With music, sound effects, and all the expertise of the BBC, these 10 traditional fairy tales are bought magically to life. Included are Sleeping Beauty, Jack and the Beanstalk, Hansel and Gretel, and Little Red Riding Hood.
"After many childless years, King Stefan and Queen Leah welcomed the arrival of their daughter, Aurora. The newborn Princess is named after the Roman Goddess of the dawn because of how she fills the lives of the King and Queen with sunshine. While still an infant, she is betrothed to the also-young Prince Phillip, son of King Hubert, so that the kingdoms of Stefan and Hubert will be forever united. At her christening, three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, arrive to bless the child with gifts. The first fairy, Flora, gives the princess the gift of beauty, while the next fairy, Fauna, gives her the gift of song. Before Merryweather is able to give her blessing, a wicked witch named Maleficent appears, expressing disappointment of not being invited to the ceremony. Afterwards the evil enchantress curses the princess, that on her sixteenth birthday, before the sun sets, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. As Maleficent disappears, the distraught King Stefan requests that Merryweather break the curse. Even though Merryweather is unable to undo Maleficent's curse, she is able to weaken it. If Aurora was to touch a spindle, she wouldn't die, but rather fall into a deep slumber that she could only be awoken from by a true-love's first kiss. Though King Stefan orders all spinning wheels in the kingdom to be burned, the three fairies know Maleficent's spell cannot be stopped that easily and devise a plan to protect her. With the King and Queen's consent, they disguise themselves as mortals and sneak Aurora away with them to a woodland cottage until her sixteenth birthday passes.
Years later, Aurora, renamed Briar-Rose, had grown into a gorgeous young woman with the blessings that Flora and Fauna bestowed to her. Sweet and gentle, she dreams of falling in love one day. As Rose gathers berries, while singing, she attracts the attention of Prince Phillip, now a handsome young man, as he is out riding his horse in the woods. When they meet, they instantly fall in love, Phillip believing her to be a peasant girl, and she thinking him a woodsman. Realizing that she has to return home, Rose flees from Phillip without ever learning his name. Later that day, the fairies reveal the truth to Rose and take her to her parents. Meanwhile, Phillip returns home telling his father of a peasant girl he met and wishes to marry in spite of his prearranged marriage to Princess Aurora. King Hubert tries to convince Phillip to marry the princess instead of the peasant girl, but fails.
In the palace, Maleficent uses her magic to lure Aurora away from her family and to a strange room, where an enchanted spinning wheel awaits her. Spellbound, Aurora touches the spindle, pricking her finger and completing the altered curse, sending her into a deep sleep. The good fairies place Aurora on a bed and place a powerful charm on all the people in the kingdom, causing them to fall in a deep sleep until the spell is broken. Before falling asleep, King Hubert tells Stefan of his son being in love with a peasant girl, which allows the fairies to realize that Prince Phillip is the man Aurora has fallen in love with, and they search to find him, to convince him to kiss the princess and unbind the curse. However, the Prince had already been kidnapped by Maleficent and taken to the dungeons of her lair, to prevent him from breaking her spell. The fairies discover the Prince's whereabouts and sneak into Maleficent's castle and free the prince. Armed with a magical Sword and Shield, Phillip and the fairies escape from the evil fairy's prison. As the Prince desperately tries to reach the Princess, he finds himself cutting through a forest of thorns and finally battling a dragon, that Maleficent had transformed herself into. After a long fight in which his shield is destroyed, Phillip throws the sword, blessed by the fairies' magic, directly into Maleficent's heart, causing Maleficent to fall to her death from a cliff.
Phillip climbs to Aurora's chamber, and removes the curse with a kiss. As the film ends the two royals arrive at the ballroom, where Aurora is happily reunited with her parents, and she and Prince Phillip live happily ever after."
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Krista (5 out of 5 stars)