Maleficent is a
fictional character and the main antagonist in
Walt Disney's 1959 adaptation of
Sleeping Beauty. She is the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" who, after not being invited to the baby's christening, curses the infant
Princess Aurora to "prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die" before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday. The character is Disney's adaptation of the
wicked fairy godmother from the original
fairy tale.
Maleficent is often viewed as the most powerful and sinister of the Disney Villains, frequently acting as their leader in many crossovers, and her scenes in the climax of the film are among the darkest and most intense produced by Disney. In Ultimate Disney's top 30 Disney Villains countdown, Maleficent ranked #1.
Profile
Maleficent appears in the form of a tall, slender, beautiful pale green skinned woman with a narrow face and a prominent chin. She also has yellow eyes and a horned headdress, which is symbolic of her dark magic. She is clad in a black and purple robe with
bat wing-like edges, and wears a gold ring with a large circular black stone in it. Maleficent is an evil fairy, unlike the other three
fairy godmothers in the movie, and her evil enables her to perform powerful magical spells. She carries a
staff with a glowing green
orb at the tip through which she casts her spells, which include an ability to
teleport herself, or send bolts of lightning at enemies. She is also capable of
shape shifting at will into numerous forms, including a floating hypnotic light resembling a
will-o'-the-wisp and a massive, monstrous black and purple
dragon. She is not at all comical or goofy like some of the other Disney villains, although she does at times display something of a dark sense of humor. Her minions are a legion of goblins and troll-like creatures. In the event the individual character of the three good fairies and the elegant villain proved to be among the film's strongest points.
She was voiced by Eleanor Audley, who had previously performed Lady Tremaine, the wicked stepmother in Cinderella. Audley also provided some live-action recording for both of these characters, to inspire the animators. Dancer Jane Fowler also performed some live-action reference for Maleficent. Animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, in their book The Disney Villain, describe animating Audley's voice as "a difficult assignment but a thrilling one, working to that voice track with so much innuendo mixed in with the fierce power".
Maleficent's
dragon form was animated by
Eric Cleworth, who said that the dragon was modeled on a
rattlesnake, with "powerful muscles moving a bulky body over the rocky terrain." Much like in the movie, Maleficent cursed Aurora when she was infant and works to bring it to fruition. The first one to encounter Maleficent is Terra, whom she hypnotizes into extracting Aurora's heart from her body with his keyblade, an act that would haunt Terra for the rest of his life. Maleficent also sets up an ambush for Aurora's love, Prince Phillip, to ensure that Aurora never awaken.
But Ven, guided by the three fairies, breaks into Maleficent's lair and releases the heart, sending it back to Aurora's body. Maleficent catches Ven and the two fight, with Ven only barely winning as Aqua arrives. Maleficent informs them that Terra was the one who stole the heart while offering them to join her cause, but they flatly refuse as Ven immediately leaves to track Terra down while Aqua ends up in Maleficent's dungeon where she finds Phillip. Aqua and Phillip break out of the dungeon and rush back to Aurora's castle to awaken her. Maleficent gives chase and assumes her dragon form to battle the two until Phillip throws his sword straight into Maleficent's chest, severely weakening her and reverting her to her normal form. As Phillip awakens Aurora, Maleficent decides to leave her world to start her own scheme to find the princesses of Heart. To that end, Maleficent made a detour to Disney Town to free Pete and take him as the first of her followers. In the Final Mix version of the game,Cinderella's world (Castle of Dreams) is later seen in the Realm of Darkness, possibly meaning that it was destroyed by Maleficent during her quest for the Princesses of Heart.
Other appearances
Maleficent is the final boss on the North American version of the
video game Mickey Mousecapade created in 1987 for the
Nintendo Entertainment System.
Maleficent's theme (Pas de caractère – Le Chat botté et la Chatte blanche) is heard during the intro of World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. At the end of the intro, the villainous cloaked sorcerer is shown.
Disney's House of Mouse
Maleficent is a recurring character on the TV series
House of Mouse. In "Max's Embarrassing Date" (Episode 21), Maleficent sits across from
Jafar in human form, and it was stated by
Mickey that the two villains were on a date, after which Maleficent zapped Jafar. In "Halloween with Hades" (Episode 54) Mickey had to help
Hades win Maleficent's heart after she turns him down. She also appeared in the spin-off movie,
Mickey's House of Villains where she was constantly shown hanging around with
Chernabog in her dragon form, hinting another possible relationship. During the Villain's song, "Our House Now", Chernabog wrapped an arm around her dragon form and remarked clearly, "Love your work!"
Fantasmic!
In the night time show
Fantasmic!, performed at the
Disneyland and
Disney's Hollywood Studios theme parks, Maleficent is one of the Disney Villains portrayed in the shows. In the shows, the
Evil Queen decides it is time to finish off
Mickey Mouse once and for all, and invokes Disney villains to help her. They strike Mickey through his dreams and imagination, and Maleficent is the final villain to attack Mickey - the battle between Maleficent's European dragon incarnation and Mickey serves as the climax to the show. It is to be noted that Maleficent cries out before becoming the dragon: "Now you will deal with me, and all the powers of my imagination!", whereas, in the original film, she proclaimed "Now shall you deal with me, O Prince, and all the powers of Hell!"
Kingdom Keepers
In the book series by
Ridley Pearson,
Kingdom Keepers, Maleficent appears as one of the first Overtakers the protagonists encounter as she intends to leave the confines of Disney World to take over the world. She recruits
Jez with a spell due to the girl's abilities as a fairlie (almost like a fairy) could reveal her plans. She breaks the seal to revive Chernabog as they escape in an ice truck to Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is said that the temperature goes down when she is around.
Dream Along With Mickey
In the
Dream Along With Mickey stage show at
Walt Disney World's
Magic Kingdom, Maleficent is one of the villains who appear onstage to threaten
Mickey Mouse,
Minnie Mouse,
Donald Duck and
Goofy. Maleficent states that since people no longer believe in dreams, it is the perfect time for her to return to power and make the Magic Kingdom "The Place Where Nightmares Come True" - a play on the Disney parks' slogan of "The Place Where Dreams Come True." But Mickey leads the crowd in a chant of "Dreams Come True!" and scares away Maleficent's minions,
Captain Hook and Smee, as well as defeating Maleficent herself.
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
Maleficent also makes appearances during
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at the
Walt Disney World Resort. She makes an appearance through her voice in
HalloWishes, a
Halloween-themed
fireworks show along with
Ursula,
Jafar, and
Oogie Boogie. Susan Blakeslee provides Maleficent's voice in those cases.
During the Disney Villains Mix and Mingle Halloween Dance Party at that same event, Maleficent hosts the party and summons up all the villains that attend, including her co-host Captain Hook and other villains, such as Cruella De Vil, Claude Frollo, The Queen of Hearts, Jafar, Gaston, and the Evil Queen.
Walt Disney's World on Ice
Maleficent appears in the new version of the show
Disneyland Adventure (replacing
The Incredibles villain
Syndrome). When she terrorizes the resort, she puts the entire kingdom to sleep, and puts
Minnie Mouse and
Donald Duck into Sleeping Beauty Syndrome. She later took over
It's a Small World and
Pirates of the Caribbean, but
The Incredibles managed to defeat her, though she vowed for revenge.
Disney Divas
Maleficent is part of the "Disney Divas" line-up, a sub-franchise of the main
Disney Villains franchise. Maleficent is the last "diva" to appear in the event at Disneyland, just as the
Evil Queen and
Cruella de Vil are complaining on
Madam Mim's behavior. Next, Maleficent sings "That Old Black Magic" alone and later "We're Divas" along with the whole cast of the show.
Live-action film
On May 12, 2009, it was revealed that
Brad Bird was developing a
live-action motion picture based on
Sleeping Beauty, retold from the point of view of Maleficent with
Angelina Jolie starring as Maleficent. In January 2010, it was rumored that
Tim Burton was to direct the film. Reports surfaced online in May 2011 stating that Burton had left the project to focus on his other upcoming projects; Disney began to look for a replacement director, with
David Yates being cited as a potential candidate due to his experience with the
fantasy genre, having directed the final four
Harry Potter films.
Linda Woolverton, who previously collaborated with Tim Burton on
Alice in Wonderland, is writing the script for the movie. Angelina Jolie said in an interview that she is definitely interested in the role.
Don Hahn, a producer of the movie, confirmed that Disney is developing a film about Maleficent and that it is in active development.
International voice casting
International dubs of the animated films feature other actors in the role of Maleficent. These include:
Reception
Guillermo del Toro has stated that along with Vermithrax in
Dragonslayer, Maleficent is his favorite cinematic dragon. In
Ultimate Disney's top 30 Disney Villains countdown, Maleficent ranked #1, with some of the reviewers describing her as "Disney's reigning villainess" or "a true Disney villain".
References
External links
Disney Archives - Maleficent
The movie Walt Disney World Resort - Dream-Along With Mickey
Category:Disney's Sleeping Beauty characters
Category:Kingdom Hearts characters
Category:Female supervillains
Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1959
Category:Fictional characters with electric abilities
Category:Fictional dragons
Category:Fictional fairies and sprites
Category:Fictional shapeshifters
Category:Video game bosses
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