Sleeping Beauty: A Biblical Epic Symbolizing the Union of Humanity and the Divine

Taking inspiration from a lot of sources I've learned from the past few years, including work from J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, George Lucas, Jordan Peterson's Maps of Meaning, Jonathan Pageau's Symbolic World, Ryan Reeves, and more, I finally decided to dive back into story analysis regarding one of my favorite Disney animated classics, Sleeping Beauty.

In this analysis, I explore the meaning of the story of Sleeping Beauty, a Biblical epic that symbolizes the unification of Heaven and Earth, and the union of humanity and the divine. In the story, Maleficent represents Satan, ultimate evil, while Aurora represents humanity in both calling and destiny. Philip, the sacrificial hero armed with truth and virtue, represents Christ, the prophesied one who would reverse the curse.

Watching this film back, I couldn't help but see the biblical threads placed throughout the narrative, and knowing that the purpose of fairytales is to move the imagination to consider the greatest of topics, I couldn't resist making this video.

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[ghostdreamer]

Sleeping Beauty is underrated. My favorite classic fairytale and Disney classic when I was a kid in the 90s.

[allenfarrantello]

As someone who loves and has a degree in Biblical study, I loved your narrative summary of Sleeping Beauty. You wonderfully use thread in many Biblical concepts and terms without beating the audience over the head with verses. I especially love your subtle christology of Prince Philip.

[АделинаАделина-эь]

Now I understand, why do I cry every time I rewatch it as an adult. The best Disney fairytale.

[mmolenda]

This is a classic good versus evil. Good will always triumph over evil.

[Miatpi]

Wow that was beautifully narrated and beautifully put.

Never thought about the prince representing Jesus slaying the powers of hell reawakening the mankind to spiritual life and restoring the falling world to the paradise it was fits very, very well. The picture of bride and bridegroom is also there, as well as the image of heaven and earth to unite as two kingdoms.
Thanks for bringing this perspective to light.

[VivlingLeigh]

This echoes so many thoughts I’ve previously had while providing so many new insights on a film I’ve studied closely from childhood. I am astounded at your unique perspective that so deeply reflects the embodiment of the divine and reality in this film- we see it play out in the characters themselves. Phillip is an archetypical Prince, but he also gets dunked in the river by his steed; the fairies are mystical and powerful, but can’t bake a cake; Aurora is the essence of spirituality, while also stumbling over herself when in contact with Phillip for the first time.

This is the most inspiring video I’ve ever seen and please let me know if there’s any way to support further content like this, whether it’s through a Patreon or another platform. BRILLIANT 10/10

[Bushflare]

Yo, sick to see you back and I'm seriously digging the philosophical/symbolic approach to the media at hand. You're right on the money about modernity being somewhat confused by mythological stories and it's always interesting to see people taking swings at more ambiguous media through a spiritual/metaphysical lens rather than a strictly materialist/grounded one. I look forwards to what comes next.

[whitnehhh]

To be honest with you, one of the things I've realized that has made my faith even stronger is that we tell this same story of Christ saving humanity over and over and over again. I believe this is because humanity innately has knowledge of Christ and his sacrifice.

[raymondwyatt]

One of my favorite films of all time… this is so beautiful.

Thankyou.

[KailynJulianna]

SO GOOD. i cried multiple times watching this

[DeathfirePrime]

Thank you so much for this, this was beautiful! Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorite Disney movies ever, and your video finally helped put to words the true beauty of the story that I feel people of this modern age might never be able to understand or appreciate. I've even seen people who say they like movie misread and disparrage it due to it being incompatible with their narrow modernist perception. This video was not only a breath of fresh air to the discussion of the movie but a finely crafted video in general! Bravo!

[captainhades]

I’ve learned more from video essays like these than I’ve learned from four years of English classes

[milo_thatch_incarnate]

I loved your connection of the timeless tale of this film to the timeless archetypal stories of the Bible! Reminds me very much of the way Dr Jordan Peterson describes archetype stories that span all of human history, because they’re so essential to our humanity.

[Ridge]

Your short summary of the mythological direction the story pointed to was beautifully put. I'm looking forward to the day when humanity and the divine reunite!

[MalloryNewcomb]

8:09
I always like the red for Stefan including that hat with the feather

[bazemore]

You sound like Jonathan Pageau. I want to say he just launched a Kickstarter campaign for his retelling of Snow White and has plans to do Sleeping Beauty in a year or two.
This video has gotten me so hyped. Keep up the great work!

[MalloryNewcomb]

3:28
Now I get why people say that Maleficent is the greatest of all Disney villains… symbolically everything is there. She has never looked like she fits into a normal room. Everything about her evokes terror and yet she’s so real.

[entheogenicemily]

Omg THIS!!! Intuitively feel like this explains why this movie was my favorite for so long as a child and all of the underlying feelings I had about it that I felt intensely yet too subtly to put words to. Maleficent’s story with the live actions can then be interpreted as another kind of spiritual exploration, as well as the self-sabotage that can occur during that process, as well as the divinity that our traumas hold for us in the grand scheme of things that can feel so tough to acknowledge sometimes (for myself included). Her heart being pierced can also be looked at as her heart being opened. This is soo layered and really makes for a wonderful lens to explore so many themes through.

Also your pointing out that the magic and whimsy are signs of divinity, and the acknowledgment of when they come back in the story is 🤯 big powerful! Takes the finale with the weapons being transmuted to another level, and has me looking at Aurora’s wonder in a whole new way. Thank you so much for this empowering take!

[animeROX]

I really appreciate this analysis of sleeping beauty, it's truly one of my favorite classic disney films. It's so obvious that everyone who worked on this film were so passionate and proud of the work they did. So many people write this film off as a "product of its time" when I think they don't really look at it honestly, they see Aurora as a hollow vapid heroine who just wants to fall in love and marry a prince, and see the kiss of true love as a violation of consent... I don't think these criticisms are very fair tbh, if you watch the film and pay attention Aurora has spunk, she has a personality, and she and Phillip (however short it may be) do fall in love before he kisses her in the end. The thing people focus on are the simple story and characters and see it as a bad thing, but I don't think it's a bad thing at all. There's nothing wrong with a simple story or character, the true focus for this film was the animation, the music, and the symbolism. Walt Disney wanted this to be an epic fairy tale, like a story from the illiad, he also wanted to test what the animated medium could do, can it look like a moving illustration or oil painting? How do we tell an epic story through the animation? Sleeping beauty to me is a masterpiece in animation, it inspired an entire new generation of artists who later worked on films like the little mermaid, beauty and the beast, lion king, Aladdin, etc. It deserves to be praised, not criticized for "bad writing" when really it's not badly written at all.

[EricaElena]

I am currently writing my own version of Sleeping Beauty, and this essay touched on so many of the points I hope to incorporate! I hope I can do the story justice🤞🏼