Maleficent, an evil fairy, is the villain of Sleeping Beauty.
| Maleficent | |
|---|---|
 Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty | |
| appears in | Sleeping Beauty (1958) Kingdom Hearts (2003) House of Mouse Kingdom Hearts II' (2006) |
| supervising animator | Marc Davis |
| vocal talent | Eleanor Audley |
| live-action reference | Eleanor Audley |
| goal | to kill Princess Aurora; later, to send her into a deep, death-like sleep |
| weapons | seemingly unlimited magical power: can magically appear and disappear, curse individuals, produce visions, hypnotise and change form |
| minions | Diablo, Goons |
| enemies | Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, Prince Philip, Princess Aurora, King Stefan, King Hubert, the Queen |
| fate | transforms into a powerful dragon, but Prince Philip (with help from Flora, Fauna and Merryweather) hurls the Sword of Truth into her heart; she falls from a great height to her doom |
Role in Sleeping Beauty
- Spoilers start here.
- Spoilers end here.
Placing a Curse on Aurora
Maleficent punishing the Goons
At the christening of the newly born princess Aurora, the Three Good Fairies come to bestow three gifts on the child: Flora’s gift is Beauty, and Fauna’s is Song. Before Merryweather has a chance to give the child a gift, Maleficent enters with Diablo, her Raven, perched on her staff. Angry at not receiving an invitation, she curses the child, decreeing that, before the sun sets on Aurora’s 16th birthday, the child shall die, by pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. She then leaves, cackling. Merryweather, unable to undo the entire curse herself, is able nevertheless to alter it such that Aurora will not die, but merely enter a deep sleep, to be broken with love’s first kiss.
Exacting Revenge
Maleficent appearing in the fireplace
As Aurora’s 16th birthday draws near, Maleficent punishes her Goons, who have stupidly been searching for a baby for 16 years. She then sends Diablo, her Raven, to find the princess. Diablo discovers that Aurora, as ‘Briar Rose’, is living with the Three Good Fairies (who are posing as mortals) in a cottage in the woods. When the princess and the fairies return to the castle late that afternoon, Maleficent finds Aurora alone and, as a willo the wisp-like apparition, lures her to a spinning wheel. She pricks her finger and falls to the floor. The fairies arrive in time for Maleficent to scoff at them; she then disappears. She and the Goons go to the cottage, where they wait for Prince Philip, who had arranged to meet Aurora (whom he only knew to be ‘Briar Rose’, a peasant girl). When he arrives, they capture him and take him to the Forbidden Mountain.
Defeat
Prince Philip facing Maleficent as a dragon
Flora, Fauna and Merryweather rescue Philip and give him the Shield of Virtue and Sword of Truth; this is noticed by Diablo, who fetches the Goons. The prince and fairies are still able to escape, and Merryweather turns Diablo to stone. However, Maleficent emerges, sees Philip escaping and attempts to strike him down with lightning. As he continues, she summons thorns to surround Stefan’s castle. When she sees that Philip, with help from the Good Fairies, is able to hack through the thorns, she appears before him, and transforms into an enormous dragon. The two battle, but Philip eventually kills her when Flora, Fauna and Merryweather enchant his sword. She falls from a great height, and Philip looks down to see that she has become a stain on the land; the Sword of Truth, still embedded in the black puddle, turns black. Philip then awakens Aurora with a kiss.
Behind the Scenes
Concept art by Eyvind Earle of Maleficent
A character design by Marc Davis for Maleficent
Maleficent was voiced by Eleanor Audley and animated by Marc Davis.
Design
The style for Sleeping Beauty was based on the art of Eyvind Earle, who claimed to have a 'Pre-Renaissance' style, with strong vertical lines and gothic elegance. Eearle was involved with the design of all the characters, and designed and painted most of the backgrounds in the film. Though early sketches depict a hag-like witch, it was decided that Maleficent's final, elegant design suited Earle's backgrounds. Davis' decision to make Maleficent a powerful sorceress rather than an old crone may also have been influenced by Eleanor Audley's voice, which he recalled suggested a very powerful character.
The design for Maleficent's clothes occurred to Davis when he was looking through a book on Medieval art; one of the manuscript images featured a religious figure with long robes, the ends of which resembled flames. Davis incorporated this into Maleficent's final design. He based the sides of her headdress on the wings of a bat, and the top of her headdress on the horns of the devil.
Animation
Eleanor Audley performing live-action reference for Maleficent
After Eleanor Audley's vocal and live-action performances for Lady Tremaine, Walt Disney personally suggested that she be considered for the voice and live-action reference for Maleficent. Davis praised Eleanor Audley's live-action performance for the character, claiming that she created many of Maleficent's expressions and mannerisms that were ultimately used in the animation. The animators were more limited with how their characters could move against the detailed backgrounds. The manner in which Maleficent moved, perhaps limited by her costume, later inspired Andreas Deja to take a similar route when animating Jafar for Aladdin.
Deviations form Source Material
In the Sleeping Beauty ballet the evil fairy was named Carabosse. In some versions of the fairy tale, she only appeared to curse the child at the beginning, and did not appear elsewhere in the story; in these versions, the spinning wheel the princess pricks her finger on is not magical but simply a normal spinning wheel. One version of the story shows the fairy who curses the princess as old and grumpy, but not necessarily evil; this version of the character lived (most of the time sleeping) in a tower at the top of the castle, and, after cursing the princess, goes back to sleep, not appearing afterwards.
Trivia
- Maleficent was nominated for a place in 'AFI’s 50 Greatest Villains list', along with the Queen Stromboli, Man, Lady Tremaine, Cruella De Vil and Ursula. The Disney Villains to make the final list were the Queen (10), Man (20), and Cruella De Vil (39).
References
- Disney Family Album: Marc Davis
- Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, "The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation"
- Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, "The Disney Villain"
- John Canemaker, "Before the Animation Begins: The Life and Times of Disney inspirational Sketch Artists"