Aurora

**Princess Aurora** (also known as **Briar Rose**) is the protagonist of Disney's 1959 animated feature film, *Sleeping Beauty*. She is the daughter of King Stefan and Queen Leah. On the day of her christening, Aurora was cursed to die by the evil fairy Maleficent. Due to the efforts of three good fairies, the curse was altered to instead draw Aurora into a deep sleep that could only be broken by true love's kiss.

Aurora is the third official member of the Disney Princess line-up and is significant for being the last to be developed during Walt Disney's lifetime.

## Background

### Official Description

*Aurora is gentle and loving, and is raised by three fairies named Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. She lives in the forest, where she meets the Prince, her one true love.*
### Development

The original design for Aurora has developed by Tom Oreb, who based the figure of Aurora on Audrey Hepburn's thin frame and graceful demeanor. Later, Marc Davis worked on sketches of Oreb, improving the appearance and clothing of the heroine so that they were combined with angular forms of background images.

Marc Davis' wife, Alice, designed some of Aurora's costumes. According to the designer, this was her first job at the Walt Disney Studios, during which she became Marc's wife in 1956.

As with other Disney films, an actress was hired as a live-action model, as a guide for the animators. Helene Stanley became the model for the heroine. She had previously worked on this post, fulfilling the role of Cinderella.

### Personality

Aurora is a kind, elegant, graceful, angelic, loving and gentle person as well as a hopelessly romantic one. At first, she is seen as a slightly shy, playful and carefree young woman as a result of being sheltered for most of her life. Aurora is very loyal and honest to her "aunts" and usually obeys their rules respectfully, although she may disagree with them. Since she was raised not to talk to strangers, Aurora was naturally startled and apprehensive when the handsome Prince Phillip appeared in the forest. However, she was drawn to him before remembering her aunts' rule about not talking to strangers. Aurora then compromised in agreeing to talk to him by arranging to meet him at her cottage, under the supervision of her aunts.

Despite her innocence and apparent dependence on others' actions and opinions, Aurora isn't as passive or helpless as she may seem at first sight. For example, she's rather annoyed by how Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, despite Aurora's adolescence, treat her like a little child, which gives a hint that Aurora, in fact, is prone to independence and not willing to rely purely on somebody's opinion. Also, she's actually quite selfless and strong-willed. When Aurora finds out about her real background as a princess and realizes that she can't see her beloved man anymore, she, although deeply upset, shows firmness and loyalty to those that she cares about. Aurora agrees to push her feelings away and do what is right: return home and fulfill her royal duty as a princess, even if she has to marry a man she doesn't love and barely knows in that way.

In later media, Aurora is shown to have greatly matured and become far more self-assured, proactive and independent and responsible, as well as confident in her opinions and abilities.

### Physical appearance

Aurora is a supremely beautiful young woman, who was magically blessed with curly and wavy waist-length golden hair like sunshine, violet eyes, and lips that shame the red rose. She has a stunningly tall slender figure and her skin is fair and flawless. Unlike Snow White or Cinderella, her face is less rounded and more refined, giving her an appearance of maturity rather than youth despite being only sixteen.

As a peasant, she wears a black bodice over a gray long-sleeved calf-length frock with a white petticoat and goes barefoot. She wears a black headband and carries a purple shawl when going out.

As her princess self, she wears a pink or blue ball gown with a petal overskirt, a ruffled white petticoat, and long triangular sleeves, a golden tiara, and blue or pink shoes. During the original film, Aurora's ball gown is blue as seen when Flora and Merryweather fight for the colors of her ball gown either in pink or blue, even at the end of the film where Aurora dances with Prince Phillip in a ballroom dance. But in later appearances and merchandise, Aurora's ball gown is depicted as pink.

### Abilities

In *Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams*, Aurora was given a magic wand from Merryweather to use, and Aurora was able to wield its magical powers such as making two stacks of papers pick themselves up, transforming her nightgown into a ball gown with a dazzling necklace, matching earrings, and a jeweled tiara. She summoned chickens and cows and temporarily turned a man into a duck. Later in the story, Aurora fixed her problems and gave away the cows to peasants. At the end of the story, she returned the wand to Merryweather, having learned she shouldn't have taken the easy way out.

In the original film, despite Aurora having been enchanted by Maleficent, a powerful sorceress, Aurora's willpower combined with shouts from the fairies temporarily gave her the strength to regain control of herself for a few seconds before pricking her finger on the spinning wheel's spindle and falling into a deep sleep.

## Appearances

### *Sleeping Beauty*

Aurora's parents named her after the Roman goddess of the dawn because she filled their lives with the radiant sunshine. Soon after she was born, she was presented to the kingdom at a christening, where she was betrothed to Prince Phillip, the son of King Stefan's good friend King Hubert. Also invited were the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, who bestow blessings on the newborn princess. Flora and Fauna give the infant princess the gifts of great beauty and song, respectively. However, before Merryweather has the opportunity to give her gift, the evil fairy Maleficent arrives. Angered because she wasn't invited to the ceremony, Maleficent puts a curse on baby Aurora. According to Maleficent, before the sun sets on Aurora's sixteenth birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. Maleficent disappears, leaving everyone in shock and horror at Aurora's doomed future. Merryweather, though unable to lift the curse, could soften it. Instead of death, she would alter the situation by placing Aurora into an enchanted sleep, which is the fateful prophecy she'll keep, only to be awakened by true love's kiss if this was to happen.

Still fearful for the princess' safety, the three good fairies agree to hide the princess as a peasant for 16 years, until the danger has passed. They take the baby to a cottage in the forest and raise her, disguising themselves as her mortal aunts and renaming her Briar Rose. Meanwhile, King Stefan has every spinning wheel in the kingdom destroyed in a desperate attempt to prevent the fulfillment of the curse to protect his daughter. On Aurora's sixteenth birthday, her "aunts" send her out into the forest, so that they can prepare her birthday party in secret. While Aurora is out, she dreams of meeting a handsome prince, while singing "Once Upon a Dream". At first, she is singing to her forest friends. But she soon meets Prince Phillip, who had followed her melodic voice. Not knowing who Phillip is, or of their betrothal, she believes him to be a stranger and attempts to leave. However, she dances with him for a bit and ends up falling in love. When he asks for her name, she then leaves, realizing she isn't allowed to give her name to strangers. She does, however, tell him where she lives and asks him to meet her there that night.

At home, Briar Rose comes home to a splendid birthday party. She tells her aunts about the young man that she met, but gets confused when they are not happy for her. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather reveal Briar Rose's true identity as Princess Aurora, as well as the fact that she was betrothed. The fairies sadly explain that she can never see the young man again, not knowing that he was actually her betrothed. Heartbroken, Aurora breaks into tears as she heads upstairs to weep on her bed. She doesn't speak again for the rest of the film. The fairies bring the upset Aurora back to her father's castle and take her to a room where they conjure a crown and place it on her head to help her realize her royal identity. However, a heartbroken Aurora begins to cry and the fairies decide to leave her alone to grieve. While they are gone, Maleficent places the princess in a trance and leads her up an abandoned tower staircase. At the top floor of the empty room, Maleficent conjures a spinning wheel. The fairies realize that Aurora's in trouble and frantically run up the stairs to stop her, but before they can, Maleficent forces the girl to prick her finger on the spindle, invoking the curse. When the fairies arrive, Maleficent mocks their efforts to stop her by revealing the sleeping princess, before vanishing.

The fairies place Aurora, now in an enchanted slumber, upon a bed at the top of the highest tower. While putting everyone else in the castle to sleep, the fairies discover that Phillip had been the man that Aurora met after overhearing King Hubert speak of the prince meeting a peasant girl before he fell asleep with everyone else. So the fairies go to the cottage to get Phillip but are prompted to go to the Forbidden Mountain, Maleficent's domain, after discovering that Maleficent has captured the prince. They rescue Phillip from the dungeon and arm him with the Sword of Truth and the Shield of Virtue, then have to fend off Maleficent's minions and finally exit the Forbidden Mountain and head for Stefan's castle, but Maleficent tries to prevent further entrance by assaulting him with her magic, though Phillip hacked through the spells with little effort. Angered at this, Maleficent suddenly appears in their way and transforms into a dragon. After defeating the dragon with help from the fairies, Phillip enters the castle and walks up the staircase to the tower room where Aurora is still sleeping. He gives her a kiss, true love's kiss, which finally awakens Aurora and breaks the curse. Aurora smiles after she realizes that her betrothed and her love are the same person.

The couple goes down to the ballroom to meet Aurora's parents and Phillip's father, and Aurora kisses King Hubert on his cheek before sharing a dance with Phillip. While the couple dances, Flora and Merryweather reignite their rivalry on their respective colors as the two bickering fairies relentlessly change the color on her dress with their magic. Aurora's ball gown keeps changing colors as she and Phillip continue dancing and share another kiss, with the final words in the book, below the illustration of the couple romantically kissing (and the color of Aurora's ball gown still changing from blue to pink) "and they lived happily ever after".

### *Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams*

Princess Aurora appears in the story, "Keys to the Kingdom". In the story, Prince Phillip, King Hubert, King Stefan, and Queen Leah go off for a Royal Conference for two days. During this time, with the advice and help of Stefan's majordomo, Lord Duke, Princess Aurora is in charge of the Kingdom until they return. Throughout the segment, Aurora attempts to rely on staying calm during hectic situations but this proves to be a challenge. Later on, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather leave the castle to return Hubert's forgotten speech. Before she left, Merryweather allowed Aurora to use her magic wand during harsh times. Aurora initially thought of this as an easy way to avoid a hassle, ignoring her original vow to stay calm. Soon enough, the magic causes more trouble than before having her result to her previous plans which prevail. Aurora succeeds and when the others return, they enjoy a banquet she prepared. It was implied in this story that Aurora's favorite color was pink seeing how she only wore her pink ball gown for this entire story, and she changed the color of her nightgown pink right before she went to bed.

Mary Costa, the original voice of Aurora, was not fond of this story and felt that it did not work.

### *House of Mouse*

Aurora makes numerous cameo appearances in the television series *House of Mouse*. In her notable appearance in the episode "House of Genius", Aurora and Phillip were waiting to be welcomed by Donald, but as he was sleeping on the job, she commented: "*And they call me Sleeping Beauty!*".

In "Ask Von Drake", during Ludwig Von Drake's song, Aurora slept at her table, having Ludwig leave an alarm clock by her side.

In "Jiminy Cricket", she was advised by Jiminy to use a sewing machine as opposed to a spinning wheel.

She also appears in *Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse* and briefly in *Mickey's House of Villains*, where she and other princesses are harassed by the Fates.

### *Sofia the First*

Aurora appears in the Season 1 Christmas Special episode, "Holiday in Enchancia". She is the first Disney Princess to not sing on the show and instead gives Sofia some good advice. She is seen in her redesign look along with a winter cape.

When King Roland goes missing, Sofia and her family go out into the cold blizzard snow to find him, but as a result, they get lost too. When Sofia's amulet starts to glow, she wanders off to a spot where she can be alone and finds Aurora. Aurora tells Sofia she can always count on her animal friends to help her through tough times, before disappearing.

In "Forever Royal", when Sofia battles Vor inside her amulet, Aurora appears to Sofia in spirit form, along with all the princesses who had been summoned to help Sofia in her times of need, and they encourage her to be brave and strong for they all believe in her.

### *Ralph Breaks the Internet*

In *Ralph Breaks the Internet*, Aurora is a netizen who lives and works with the other Disney Princesses in Oh My Disney, where they meet their fans. When Vanellope glitches into the princesses' dressing room to hide from the First Order Stormtroopers, Aurora is seen taking a nap on the couch while holding the rose she held when she was under Maleficent's curse. Mistaking Vanellope as a threat, the princesses charge at her with various weapons; Aurora wields the spindle of the cursed spinning wheel, holding it like a dagger or knife. Vanellope explains that she's a princess as well, which prompts Pocahontas to ask what kind of princess she is. Aurora and Tiana (while the former is being pulled away from the cursed spinning wheel by the latter) ask Vanellope if she has been cursed, which she denies.

After declaring Vanellope an official princess, Aurora and the princesses admire her "gown" and change into more comfortable modern clothes to match made by Cinderella's mice. Aurora wears sleepover attire that consists of a pink headband, a striped long-sleeved pajama top with pink and deep pink stripes and a graphic that reads "Nap Queen" in gold letters with a crown on the letter "**N**", dark pink pants and pink ballet flats, and is seen lounging on an ottoman while sipping a can of lemon-lime soda. After hearing Vanellope's song about the steering wheel she needs to fix her video game *Sugar Rush*, Aurora gives Vanellope an awkward look. When C-3PO enters the room to tell the princesses to get ready for another quiz, Aurora says goodbye to Vanellope. Merida tries to give Vanellope advice in an unintelligible Scottish accent, to which Aurora makes an awkward face.

In the climax of the film, Aurora and the princesses witness Ralph about to fall to his death, and they work together to save him. Aurora uses the spinning wheel to spin Rapunzel's magic hair into ropes. After Ralph is safe, the princesses introduce themselves as Vanellope's friends and befriend Ralph as well.

### Other appearances

A modernized Aurora can be seen walking down a street in *Oliver & Company*, shortly after Oliver, Dodger, Rita, Francis, Tito, and Einstein finish singing "Streets of Gold" but before they raid the Foxworths' Limousine resulting in Oliver being found and adopted by Jenny, who was riding inside.

## Live-action appearances

### *Once Upon a Time*

Aurora appears in the second, third, and fourth seasons of the ABC television series *Once Upon a Time*. She is portrayed by Sarah Bolger.

It was revealed that her mother Briar Rose was afflicted with the same curse by Maleficent years before, making her the second "Sleeping Beauty".

Aurora was born to King Stefan and Queen Briar Rose. From her parents, she knows Maleficent once cursed her mother into an eternal sleep before her father awakened her with true love's kiss. Years later she is betrothed to Prince Phillip (portrayed by Julian Morris). But before they could marry, while happily brushing her hair one night, Maleficent approaches her. The sorceress admits she has thought about killing Briar Rose and King Stefan, but that it would be much better to allow them to live and see what she will do to their daughter. Aurora tries running, but Maleficent catches her by the arm. The princess attempts to intimidate her rival with the prospects of true love's kiss, which will break any curse. Instead, Maleficent reveals she has an equally satisfying curse for Phillip that will turn him into a monster thus keeping him from saving Aurora. As the girl is shouting in mid-protest, Maleficent pierces her with the sleeping curse, rendering her asleep almost instantly beginning her slumber before the casting of the Dark Curse. The palace in which she slumbered was untouched by the curse.

While she slumbered, Phillip and Mulan (portrayed by Jamie Chung) journeyed to find her. They were frozen for 28 years while the Curse was in effect but were able to resume their search after Emma Swan weakened the Curse in Storybrooke. Aurora was awakened by Phillip with True Love's Kiss but soon after Phillip was marked by a creature called a Wraith. He hides it from Aurora and Mulan.

When he goes to sacrifice himself, Aurora and Mulan follow him. It is there Aurora discovers Mulan has feelings for Phillip too. But he has his soul sucked out of him by the Wraith and is killed. Aurora and Mulan carry his body back to Aurora's palace where Mulan explains the dark curse to Aurora. They hear a sound and find Emma Swan and Mary Margaret Blanchard underneath some rubble. Aurora, thinking that they were responsible for the Wraith's appearance, takes them to a safe haven as prisoners. When Emma and Mary Margaret were thrown into the pit they were eventually brought to the leader who turns out to be Sir Lancelot (portrayed by Sinqua Wells). Aurora expresses her distrust in him to Mulan. She also holds Emma and Snow White responsible for Phillip being gone and wants revenge but Mulan warns her against this. But when her back is turned, Aurora grasps a knife tightly in her hands.

Mulan accompanies Emma and Mary Margaret on their journey to find their way back to Storybrooke but Aurora secretly follows them. When Mary Margaret is alone, Aurora seizes the opportunity and holds her and knife-point and holds her responsible for Phillip's death. But Mary Margaret easily overcomes her and pins Aurora to the ground stating that what happened to Phillip was not her fault and that she knows what it is like to lose someone she cared about. Mulan and Emma return to see what is going on. Emma is furious Aurora tried to kill her mother, but Mulan says she will deal with Aurora on her own terms. Later, Mulan is seen telling Aurora to keep up and that it is her own fault for being cold as she should have stayed on the island. Emma takes pity on Aurora and gives her her jacket to keep her warm. At the castle, Aurora and Mulan keep guard at the gate. Later, Aurora agrees to help Mary Margaret and Emma with trying to find another way home as it will give her a chance to channel her anger.

Aurora discovers Captain Hook beneath a pile of bodies, and Hook attempts to deceive the four of them by stating he survived Cora's attack on the camp by hiding under some dead bodies. Emma is not buying his story and pulls a knife on Hook's throat, stating that she wants the truth, and she can tell when a person is lying. She then ties Hook to a tree and whistles for the ogres and begins to walk away. Aurora believes that he may be telling the truth, but then Hook reveals his true identity as a shocked Mary Margaret pulls his hook out of his satchel. He states that he was working with Cora, but will now join forces with Emma and her team. He leads them to a giant beanstalk stretching up into the sky, Aurora lagging behind, stating that there is a magical compass at the top, but first, they must deal with the giant. At the beanstalk, Aurora volunteers to go up, as she says she has no one left to her in this world but is overridden when Emma says she will go up instead.

After Emma departs, Mulan suggests that the remaining three women split time taking watch. Mary Margaret volunteers to watch first, but Aurora refuses to sleep, saying she is having nightmares since her sleeping curse. Mary Margaret reassures her, saying the dreams will go away in time as she, too, also dealt with the after-effects of the sleeping curse. Later, Aurora wakes up screaming from a nightmare, and Mary Margaret comforts her as Mulan looks on. Aurora describes her dream, in which she is in a windowless doorless room with blood-red curtains and flames. Another person, a man, is looking at her from across the room, and she is scared. Mary Margaret comforts her and coaxes her back to sleep. When Mulan moves to cut down the beanstalk, Aurora asks why. Though Mulan was acting on Emma's orders, Mary Margaret tackles her to the ground to stop her from cutting it.

After Emma jumps down from the beanstalk, Aurora wonders where Hook is, and Emma replies that he is being temporarily watched and that the group has a ten-hour head start, so they should take advantage of it. It is later revealed that she and Henry Mills, Emma's son, are experiencing the same nightmare. Aurora is seen sleeping when Emma and Mary Margaret pass by. We see her in her nightmare screaming and becoming engulfed by the flames when Henry reappears with the necklace given to him by Mr. Gold and puts out the flames. He tells her his name is Henry, and she shouldn't be afraid. She is awakened by Mary Margaret and explains to her and Emma that there was a little boy in her dream, and his name was Henry. She's later captured by Cora, who tries to use her to get what she wants by revealing that Phillip's soul is in another world.

Aurora refuses to help Cora and is knocked out cold, but Hook releases her and it's revealed he took her heart which Cora uses to manipulate Aurora. Cora and Hook then imprison her and the others in an enchanted dungeon. After the spell on the dungeon is broken, Aurora voluntarily stays behind because she knows that she cannot be trusted since Cora has control of her heart. When Hook and Cora are about to escape to Storybrooke in a portal, they attacked by Snow White, Emma, and Mulan. At one point during the battle, Cora vanishes and Aurora's heart almost falls into the portal, but Hook saves it because he feels that it is not right for a girl to lose her heart especially to him. Mulan then returns to Aurora and puts her heart back in her body. The two of them then resume their quest to save Phillip.

She appears in the season finale where she, a revived Phillip and Mulan find Neal washed off the coast in the Enchanted Forest. They take him back to the palace and tend to his injuries. Upon awakening, she asks who he is, to which the man responds with his name, Neal. Hastily, Aurora rushes over to bring water to him while Neal wonders where this is. She tells him he is in their kingdom, and further questioning prompts Prince Phillip to tell Neal they are in the Enchanted Forest. Shocked, Neal murmurs he is back, which causes Aurora to think he's a native of this land, but Mulan points out his clothes are foreign and similar to Emma and Mary Margaret's. At the mention of Emma's name, Neal realizes they are acquainted with her as well and tries to explain he needs to save Emma from harm. In attempting to move from the beer, Neal struggles to sit up as his wound is not yet completely healed, but despite that, he is set on finding out if Emma and Henry are alright. Aurora queries if Neal is Henry's father, and goes on to fill him in on how she once met Henry in the Netherworld. She mentions having harnessed the power to walk the dream world and find others like her, and it's possible to find Henry. Neal asks if she can find Emma to let her know he is alive.

Assuming a laying spot on the beer, Aurora attempts to find with Emma or Henry in the dream world. A moment later, Aurora awakens to notify Neal she was unable to make contact. However, Neal recalls his father always had plans and could have left something behind if he ever came back to the Enchanted Forest. He has hopes of finding such an item and using it to get to Emma and Henry by traveling to his father's castle. Prince Phillip raises the question of who his father is, and Neal admits it's Rumplestiltskin. While Aurora and Prince Phillip stay behind, Mulan and Neal head off towards the castle, wishing the two luck in their endeavors.

When Mulan is offered to join Robin Hood's band, she stopped by Aurora's to share the great news, but before Aurora shares great news of her own: she and Phillip are expecting their first child. After the two are happy to hear both of their respective revelations, Mulan and Aurora exchange happy tearful hugs and say goodbye.

Sometime later, everyone who was sent to Storybrooke by the Dark Curse returns to the Enchanted Forest and Aurora and Phillip greets them. However, after welcoming everyone back the two of them realize that they must tell Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West that Storybrooke's residents have returned. If they do not give her this information, she will take their child. However, Aurora and Phillip broke their deal with a revelation to Regina, Belle, Snow White, and Charming on the primal goal of the witch on Snow White's baby. Angry, the Wicked Witch transforms them into flying monkeys.

After the Wicked Witch was defeated Leroy revealed that Aurora and Phillip became human again and Aurora is later seen in Storybrooke at the event where Snow White and Prince Charming name their new child. Sometime later, Aurora gives birth to a son who is also given the name Phillip. She goes to parenting classes with Snow White and Cinderella, it is also revealed that she is still trying to understand the ways of the modern world.

### *Maleficent*

Aurora appears in the feature film as Maleficent's secret rival and good friend, portrayed by actress Elle Fanning while Angelina Jolie's daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt portrays her as a 5-year-old. Out of all other little girls, Vivienne was the only child that wasn't afraid of her own mother in costume since the other kids in casting would run away in fear of Angelina's appearance.

As an infant, she was out of vengeance cursed by Maleficent that before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday she would prick her finger on the spindle of a Spinning Wheel and fall into an eternal slumber like death. To keep her safe she was taken into hiding.

Over the next sixteen years, she comes across Maleficent many times as she grows up and comes to believe the wicked fairy is her fairy godmother. Aurora was nicknamed "Beastie" by Maleficent in their first interaction. She is secretly cared for by Maleficent and Diaval since the Pixies are incapable of doing so. Even as a toddler she has no fear of being near Maleficent at all, especially when she hugs her and lets her pick her up.

When Aurora is fifteen, Maleficent brings her to the Moors and two eventually develop a mother-daughter relationship but remains unaware that the fairy she claims to be her Fairy Godmother is the one who had cursed her as an infant. She wishes to stay in the Moors with Maleficent but after learning the truth of her past and Maleficent's identity from the Pixies, she angrily returns to her father. Unfortunately, she was not supposed to return until the day after her sixteenth birthday, and as the sun begins to set, the curse calls to her and follows a whispering voice to the dungeons where all the spinning wheels in the kingdom were burnt. She approaches one spinning wheel that repairs itself, and she slowly reaches out for the spindle. She pricks her finger and falls into her eternal deathlike slumber.

Maleficent brings Phillip to her, the prince she met in the forest, hoping his brief meeting with her will be enough to break the spell but unfortunately it does not. So sad and ashamed of what her hatred has brought upon her dearest friend, she gives her a motherly goodbye kiss on the forehead and just before she can walk away a miracle happens: Aurora wakes up happy to see her Fairy Godmother. Maleficent's close and intense motherly love for Aurora was enough to break the curse.

As they try to flee the castle, Maleficent gets captured by Stefan's guards. Aurora tries to save her, but she is overpowered and told to run. She finds her way to a room where she finds Maleficent's fairy wings, and they're still alive. Aurora manages to free them, and they emerge with Maleficent, giving back her ability to fly once again. She allowed Maleficent to kill her deranged father once and for all.

In the last scene, Aurora is crowned Queen of both the human and fairy kingdoms and is reunited with Prince Phillip who both smile at each other as her fairy godmother Maleficent leaves to enjoy flying once again with Diaval. The narrator of the film concludes the tale by revealing that she is, in fact, an elderly Aurora retelling the whole story.

### *Maleficent: Mistress of Evil*

Aurora returns in the sequel, and in the five years since King Stefan's death, Aurora has reigned as Queen of the Moors and eventually accepts Phillip's proposal, when the prince gets the courage to get down on one knee and asked for her hand in marriage. Maleficent, her godmother advises her against the union, though Aurora insists she will be proven wrong. At the dinner she attends with her future in-laws, King John suddenly falls into a deep slumber seemingly cast by Maleficent. Aurora doesn't believe Maleficent when she proclaims that she did not curse him. Aurora eventually grows disillusioned with being an Ulstead noblewoman but is happy that the Moor denizens are invited to the royal wedding. She discovers that Queen Ingrith hates all Moor fairy folk, bitterly resenting their prosperity during a time when her kingdom had suffered. Aurora also learns that it was Queen Ingrith who cursed King John, using Maleficent's old cursed spindle. When Maleficent eventually shows up to fight Queen Ingrith and her army, Aurora pleads with her godmother to not kill Ingrith. She appeals to Maleficent's humanity to spare her and declares that only Maleficent is her mother. With Maleficent distracted, however, the Queen fires her crossbow. Maleficent sees this, and saves Aurora, but is struck by the arrow instead. She then dissolves into ashes. As Aurora's tears fall on the ashes, Maleficent is reborn as a Phoenix. Terrified, Queen Ingrith throws Aurora off the tower, prompting Maleficent to save her.

When Prince Phillip manages to forge peace between the fairies and humans, the Ulstead soldiers stand down. Maleficent reverts to her fairy form and gives Aurora and Phillip her blessing. After Aurora and Phillip are wed, Maleficent returns to the Moors with the other Dark Feys. She promises to return when there is a christening.

## Printed media

### *Maleficent's Revenge*

In this story, Aurora plays more of a heroic role. As the plot follows, Maleficent returns from the deathly Underworld and seeks revenge on Aurora and Phillip in midst of the royal couple's first wedding anniversary. The evil fairy does so by cursing the kingdom, turning everyone, except Aurora herself, into stone. To save her subjects and loved ones, Aurora travels to the Forbidden Mountains and offers her life in exchange for the kingdom. Maleficent agrees, placing Aurora in a sleep-like death, and freeing the citizens of the kingdom, as promised. After his revival, Phillip rushes off to rescue Aurora, battling and eventually defeating Maleficent in the process. With true love's kiss, Aurora's eternal sleeping spell is broken, this time for good, and peace and order are restored.

### *Kilala Princess*

In the manga series Kilala Princess, Aurora is celebrating her 17th birthday when princesses Kilala and Sylphy and prince Rei enter her world to find a magical gem. Kilala is mistaken for a maid due to her appearance and is forced to work. Aurora finds Kilala on the balcony and comforts her. She has been told that Kilala is in love with Rei, and tells her of her own story with Prince Phillip and what kept her love strong. The witch, Maleficent, emerges to curse Aurora with slumber once more, but Kilala shields the princess from harm, sacrificing herself in the process. Rei kisses Kilala and, through the kiss of true love, breaks the spell and defeats Maleficent permanently. The glass bead Kilala received from a young princess earlier transforms into a rose quartz, depicting the importance of being faithful to her dreams if she wants them to come true.

Aurora is last seen witnessing Kilala receive her own special gem: an emerald.

### *Mistress of All Evil: A Tale of the Dark Fairy*

Aurora appears in this book trapped in the Dreamscape right after she pricked her finger on the Spinning Wheel and had fallen to Maleficent's curse and it is there she encounters Lucinda, Ruby, and Martha, who are trapped alongside her. It is revealed that Aurora is really Maleficent's biological daughter.

## Video games

### *Kingdom Hearts* series

In *Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep*, Aurora's backstory is more or less the same as it was in the film. By the time Terra arrives at the Enchanted Dominion, Aurora has already been placed in a deep slumber under the influence of the curse laid by Maleficent. When Terra reaches the tower and meets Maleficent, she uses the darkness in his heart to temporarily take control of his body as well his mind and forces him to take Aurora's heart. Her heart was kept in Maleficent's castle until Ventus comes to retrieve it with the three good fairies. Although her heart returned, the curse is not broken. Prince Phillip eventually escapes with Aqua's aid and reaches the tower where he kisses Aurora and breaks the spell.

During the ending credits, she and Prince Phillip are seen dancing in the audience chamber of the castle, just like at the end of the movie.

In *Kingdom Hearts*, she is known to be a Princess of Heart and is among the seven to be captured by Riku and Maleficent, most likely by Maleficent herself after recovering from her defeat by Aqua and Phillip and gaining the support of the Heartless. She plays a small but important role in the story. Aurora is placed in another deep sleep with the other princesses until Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy rescue them and Aurora tells them about Ansem. She and the other princesses help open the keyhole and along with the other princesses, she also gives Sora the power of fire. Later, she tells Sora further information about Maleficent. Afterward, she returns to her home as it is restored following the sealing of the Door To Darkness and defeat of Ansem.

Her name is part of the password to enter Tron's world, in *Kingdom Hearts II*.

### *Kinect Disneyland Adventures*

Aurora appears in the game as a meet-and-greet character outside the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Fantasyland. She assigns a few tasks to the player, including helping her prepare a party for the Good Fairies and searching for bird songs. She also participates in the *Mickey's Soundsational Parade* and *Princess Fantasy Faire* mini-games.

## Disney Parks

Princess Aurora is a meetable character at Disney parks around the world. She is usually at Fantasy Faire in Disneyland Park or in stage shows that include a princess scene. If it is not her and Prince Phillip, it is Belle and Beast or Ariel and Eric.

Aurora has her own spell card known as "Aurora's Rose Petals" in the attraction Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.

Aurora also appears on the princess-themed float in Mickey's Soundsational Parade as well as in Jubilation!, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, and Flights of Fantasy Parade.

For meet-and-greets, Aurora can be found at the Magic Kingdom's Princess Fairytale Hall. In Epcot, She can often be found in the France Pavilion.

Aurora is also present for the Fantasylands of both Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland. Aurora also makes meet-and-greet appearances aboard the Disney Magic.

She and Phillip can also be seen dancing during the "I See the Light" segment of Disney Dreams! at Disneyland Paris.

### Fantasmic!

Princess Aurora appears during the Princess Medley, but not in every showing. Aurora also reappears riding Steamboat Willie at the top with other Disney Princesses and many other Disney characters.

### Dream Along with Mickey

Aurora appeared dancing with Cinderella, Snow White, and their princes. Aurora assists Cinderella and Snow White in making Minnie's dream of being a princess come true. She reappeared at the end with the other characters to celebrate the defeat of Maleficent and her minions Captain Hook and Mr. Smee.

## Disney Princess

### Redesign

Aurora received relatively few changes in her late 2012 redesign. Her bangs no longer sport the distinctive curl in the front and are now combed and curled more to the side like a typical hair parting. Her tiara is no longer as pointy, and the rubies that used to be studded in it have been replaced with pink rose quartz. The white shoulders of her ball gown are now more refined and streamlined, and no longer as sharp and pointed-looking. The entire ball gown itself is now decorated with swirly designs of climbing flowers and vines. This reworking of Aurora's look is carried over to the Disney Parks. She also has a more sparkly and glittery redesign for her other blue ball gown.

In her early redesigns, she had a long sash beneath her hips instead of the triangular cutouts, but in the current redesign, the cutouts remained in her ball gown.

### Palace Pets

Aurora's Palace Pets are Beauty, Bloom, Nuzzles, Fern, Macaron, Ash, and Chipper.

## Differences from the source material

Princess Aurora is based on the fairy tale "La Belle Au Bois Dormant" by Charles Perrault, but there are many differences:

* The princess is apparently never named in the original fairy tale.
* The princess was never betrothed to marry a prince when she was a baby.
* Seven fairies found in the realm are invited to be the princess' godmothers at the christening and bestow their gifts at the banquet back at the castle.
* The uninvited eighth fairy (who was long thought to be dead or enchanted) declares that the princess will prick her hand on a spindle and die from the wound.
* The seventh fairy undoes the result of her aged kinswoman's gift that the princess will fall into a profound slumber that will last a hundred years and be awoken by a king's son.
* Nevertheless, the king forbids, on pain of death, that spindles and spinning wheels be kept in the house.
* It is one day after the 16th year that the princess pricks her hand on the spindle.
* It is on the floor of the tower that the princess swoons onto after taking hold of the old serving woman's spindle and is later placed upon a gold and silver embroidered bed in the castle's finest apartment.
* The seventh fairy is summoned and casts a spell of sleep over the castle, except the king and queen, who sadly departed.
* Her magic also brings forth a forest of trees big and small with interlacing brambles and thorns that shield the castle (the towers are still seen but from a distance) and to safeguard the princess.
* After a hundred years, a king's son who was from another family awakens the sleeping princess (though he only kneels by her side).
* The castle awakens and the prince and princess are married in the castle chapel.
* After being secretly married, the princess bore two children: a girl, L'Aurore (Dawn in English; Aurora in Latin) and a boy, Le Jour (Day).
* The prince had a mother who hated the princess. The mother was an ogress who loved to eat small children. She sent the young Queen and the children to a house secluded in the woods and directed her cook to cook the three of them. The cook was humane and told the mother that a goat was the young girl, a sheep was the young boy.
* After finding out that the cook had lied and the princess and her children were safe, the ogress prepared a tub to cook them in. After the prince caught his mother, she threw herself into the tub and was fully consumed, and everyone else lived happily ever after.

## Gallery

***The Disney Wiki*** has a collection of images and media related to ***Aurora***.

## Trivia

* Aurora's name means "sunrise" or "dawn" in Latin.
	+ On a related note, she is also the first Disney Princess to have a name independent of that of the movie she appeared in.
* Out of all Disney Princesses, she has the least amount of screen time, 18 minutes to be exact. During those 18 minutes, she said only 18 lines, which makes her, out of all the Disney Princesses, to have the least amount of lines. Her first line was delivered 19 minutes into the film, and her last line was delivered 39 minutes in, with the last sound she makes when she arrives at the castle and cries over thinking she'll never see her loved one again. So technically, this makes the Fairies the real protagonists instead of her, as well as making her the only Disney Princess to be a false protagonist.
	+ Coincidentally, Tiana has the second least screen time as a human (19 minutes).
* Her film did not originally do well at the box office nor was it ever re-released in Walt Disney's lifetime. *Sleeping Beauty* was also the last Princess film made in Disney's lifetime, and the fairy tale genre was not returned to until *The Little Mermaid* in 1989.
	+ However, the film developed a loyal following in later years and Aurora has gained much popularity when the Disney Princess franchise was created. This makes her film a sleeper hit.
	+ All the Princesses' films so far were commercially successful during their initial releases, except for Aurora's, thus making her film the only one to be a commercial failure during its initial release. Aurora would, however, later on, appear in the highly successful live-action blockbuster film *Maleficent* and the hit animated movie *Ralph Breaks the Internet*.
	+ Aurora is also the last "traditional" Disney Princess; as these princesses are much more reactive. After that, the later Princesses are more "contemporary" and proactive, starting with Ariel in 1989.
* In the sequel books, she has a palomino horse named Mirette.
* Aurora is the only Disney Princess to *actually* wear a typical princess gown. The other Princesses wear clothes that are not commonly categorized as a "typical" princess gown. For Aurora's case, the gown was meant to distinguish her role as a princess.
* Aurora's alias is Briar Rose, which is also the title of the Brothers Grimm version of the tale.
	+ The Brothers Grimm version of *Sleeping Beauty* is based on the 1636 story by Giambattista Basile called *Sun, Moon, and Talia*.
* The name Aurora is the name of Sleeping Beauty's daughter in the Charles Perrault version and is the name for the titular character in the Tchaikovsky ballet.
* Aurora is the first Disney Princess to have an official alias, Briar Rose.
* Aurora is the first Disney Princess to have both parents present during her film, followed by Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, and Moana. But Tiana's father later died in the First World War.
* Aurora is one of the eight Disney Princesses to be royal by birth, second after Snow White.
* Despite having a similar narrative with Snow White, wherein they both fell into a deep sleep, Aurora is much more associated with the sleeping trademark.
* Aurora remained silent in the second half of the film she originated in, even after being awoken with the kiss. She is second only to Dumbo (who didn't speak at all) as the protagonist with the least amount of dialogue throughout their movie.
* Alongside Snow White, Merida, Moana, and Tiana, Aurora has not had a sequel to her film.
* Aurora's ball gown is constantly changed from blue to pink and back again as a running gag during her film. The constant color change is due to Flora and Merryweather's disagreement on what the color should be.
	+ The gag of Aurora's gown changing colour from blue to pink through the film was inspired by the filmakers' difficult decision on deciding the gown's colour during production.
* Her real name, Aurora, which is mentioned a few times in the film, is often unused or even unknown by some fans; by them, she is only called Sleeping Beauty. This is notable in the *House of Mouse* episode "Jiminy Cricket", in which Jiminy Cricket addressed Aurora with "Sleeping" and "Beauty" as her first and last names respectively, reflecting on this.
	+ In recent Disney Princess merchandise, Aurora is solely referred to as Sleeping Beauty instead.
* The final scene of *Sleeping Beauty* with her and Prince Phillip dancing and going off into the clouds was an abandoned concept from both *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs* and *Cinderella*.
	+ The dance animation would later be reused in the final scene of *Beauty and the Beast*.
* In the ballet, her father is named King Florestan the XXIV, the Prince is named Désiré or Florimund and the evil fairy is called Carabosse. There are five fairies named Candide (Candor), Coulante, Fleur de farine (Flowing, Wheat flour), Miettes qui tombent (Falling breadcrumbs), Canari qui chante (Singing canary), and Violente (Force). The Lilac Fairy is the final and sixth good fairy and is considered the most powerful.
* Aurora's original voice actress, Mary Costa, is the only actress alive of the first three Princesses. Both Adriana Caselotti and Ilene Woods passed away in 1997 and 2010, respectively.
* Strangely, in *Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep*, Aurora's bed vanishes, as does Aurora herself when completing Terra's and Ventus' scenarios in her world when she should be asleep in her bed. Though more than likely for the story of the world, it means that Aurora is awake due to Aqua helping Prince Phillip rescue her.
* Coincidentally, Kate Higgins, the latest voice actor for Aurora, also voices Briar Beauty, the daughter of Sleeping Beauty in the Mattel webisode series *Ever After High*.
* Unlike most Princesses, her appearance is more of that of a mature woman, rather than a 16-year-old teenage girl.
* Aurora is the first Disney Princess to have an arranged marriage as a conflict, followed by Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Merida. In her case, she was hesitant to return to the castle due to its meaning having to violate her promise of meeting the stranger she met (who ironically enough *was* her betrothed).
	+ She is also the only one of the four to actually marry the person she was betrothed to.
* Despite having the most negative reviews, and is commonly dismissed as a damsel-in-distress, Aurora has shown a sense of responsibility, leadership, and independence in *Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams*.
	+ Some fans even commended Aurora in the original film for not going against her responsibility as a princess by gracefully accepting her fate of marrying her betrothed, and deciding to let go of the man that she met in the woods, just for the sake of unifying two kingdoms. Little did she knew that she was already being rewarded for her decision, since her betrothed was actually the same man that she met in the woods.

## References

1. ↑ *Sleeping Beauty (Platinum Edition)*. [DVD audio commentary]. Walt Disney Home Entertainment. 2008.
2. ↑ *Sleeping Beauty: Platinum Edition*. Perfect Picture: Making of Sleeping Beauty. A documentary, 2008
3. ↑ *Sleeping Beauty: Special Edition*. Once Upon a Dream: Making of Sleeping Beauty. 2003
4. ↑ http://www.dvdizzy.com/sleepingbeauty-interview2.htm