the movie's musical score and songs are arrangements or adaptations of material from the 1890 "sleeping beauty" ballet by pyotr ilyich tchaikovsky. buena vista distribution released the movie to theaters on november 11, 1959. it was the first animated movie to be photographed in the technirama widescreen process. the movie was presented in super technirama 70 and 6-channel stereophonic sound in first-run engagements.