t. Earle fused Gothic French, Italian and Renaissance influences with his own abstract style of realism to create much of the formalized beauty and stylish design seen in Sleeping Beauty.Earle's influence was also felt in the character design which was strongly vertical and angular in contrast to the more familiar soft and round designs of previous animated films. More so that any other animated film before it, Sleeping Beauty showed an audience how realistic animated characters could be rendered. As Walt said about the characters in the film, "I had only one general suggestion for our ancestors - make them as real as possible, near flesh and blood, and sympathetic - especially to younger picture fans. That is why we used living models more carefully than ever before in order to give the artists inspiration, to help them shape the anatomy of movement and expression of the cartoon figures." Disney himself called the perfected process "the art of painting in life-like motion."

Mary Costa, the speaking and singing voice of Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, began her musical career by singing her first Sunday School solo at the age of nine. While still in her teens, Mary auditioned for the part of Aurora mainly because she was very eager to meet Walt Disney. The day after her audition she was notified that she had the job, but every time she appeared at the studio to record and would ask about seeing Walt, she was given an excuse. Finally she learned that Disney preferred not to meet her until after the picture was completed so that he would not be influenced by her personality. Three years later they got together for lunch.

Of all the characters in Sleeping Beauty, the wicked fairy Maleficent is often the one that leaves the greatest impression and is therefore one of the most intriguing of all the Disney Villains. This is largely due to the animator, Marc Davis, who brought her and other famous Disney villains, like Cruella De Vil, to life. In fact, it was Marc who decided Maleficent needed a sidekick due to her fondness for dramatic soliloquies. The sidekick came in the form of a pet raven which listened and reacted to her various speeches. The raven turned out to be a rather important character as it discovered Briar Rose's hiding place, giving Maleficent the opportunity to strike.

Like the evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Ursula in the Little Mermaid, and Jafar in Aladdin, Maleficent transforms into something even more frightening that her wicked self; the dragon. Animated by Ken Anderson, who also animated a more friendly Disney dragon named Elliott, the terrifying dragon bears Maleficent's physical characteristics as well as her lust for destruction.