Maleficent

Maleficent
Sleeping Beauty character
Maleficent (along with her raven Diablo), as she appears in Disney's Sleeping Beauty.
First appearanceSleeping Beauty (1959)
First gameKingdom Hearts (2002)
Created byMarc Davis
Eric Cleworth
Based onThe evil fairy from Charles Perrault's fairy tale
Designed byMarc Davis
Eyvind Earle
Voiced by
Portrayed by
In-universe information
AliasThe Mistress of all Evil
SpeciesFairy[2]
GenderGirl
TitleQueen of the Moors (in Maleficent)
AffiliationDisney Villains
Significant othersHades (in House of Mouse and Descendants)
ChildrenMal (daughter; in Descendants)
Aurora (adoptive daughter; in Maleficent)
HomeThe Forbidden Mountains
The Moors (in Maleficent)

Maleficent (/məˈlɛfɪsənt/ or /məˈlɪfɪsənt/) is a fictional character who first appears in Walt Disney Productions' animated film, Sleeping Beauty (1959). Maleficent is the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil" based on the evil fairy godmother character in Charles Perrault's fairy tale Sleeping Beauty,[3] as well as the villainess who appears in the Brothers Grimm's retelling of the story, Little Briar Rose. Maleficent was originally animated by Marc Davis.

In the 1959 film, Maleficent was originally voiced by Eleanor Audley, who earlier voiced Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's evil stepmother, in Cinderella (1950).[4] Maleficent is represented as an evil fairy and the self-proclaimed "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.[5]

A revision of the character appeared as the protagonist in the 2014 live-action film Maleficent, portrayed by Angelina Jolie, who reprised the role in the 2019 sequel Maleficent: Mistress of Evil.[6] This version of Maleficent is portrayed as a sympathetic character, who is misunderstood in trying to protect herself and her domain from humans.

  1. ^ "Voice(s) of Maleficent". Behind The Voice Actors.
  2. ^ "How Well Do You Know... Sleeping Beauty?". Disney Insider. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  3. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. pp. 252–254. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  4. ^ "Audley, Eleanor - D23". d23.com. September 6, 2015.
  5. ^ Grant, John (1998). Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters (2nd ed.). Hyperion. pp. 263–264. ISBN 978-0786863365.
  6. ^ Good Morning America [@GMA] (March 6, 2019). ""Maleficent: Mistress of Evil," the sequel to Disney's "Maleficent," will be released nationwide October 18, 2019. gma.abc/2HNA1Wz Take a look at the new teaser poster!" (Tweet). Retrieved March 6, 2019 – via Twitter.