Maleficent

Lore & Background

Maleficent was animated by Marc Davis, who also animated Aurora in the film. She was aptly named "Maleficent" (an adjective derived from the Latin maleficentia, which means "doing evil or harm"), and may have been based on earlier French and European myths and legends about the fairy Mélusine, especially in the 2014 live-action film of the same name. French historian Jean Markale suggested that the name "Mélusine" may have derived from the earlier Latin name Mala Lucina, with "Lucina" being an epithet of Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage and childbirth.

In determining Maleficent's design, standard depictions of witches and hags were dismissed, as Davis had opted for an elegant, sinister, green-skinned beauty, depicted as "vain femme fatale, utilizing a classic archetype of a bad woman". According to Davis, Maleficent "was designed like a giant vampire bat to create a feeling of menace". Maleficent was voiced by Eleanor Audley, who had previously performed Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's evil stepmother, in Disney's Cinderella (1950).

Audley also provided some live-action recording for both of these characters to inspire the animators. In addition, dancer Jane Fowler 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". It was long rumored that Maleficent's likeness was inspired by actress Maila Nurmi, best known for her character Vampira, a camp icon that was created in 1953, and inspired by Morticia Addams from The Addams Family comic strip by Charles Addams for The New Yorker; the Dragon Lady from the comic strip Terry and the Pirates; and the Evil Queen from Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

In 2014, entries were discovered in Nurmi's journals describing sessions for Walt Disney in November 1956, and the Walt Disney Company was subsequently able to find archival documents corroborating Nurmi's participation as a "live-action reference" model for the character. Maleficent's likeness in the eponymous 2014 film, as portrayed by actress Angelina Jolie, was inspired by Lady Gaga's appearance in her music video "Born This Way" (2011). For the scene when Maleficent transforms into a dragon in the original film, she 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".

Sound effects artist Jimmy MacDonald searched for the sound of a dragon's fiery breath by requesting the United States Army to send him some training films on flame throwing, and these films provided just the right sound for him.

Reader's Guide

A revision of the character appeared as the titular protagonist in the 2014 live-action film Maleficent, portrayed by Angelina Jolie, who reprised the role in the 2019 sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. This version of Maleficent is portrayed as a sympathetic character, who is misunderstood in trying to protect herself and her domain from humans. In the 2014 live-action reboot, Maleficent is presented as a good-hearted but tragic fairy who defends the Moors, a realm of supernatural beings, from neighboring humans.

Prior to the film's events, Maleficent was a benevolent fairy who possessed healing abilities and shared an immense fondness with all the denizens of her mystical domain. Maleficent befriends a thieving peasant boy named Stefan, upon being alerted to his presence by a trio of pixies: Knotgrass (Imelda Staunton), Thistletwit (Juno Temple), and Flittle (Lesley Manville). As a young adult, Maleficent is betrayed by Stefan, who uses iron to burn off her wings so that he can succeed King Henry.

After claiming a raven named Diaval (Sam Riley) as her henchman, Maleficent renames herself from guardian of the Moors to ruler of same. Both her clothing and realm turn dark, reflecting the hatred with which she is now consumed. When she learns that now-King Stefan and his Queen Leila have a newborn daughter named Aurora (Elle Fanning), Maleficent acts in the name of what she considers poetic justice by cursing the newborn Aurora to fall into a deathlike slumber on her 16th birthday; the spell can be broken only by the kiss of true love, which neither Maleficent nor Stefan believe in.

Knotgrass, Thistletwit, and Flittle are assigned to look after Aurora until after her 16th birthday, but prove to be incompetent and negligent. To ensure that her curse comes to pass, Maleficent cares for and protects Aurora from afar. As Aurora grows, Maleficent recognizes the folly of punishing Stefan's daughter for something he alone did. This tender regard for Aurora enables Maleficent to undo the damage which she herself inflicted; after Philip's kiss fails to break the curse, Maleficent voices her regrets and herself kisses Aurora's brow.

Roused from her enchanted sleep and now aware of her father's true nature, Aurora foils his efforts to destroy Maleficent by returning Maleficent's wings to her. Completely stripped of her bitterness and thirst for vengeance, Maleficent declares an end to her feud with Stefan, but the king, driven by shame too great to bear, attempts to kill her and himself, only to take a fatal fall from his castle's highest turret. Following Aurora's ascension over her parents' domain, Maleficent crowns her to rule the Moors as well, with Diaval and Phillip looking on proudly.

Angelina Jolie reprised the role in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, in which Maleficent's relationship with Aurora was tested. Other fairies of her species appeared, led by Conall (Chiwetel Ejiofor). In the course of the film, Prince Philip's mother Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer) attempts to...