Last Topic: 8:52:01pm, 02/07/2020
Last Post: 4:55:00pm, 08/16/2012
#5 - Mary Costa as Princess Aurora - Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Best Song: Once Upon A Dream
Let's face it - Aurora is a boring character. Even compared to Snow White and Cinderella, who are often accused of being rather dull, I often wonder at how little people make the same complaints about Aurora, when she's basically all the previous Disney princesses recycled, with slightly less character. I think this is mindset probably how I've managed to talk myself into avoiding writing this entry for a full month, by convincing myself I'd have nothing to write about because she's just so boring.
But that's exactly the beauty of Mary Costa's performance - it's not boring in the slightest. And I'm realizing, now that I really think about it, that's why she's so good - people never realize how boring the character is because her performance is stellar. She brings character in where there's virtually none to be had on the page.
I don't think I need to say much about her singing voice. It's the perfect Disney princess voice - she has a clear, ringing soprano without being as grating as Snow White, but she also has a gorgeous, full alto without being as unremarkable as Cinderella (minus, as I have said, her gorgeous harmonies in Sing Sweet Nightingale, a song only akin to God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen in my confusion over where to put the comma). Her range, and her vocal tone, are utterly superb.
Now, I don't really remember the movie too well, so perhaps my misgivings were correct and I really didn't have enough to say, but I can't abide the idea of Chris bumping this topic with snide comments about my mafia play. Let me just say that when I did see Sleeping Beauty for the last time, I remembered not having liked it that much before, as it's basically a carbon copy of Snow White and Cinderella - but I became totally enchanted, by the beautiful art and by Mary Costa's (and Eleanor Audley's, to be fair) voice acting. I can safely say that she makes the movie much better than it otherwise would have - so much so, that she deserves a Top 5 spot on any list.