Aurora (Disney character)

Aurora
Sleeping Beauty character
Aurora in the blue rendition of her famous color-changing ballgown
First appearance	Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Created by	Charles Perrault Walt Disney
Voiced by	Mary Costa (original film) Erin Torpey (speaking voice in Disney Princess Enchanted Tales) Cassidy Ladden (singing voice in Disney Princess Enchanted Tales) Jennifer Hale (2001 - 2010) Kate Higgins (2010 - present)
Information
Full name	Princess Aurora
Nickname(s)	Rose
Aliases	Briar Rose
Family	King Stefan (father) Queen Leah (mother) Audrey(daughter, as of Descendants)
Significant other(s)	Prince Phillip

Princess Aurora (also known as Sleeping Beauty or by her alias "Briar Rose") is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 16th animated feature film Sleeping Beauty (1959). Originally voiced by American singer Mary Costa, Aurora is born the only daughter of King Stefan and Queen Leah. As revenge for not being invited to Aurora's christening, an evil fairy named Maleficent curses the newborn princess, foretelling that she will die on her 16th birthday by pricking her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle. Determined to prevent this, three good fairies raise Aurora in seclusion as a peasant in order to protect her, patiently awaiting her 16th birthday – the day the spell is to be broken by a kiss from her true love, Prince Phillip.

Aurora is based on the princess in Charles Perrault's fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty", as well as the heroine in the Brothers Grimm's retelling of the story, "Little Briar Rose". For several years, Walt Disney had struggled to find a suitable actress to voice the film's heroine and nearly abandoned the project entirely because of this dilemma until Costa was discovered by composer Walter Schumann. However, Costa's strong southern accent nearly cost her the role until she proved that she could sustain a fake British accent for the entire film. In order to accommodate the unprecedentedly detailed backgrounds of the film, Aurora's refined design demanded more attention than had ever been paid to an animated character before, drawing inspiration from Art Nouveau. Animated by Marc Davis, Aurora's slender physique was inspired by the features of British actress Audrey Hepburn. With only 18 lines of dialogue and equally as few minutes of screen time, the character speaks less than any speaking main character in a full-length Disney animated feature film.