If you’ve been reading about Sleeping Beauty Wakes or seen the show already, you’ll know that it’s not a staged version of the beloved Disney classic. The writers incorporate some elements of the original fairy tale, but use them more as a launching-off point in the development of their own, new story.

Many famous plots are not original works, but adaptations of old tales. Adaptations can come in all shapes and sizes: some artists are very loyal to an original source whereas others take more liberties with older material. Fairy tales are some of the most frequently adapted stories because they deal with universal themes and are straightforward enough that they lend themselves to a variety of interpretations.

Sleeping Beauty is a story that has inspired artists across a number of artistic styles and forms. Below are a few examples of how the tale has been adapted.

Adaptations of Sleeping Beauty

1. Musical:
   • Awaking Beauty by Alan Ayckbourn (2008)
     
     
2. Books:
   • Enchantment by Orson Scott Card
   • Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
   • Spindle’s End by Robin McKinley
     
     
3. Opera:
   • La belle au bois dormant (Sleeping Beauty) by Michele Carafa (first performed in 1825)
     
     
4. Ballet:
   • The Sleeping Beauty by Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1890)
     
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5. Film/TV:
   • Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1959)
   • Sleeping Beauty in Faerie Tale Theatre (1983 with Bernadette Peters and Christopher Reeve)
   • Sleeping Beauty (1987 American/Israeli film)
   • Sleeping Betty (2008 Canadian adaptation)
   • Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty (Oscar-nominated short, 2008)
     
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Sleeping Beauty Stories from Around the World

The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood by Charles Perrault
The Ninth Captain’s Tale from 1001 Nights
Sun, Moon, and Talia by Giambattista Basile
Little Brier Rose by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

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