Maleficent

Maleficent is the antagonist of Walt Disney's 1959 film Sleeping Beauty. She is characterized as the "Mistress of All Evil" who, after not being invited to a christening, curses the infant Princess Aurora to "prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die" before the sun sets on Aurora's sixteenth birthday. She was voiced by Eleanor Audley, who earlier voiced Lady Tremaine in Cinderella (1950).

A more sympathetic version of the character appeared as the protagonist in the 2014 live-action film Maleficent, portrayed by Angelina Jolie. She also serves as a recurring antagonist in the Kingdom Hearts video game series, voiced by Susanne Blakeslee, as well as the TV series Once Upon a Time, portrayed by Kristin Bauer van Straten, and the Disney Channel movie Descendants, portrayed by Kristin Chenoweth.

Development

The character was animated by Marc Davis. The wicked sorceress or horned witch was aptly named "Maleficent", (an adjective which means "doing evil or harm") a combination of two words that describes her as a malevolent being who thinks she is magnificent. In determining Maleficent's design, standard depictions of witches and hags were dismissed as Mattinson's opted for an elegant, sinister, green-skinned beauty centered around the appearance of flames, ultimately crowning the villain with a black two pointed headdress, often called an "atora." According to Mattinson, Maleficent "was designed like a giant vampire bat to create a feeling of menace."

Maleficent (film)

Maleficent (/məˈlɛfɪsənt/ or /məˈlɪfɪsənt/) is a 2014 American epic dark fantasy film directed by Robert Stromberg from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton and starring Angelina Jolie, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Brenton Thwaites, Hannah New, Kenneth Cranham, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville. The film is a live-action re-imagining of Walt Disney's 1959 animated film Sleeping Beauty, portraying the story from the perspective of the antagonist, Maleficent. It is the second Classic Disney live-action remake.

Walt Disney Pictures announced the film's development in 2010, with Joe Roth as producer and Jolie as an executive producer, principal photography took place between June and October 2012. Maleficent premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on May 28, 2014, and was released in the United Kingdom that same day. The film was released in the U.S. on May 30, 2014 in the Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats, as well as in conventional theaters. It was met with mixed reviews from critics, but was a commercial success, having grossed over $758 million worldwide, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2014 and the highest-grossing film starring Jolie since Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2005). The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design at the 87th Academy Awards.