Aurora

"I know you I walked with you once upon a dream"

- Aurora singing Princess Aurora is the titular character and protagonist of Disney's 1959 film Sleeping Beauty. She is the daughter of King Stefan and Queen Leah. She is the 3rd official Disney Princess.

She has been voiced by Mary Costa, Erin Torpey, Jennifer Hale and Kate Higgins.

Personality
Aurora is kind, elegant, shy and sophisticated, as well as a hopeless romantic. At first, she is seen as a slightly naive and carefree young woman as a result of being sheltered for most of her life. Aurora is very loyal to her "aunts" and usually obeys their rules respectfully, although she may disagree with them. Since she was raised not to talk to strangers, Aurora was naturally startled and apprehensive when the handsome Prince Phillip appeared in the forest. However, she was drawn to him before remembering her aunts' rule about not talking to strangers. Aurora then compromised in agreeing to talk to him by arranging to meet him at her cottage, under the supervision of her aunts. In later media, she is shown to have matured and become more self-assured, independent and confident in her opinions and abilities. Though it can arguably be said that as a character, she is very difficult to pin down, due to her short appearance in the movie, at least awake, that is.

Physical appearance
Aurora is a supremely beautiful young woman, magically blessed with curly and wavy waist-length golden hair like sunshine, violet eyes, a tall and slender figure, and lips that shame the red rose. Her complexion is fair and flawless and unlike Snow White or Cinderella, her face is less rounded and more refined, giving her an appearance of maturity rather than youth despite being only 16.

In her peasant guise of Briar Rose, she wears a gray skirt with a white petticoat, a black bodice over a light gray blouse with long sleeves and goes barefoot. After discovering her status as a princess, she wears an evening gown that changes from blue to pink and back due to Flora and Merryweather's disagreeing on the color.

Abilities
In Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams, Aurora was given a magic wand from Merryweather to use, and Aurora was able to wield its magical powers such as making two stacks of papers pick themselves up, transforming her nightgown into a ballgown with a dazzling necklace, matching earrings, and a jeweled tiara. She summoned chickens and cows and temporarily turned a man into a duck. Later in the story Aurora fixed her problems and gave away the cows to peasants. At the end of the story she returned the wand to Merryweather.

In the original film, despite Aurora having been enchanted by Maleficent, a powerful sorceress, Aurora's will power combined with shouts from the fairies temporarily gave her the strength to regain control of herself for a few seconds.

Disney Princess

 * Aurora is gentle and loving, and is raised by three fairies named Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. She lives in the forest, where she meets the Prince, her one true love.

Maleficent

 * Princess Aurora is a curious and thoughtful child who develops a bond with nature that rivals only Maleficent’s. But as she grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy.

My Disney Experience

 * Awakened by Maleficent's spell, Princess Aurora believes that dreams do come true, and true love conquers all.

Behind the Scenes
The original design for Aurora has developed by Tom Oreb, who based figure of Aurora on Audrey Hepburn's thin frame and graceful demeanor. Later, Marc Davis worked on sketches of Oreb, improving the appearance and clothing of the heroine so that they were combined with angular forms of background images.

Designs costumes for Aurora worked Marc Davis' wife, Alice. According to the designer, this was her first job at the Walt Disney Studios, during which she became the wife of the Marc in 1956.

As it was with other Disney films, was hired actress for processing of the game scenes as a guide for the animators. Live-action model for the heroine became Helene Stanley. She already worked on this posts, fulfilling the role of Cinderella.

Sleeping Beauty
Aurora's parents named her after the Roman Goddess of the Dawn because she filled their lives with sunshine. Soon after she was born, she was presented to the kingdom at a christening, where she was betrothed to Prince Phillip, the son of King Stefan's good friend King Hubert. Also invited were the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, who bestow blessings on the newborn princess. Flora and Fauna give the infant princess the gifts of beauty and song, respectively. However, before Merryweather has the opportunity to give her gift, the evil fairy Maleficent arrives. Angered because she wasn't invited to the ceremony, Maleficent puts a curse on baby Aurora. According to Maleficent, before the sun sets on Aurora's sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die. Maleficent disappears, leaving everyone in shock and horrified. Merryweather, though unable to lift the curse, could soften it. Instead of death, she would remedy the situation by placing Aurora into an enchanted sleep, only to be awakened by true love's kiss if this was to happen.

Still fearful for the princess's safety, the three good fairies agree to hide the princess as a peasant for 16 years, until the danger has passed. They take the baby to a cottage in the forest and raise her, disguising themselves as her mortal aunts and renaming her Briar Rose.

On Aurora's sixteenth birthday, her "aunts" send her out into the forest, so that they can prepare her birthday party in secret. While Aurora is out, she dreams of meeting a handsome prince, while singing "Once Upon a Dream". At first, she is singing with her forest friends. But she soon meets Prince Phillip, who had followed her melodic voice. Not knowing who Phillip was, or of their betrothal, she believes him to be a stranger, and attempts to leave. However, she dances with him for a bit and ends up falling in love. When he asked for her name, she then left, realizing she wasn't allowed to give her name to strangers. She does, however, tell him where she lives and asks him to meet her there that night.

At home, Briar Rose comes home to a splendid birthday party. She tells her aunts about the young man that she met, but is confused when they aren't happy for her. Flora, Fauna and Merryweather reveal Briar Rose's true identity as Princess Aurora, as well as the fact that she is betrothed. The fairies sadly explain that she can never see the young man again, not knowing that he was actually her betrothed. Heartbroken, Aurora breaks into tears as she heads upstairs to weep on her bed.

The fairies bring the upset Aurora back to her father's castle, take her to a room, and decide to leave her alone for a time. They conjure a crown and place it on her head so that she can eventually come to realize her royalty. While they are gone, Maleficent enchants the princess and leads her up an abandoned tower staircase. At the top floor within the empty room, Maleficent conjures a spinning wheel. The fairies realize the danger and frantically run up the stairs to stop Aurora, but before they can, Maleficent forces the girl to prick her finger, invoking the curse. The fairies arrive, but run into Maleficent, who mocks their efforts to stop her, reveals the fallen princess, who has been cursed, and vanishes.

The fairies place Aurora, now in an enchanted sleep, upon a bed at the top of the highest tower. While putting everyone else in the castle to sleep, the fairies discover that Phillip had been the man that Aurora met after overhearing King Hubert speak of the prince meeting a peasant girl. So the fairies go to the cottage to get Phillip, but are prompted to go to Forbidden Mountain, Maleficent's domain, after discovering that Maleficent has captured the prince. They rescue Phillip from the dungeon and arm him with the Sword of Truth and the Shield of Virtue, then have to fend off Maleficent's minions and finally exit the Forbidden Mountain and head for Stefan's castle, but Maleficent conjures a forest of thorns to prevent further entrance which is hacked through by Phillip's sword. Angered at this, Maleficant suddenly appears in their way and transforms into a dragon. After defeating the dragon with help from the fairies, Phillip enters the castle and walks up the staircase to the tower room where Aurora is still sleeping. He gives her a kiss, true love's kiss, which finally awakens Aurora and breaks the curse. Aurora smiles after she realizes that her betrothed and her love are the same person.

The pair go down to meet Aurora's parents and Phillip's father, and Aurora kisses King Hubert on his cheek before sharing a dance with Phillip. While the couple dance, Flora and Merryweather reignite their rivalry on their respective colors as the two bickering fairies relentlessly change the color on her dress with their magic. Aurora's dress keeps changing colors as she and Phillip continue dancing and share another kiss, with the final words in the book, below the illustration of the couple romantically kissing (and the color of Aurora's dress still changing from blue to pink) "and they lived happily ever after".

Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams
Princess Aurora appears in the first Sleeping Beauty story, "Keys to the Kingdom", since the original film, this time as the main protagonist. In the story, Prince Phillip, King Hubert, King Stefan and Queen Leah go off for a Royal Conference for two days. During this time Princess Aurora, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are in charge of the Kingdom until they return. Throughout the segment, Aurora attempts to rely on staying calm during hectic situations but this proves to be a challenge. Later on, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather  leave the castle to return Hubert's forgotten speech. Before she left, Merryweather allowed Aurora to use her magic wand during harsh times. Aurora initially thought of this as an easy way to avoid hassle, ignoring her original vow to stay calm. Soon enough, the magic causes more trouble than before having her result to her previous plans which prevail. Aurora succeeds and when the others return, they enjoy a banquette she prepared. It is implied in this story that Aurora's favorite color is pink seeing how she only wore her pink princess dress for this entire story and she changed the color of her nightgown pink right before she went to bed.

Mary Costa, the original voice of Aurora, was not fond of this story and felt that it did not work. 

Oliver and Company
A modernized Aurora can be seen walking down a street in Oliver and Company, shortly after Oliver, Dodger, Rita, Francis, Tito, and Einstein finish singing "Streets of Gold" but before they raid the Foxworth limousine resulting in Oliver being found and adopted by Jenny, who was riding inside.

House of Mouse
Aurora makes numerous cameo appearances in the television series House of Mouse. In "House of Genius", Aurora and Phillip were waiting to be welcomed by Donald but as he slept on the job she commented "and they call me Sleeping Beauty!". In "Ask Von Drake", during Ludwig Von Drake's song, Aurora slept at her time having Ludwig leave an alarm clock by her side. In "Jiminy Cricket", she was advised by Jiminy to use a sewing machine as apposed to a spinning wheel. She also appears in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse and briefly in Mickey's House of Villains.

Despite her status as a princess, she seems to prefer the simple peasant clothes she wore during her 16 years in hiding as Briar Rose.

Kilala Princess
In the manga series Kilala Princess, Aurora is celebrating her 17th birthday when princesses Kilala and Sylphy, and prince Rei enter her world to find a magical gem. Kilala is mistaken for a maid due to her appearance and is forced to work. Aurora finds Kilala on the balcony and comforts her. She has been told that Kilala is in love with Rei, and tells her of her own story with Prince Phillip and what kept her love strong. The witch, Maleficent, emerges to curse Aurora with slumber once more, but Kilala shields the princess from harm, sacrificing herself in the process. Rei kisses Kilala and, through the kiss of true love, breaks the spell and defeats Maleficent. Aurora then gives Kilala a rose quartz, depicting the importance of being faithful to her dreams if she wants them to come true.

She is last seen witnessing Kilala receive her own special gem: an emerald.

Once Upon a Time
Aurora appears in the second and third seasons of the ABC television series Once Upon a Time. She is portrayed by Sarah Bolger. She was afflicted with the Sleeping Curse by Maleficent, and it was revealed that her mother was afflicted with the same curse by Maleficent years before making her the second "Sleeping Beauty". She is cursed by Maleficent, who wanted revenge because her first attempt, to kill Aurora's mother, the original Sleeping Beauty, failed. Aurora began her slumber less than a year before the casting of the Dark Curse. The palace in which she slumbered was untouched by the curse. While she slumbered, Prince Phillip (portrayed by Julian Morris) and Mulan (portrayed by Jamie Chung) journeyed to find her. They were frozen for 28 years while the Curse was in effect, but were able to resume their search after Emma Swan weakened the Curse in Storybrooke. Aurora was awakened by Phillip with True Love's Kiss but soon after Phillip was marked by a creature called a Wraith. He hides it from Aurora and Mulan.

When he goes to sacrifice himself Aurora and Mulan follow him. It is there Aurora discovers Mulan has feelings for Phillip too. But he has his soul sucked out of him by the Wraith and is killed. Aurora and Mulan carry his body back to Aurora's palace where Mulan explains the dark curse to Aurora. They hear a sound and find Emma Swan and Mary Margaret Blanchard underneath some rubble. Aurora, thinking that they were responsible for the Wraith's appearance, takes them to a safe haven as prisoners. When Emma and Mary Margaret were thrown into the pit they were eventually brought to the leader who turns out to be Sir Lancelot (portrayed by Sinqua Wells). Aurora expresses her distrust in him to Mulan. She also holds Emma and Snow White responsible for Phillip being gone and wants revenge but Mulan warns her against this. But when her back is turned, Aurora grasps a knife tightly in her hands.

Mulan accompanys Emma and Mary Margaret on their journey to find their way back to Storybrooke but Aurora secretly follows them. When Mary Margaret is alone Aurora seizes the opportunity and holds her and knife-point and holds her responsible for Phillip's death. But Mary Margaret easily overcomes her and pins Aurora to the ground stating that what happened to Phillip was not her fault and that she knows what it's like to lose someone she cared about. Mulan and Emma return to see what is going on. Emma is furious Aurora tried to kill her mother, but Mulan says she will deal with Aurora on her own terms. Later, Mulan is seen telling Aurora to keep up and that it is her own fault for being cold as she should have stayed on the island. Emma takes pity on Aurora and gives her her jacket to keep her warm. At the castle, Aurora and Mulan keep guard at the gate. Later, Aurora agrees to help Mary Margaret and Emma with trying to find another way home as it will give her a chance to channel her anger.

Aurora discovers Captain Hook beneath a pile of bodies, and Hook attempts to deceive the four of them by stating he survived Cora's attack on the camp by hiding under some dead bodies. Emma is not buying his story and pulls a knife on Hook's throat, stating that she wants the truth and she can tell when a person is lying. She then ties Hook to a tree and whistles for the ogres, and begins to walk away. Aurora believes that he may be telling the truth, but then Hook reveals his true identity as a shocked Mary Margaret pulls his hook out of his satchel. He states that he was working with Cora, but will now join forces with Emma and her team. He leads them to a giant beanstalk stretching up into the sky, Aurora lagging behind, stating that there is a magical compass at the top, but first they must deal with the giant. At the beanstalk, Aurora volunteers to go up, as she says she has no one left to her in this world, but is overridden when Emma says she will go up instead.

After Emma departs, Mulan suggests that the remaining three women split time taking watch. Mary Margaret volunteers to watch first, but Aurora refuses to sleep, saying she is having nightmares since her sleeping curse. Mary Margaret reassures her, saying the dreams will go away in time as she, too, also dealt with the after effects of the sleeping curse. Later, Aurora wakes up screaming from a nightmare, and Mary Margaret comforts her as Mulan looks on. Aurora describes her dream, in which she is in a windowless doorless room with blood red curtains and flames. Another person, a man, is looking at her from across the room, and she is scared. Mary Margaret comforts her and coaxes her back to sleep. When Mulan moves to cut down the beanstalk, Aurora asks why. Though Mulan was acting on Emma's orders, Mary Margaret tackles her to the ground to stop her from cutting it.

After Emma jumps down from the beanstalk, Aurora wonders where Hook is, and Emma replies that he is being temporarily watched and that the group has a ten hour head start, so they should take advantage of it. It is later revealed that she and Henry Mills, Emma's son, are experiencing the same nightmare. Aurora is seen sleeping when Emma and Mary Margaret pass by. We see her in her nightmare screaming and becoming engulfed by the flames when Henry reappears with the necklace given to him by Mr. Gold and puts out the flames. He tells her his name is Henry and she shouldn't be afraid. She is awakened by Mary Margaret and explains to her and Emma that there was a little boy in her dream, and his name was Henry. She's later captured by Cora, who tries to use her to get what she wants by revealing that Phillip's soul is in another world.

She refuses to help Cora and is knocked out cold, but Hook releases her and it's revealed he took her heart which Cora uses to manipulate Aurora. Cora and Hook then imprison her and the others in an enchanted dungeon. After the spell on the dungeon is broken, Aurora voluntarily stays behind because she knows that she cannot be trusted since Cora has control of her heart. When Hook and Cora are about to escape to Storybrooke in a portal, they attacked by Snow White, Emma and Mulan. At one point during the battle Cora vanishes and Aurora's heart almost falls into the portal, but Hook saves it because he feels that it is not right for a girl to lose her heart especially to him. Mulan then returns to Aurora and puts her heart back in her body. The two of them then resume their quest to save Phillip.

She appears in the season finale where she, Phillip and Mulan find Neal washed off the coast in the Enchanted Forest. They take him back to the palace and tend to his injuries. Upon awakening, she asks who he is, to which the man responds with his name, Neal. Hastily, Aurora rushes over to bring water to him while Neal wonders where this is. She says him he is in their kingdom, and further questioning prompts Prince Phillip to tell Neal they are in the Enchanted Forest. Shocked, Neal murmurs he is back, which causes Aurora to think he's a native of this land, but Mulan points out his clothes are foreign and similar to Emma and Mary Margaret's. At the mention of Emma's name, Neal realizes they are acquainted with her as well, and tries to explain he needs to save Emma from harm. In attempting to move from the bier, Neal struggles to sit up as his wound is not yet completely healed, but despite that, he is set on finding out if Emma and Henry are alright. Aurora queries if Neal is Henry's father, and goes on to fill him in on how she once met Henry in the Netherworld. She mentions having harnessed the power to walk the dreamworld and find others like her, and it's possible to find Henry. Neal asks if she can find Emma to let her know he is alive.

Assuming a laying spot on the bier, Aurora attempts to find with Emma or Henry in the dreamworld. A moment later, Aurora awakens to notify Neal she was unable to to make contact. However, Neal recalls his father always had plans, and could have left something behind if he ever came back to the Enchanted Forest. He has hopes of finding such an item and using it to get to Emma and Henry by traveling to his father's castle. Prince Phillip raises the question of who his father is, and Neal admits it's Rumplestiltskin. While Aurora and Prince Phillip stay behind, Mulan and Neal head off towards the castle.

When Mulan is offered to join Robin Hood's band, she stopped by Aurora's to share the great news, but before Aurora shares a great news of her own: she and Phillip are expecting their first child. After the two are happy to hear both of their respective revelation, Mulan and Aurora exchange happy tearful hugs and say goodbye.

Sometime later, everyone who was sent to Storybrooke by the Dark Curse return to the Enchanted Forest and Aurora and Phillip greet them. However, after welcoming everyone back the two of them realize that they must tell the Wicked Witch of the West that Storybrooke's residents have returned. If they do not give her this information, she will take their child. However, Aurora and Phillip broke their deal with revelation to Regina, Belle, Snow White and Charming on the primal goal of the witch on Snow White's baby. Angry, the Wicked Witch transforms them into flying monkeys.

After the Wicked Witch was defeated Leroy revealed that Aurora and Phillip became human again and Aurora is later seen in Storybrooke at the event where Snow White and Prince Charming name their new child.

Sofia the First
Aurora appears in the Christmas Special "Holiday in Enchancia". She is the first Disney Princess to not sing on the show, instead she only gives Sofia some good advice.

When King Roland goes missing, Sofia and her family go out into the cold blizzard snow to find him, but as a result they get lost, too.

When Sofia's amulet starts to glow she wonders off to a spot where she can be alone and finds Aurora. Aurora tells Sofia she can always count on her animal friends to help her through tough times, before disappearing.

Maleficent
Aurora appears in the feature film as Maleficent's rival/friend, portrayed by actress Elle Fanning while Angelina Jolie's daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt portrays her as five years old. Out of all other little girls, Vivienne was the only child that wasn't afraid of her own mother in costume since the other kids in casting would run away in fear of Angelina's appearance.

As an infant, she was out of vengeance cursed by Maleficent that before the sunsets on her sixteenth birthday she would prick her finger on the spindle of a Spinning Wheel and fall into an eternal slumber like death. To keep her safe she was taken into hiding.

Over the next sixteen years, she comes across Maleficent many times as she grows up and comes to believe the wicked fairy is her fairy godmother. Aurora was nicknamed "Beastie" by Maleficent in their first interaction. She is secretly cared by Maleficent and Diaval since the Pixies are incapable. Even as a toddler she has no fear of being near Maleficent at all, especially when she hugs her and lets her pick her up.

When Aurora turns fifteen, Maleficent brings her to the Moors and two eventually develop a mother-daughter relationship but remains unaware that the fairy she claims to be her Fairy Godmother is the one who had cursed her as an infant. She wishes to stay in the Moors with Maleficent but after learning the truth of her past and Maleficent's identity, she angrily returns to her father. Unfortunately she was not suppose to return until after her sixteenth birthday and as the sun begins to set the curse calls to her and follows a whispering voice to the dungeons where all the spinning wheels in the kingdom were burnt. She approaches one spinning wheel that repairs itself and slowly reaches out for the spindle. She pricks her finger and falls into her eternal death-like slumber.

Maleficent brings Phillip to her, the prince she met in the forest, hoping his brief meeting with her will be enough to break the spell but unfortunately it does not. So sad and ashamed of what her hatred has brought upon her dearest friend, she gives her a goodbye kiss on the forehead and just before she can walk away a miracle happens, Aurora wakes up happy to see her Fairy Godmother. Maleficent's close and intense motherly love for Aurora was enough to break the curse.

As they try to flee the castle, Maleficent gets captured Stefan's guards, Aurora tries to save her but she is overpowered and told to run. She finds her way to a room where she finds Maleficent's fairy wings and they're still alive. She manages to free them and merge with Maleficent, giving back her ability to fly once more. She allowed Maleficent to kill her deranged father once and for all.

In the last scene, Aurora is crowned Queen of both the human and fairy kingdoms and is reunited with Prince Phillip who both smile at each other as her fairy godmother Maleficent leaves to enjoy flying once more with Diaval. The narrator of the film concludes the tale by revealing that she is in fact an elderly Aurora retelling the whole story.

Kingdom Hearts series
In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Aurora's backstory is more or less the same as it was in the film. By the time Terra arrives at the Enchanted Dominion, Aurora has already been placed in a deep slumber under the influence of the curse laid by Maleficent. When Terra reaches the tower and meets Maleficent, she uses the darkness in his heart to temporarily take control of his body and forces him to take Aurora's heart. Her heart was kept in Maleficent's castle until Ventus comes to retrieve it with the three fairies. Although her heart returned, the curse is not broken. Prince Phillip eventually escapes with Aqua's aid and reaches the tower where he kisses Aurora and breaks the spell.

During the ending credits, she and Prince Phillip are seen dancing in the audience chamber of the castle, just like at the end of the movie.

In Kingdom Hearts, she is known to be a Princess of Heart and is among the seven to be captured by Riku and Maleficent.

Her name is part of the password to enter Tron's world, in Kingdom Hearts II.

Kinect Disneyland Adventures
Aurora appears in the game as a meet-and-greet character outside the Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutique in Fantasyland. She assigns a few tasks to the player, including helping her prepare a party for the Good Fairies and searching for birdsongs. She also participates in the Mickey's Soundsational Parade and Princess Fantasy Faire mini-games.

Disney Parks and Resorts
Princess Aurora is a meetable character at Disney parks around the world. She is usually at Fantasy Faire in Disneyland Park or in stage shows that include a princess scene. If it is not her and Prince Phillip, it is Belle and Beast or Ariel and Eric.

Aurora has her own spell card known as "Aurora's Rose Petals" in the attraction Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom.

Aurora also appears on the princess themed float in Mickey's Soundsational Parade as well as in Jubilation!, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmastime Parade and Flights of Fantasy Parade.

For meet-and-greets, Aurora can be found at the Magic Kingdom's Town Square Theater. In Epcot, She can often be found in the France Pavilion.

Aurora is also present for the Fantasylands of both Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland. Aurora also makes meet-and-greet appearances aboard the Disney Magic.

Fantasmic!
Princess Aurora appears during the Princess Melody, but not in every showing. Aurora also reappears riding Steamboat Willie at the top with other Disney Princesses and many other Disney characters.

Dream Along with Mickey
Aurora appears dancing with Cinderella, Snow White and their princes. Aurora assists Cinderella and Snow White in making Minnie dreams come true as being a princess. Aurora reappears at the end and celebrate with other Disney characters the defeat of Maleficent and her minions Captain Hook and Mr. Smee.

Original film

 * I Wonder
 * Once Upon a Dream

Disney Princess Enchanted Tales

 * Keys to the Kingdom (and Reprise)
 * When You Love Someone

Miscellaneous

 * If You Can Dream
 * Waiting for my Prince (Disney Princess Tea Party CD)
 * My Birthday wish (Disney Princess Party CD)
 * A Rose is a Rose (The Princess and the Frog: Tiana and her Princess Friends CD)
 * Christmas with my Prince (Disney Princess Christmas Album)
 * Beauty of the Season
 * Christmas is coming (DPC Album)
 * The twelve days of Christmas (DPC Album)
 * The Princess Dance (Disney Princess Tea Party)

Differences from the source material
Princess Aurora is based on the two fairy tales "La Belle au bois dormant" by Charles Perrault and "Little Briar Rose" by The Brothers Grimm. The stories were later merged into one. She keeps much of her character continuity from the original stories but there are also many differences:

Version by Charles Perrault

 * The princess is apparently never named in the French version.
 * Seven fairies found in the realm are invited to be the princess' godmothers at the christening and bestow their gifts at the banquet back at the castle.
 * The uninvited eighth fairy (who was long supposed to be dead or enchanted) declares that the princess will prick her hand on a spindle and die from it.
 * The seventh fairy undoes the result of her aged kinswomen's gift that the princess will fall into a profound slumber that will last a hundred years and be awoken by a king's son.
 * Nevertheless, the king forbids, on pain of death, that spindles and spinning wheels be kept in the house.
 * It is one day after the 15th or 16th years that the princess pricks her hand from the spindle.
 * It is upon the floor of the tower that the princess swoons onto after taking hold of the old serving-woman's spindle and is later placed upon a gold and silver embroidered bed in the castle's finest apartment.
 * The seventh fairy is summoned and casts a spell of sleep over the castle, except the king and queen who sadly depart.
 * Her magic also brings forth a forest of trees big and small with interlacing brambles and thorns that shield the castle (the towers are still seen, but from a distance) and to safeguard the princess.
 * After a hundred years, a king's son who was from another family from the sleeping princess 'awakes' her (though he only kneels by her side).
 * The castle awakes and the prince and princess are married in the castle chapel.
 * After being secretly married, the princess bore two children, a girl, L'Aurore (Dawn in English; Aurora in Latin) and a boy, Le Jour (Day).
 * The prince had mother, who hated the princess. The mother was an ogress who loved to eat small children. She sent the young Queen and the children to a house secluded in the woods, and directed her cook to cook the three of them. The cook was humane and told the mother that a goat was the young girl, a sheep was the young boy.
 * After finding out that the cook had lied and the princess and her children were safe, she prepared a tub to cook them in. After the prince caught his mother, she threw herself into the tub and was fully consumed, and everyone else lived happily ever after.

Version by The Brothers Grimm

 * A frog foretells the birth of a daughter to the queen after she has taken a bath.
 * The princess's name is later revealed to be Briar Rose in the German version.
 * Only twelve Wise Women are invited to the feast to celebrate the princess's birth.
 * The uninvited thirteenth Wise Woman (due to there being only twelve golden plates) cries in a loud voice that the princess will prick herself with a spindle in her 15th year and die from it.
 * When the twelfth Wise Woman gives her gift to soften the outcome of the wicked prophecy, she states that the princess will instead fall into a deep sleep for 100 years, locked in her current physical age.
 * The King has all spindles in the kingdom burned.
 * It is one day in the 15th year that Briar Rose pricks her finger when handling the spindle.
 * She falls upon the bed within the tower where she encounters the old woman who was busily spinning her flax.
 * The sleep spell spreads over the castle and everyone inside falls asleep.
 * Over time a hedge of thorns grows and 'hides' the castle, but the vane of the roof.
 * Many princes attempt to enter, but are killed by the tightly clustered thorns.
 * As the altered spell says, Briar Rose falls asleep for 100 years, but 'awakes' from her sleep after a kiss is bestowed upon her by a king's son.
 * The castle awakes from its sleep and the couple are married.

Redesign
Aurora did not receive many changes in her late 2012 redesign. Her bangs no longer sport the distinctive curl in the front, and are now combed and curled more to the side like a typical hair parting. Her tiara is no longer as pointy, and the rubies that used to be studded in it have been replaced with pink rose quartz. The white shoulders of her dress are now more refined and streamlined, and no longer as sharp and pointed-looking. The entire dress itself is now decorated with swirly designs of climbing flowers and vines. This reworking of Aurora's look is carried over to the Disney Parks.

In her early redesigns, she had a long sash beneath her hips instead of the triangular cutouts, but in the current redesign, the cutouts remained in her dress.

Palace Pets
Aurora's Palace Pets are Beauty and Bloom.

Trivia

 * Aurora is the third Disney Princess, after Snow White in 1937 and Cinderella in 1950.
 * Aurora is often considered second-in-command (with Belle) of the 13 Disney Princesses to Cinderella.
 * Aurora is (so far) the only Disney Princess to be a false protagonist, the real ones being the three fairies instead.
 * Her film did not originally do well at the box office nor was it ever re-released in Walt Disney's lifetime. Sleeping Beauty was also the last Princess film made in Disney's lifetime, and the fairy tale genre was not returned to until The Little Mermaid in 1989.
 * However, the film developed a following in later years and Aurora has gained much popularity when the Disney Princess franchise was created.
 * All the Princesses' films so far were commercially successful during their initial releases, except for Aurora, thus making her film the only one to be a commercial failure during its initial release.
 * Aurora is also the last "traditional" Disney Princess; as these princesses in that era are more reactive (by what means they have dreams, but do little about them, and only involved in finding a prince to live happily ever after). After that, the later Princesses are more "contemporary" and proactive (by what means they strive hard to achieve their dreams), starting with Ariel in 1989.
 * Aurora is the first female to possess violet or purple eyes, second was Vanessa (Ursula's human alter-ego) and third was Megara.
 * In the sequel books, she has a palomino horse named Mirette.
 * Aurora is the second Disney Princess to be involved with "true love's kiss", after Snow White in 1937. Though in Snow White the kiss was called "love's first kiss", well in Sleeping Beauty the kiss was called "true love's kiss". In The Little Mermaid, Ariel needed another version of the kiss as well called "the kiss of true love" to stay human under Ursula's deal.
 * Aurora is the third youngest Disney Princess, with Snow White being the youngest at 14 and Jasmine being the second youngest at 15, but she turns 16 at the end of Aladdin. Aurora turns 16 in her feature film and a majority of the movie takes place on her birthday. The fourth youngest is Ariel who was already 16 in her feature film as well for sometime before the events of her movie took place.
 * Aurora's alias is Briar Rose, which is also the title of the Brothers Grimm version of the tale.
 * The name Aurora is the daughter's name of the Sleeping Beauty in the version of Charles Perrault and is the name for the titular character in the ballet.
 * Aurora is the first Disney Princess to have an official alias.
 * Aurora means "sunrise" or "dawn" in Latin.
 * Aurora is the first Disney Princess to have both parents present during her film, the second being Mulan, the third being Rapunzel, and the fourth being Merida. Tiana, Anna and Elsa could count, as both parents were present when they were a child, but they may not because Tiana's father dies in war, and Anna and Elsa's parents both die in a journey.
 * Aurora is one of the eight Disney Princesses to be royal by birth, second after Snow White.
 * Aurora remained silent in the second half of the film she originated in, even after being awoken with the kiss.
 * Aurora's dress is constantly changed from blue to pink and back again as a running gag during her film. The constant color change is due to Flora and Merryweather's disagreement on what the color should be. Although it is most commonly seen as pink in publicity photos, it hasn't yet been made official whether her dress is blue or pink. It is likely that she owns dresses of both colors. She may be seen in pink because of the fact that her original dress color when it was being made by Flora is pink, not blue as Merryweather wanted, thus makes her commonly seen in pink. Another possible reason she's mostly seen dressed in pink is so she won't be confused with Cinderella, who (often) has blonde hair and wears a dress that is displayed as blue in franchise products. Also, it maybe because due to many other Disney female characters wearing blue, Jasmine (Aladdin), Alice (Alice in Wonderland), Wendy (Peter Pan), Belle (Beauty and the Beast, in her peasant dress). It was even noticeable from looking at the six Princesses of Heart, from the first game of Kingdom Hearts.
 * Aurora is the first Disney Princess to be initially unaware of her identity as a princess, the second being Rapunzel. She also inspired other traits, such as their desire to be "free" and see the world, look very much like their birth mothers, and and are barefoot for most of their films.
 * Aurora has been selected as the #2 most attractive Disney heroine, the #5 most popular Disney Princess and the #5 favorite Disney heroine.
 * Her real name, Aurora, which is mentioned few times in the film, is often unused or even unknown by some people, by them she is only called Sleeping Beauty. This is notable in the House of Mouse episode "Jiminy Cricket", Jiminy Cricket adressed Aurora with "Sleeping" and "Beauty" as her first and last names respectively.
 * Aurora is the first Disney Princess in which she has to deal with an unwanted marriage as a major or minor source of conflict. (Belle is the second as she has to deal with Gaston's intent to marry her), Jasmine is the third in that her father is trying to marry her off before her next birthday, and Pocahontas is the fourth in that her father is trying to marry her off to Kocoum).
 * Aurora is the tallest out of the eleven Disney Princesses.
 * Though she is supposedly the main protagonist, Aurora has only 18 minutes of screen time, making her have the least amount of screen time than any other Disney Princess. Conversely, Tiana has the second least amount of screen time as a human (19 minutes).
 * Aurora made a brief cameo appearance in the Mickey Mouse Works cartoon Mickey's April Fools.
 * Technically she is the first female character to have known her love interest since childhood as Phillip was present for her birth, though she was much too young to remember it so it may not count. She is followed by Faline, Maid Marian, Nala and Kiara. She is also the only human female to be so.
 * Aurora is the second Disney Princess to be sung to by her respective love interest. Snow White being the first.
 * Aurora is the second Disney Princess to participate in a dance with her respective love interest after just meeting him. The first being Cinderella.
 * Aurora is the third Disney Princess to run away from her respective love interest without telling him her name. She was preceded by Snow White and Cinderella, and later followed by Ariel and Pocahontas. However unlike the first two Aurora told Phillip where he could find her.
 * The final scene of Sleeping Beauty with her and Prince Phillip dancing and going off into the clouds was an abandoned concept from both Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella.
 * Aurora, along with Cinderella and Belle, are the only Disney Princesses to have songs sung about them. Additionally, Aurora has two songs sung about her.
 * Aurora is the first Disney Princess to ever get involved with political issues, as seen in her sequel, she is seen signing papers for her father.
 * Aurora is more commonly seen with Snow White, Cinderella, Belle and Jasmine than with the other Princesses.
 * In the ballet, her father is named King Florestan the XXIVth, the Prince is named Désiré or Florimund and the evil fairy is called Carabosse. There are five fairies named Candide (Candor),Coulante, Fleur de farine (Flowing, Wheat flour), Miettes qui tombent (Falling breadcrumbs),Canari qui chante (Singing canary) and Violente (Force). The Lilac Fairy is the final and 6th good fairy, and is considered the most powerful.
 * Aurora is one of six Disney Princesses to use magic for she used Merryweather's wand. The other five are Ariel who used her father's trident, Cinderella who used her Fairy Godmother's wand, Pocahontas who has the ability to control the air and wind, Rapunzel whose magic came from her golden hair before it was cut, and Elsa who has control over ice and snow.
 * Aurora is the first Disney Princess to frown in merchandise.
 * Aurora is the first Princess to have her love-interest at the beginning of her life.
 * Aurora's actress, Mary Costa, is the only actress alive of the first three Princesses because both Adriana Caselotti and Ilene Woods passed away.
 * Strangely, in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Aurora's bed vanishes, as does Aurora herself when completing Terra's and Ventus's scenarios in her world, when she should be asleep in her bed. Though more than likely for the story of the world, it means that Aurora is awake due to Aqua helping Prince Phillip rescuing her.
 * Coincidentally, Kate Higgins, the latest voice actor for Aurora, also voices Briar Beauty, the daughter of Sleeping Beauty in the Mattel webisode series, Ever After High.
 * Aurora is the first live-action Disney character actress Elle Fanning portrays, though it is her second Disney character; the first being her voice acting for the animated Mei Kusakabe from My Neighbor Totoro.
 * Aurora is the third and last Disney Princess to have her story open with a fairy tale book, the first being Snow White and the second being Cinderella.
 * Aurora is one of the six Disney Princesses that could become Queen Regnant of her homeland instead of a Queen Consort.
 * Not counting Maleficent, Aurora is the only Princess not to interact with the antagonist of her film.
 * Unlike most Princesses, her appearance is given more as a mature woman, rather than a 16-year old girl. This could be because she's more clever than she is given off as. An example is that when her "aunts" tried to hide the dress they were making for her birthday, she knew that something was up.
 * In Maleficent, Aurora is the first Disney Princess to have a villain as a biological relative (her father King Stefan, who was good in the original version of the film).