''Sleeping Beauty'' (alternatively: ''Cannon Movie Tales: Sleeping Beauty'') is a 1987 American/Israeli fantasy film, part of the 1980 film series Cannon Movie Tales. It is directed by David Irving and stars

Tahnee Welch Latanne Rene "Tahnee" Welch (born December 26, 1961) is a former American model and actress and is the daughter of the actress Raquel Welch. Biography Welch was born on December 26, 1961, in San Diego, California, the daughter of actress Raquel ...

Morgan Fairchild Morgan Fairchild (born Patsy Ann McClenny; February 3, 1950) is an American actress. She began acting in the early 1970s and has had roles in several television series since then. Fairchild began her career on the CBS daytime soap opera '' Searc ...

Nicholas Clay Nicholas Anthony Phillip Clay (18 September 1946 – 25 May 2000) was an English actor. Early life Clay was born in Streatham, London on 18 September 1946, the son of a professional soldier in the British Army's Royal Engineers. The famil ...

and

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. It is a contemporary version of the classic tale of

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

of the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

and

Charles Perrault Charles Perrault ( , , ; 12 January 162816 May 1703) was a French author and member of the Académie Française. He laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from earlier folk tales, published in his ...

. Like the other Cannon Movie Tales, the film was filmed entirely in Israel.

Synopsis

A childless Queen (

) and her King ( David Holliday), are given a magical potion by a kindly

elf An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic peoples, Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in Norse mythology, North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'' ...

( Kenny Baker). When the beautiful Princess Rosebud is born, all the

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

in the land are invited to a christening to bestow their gifts upon the child. However, the evil Red Fairy (

) is left off the guest list because there are only eight golden dinner plates and nine fairies in the kingdom. Enraged, she crashes the christening ceremony and

curse A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...

s the Princess on her sixteenth birthday to prick her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle and die. The wise White Fairy (

Jane Wiedlin Jane Wiedlin (born May 20, 1958) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actress, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and backing vocalist of the new wave music, new wave band The Go-Go's. She voices Dusk, the drummer and ba ...

), who was tardy and therefore unable to bestow her gift, softens the curse so Rosebud will fall asleep for one hundred years and be awakened by the kiss of true love. The King, finding very little comfort in the White Fairy's promise, orders that all the spinning wheels in the kingdom will be destroyed, except for one which is hidden and seemingly forgotten, to try to save his daughter from the Red Fairy's fearsome curse. Many years later, all the people in the kingdom are upset because their clothes have dissolved to rags due to the absence of spindles and sewing needles. The King and the Queen travel to the far reaches and bring back reams of fabrics. During their absence, the Red Fairy, who is disguised as an old woman, lures Princess Rosebud (

) into a secluded old tower room and tricks her into using a spinning wheel. Rosebud pricks her finger on the spindle, and then falls into a deep sleep. The White Fairy uses her magic to put everyone in the castle to sleep and cover the castle in thick vines. One hundred years pass, and the handsome Prince Charming comes to the castle and wakes Rosebud with a kiss, breaking the enchantment. The inhabitants of the entire kingdom celebrate their awakening, and Princess Rosebud and Prince Charming are married and live happily ever after.

Cast

as the Queen *

as the Princess Rosebud *

as the Prince Charming * David Holliday as the King *

as the White Fairy *

as the Red Fairy * Kenny Baker as the Elf *

Shaike Ophir Shaike Ophir (; 4 November 1928 – 17 August 1987) was an Israeli film and theater actor, comedian, playwright, screenwriter, director, and the country's first mime. Early life Yeshayahu (Shaike) Goldstein-Ophir was born in Jerusalem. His famil ...

as the Elf Master

Reception

Richard Scheib from ''Moria.co'' gave it two stars and wrote: "All of the Cannon Movie Tales were cheaply shot and made. Some of them occasionally emerged okay but the majority did not. Sleeping Beauty is a dreary by-the-numbers run through of the Charles Perrault fairytale. The film pads the original story out somewhat, notably with the introduction of the character of the elf played by Kenny Baker. On the other hand, when it comes to the guts of the fairytale – ie. everything that happens after Rosebud goes to sleep – the film seems indifferent and hurried. It is hard, for instance, to understand what killed all the other heroes trying to rescue the princess when all that prince Nicholas Clay’s quest consists of is brushing through some creepers."

References

External links

* *
''Sleeping Beauty''
on Lovefilm.com {{Cannon Movie Tales 1987 films 1987 fantasy films Films about elves Films about curses Films about fairies Films about royalty Films based on Sleeping Beauty Films set in fictional countries Films shot in Israel Golan-Globus films Films produced by Menahem Golan Cannon Movie Tales Films produced by Yoram Globus 1980s English-language films English-language fantasy films