Clyde Geronimi

In 14th century France, King Stefan (Taylor Holmes) and Queen Leah (Verna Felton) welcome their newborn daughter, Aurora (Mary Costa), and proclaim a holiday for their subjects to pay homage to the princess. Her parents named her after the dawn as she filled their lives with sunshine. At her christening, she is betrothed to Prince Phillip (Bill Shirley), the son of Stefan's friend King Hubert (Bill Thompson), in order to unite their kingdoms. The three good fairies, Flora (Verna Felton) the domineering and responsible self-appointed leader, Fauna (Barbara Jo Allen) a sweet and affectionate good fairy, and Merryweather (Barbara Luddy) a feisty and impulsive good fairy who challenges Flora's leadership, arrive and bless Aurora with one gift each, no more and no less. After Flora and Fauna give her beauty and song, the evil fairy Maleficent (Eleanor Audley) a witch from the Forbidden Mountain, appears and is angry at not being invited. Maleficent is a powerful evil fairy and self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil". She places a curse on Aurora. Maleficent says that Aurora will grow up with beauty and grace and will be loved by one and all. But, before the sun sets on Aurora's sixteenth birthday, Aurora will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. A horrified Leah rushes to hold the baby in fright and an enraged Stefan orders his guards to arrest Maleficent, but she disappears with a laugh in a plume of smoke, leaving everyone horrified and worried about the princess's doomed future. Flora and Fauna persuade Merryweather to use her gift to weaken Maleficent's spell. Merryweather's magic isn't strong enough to undo the curse, so she uses her gift to change it so that Aurora will instead fall into a deep sleep until true love's kiss breaks the spell. The Good fairies cannot harm Maleficent as their magic can only be used to bring joy and happiness to others. Still fearful, Stefan orders all the kingdom's spinning wheels to be burned. Flora proposes to change the princess into a flower as a flower cannot prick her finger, but she remembers that Maleficent can send a frost. Fauna says that the only thing Maleficent cannot understand and anticipate is a gesture of selfless love. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather devise a plan to hide Aurora in a secluded location and raise her themselves until her sixteenth birthday, to which Stefan and Leah reluctantly agree. The fairies move into a forest woodcutter's cottage, giving up magic (so Maleficent cannot find them through their miracles) and living as peasants. They also rename Aurora to Briar Rose. On Aurora's sixteenth birthday, the fairies send her to gather berries so they can prepare a surprise party with a cake and a special dress that is fit for a princess. After Aurora leaves, the fairies struggle as neither knew how to sew or cook and they still did not want to use their magic wands as that might attract Maleficent. The fairies are sad as they know that the next day Auroa would be a princess, and they would lose her to her real parents. In the forest, Aurora sings to the animals, drawing the attention of Phillip, now a handsome young man who was traveling through the forest on his horse Samson. They fall in love without revealing their names, and thus neither knows that they are already betrothed to each other. The princess is enchanted by the young man, but remembering how the fairies told her not to talk to strangers, runs away. However, she does tell the prince where she lives and invites Phillip to the cottage that evening. At the Forbidden Mountain, the atmosphere has stayed in a constant clouded thunder, a sign of Maleficent's mood and that her own quest to find the hidden princess has not been fulfilled. She was livid with her minions who were searching for a baby, not realizing that Aurora would have grown up with time. Maleficent sends her raven, Diablo, to find the princess, who is 16 years old, with hair of sunshine gold, and lips red as the rose. Meanwhile, the fairies decide to use their wands after all, since their attempts at making a cake and a gown for Aurora are a complete disaster. Flora and Merryweather's argument about the color of Aurora's birthday gown (Flora wanted pink, and Merryweather wanted blue) attracts the attention of Maleficent's pet raven, Diablo (Candy Candido) who can see the sparkles from the magic wand coming out of the chimney of the cottage. Aurora returns and tells her guardians that she has fallen in love. They reveal her true identity, which Diablo overhears. The fairies tell Aurora that she must never see the boy again. Meanwhile, back at the castle Hubert has a feast with Stefan celebrating the end of the curse period as it is only half an hour to go for sunset. Hubert commissions a new castle where Phillip and Aurora can live after their wedding. Hubert says that the castle is almost finished, and the lovebirds can move in as soon as they are married. Stefan is circumspect as he wants to spend time with his daughter after 16 years apart. Phillip tells his father about the peasant girl he met and wants to marry, unaware she is the princess to whom he is betrothed. Hubert is upset at this turn of events and tries to persuade him to remember his betrothal, but Phillip rides back to the forest and to the cottage, leaving Hubert glum about how he will tell Stefan about what Phillip says. Shortly before sunset, the fairies bring Aurora to the castle for her birthday celebration. Maleficent appears as a glowing ball of light and beckons Aurora to a tower room. Aurora follows her as she is hypnotized. The fairies realize that Maleficent has lured Aurora and follow her into the tower room. The fairies call for Aurora not to touch anything, but Maleficent's voice lures Aurora to prick her finger on the spinning wheel's spindle that she conjures. As a result, Flora, Merryweather, and Fauna arrive too late to save Aurora, who falls into a deep sleep. The fairies place the sleeping Aurora in the highest tower. Merryweather and Fauna wonder how they'll explain the incident to Aurora's parents. Flora put the entire kingdom to sleep until Aurora is awakened. While doing so, Flora overhears a conversation between Hubert and Stefan and realizes that Phillip is the boy that Aurora met. The fairies rush to the cottage, only to discover that Phillip has been abducted by Maleficent. At her domain, the Forbidden Mountain, Maleficent reveals Aurora's identity to Phillip. She plans to lock him away until he is an old man on the verge of death before releasing him to meet Aurora, who will not have aged a single day. The fairies rescue Phillip and arm him with the magical Sword of Truth and the Shield of Virtue. Diablo tries to warn Maleficent, but Merryweather turns him into a petrified stone before returning to Phillip, Flora, and Fauna. Maleficent surrounds Stefan's castle with a forest of thorns, but Phillip breaks through it. Outraged, she transforms into a giant, fire-breathing dragon. In the ensuing battle, Phillip kills Maleficent by thrusting his sword into her heart. Phillip finds Aurora and awakens her with a kiss, bringing the rest of the kingdom out of their slumber. After Hubert, Stefan, and Leah awaken, the sound of the trumpets heralds the arrival of Aurora and Phillip and it is soon made clear to Hubert that it was actually Aurora that Phillip met in the woods. The two then share a dance as their parents and the three fairies watch. However, Merryweather and Flora continue fighting over the color of Aurora's gown again as the dancing couple lived happily ever after.

In the London nursery of the Darling family, are 3 kids Wendy, John, and Michael Darling, who believe in Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up. They know all his stories & want to visit him in Neverland. Their father George doesn't want to encourage this (also because he thinks Wendy's imagination is leading Michael and John astray) & asks Wendy to "grow up", while her mother Mary is supportive and thinks Peter Pan represents the spirit of youth. Nana is the family dog. On Wendy's last night as a child (as her father has decreed that from the next day, she will have a room of her own), she is visited by Peter Pan & Tinkerbell, because she has Peter Pan's shadow (Actually Nana had it and Wendy took it from her). Peter finds his shadow in a drawer and fights it, but the fighting wakes up Wendy. Tink doesn't like Wendy from the first moment as she is the jealous type. She is particularly alarmed when Wendy tries to kiss Peter. When Peter hears that Wendy has to grow up, he decides to take her to Neverland. John & Michael also wake up & tag along. Tinkerbell disapproves when Peter uses her pixie dust to give magical flying powers to the 3 kids. Meanwhile, the pirates are angry as they have not been looting ships anymore because of Peter Pan. Captain Hook thinks of searching for Peter Pan in the Indian territory and ask the chief's daughter "Tiger Lily" for the location of his base. Mr. Smee is his simpleton deckhand. Hook's left hand was cut off by Peter in the past & fed to the Tick Tock Croc (The Croc has a clock inside his belly which goes "Tick Tok" and warns everyone about its arrival). In Neverland Captain Hook spots Peter and the 3 flying towards the Indian portion of the island & tries to shoot them down. Peter distracts him & orders Tinkerbell to take Wendy, John & Michael to safety. But Tink flies ahead really fast & summons The Lost boys (Peter's troops) to shoot Wendy down. They shoot at her (thinking that they are following Peter's orders) but Peter saves Wendy before she is killed. Tink is caught out & is banished by Peter for a week. John leads the lost boys & Michael to find some Indians, who capture them. They seem to think that Peter has stolen princess Tiger Lily & demand her release. The chief tells the Lost Boys that if Tiger Lily is not back by sunset, they will be burnt at the stake. Meanwhile, Peter & Wendy visit the mermaids who trouble Wendy as they are jealous of her. Peter spots Hook taking Tiger Lily to skull island. But Wendy's flying powers are waning as the effect of Tink's pixie dust is wearing off. She needs Peter's help to be able to fly. Peter follows Hook into Skull Island. He creates confusion by luring Hook out with the sound of an evil spirit and then orders Smee in Hook's voice to take Lily back to her people. Eventually Hook finds Peter and attacks him, but Peter is able to defeat him when the Tick Tok Croc arrives and almost gobbles Hook up. Hook is forced to run for the safety of his ship. Peter Pan is honored by the chief with the title "Flying eagle". Back on his ship, Hook is told by Smee that Peter banished Tink on account of Wendy & sends his butler Smee to fetch her. Hook tricks Tink to reveal Peter's hideout (He says he has admitted defeat and will leave the Island the next day. and he wants to save Peter from Wendy before he leaves, by taking Wendy away with them on their ship. Tink is very happy to hear this proposal and readily accepts. she reveals the hiding place as Hangman's tree). Hook then imprisons Tink, captures the Lost Boys, Wendy, John & Michael (The boys were listening to stories about mothers from Wendy, when Hook attacked) & leaves a bomb for Peter in the form of a present from Wendy. When Tink hears of the bomb, she breaks free & arrives just in time to save Peter. Tink is severely injured in the blast, which destroys a large part of the Island, but she survives after Peter finds her in the rubble. They both fly to the ship & save the troops from Hook. Hook is defeated (Hook challenges Peter to a 1:1 fight and says if he is a real brave man, he won't fly away, and Peter agrees. Peter is about to be defeated but uses the pirate flag to tie up Hook. Hook cries and promises to go and never return. But as soon as Peter turns his back, Hook attacks him from behind, loses his balances and falls in the water) & the Tick Tock Croc set after him. Tink uses pixie dust to make the entire ship fly, which Peter uses to send Wendy, Michael & John back home. Back Home Mary and George return from their social engagement and hear Wendy talk about her adventures. They are bemused but are startled to see Peter Pan's ship sailing away over the clouds. George admits that he saw that ship many yrs ago when he was a little boy himself.

Alice (Kathryn Beaumont) is bored listening to her older sister read aloud from a history book. Alice dreams of living in a world of nonsense. Just then, Alice sees a White Rabbit wearing a waistcoat and carrying a watch. She and Dinah (her cat) follow him into a rabbit hole, where Alice suddenly falls down into a deep well, leaving Dinah behind. At the bottom, she follows the Rabbit into a large chamber-like hall, but he escapes through a tiny door. The Doorknob suggests Alice drink from a bottle marked "Drink me." The contents shrink her to a tiny fraction of her original size. The door is locked, and the key appears on the table, which she cannot reach. The Doorknob directs her to a cookie marked "Eat me." The cookie makes her grow so large that her head hits the ceiling. She begins to cry; her massive tears flood the room. The Doorknob points out that the "Drink me" bottle still has some fluid left inside, so she finishes the last drop. She becomes so small that she drops inside the bottle. Both she and the bottle drift through the doorknob's keyhole mouth and out to a sea made from Alice's tears. On shore, a Dodo bird leads a group of animals in a futile caucus-race to get dry. Alice meets Tweedledum and Tweedledee (J. Pat O'Malley), two fat twin brothers who recite "The Walrus and the Carpenter". After sneaking away to the White Rabbit's house, Alice is at first mistaken by him for his maidservant; and then grows to such a large size that she gets stuck inside the house. The Dodo tries to help by first sending Bill the Lizard Chimney Sweep down the chimney, and then setting the house on fire; but Alice eats a carrot from the garden and shrinks down to three inches. Alice sings "All in the Golden Afternoon" with a garden of talking flowers. Alice chases after the Rabbit again, and she finds herself in a garden of talking flowers and strange insects. The flowers at first befriend Alice, but then mistake her for a weed and angrily drive her out of the flowerbed before she can "take root." She engages a hookah-smoking caterpillar who turns into a butterfly, though not before giving her cryptic advice about the mushroom she is sitting on. Alice breaks off two pieces and nibbles them alternately (first growing very large and unintentionally aggravating a Nesting Mother Bird (Queenie Leonard), who accuses Alice of being a "serpent", then shrinking very small). Finally, Alice manages to restore herself to her normal size and stores the pieces in her apron pockets. Alice receives mysterious directions from the Cheshire Cat (Sterling Holloway), an eerily grinning feline that can disappear and reappear at will, which lead her to the garden of the March Hare (Jerry Colonna), who is celebrating his "Un-birthday" with the Mad Hatter (Ed Wynn) and the Dormouse. Alice, growing tired of their rudeness and wackiness, decides to go home, abandoning her pursuit of the White Rabbit. She is lost and despondent among the strange creatures (See Below) of the Tulgey Wood, until the Cheshire Cat reappears and shows her a short-cut out of the forest and into the garden of the Queen (and King) of Hearts. In the hedge maze garden, Alice meets some playing cards painting white roses red. The White Rabbit heralds the arrival of the bellicose Queen of Hearts (Verna Felton), the diminutive King (Dink Trout), and a card army. She invites Alice to a strange game of croquet using flamingos as mallets, hedgehogs as balls, and card soldiers as wickets. The Cheshire Cat plays a prank on the Queen, who blames Alice and orders her execution. The King suggests that Alice is to be put on trial instead. At the trial, Alice's nonsensical acquaintances (the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, and the Dormouse) are of no help to her. The Cheshire Cat appears and causes enough distraction to allow Alice to eat the remaining portions of mushroom, causing her to grow to gigantic proportions. At this size, Alice scolds the terrified Queen for her rash behavior, but then starts shrinking back to her normal size all too soon. At the Queen's command of "Off with her head!" all the crazy inhabitants of Wonderland give chase. Coming back to the Doorknob, Alice is told by him that he is still locked, but that she is already on the other side. Looking through the keyhole, Alice sees herself asleep in the park. As the mob draws nearer, she calls, "Alice, wake up!" to her sleeping self until she gradually awakens from the dream to the sound of her sister's voice. The two of them return home for teatime; while Alice muses on her adventures in Wonderland and realizes that perhaps logic and reason exist for a purpose, her sister realizes affectionately that Alice is still young, but will grow-up in time.

A Kingdom in a faraway land, was peaceful and prosperous and rich in romance and tradition. A wealthy widower has a daughter named Cinderella (Ilene Woods). He was a kid and devoted father who gave his child all the luxury and comfort that money could buy. He felt that Cinderella needed the care of a mother. He remarries to a woman Lady Tremaine (Eleanor Audley) who has two daughters of her own, Anastasia (Lucille Bliss) and Drizella (Rhoda Williams), thinking she will love Cinderella as a mother. But her father dies & the stepmother is revealed to be cold, cruel and jealous of Cinderella's grace & beauty. Lady Tremaine orders Cinderella to become a scullion in her own chateau, overburdening her with chores. The chateau fell in disrepair as the family fortune was squandered on the vain and selfish step-sisters. Cinderella was abused, humiliated, and was made to live at the top of the tower, where it was cold and wet. Despite this, Cinderella remains kind of heart, obediently doing her chores while taking care of the mice and birds that live in the chateau, making friends of them, mainly of two mice named Jaq and Gus (James MacDonald). She also protects them from being eaten by her stepmother's cat Lucifer (June Foray), who makes her duties even harder in retaliation. Cinderella still dreams of a better life and hasn't given up hope. The birds and the mice wake Cinderella up every morning and help her get ready for another day of facing her step-mother and step-sisters. Her day starts with waking Lucifer, Lady Tremaine's cat and feeding it an early breakfast. Lucifer knows that he belongs to Lady Tremaine and cannot be touched, but he fears the house Doberman Bruno, who used to be Cinderella's father's loyal pet. Lucifer hates Bruno and gets him into trouble by harassing Bruno and then playing the victim when he tries to retaliate. As such, Bruno is mostly banished out of the house. Cinderella then serves breakfast to the farm animals in the barn. The mice also try to get to the barn, but their path is blocked by Lucifer. Jaq distracts Lucifer so the other mice can make it outside and collect corn. As they are coming back, Lucifer notices Gus and goes after him. Jaq tries a lot to distract Lucifer, but Lucifer corners Gus in a teacup and is almost about to kill him when Gus is saved by the bell from the step-sisters summoning Cinderella. Cinderella's stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella, also take advantage of her meekness, mocking her and adding to her workload. They are served their morning tea in bed, and they heap on their mending and ironing on Cinderella. By mistake Cinderella serves the teacup to Drizella with Gus inside and she creates a racket. Lady Tremaine punishes Cinderella by asking her to clean the large carpet in the living room and all the windows of the mansion, along with tapestries and draperies, garden, terrace, sweep the halls and stairs, and clean the chimney. The King (Luis Van Rooten) is old & wants to see grand-kids before he dies. But the Prince (William Edward Phipps) doesn't like anyone. So, the King organizes a ball & invites all eligible maidens in his Kingdom, so that the prince will choose one as his wife. Cinderella has a beautiful voice, while at the same time Anastasia and Drizella have terrible singing voices. Cinderella too gets the invitation, but stepmom says she can go if she completes housework & finds something to wear. Wanting to attend, Cinderella finds a dress of her late birth mother to fix up. Cinderella had selected a design in which wanted her dress. Fearing she will upstage them at the ball, Lady Tremaine and the stepsisters deliberately keep her busy with no time to spare. The mice decide to sew her a dress. They use her mother's wedding gown & modify it using trimmings from Drizella & Anastasia's discarded sash and some old beads. Cinderella is delighted & thanks the mice. But at 8 PM when she arrives to get into the carriage, Drizella & Anastasia rip her dress apart while getting their trimmings & beads back. A distraught Cinderella runs out to the garden in tears, kneeling on a stone bench. There, she is met by her Fairy Godmother (Verna Felton) an endearing but slightly addled matron, who has come to help. She transforms Jaq, Gus, and two other mice into four white horses, a pumpkin into a coach, Cinderella's old horse Major into a coachman, and her bloodhound Bruno (James MacDonald) into a footman. The fairy godmother also gives Cinderella a shimmering ball gown and glass slippers but warns her that all the magic will end on the stroke of midnight. Cinderella says she understands and thanks the fairy Godmother as this is more than what she ever dreamed of. Cinderella arrives at the ball, and is not recognized by her stepsisters, though her stepmother believes something is familiar about her. The Prince has eyes for no one but her, so the King orders the Grand Duke to make sure the romance goes without a hitch. They fall in love. The duke prevents anyone from interfering as Cinderella and the Prince dance a waltz and wander out to the palace grounds, falling deeper in love. However, when Cinderella hears the clock tolling midnight, she runs away before she and the Prince can exchange names. Despite the efforts of the Grand Duke, Cinderella flees the palace, losing one of her slippers on the staircase. The palace guards pursue, but when the magic ends on the stroke of 12, Cinderella and the animals revert to their former appearances on the path in the forest and hide in the woods as the Grand Duke's soldiers ride by looking for the woman. Cinderella discovers the other glass slipper is still on her foot and takes it home with her. Cinderella is thankful to the Fairy Godmother for the best evening of her life. The King is livid when he finds that the girl that the prince was dancing with got away. He believes that the Grand Duke was in cahoots with the prince all along and it was their plan so that the prince never had to marry. The Prince declares that he will marry the one who fits the slipper. The King assigns The Grand Duke (Luis Van Rooten) on the mission to find the girl. Hearing Cinderella humming the waltz from the ball, Lady Tremaine realizes the truth and locks Cinderella in her attic bedroom. Eventually the Grand Duke reaches the residence of Cinderella. While the stepsisters unsuccessfully try on the slipper, Jaq and Gus steal the key back from Lady Tremaine. As they take the key to Cinderella, Lucifer attempts to stop them by trapping Gus and battling the other mice. The birds summon Bruno who scares Lucifer out of the house, and a freed Cinderella hurries to meet the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke is about to leave as Cinderella finally appears. He orders the messenger to bring forth the glass slipper, yet the stepmother in a last-minute attempt to prevent her stepdaughter from better things, causes the messenger to trip, thus breaking the fragile shoe into pieces. Yet the arrogant woman hadn't bet on Cinderella producing the other glass slipper, which fits onto Cinderella's foot perfectly. Very soon, wedding bells ring, and Cinderella marries her prince, and they live happily ever after.