a terrible idea. Especially when this is the only child you’ve been able to have after years of trying for one in vain. This is like asking why Triton didn’t invite Ursula to Ariel’s concert in ''The Little Mermaid''. You don’t invite known criminals into your home just to try and remain on good terms with them.
144[[/folder]]
145[[folder:Careless Dress Battle]]
146* The fairies have trouble preparing for Aurora's birthday party without using their magic, so they decide to use their wands. They then block off all (well most) of the openings in the cottage so no one can see them using their magic, as they are apparently aware that Maleficent has likely sent spies out looking for them (which she indeed has). They do very well using their magic secretly until Merryweather and Flora get into a dispute over the color of the dress. They carelessly fight over the color of the dress and their magic escapes out the chimney, leading to Maleficent's raven finding them. They clearly forgot that they were supposed to be using their magic ''carefully'', yet they forget that when they fight over the dress. Not one of the fairies even thought to remind the other two that they were supposed to be careful with their magic. It didn't even occur to them that they might have even missed a spot when they blocked the openings? They could have avoided a lot of trouble if they had been thinking more rationally.
147** It’s a little-known fact that people aren’t always 100% rational in the midst of a heated argument. This isn’t really a question when the fairies have already been characterized as NotSoAboveItAll; they’re extremely powerful, benevolent and clever, but they’re still prone to squabbling and disagreeing with each other and generally being absentminded. Plus, they thought they’d secured every way into and out of the cottage, obviously not realizing that they’d forgotten the chimney.
148[[/folder]]
149
150[[folder:Miscellaneous]]
151* Why didn't the people just tell the princess about the curse in the original version? To me, it seems like that could've saved them a lot of trouble...
152** They maybe thought that would make her end up afraid of everything. It seems that they were sheltering her.
153*** Afraid of ''everything''? On the contrary, Maleficent's curse was [[ExactWords quite specific]] about a ''spindle'' being what would hurt Aurora, so telling her she should avoid ''those'', instead of making her a social recluse unaware of her royal heritage, would have made more sense.
154*** Hiding Aurora in the woods was less about protecting her from spinning wheels or her own impulsiveness and much more about hiding her from Maleficent, who could force the spell to take effect early and in its most upsetting form. The Good Fairies even note themselves that getting rid of all spinning wheels is foolish, as Maleficent can easily get past that, which she does. In fact, there's nothing to say Aurora isn't aware of the dangers of spinning wheels to her - she's under a trance when she touches the wheel Maleficent made, and she momentarily resists the trance when warned "Don't touch that spinning wheel!" as though she's been warned that before. (Though she may have been reacting to just "Don't touch!" or the sound of a dear aunt yelling at her, admittedly.)
155*** Let's not forget how Maleficent achieved her goal - she hypnotized Aurora into touching a spindle she materialized out of nowhere. Even if Aurora knew about the curse and avoided spindles, what's stopping Maleficent from doing the exact thing she did in the actual movie?
156** Put yourself in the perspective of King Stefan and Queen Leah. You've longed for a child all your life and suddenly you have one - but a curse says she could be left comatose at any point from now until she turns sixteen. Do you want your precious baby to grow up in fear that evil fairies could be hiding behind every corner with a spindle that could knock her out? And since Aurora can only be woken up by TrueLovesKiss, is she likely to have a true love while she's a child?
157* In the Disney version, the good fairies are capable of many feats of magic, yet when they sneak into Maleficent's stronghold of the Forbidden Mountain, they don't turn themselves invisible (like any faerie would). This could be because Maleficent might have enchanted her orc guards to see invisible things, but had she done so she probably would have invested a lot more in them, including the intelligence to look for an aging girl over the past 16 years.
158** Or, more simply, the fairies just can't turn invisible. They're never shown to have that power at all. Maleficent seems to be able to become intangible or diffuse into the ether, but, then, she has power gained from Hell itself, and her magic far exceeds what the good fairies are capable of, so it's not surprising she can do something they can't.
159** Maybe they can but an invisibility spell must be maintained - requiring a lot of concentration. The fairies need to bust Phillip out of the mountain so they need to save their powers.
160* No one in the film seems to realize the entire story could have been avoided by just waiting until after Aurora's 16th birthday to re-introduce her to her parents and royal life.
161** The original ballet actually addresses this. Aurora is never removed from her home and is instead raised with love (and presumably without the presence of sewing apparatuses). On her 16th birthday, she is given a coming of age ball, complete with suitors. Carabosse (Maleficent) crashes Aurora's party, in a PaperThinDisguise, and gives Aurora the spindle in person as a present. The spindle is either disguised (for instance, hidden in a bouquet of flowers) or just handed to her. From there, the story relies on Aurora being only 16 and acting like an excited teenager. She rushes over to show her parents her new and mysterious toy, then dances away from them when they try to take it away from her. (It's ''my'' present!) And then promptly pricks her finger as Carabosse does her "I told you so" ritual, and the Lilac Fairy shows up to give the hysterical kingdom a massive sedative.
162*** Actually hiding her was an invention of the Disney film, where the blame can probably be laid mostly on King Stefan being really impatient to get his daughter back - the fairies were waiting until the sun had set to actually ''present'' her, but in order to do so as soon as the sun had set meant bringing her back to her father's castle earlier in the day. Learning that she'd fallen for (they thought) some random guy in the forest and was planning to meet him that night probably helped in the decision to go ahead and leave the cottage, too.\
163Either way, as far as the Disney film is concerned it's not like waiting a day would have helped - Maleficent knew where the cottage was by that point, so if they'd stayed there until the day after Aurora's birthday, she'd still have shown up there (in fact she ''does'' show up there, which is how she captures Phillip).
164*** Maleficent found out where they were because the fairies decided to use their magic again after many years and Flora and Merryweather got into a fight about what color the dress should be. If not for that, staying at the cottage for another day may have been safer.
165* If the fairies are so incompetent at things like sewing and cooking, even after sixteen years of living as humans (Fauna has apparently ''never'' cooked, according to Merryweather), how have they survived for that time? Aurora's never met anybody, and it's not like they can get Amazon orders out there. Where's their food and clothing coming from?
166** By the way Merryweather seems surprised, I'd say either the roles are usually reversed or Merryweather herself usually does one of those jobs.
167** When Flora announces their plan, Merryweather says "but I've never baked a ''fancy'' cake" to which Fauna replies that she'll be cooking. That seems to imply that Merryweather did the cooking. It was presumably very basic so Merryweather has limited knowledge of the kitchen from sixteen years. Perhaps she or Fauna sewed Aurora's dresses too. Since it's the last day, I got the impression the fairies were switching up the jobs and doing what they'd never done before for fun.
168** I think the implication was that Merryweather had handled pretty much ''all'' the chores. Notice how Fauna approves of the 'dress' and Flora has no problem with the 'cake'.
169*** Fauna being a specialist with animals, and shown to be the most excited about raising Aurora/Rose was likely primarily in charge of her care, Flora, being a plant specialist was likely in charge of the garden. Merryweather is referenced doing the rest of the chores. Perhaps "Cooking up a storm".
170*** Also remember that cooking and cleaning rely heavily on water and heat--things that rain, lightning, and sunshine bring. Merryweather was probably a natural!
171** Given that the fairies task Aurora with collecting berries, she probably helped with the chores, too--especially because there was little else for her to do.
172*** Merryweather also says that Fauna has "never cooked" and Flora "can't sew", suggesting she did those things.
173** Regarding clothing: on Aurora's sixteenth birthday, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather are shown wearing the exact same dresses that they had on when they first disguised themselves as peasant women. The only one who regularly needed new clothing was Aurora, and the three of them together were probably able to handle that much. As for materials, it's possible that one of the trio was able to go to a nearby village for supplies (remember that Maleficent lists "the town" as a possible location for Aurora), given that the bad guys weren't looking for kindly old ladies in the marketplace.
174** And in olden times, clothes were made to last a lot longer than they are today, so Aurora's dresses would have been made to last years.
175* King Stefan decreed all sewing spindles in the kingdom to be destroyed, which they were. It's the 14th Century. How are they going to make new clothes?
176** Buying them from King Hubert's kingdom?
177** All they'd have to do is outsource the spinning. Send the raw wool (or flax) out, buy the finished yarn. If relations were good between the neighboring kingdoms, it would be fairly easy.
178** It's worth noting that Stefan only had the spindles destroyed ''before'' the fairies come up with their plan to hide Aurora in the woods until she turns sixteen. With the one person in danger of being pricked safely hidden away, they could go on as before.
179* I know the CurseEscapeClause was the fairies' backup plan, but what were they going to do if Aurora ''hadn't'' met Philip in the woods? How does it make sense to pin everything on TrueLovesKiss when you've done everything in your power to keep the princess from meeting anyone? Was ''Frozen'' a nod to this, where "true love" gets redefined as any pure and selfless love, not necessarily the romantic kind?
180** By the nature of the spell true love had to be in play. Just as Maleficent's curse likely compelled the fairies to make mistakes that let Aurora fall to the curse at the last minute, Merriweather's gift likely ensured that true love developed first.
181[[/folder]]
182
183!!Ballet version
184* In the Ballet, Prince Florimund has a Countess girlfriend before he is shown the vision of Aurora by the Lilac Fairy. What happened to her? Was she just okay with being dumped in the span of a few hours?
185** It wouldn't have mattered if she was okay with it or not. The prince was involved in an ArrangedMarriage with a princess so the Countess wouldn't have gotten him anyway. There's also the matter of rank, and the prince outranked the countess. So she ''couldn't'' have gotten upset with it, at least in public.

Top