Bosley Crowther, writing in his review for "The New York Times", complimented that "the colors are rich, the sounds are luscious and magic sparkles spurt charmingly from wands", but criticized its similarity with "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". He further wrote that "the princess looks so much like Snow White they could be a couple of Miss Rheingolds separated by three or four years. And she has the same magical rapport with the little creatures of the woods. The witch is the same slant-eyed Circe who worked her evil on Snow White. And the three good fairies could be maiden sisters of the misogynistic seven dwarfs." "Time" harshly wrote that "Even the drawing in "Sleeping Beauty" is crude: a compromise between sentimental, crayon-book childishness and the sort of cute, commercial cubism that tries to seem daring but is really just square. The hero and heroine are sugar sculpture, and the witch looks like a clumsy tracing from a Charles Addams cartoon. The plot often seems to owe less to the tradition of the fairy tale than to the formula of the monster movie. In the final reel it is not a mere old-fashioned witch the hero has to kill, but the very latest model of The Thing from 40,000 Fathoms." "Harrison's Reports" noted that "It is doubtful, however, if adults will find as much satisfaction in "Sleeping Beauty" as they did in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", with which this latest effort will be assuredly compared because both stories are in many respects similar. While "Beauty" is unquestionably superior from the viewpoint of the art of animation, it lacks comedy characters that can be compared favorably with the unforgettable Seven Dwarfs."