Posted in: Disney, Disney, Movies | Tagged: disneyland, Eyvind Earl, HRL, King Ludwig II, Roland E. Hill, Sleeping Beauty Castle, walt disney

Lauren Looks Back: The History Of Sleeping Beauty Castle

On July 17th, 1955, Walt Disney finally opened the gates to the now-famous Disneyland Park. Guests flooded the park that day, and were greeted by a fairly large structure at the end of Main Street USA: Sleeping Beauty Castle.

The castle was inspired by Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, which was originally home to the eccentric King Ludwig II. Ludwig had the castle commissioned in 1869, and drew from his own imagination to create the Bavarian beauty. The castle is bright and beautiful, which ultimately drew in Disney during his 1935 trip to Europe.

Disney tasked designer Roland E. Hill to create the castle, who used forced perspective to make the castle appear much larger. The castle only reaches 77 feet in height (compared to Cinderella Castle's 189 feet, Sleeping Beauty Castle is rather small), and was initially empty inside.

By spring of 1957, Imagineers had created a walkthrough diorama retelling the story of Sleeping Beauty, and used Eyvind Earle's (production manager for the film Sleeping Beauty) style. It's one of my favorite parts of the castle, but it is not wheelchair-friendly. Instead, Disney has a "virtual walkthrough" for such guests, but frankly, there's nothing like seeing the real thing. I would love to see the Imagineers come up with something so every single guest can enjoy the actual dioramas, and not just some paltry VR.

While the film itself had not yet premiered (Sleeping Beauty wouldn't hit theaters until January 29th, 1959), the studio was in the middle of production on it. This undoubtedly made people excited for the new Disney Princess, which is clever marketing. There is also a Sleeping Beauty castle in Hong Kong, and while they may look similar there are differences. The Hong Kong castle has sharper lines, and also uses more neutral colors.

Sleeping Beauty Castle didn't exactly wow me when I first saw it. Granted, I saw Cinderella Castle first (as WDW is my home park), but I still appreciate the history behind it. And it is a very charming castle, and does feature my favorite disney villain — so it's really not that bad. If you've never been to Disneyland, I urge you to take the trip out. It's absolutely worth it.

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