Why does Princess Aurora have so little screentime?

[DisneyFan09]

Yeah, I'm going to ask it straightforwardly; Why does Princess Aurora have so little screentime?

As known, Sleeping Beauty is a rare Disney film in that regard that the title character has quite little screentime or characterization. But has this ever been confirmed why she doesn't appear as much in the film? Or is it due to the very obvious reason that she's supposed to sleep?

So I'm simply asking because I'm curious and because I'm researching, but haven't found the answer.

[lord-of-sith]

I don't think she was intentionally given minimal screen time. I think it primarily stems from the fact that she is not the main character of the movie. The three fairies are truly the protagonists of the film, and Aurora is more of a McGuffin for the fairies, Maleficent, and Phillip than an active character. And yes, the fact that she is sleeping for half the film doesn't help her screen time!

[Disney Duster]

I would say that officially she is indeed the main character of her film, and the side characters take over. This happened in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as well as in Cinderella. There is no instance where the creators of the film ever said the fairies were the main characters. Walt at one point even said to make the fairies all the same like Huey, Dewey, and Louie. They of course changed that.

If Aurora was not intended to have such little screentime, how can you think the fairies are the main characters? It would make more sense to say she was supposed have little screentime because the fairies were the main characters.

I would say Aurora has little screentime because in her original story all she did was get cursed, explore the castle, prick her finger, sleep, wake up, talk to the prince, and marry him. Well, exlcuding that last bit with her crying so the cook doesn't kill her.

Now, there was that version of the story Disney designed where the princess sneaks out of the castle to see what it's like to be a free peasant, and she meets the prince. It reminds me of Jasmine, actually. But I bet this amount of screentime would have been about as long as that which Aurora has in the final film.

[DisneyBluLife]

I remember the animators said she was very hard to draw. Perhaps it contributed that she got less screentime.

[Atlantica]

Yes, there is a particular reason for it, and its stated in a couple of Disney books .... none which I can remember right now !

I think the end of it was that Walt got carried away by the special effects and the look of the film, and as a consequence Aurora was vastly under-developed. The little we do see of her, I've always loved, and always wondered what it would have been like if she would have had a more appropriate amount of screen time. Considering she is the Beauty of the title !!

[DisneyFan09]

Dang it, you should've remembered it, Atlantica! Just kiddin'

But thanks for the answers, guys. I really appreciate it. I thought this thread would be burried, haha.

[milojthatch]

I don't think she was intentionally given minimal screen time. I think it primarily stems from the fact that she is not the main character of the movie. The three fairies are truly the protagonists of the film, and Aurora is more of a McGuffin for the fairies, Maleficent, and Phillip than an active character. And yes, the fact that she is sleeping for half the film doesn't help her screen time!

Agreed, the film is really about the three fairies.

[DisneyFan09]

Just wondering, do any of you know if the 1958 edition of Bob Thomas' Disney's Art of Animation mentions something about Aurora's screentime?