Disney’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ Nearly Led to Bankruptcy, Saved by ‘101 Dalmatians’
By [Your Name], International Editor
Buena Vista Film Distribution’s 1959 animated musical fantasy Sleeping Beauty, based on the Charles Perrault fairy tale, almost brought the Walt Disney Company to its knees, a cautionary tale of ambition and escalating costs. While now considered a classic, the film’s production pushed Disney to the brink of financial ruin, a crisis ultimately averted by the success of 101 Dalmatians two years later.
The goal with Sleeping Beauty was ambitious: to create the most spectacular and prestigious animated film ever made. This vision led to the adoption of Super Technirama 70, a panoramic filmmaking process that dramatically increased production expenses. The film required artists to paint larger, more detailed backgrounds, a painstaking process that stretched production timelines and ballooned the budget. Artist Eyvind Earle was tasked with creating the film’s detailed landscapes.
The final cost of Sleeping Beauty reached $6 million at the time – a stark contrast to the $1.49 million spent on Snow White years earlier. When the film premiered, it failed to meet expectations at the box office, resulting in Disney’s first-ever financial losses in early 1960.
“I don’t think we can continue, it’s too expensive,” Walt Disney reportedly worried, according to Eric Larson, one of Disney’s “Nine Old Men.”
The studio needed a hit, and it found one in a pack of spotted canines. 101 Dalmatians (1961) revitalized Disney’s fortunes. The film’s success wasn’t due to grand spectacle, but rather innovation in cost-cutting.
Disney adopted a new technique developed by Ub Iwerks called xerography. This process allowed animators’ drawings to be directly photocopied onto celluloid, eliminating the time-consuming and expensive manual inking process. As animator Chuck Jones later noted, the film was able to be completed because it “cost almost less than half of what it would have cost” using traditional methods.
101 Dalmatians featured a more modern design with simpler backgrounds, a departure from the ultra-detailed style of Sleeping Beauty. The film proved to be a commercial triumph, grossing over $300 million on a budget of just $3 million, demonstrating that Disney animation could still be profitable.
The story of Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians serves as a pivotal moment in Disney’s history, illustrating the delicate balance between artistic ambition and financial viability. It’s a reminder that even the most magical kingdoms can face economic hardship, and that sometimes, a little ingenuity – and a lot of dalmatians – can save the day.