In what wide-screen format was Sleeping Beauty filmed?

Sleeping Beauty was presented in the Super Technirama 70 widescreen format. It was Disney’s first animated feature to use that large-format process, paired with six-track stereophonic sound for selected engagements.

Technically, the film was photographed using the horizontal 35 mm, eight-perforation Technirama process. Some prints were then optically enlarged and unsqueezed onto 70 mm stock for exhibition; those deluxe presentations were marketed as Super Technirama 70.

This distinction explains why references may mention both Technirama and Super Technirama 70. VistaVision also used horizontal 35 mm film, but it was a different process, while CinemaScope used another anamorphic system. Technicolor describes color photography and processing rather than the specific widescreen format being asked about.

The format suited Sleeping Beauty’s unusually detailed artwork, including Eyvind Earle’s tapestry-like backgrounds and broad compositions. Standard 35 mm prints were also distributed, so not every theater screened the film in its 70 mm presentation.