Maleficent is a 2014 American fantasy film starring Angelina Jolie as the title character in a live-action retelling of her villainous role in Walt Disney's 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty, itself an adaptation of the 1697 fairy tale. The film was directed by Robert Stromberg and written by Linda Woolverton. It also stars Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville.
Maleficent was originally developed as an animated project in 2003, before it was changed to a live-action feature in 2006, following Disney's acquisition of Pixar. Tim Burton was originally attached to direct the film, but was replaced by Stromberg in his directorial debut. Jolie signed on to play the title role in January 2012 and also served as the film's executive producer. The rest of the main cast joined between March and May 2012. Principal photography took place at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England, from June to October 2012.
Maleficent premiered in El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on May 28, 2014, and was released in the United States theatrically on May 30 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics and was a commercial success, grossing over $758 million worldwide and becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2014. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design at the 87th Academy Awards. A sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, was released in 2019.
Plot
Maleficent is a powerful fairy living in the Moors, a magical forest realm. As a child, she meets a human boy named Stefan, and they fall in love with each other. However, as they get older, they grow apart, with Stefan's love overshadowed by his ambition to be king, while Maleficent becomes protector of the Moors.
When King Henry attempts to conquer the Moors, Maleficent mortally wounds him. On his deathbed, he declares whoever kills her will be king. Stefan visits Maleficent and drugs her. Unwilling to kill her, Stefan instead uses a bracelet made of iron, which is lethal to fairies, to burn off her wings and presents them as "proof" of her death. While distraught by her loss, Maleficent saves Diaval, a trapped raven, from a farmer by turning him into a human. Diaval offers his service and tells her of Stefan's coronation. Infuriated over the betrayal, Maleficent grows cruel and bitter, ruling the Moors with an iron fist.
Years later, Diaval informs Maleficent about the christening of Stefan's newborn daughter, Aurora. Maleficent arrives uninvited while three pixies, Knotgrass, Flittle, and Thistlewit, are bestowing magic gifts, and places a curse on Aurora: before the sun sets on Aurora's 16th birthday, Aurora will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a death-like sleep. Maleficent mocks Stefan's plea for mercy, but states Aurora's curse can be broken by true love's kiss, which she and Stefan both believe is nonexistent. Stefan orders the pixies to hide and protect Aurora in a forest cottage until after her 16th birthday. He also destroys every spinning wheel in the kingdom, hiding their remnants in the castle dungeon; he then sends his army after Maleficent, but she surrounds the Moors with a wall of thorns. Over the years, Stefan begins mass-manufacturing iron weapons nonstop and grows obsessed with killing Maleficent to the point of insanity, even refusing to see his wife on her deathbed.
Maleficent and Diaval watch Aurora grow from afar, and secretly begin taking over care of her from the incompetent pixies. After several face-to-face encounters with Maleficent, whom she regards as her "fairy godmother", Aurora bonds with her and regularly visits the Moors. Realizing she does not have the heart to hurt Aurora, Maleficent privately and unsuccessfully attempts undoing Aurora's curse, forgetting she made "no power on earth" able to do so. Meanwhile, Aurora meets Philip, a prince from the neighboring kingdom, and both take a liking to each other.
Before Aurora’s 16th birthday, Maleficent allows her to live in the Moors. However, the pixies are eventually forced to tell Aurora the truth about her family and the curse. Hurt and betrayed, Aurora confronts Maleficent and returns to her father’s castle, where King Stefan imprisons her and scolds the pixies for failing to protect her. As night falls, the curse takes control of Aurora, leading her to a spinning wheel where she pricks her finger and falls into a deep, death-like sleep.
Wanting to save Aurora, Maleficent and Diaval kidnap Prince Philip and sneak into the castle, but Philip’s kiss cannot wake her. Filled with regret, Maleficent says goodbye to Aurora and kisses her forehead with genuine maternal love, which finally breaks the curse and awakens her.
As they try to escape, Stefan and his guards attack them. Maleficent turns Diaval into a dragon, but they are eventually overpowered. Aurora frees Maleficent’s wings, allowing her to fight back. Although Maleficent refuses to kill Stefan and tries to end the conflict peacefully, he attacks her again and falls to his death from the tower.
After Stefan’s death, Maleficent removes the thorn wall, restores the Moors, and crowns Aurora as ruler, bringing peace between the two kingdoms. Aurora also begins a romance with Philip. The narrator reveals herself as the elderly Aurora, the one people called, the "Sleeping Beauty".
Cast
Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, a fierce and vindictive protector of the Moors who, in revenge for the betrayal by her former lover Stefan, places a curse on his daughter Aurora. Unlike her animated counterpart, this version of the character is portrayed more sympathetically. As the film progresses, Maleficent turns from a victim into a villain, following Stefan's betrayal, and finally into a hero because of the maternal feelings she develops for Aurora. Jolie described her character as "slightly insane, extremely vibrant, a little wicked, and has a big sense of humor, so she's quite full-on. She's one of those characters that, for me, you couldn't do halfway." She further admitted that Maleficent was one of the most difficult characters that she had ever played because "she represents all sides of what it is to be human, even though she is not… For me, the journey of playing her has been much heavier, much more emotional, and much more difficult an experience than I expected." Isobelle Molloy as Young Maleficent. Ella Purnell as Teen Maleficent. Elle Fanning as Aurora, also known as Sleeping Beauty, an innocent, pure-hearted, and free-spirited daughter of Stefan and Leila who falls under Maleficent's curse. Fanning described her character as "very free spirited, and since she has been kept away from normal life, she's very open to things and innocent. But that's what makes her very likable and charming." Robert Stromberg highlighted the contrast between Aurora and Maleficent, which he described as the "beacon of light vs. darkness… It reminds me a little of the girl plucking petals from the flower in Frankenstein. It's such a wonderful contrast and the joy in making this film was bringing those two elements together and discovering things that we normally wouldn't know." Vivienne Jolie as 5-year-old Aurora. Eleanor Worthington Cox as 8-year-old Aurora. Janet McTeer as an elderly Aurora, who serves as the film's narrator. Sharlto Copley as Stefan, Aurora's ambitious and vengeful father and Maleficent's former childhood friend/lover, who cuts off the latter's wings to become the king. Unlike his animated counterpart, this version of the character is portrayed in a more antagonistic light. Commenting on his character, Copley said that "it was an opportunity to play a character that was almost like a cautionary tale for men… To have a character like Stefan, who has what most men have, which is a desire to be ambitious, and driven, and the proverbial king of his castle. He literally becomes the king of his castle, but is prepared to sacrifice his true love to get there… It was an interesting character and opportunity to play that kind of male ego running away with itself." Michael Higgins as Young Stefan. Jackson Bews as Teen Stefan. Lesley Manville, Imelda Staunton, and Juno Temple as Flittle, Knotgrass, and Thistlewit, a trio of incompetent and inept pixies whom Stefan charges with taking care of Aurora until her sixteenth birthday. These versions of the characters are markedly different from their animated counterparts (named Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather), with their role being reduced to comic relief. Commenting on her character, Manville said that Flittle is "incredibly proud of her special magical power that allows her to turn things blue. She can turn everything blue and she thinks everything should be blue as well." Staunton described Knotgrass as "the most important pixiein her own head. Very bossy, very organized, has to control everything. There are three pixies and she is the self-appointed grown-up among them." According to Temple, Thistlewit is "the youngest member and she is definitely more 'away with the fairies' than the other two. She's more distracted by nature. She wants to smell flowers and she wants to dance around, so she's a much younger free spirit." Sam Riley as Diaval, Maleficent's shape-shifting raven companion. Riley described his character as "Maleficent's loyal ally who can fly to places and spy for her. Their relationship blooms and Diaval develops an affection for her. He's the only character who's capable of telling her when she becomes a little overwrought and who really knows what she's thinking." Stromberg elaborated that Diaval is "the conscience in the ear of Maleficent at all times. He helps her down the path of finding out who she is. He comes at the lowest point in Maleficent's life and becomes, in addition to Aurora, the other character that really pulls Maleficent out of her dark hole."
The film also features Brenton Thwaites as Philip, a prince who befriends and falls in love with Aurora. Kenneth Cranham portrays King Henry, Stefan's predecessor and Leila's father, whose efforts to conquer the Moors get him slain by Maleficent. Hannah New portrays Princess Leila, King Henry's daughter, Stefan's wife, and Aurora's mother. New described her character as a "demure, untouchable princess."
Production Development
The idea for Maleficent was conceived during Don Hahn's meeting with the Disney's animation department in 2003, where it was pitched as an animation project revolving around the origin of the eponymous antagonist from Walt Disney's animated film Sleeping Beauty (1959). The timing of the idea was inspired by the just-released Broadway musical Wicked. While opening the musical adaptation of Mary Poppins in the West End of London in December 2004, Hahn met with Tim Burton to pitch him several movie ideas for Disney, including Maleficent, which Burton was instantly interested in. Simultaneously, Sean Bailey (who was an independent producer at the time) began developing the same concept for a live-action feature, which he envisioned as a "Disney version of Michael Corleone in The Godfather. Have a character do something that's empirically terriblecurse a childbut set it up in such a way that you felt differently about it." Bailey wanted Angelina Jolie for the role of Maleficent and mentioned the idea during lunch with Jolie's manager, receiving a positive response within a few hours. When Bailey presented his concept to the Disney executives, they told him about Hahn's project and suggested they team up. Jolie's interest in the title role prompted the filmmakers to consider moving Maleficent from animation to live-action, which they did after Disney acquired Pixar and reshuffled the animation department in 2006. The project was eventually suspended due to Burton being busy working on Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Alice in Wonderland.