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{{NeedingWork|excessively long plot section, lack of references and unfinished nature}}
{{InfoboxLost
{{LMW
|title=<center>Maleficent</center>
|title=Maleficent (lost production material of cancelled Disney animated film;2003-2005)
|image=Maleficent.jpg
|status=Lost
|imagecaption=Maleficent as she appears in ''Sleeping Beauty''.
|image=9C871BFA-F421-41E4-AC21-C1C2049DDB59.jpeg
|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|category=Lost films;Lost animation
}}
}}
'''Maleficent''' was a Disney 3D animated feature based on the 1959 Sleeping beauty that started development around 2003 but was cancelled in 2005 as they wanted to go for a live-action approach instead. In 2003, during Don Hahn's meeting with Disney's animation department, it was suggested to create an origin film about Maleficent from Disney's animated film Sleeping Beauty (1959) in the same vein as the just released Broadway musical Wicked.
'''''Maleficent''''' was a Disney 3D animated feature based on the 1959 ''Sleeping Beauty'' film that started development around 2003 but was cancelled in 2005 as they wanted to go for a live-action approach instead. In 2003, during Don Hahn's meeting with Disney's animation department, it was suggested to create an origin film about Maleficent from Disney's animated film ''Sleeping Beauty (1959)'' in the same vein as the just released Broadway musical ''Wicked'', with a screenplay written by Paul Dini <ref>[https://twitter.com/paul_dini/status/1001650301122764800?s=46&t=SuyFbdoSUJL-6ZFWzSr4cQ/ Paul Dini revealing his involvement in a tweet] Retrieved 30 Jan '23</ref>, the project was kept private and was expected to be announced with the voice cast, however it eventually got cancelled.<ref>[https://www.news4jax.com/entertainment/2016/03/30/disney-producer-inspired-by-studio-legend-in-making-of-maleficent News4Jax article on the film.] Retrieved 09 Jan '23</ref><ref>[https://www.indiewire.com/2014/11/immersed-in-movies-don-hahn-talks-the-link-between-maleficent-and-sleeping-beauty-123867/ Indie Wire article on the film.] Retrieved 26 Jan '23</ref>


== Plot ==
==Plot==
The story starts with the discovery of a newborn in a barren land that was once part of the Enchanted Forest. The Queen of fairies, who is responsible for raising all creatures born within the forest, finds the baby and is struck by its mysterious beauty. She names the child Maleficent and welcomes her into the forest where all fairies reside.
A newborn is found in a barren land that was part of the Enchanted Forest. The Queen of fairies, who raises all creatures born in the forest, finds the baby and names her Maleficent. As she grows up, Maleficent is hated by other fairies for her dark magic and selfish behavior, but she dreams of taking the throne. During one of her wild adventures, Maleficent meets Amitola, a bright and colorful fairy, they soon became close friends. On the lunar celebration, the holy dove, a white bird that gives power to fairies, doesn't bless Maleficent, causing her to crash into the Queen's hall and later reveal a dark secret about the queen’s relationship with a human king named Stefan.


As Maleficent grows up, she proves to be a mischievous and selfish child and is hated by the other fairies due to her dark magical abilities and longer ears. Despite this treatment, Maleficent's greatest dream is to one day take the throne from the Queen of fairies. On the lunar celebration of the new year, all fairies from around the forest gather to be blessed by the holy dove, a white bird that gives them more power. However, the dove only visits certain fairies to bless them, and Maleficent is not one of them. Furious, Maleficent crashes into the Queen's hall and demands to see her. The Queen tells Maleficent that she does not give powers to young evil fairies and that Maleficent already has her own dark powers. The Queen then orders her guards to kick Maleficent out of the hall.
The Queen curses her with horns, and Maleficent is now known as the "Mistress of All Evil". She gathers followers, kills the Queen, and plans to overthrow the Queen's son, Albriech, who took the throne. During that time, Amitola and Maleficent got separated, their paths eventually diverged when Maleficent's thirst for power became too much to bear. Amitola decided to leave the Kingdom after it’s destruction and unfair rule. When King Stefan and his wife celebrate the birth of their daughter, Maleficent curses her to die on her 16th birthday. The King seeks help from fairies who hide and raise the baby, Aurora. As her 16th birthday approaches, the fairies set out to find Prince Phillip to break the curse.


Feeling devastated and rejected, Maleficent retreats to her crooked tree and plots her revenge. She goes to the garden where all the fairies are celebrating and reveals a dark secret about the Queen: that she is in a secret love relationship with King Stefan of a nearby kingdom. The Queen quickly orders her guards to remove Maleficent, but the damage has already been done.
==History==
 
In an interview with Don Hahn, Hahn said the light bulb to give Maleficent her own story went off more than 10 years before the live-action Maleficent film was released, in a meeting with Disney's animation department, as they were all mulling over possibilities of fleshing out existing characters in the Disney canon.
The revelation caused a stir among the fairies, as the Queen had always maintained that she was above such mortal affairs. Many fairies were shocked and disappointed, and some even began to question the Queen's leadership. Maleficent, however, was thrilled with the chaos she had caused. She revelled in the Queen's embarrassment and the dismay of the other fairies.
 
As the fairies began to disperse, the Queen called for her guards to capture Maleficent. The Queen cursed her with large long horns so that everyone will know Maleficent's true intentions. Maleficent ran, she was quick and agile. She ran through the forest, her cries echoing through the trees. She knew that she will live a life being known as evil.


From that day on, Maleficent was known as the "Mistress of All Evil" among the fairies. She became feared and respected, and many fairies came to her for guidance and protection. She began to gather a group of followers, and soon she was the leader of a powerful and formidable group of dark creatures.
<blockquote>"It was about 2003 when were sitting around one day, asking, 'Who is a really strong and interesting female character we can base a movie on,' and somebody said 'Maleficent,' but I can't point out exactly who it was," Hahn recalled. "It made sense, because she was this really popular villainess who is glamorous and like a runway model. Still, she's been wounded somehow in the past."</blockquote>


After years of planning revenge on the Queen, Maleficent carefully planned her attack. She studied the layout of the Queen's castle and learned the routines of her guards. She also made alliances with other fairies who shared her hatred of the Queen.
The timing of the idea was largely inspired by the Broadway smash, ''Wicked'', which delved into the history of the witch sisters from ''The Wizard of Oz'', Hahn said.


One night, when the Queen was sound asleep, Maleficent and her allies snuck into the castle. They easily overcame the guards and made their way to the Queen's chambers. Maleficent personally killed the Queen in her sleep.
<blockquote>"We thought we could do a 'Wicked' thing with Maleficent and show her back story. That was just the germ of the idea and it sat in animation for a while," Hahn said. "We did some development and some drawings on it, but then it went over to live-action as Tim Burton got involved around 2005."</blockquote>


In the morning, the Queen's fairy sons discovered their mother's body. They were devastated and immediately began to plan her funeral. Meanwhile, Maleficent acted as if she knew nothing about the death, pretending to be shocked and saddened by the news.
Eventually helping ''Maleficent'' along in its live-action ambitions was the blockbuster success of director Tim Burton's vibrant, colorful live-action film ''Alice in Wonderland'', which gave somewhat of an alternate take on the time-honored tale-turned-Disney animated classic.


As the Queen's oldest son, Albrich, took the throne, Maleficent began to make her move. She started to gain support from other fairies who were unhappy with Albriech's rule and began to build her own army.
Hahn said the first person he pitched ''Maleficent'' to was Burton, along with another film that gave Burton a chance to revisit a bit of his own filmmaking past and here is where the live-action adaptation started.<ref>[https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/don-hahn-interview-maleficent-disney-animation-and-more Den of Geek article on the film.] Retrieved 26 Jan '23</ref>
Her ultimate goal was to overthrow Albriech and take control of the fairy kingdom for herself.


One night, as King Stefan and his new wife celebrated the birth of their daughter, Maleficent snuck into the castle and placed a curse on the baby. She declared that on Aurora's sixteenth birthday, she would prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die.
==Availability==
The development of the project began in 2003 and was cancelled two years later in 2005 during the voice casting process. Catherine O'Hara and Kiera Knightley were among the potential voice actors being considered. Despite having completed computer-generated models and test animations, the project was kept confidential and was expected to be announced with the voice cast.  


The King and his wife were horrified and immediately set out to protect their daughter. They sought the help of three fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, who were known for their magical powers. The three fairies agreed to help the King and his wife and took the baby Aurora into hiding.
However, the project was eventually cancelled and wasn't pursued further until 2009 when it was revived as a live-action film with Tim Burton as director. The film was finally released in 2014 with Angelina Jolie playing the role of Maleficent, noting that Angelina’s facial features were inspired for the Character “Maleficent” during the development of the animated film.


For the next sixteen years, the fairies raised Aurora as their own, keeping her hidden from Maleficent and the outside world. They taught her about the ways of the forest and how to control her own magic.
==See Also==
===Sleeping Beauty===
*[[Sleeping Beauty (partially found live action reference material for Disney animated film; 1959)]]


As Aurora's sixteenth birthday approached, the fairies knew that they had to act fast to break the curse. They set out on a quest to find the one person who could save Aurora: Prince Phillip, a brave and handsome prince from a neighboring kingdom.
===Advertisements===
*[[The Incredibles (found full version of McDonald's Happy Meal commercial for Pixar animated film; 2004)]]
*[[The Incredibles (found online promotional trailers for Pixar animated film; 2004)]]
*[[Pixar (partially lost early CGI animated commercials from animation studio; 1989-1998)]]


As Aurora wanders barefoot through the springtime wood, she radiates in the glory of Flora's and Fauna's gifts of beauty and song. She hums operatically and her congenial friends, the happy animals of the forest, come out to play. Her sirenlike voice also mesmerizes a distant horse rider, who convinces his tired white steed, Samson, to search for its source. Aurora stops singing to tell the animals about a vivid dream she had in which she fell in love with a prince. The passing rider has meanwhile fallen in a stream because of his horse's urgency, and a chipmunk notices that his cape, hat, and boots hang nearby to dry. The animals swipe the clothes and humorously simulate the dream prince: an owl flutters in the cape, two hopping rabbits match steps in the boots, and the chipmunk sits on the owl's head wearing the hat.
===Animation (Disney)===
*[[Alice in Wonderland (partially lost original draft of Disney animated film; 1939)]]
*[[Aladdin (found Howard Ashman treatment of Disney animated film; 1988)]]
*[[American Dog (partially found original version of "Bolt" Disney animated film; 2007-2008)]]
*[[The Black Cauldron (partially found deleted scenes of Disney animated film; 1985)]]
*[[Chanticleer (partially found production material of cancelled Disney animated film; 1940s-mid 1960s)]]
*[[Chicken Little 2 (partially found production material of cancelled sequel to Disney animated comedy film; 2006)]]
*[[Disney Circle Seven Animation (partially lost production material of cancelled Pixar sequel films; 2004-2006)]]
*[[Dumbo II (partially found production material from cancelled Disney animated sequel film; 2000s)]]
*[[Fantasia 2006 (partially lost production material for cancelled Disney animated sequel film; 2002-2004)]]
*[[Fraidy Cat (lost production material of cancelled Disney animated film; 2004-2005)]]
*[[Frozen (partially found early drafts of Disney animated film; 1937-2012)]]
*[[Gigantic (lost production material of cancelled Disney animated film; 2013-2017)]]
*[[The Jungle Book (lost Bill Peet version of Disney animated film; 1963-1964)]]
*[[Kingdom of the Sun (partially found original version of "The Emperor's New Groove" Disney animated film; late 1990s)]]
*[[The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (partially found production material and deleted scenes of Disney animated sequel film; 1995-1998)]]
*[[Music Land (lost Disney animated anthology film; 1955)]]
*[[My Peoples (partially found production material of cancelled Disney animated film; late 1990s-early 2000s)]]
*[[Phineas and Ferb (lost production material of cancelled theatrical film of Disney Channel animated series; 2010s)]]
*[[The Search for Mickey Mouse (lost production material of cancelled Disney animated film; 2002)]]
*[[The Seven Dwarfs (partially found production material of cancelled direct-to-video prequel to "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" Disney animated film; 2000s)]]
*[[Tangled (partially found early drafts of Disney animated film; 2001-2010)]]
*[[Tinker Bell (partially found first draft of Disney animated film; 2007)]]
*[[Treasure Planet II (lost production material of cancelled Disney animated sequel film; 2002)]]
*[[Wild Life (lost production material for cancelled Disney animated film; late 1990s-2000)]]
*[[Zootopia (partially found pre-rewrite version of Disney animated film; early 2010s)]]


Playing along good-naturedly, Aurora dances with her forest friends, sweetly singing. Midway through the dance, the mysterious rider finds his clothes and cuts in seamlessly, dancing and singing with a shocked Aurora. Confused and surely feeling the sparks of love at first sight, Aurora, having been told not to speak to strangers, tries to flee. The nameless rider asks for her name. Flustered, she doesn't reveal it, yet manages to yelp out an invitation to come to her cottage that night.
===Animation (Pixar)===
 
*[[A Tin Toy Christmas (lost production material of cancelled Pixar animated Christmas TV special; early 1990s)]]
Back at the cottage, the bumbling and nitpicky fairies can't bake a legitimate cake or sew a proper dress, which Aurora will need to assume her rightful title as Princess Aurora. So, at Merryweather's urging, the fairies agree to make one exception to their no-magic rule and use their magic wands. dancing mops joyously sweep the cottage and anthropomorphic cake ingredients read their own recipe and waltz into the mixing bowl. Flora and Merryweather argue over the color of Aurora's dress.
*[[Cars 3 (lost deleted scene of Pixar animated sequel film; 2017)]]
 
*[[The Good Dinosaur (lost original version of Pixar animated film; 2011-2013)]]
Each wants it to be the color of her own dress: Merryweather's is blue and Flora's is pink. Riled, they start zapping with their wands everything in the cottage, turning it blue or pink. As a result, colorful magic dust spurts up the chimney. Maleficent's raven spots the dust and flies down to surreptitiously witness the scene of Aurora's return. He watches Aurora return a new woman, gaily dancing and singing, clearly in love. The fairies are forced to tell her the truth of her life, that she's a princess who is already betrothed to Prince Phillip. The news devastates Aurora, who flees in tears to her room.
*[[Inside Out (lost original Bing Bong death scene of Pixar animated film; 2015)]]
 
*[[Made in Point Richmond (found miscellaneous content from Pixar DVD; 1986-2000)]]
King Stefan and King Hubert together await sunset, the time of Aurora's prophesied return. Standing by a sumptuous feast, the anxious men argue briefly, then drink to friendship. Prince Phillip returns to the castle, devilishly tricking Hubert into agreeing to his marriage to the peasant girl instead of Aurora. Phillip rides off before Hubert realizes what has happened, heading back to Aurora's cottage. But Aurora, teary-eyed, has been secretly brought to Stefan's castle.
*[[Newt (partially found production material of cancelled Pixar animated film; early 2010s)]]
 
*[[Toy Story (partially found early test footage of Pixar animated film; 1992)]]
Placing a gold crown upon her head, the fairies leave Aurora alone for a few moments to contemplate her future. Immediately, a glowing green ball puts Aurora in a trance and leads her through dark passages within the castle, up a staircase and into a tower, where it turns into the augured spinning wheel. Realizing their error too late, the panicked fairies follow and are able to make Aurora hesitate before touching the wheel, but Maleficent's powers are too strong. The princess touches the spindle and collapses.
*[[Toy Story 4 (found original script of Pixar animated sequel film; 2013-2017)]]
 
*[[Toy Story & Toy Story 2 (partially found intermissions for 3D double feature re-release of Pixar animated films; 2009)]]
The sun begins to set, and the celebration nears. But Hubert has yet to tell Stefan about Phillip's intentions, and Aurora lies comatose in an upper chamber. Unsure of how to proceed, the fairies decide to put everyone in the kingdom to sleep as well. As Flora sprinkles fairy dust over those around the throne, Hubert reveals that Phillip met his peasant girl "Once upon a dream." What luck- Phillip and Aurora are already in love but they just don't know it. Phillip can break Maleficent's curse with a kiss, so the fairies regroup and fly back to the cottage. However, Maleficent and her henchmen have already captured Phillip. Expecting a peasant boy, Maleficent is overjoyed at her luck and steals the prince away.
*[[Toy Story "Black Friday Reel" (partially found rough cut of Pixar animated film; 1993)]]
 
*[[Toy Story "Jessie" (found Patsy Montana Award acceptance speech animation of Pixar character; 2000)]]
Finding only Phillip's hat at their cottage, the fairies sneak into Maleficent's castle. Maleficent taunts Phillip, revealing the identity of his true love but refusing to release him to her for one hundred years. The fairies sneak in when Maleficent finally goes to bed, zap open the chains that bind Phillip, and arm him with a Shield of Virtue and Sword of Truth.
*[[WALL·E (partially found original treatments of Pixar animated film; 1994-2008)]]
 
An army of one, with three helpers, Phillip must navigate a brutal path to return to his true love. First, Maleficent's castle crumbles and goes up in flames around him. Then she makes a forest of thorns grow in front of Stefan's castle. But he finds a way to go inside the castle and awaken the sleeping beauty. Finally, she turns herself into a dragon to stop them from leaving the castle, But Phillip brandishes the Sword of Truth and slays her with one thrust, Aurora shouts, feeling sorry for Maleficent. Despite all the terrible things that she did, Aurora insists on giving Maleficent a proper burial in a stone mausoleum, laying her to rest.
 
In the final scene, the Fair Folk come together to bid farewell to the fallen woman who once fought so bravely for the Enchanted forest. In a scene eerily mirroring Aurora's christening, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather give Maleficent three final blessings, praying that she will finally know peace, that she will find a kind afterlife, and that the darkness in her soul will trouble her no more. In a last gesture of kindness, Aurora lays a chain of flowers atop her tomb before leaving with Phillip. Moments later, with a final shot of Maleficent's silhouette as she rises from her stone tomb, slips Aurora's chain of flowers into her pocket, and silently walks out into the night. The End.
 
== History ==
In an interview with Don Hahn, Hahn said the light bulb to give Maleficent her own story went off more than 10 years before the live-action Maleficent film was released, in a meeting with Disney's animation department, as they were all mulling over possibilities of fleshing out existing characters in the Disney canon.


"It was about 2003 when were sitting around one day, asking, 'Who is a really strong and interesting female character we can base a movie on,' and somebody said 'Maleficent,' but I can't point out exactly who it was," Hahn recalled. "It made sense, because she was this really popular villainess who is glamorous and like a runway model. Still, she's been wounded somehow in the past."
===Audio===
*[[Enchanted (lost deleted song from Disney live-action/animated fantasy comedy film; 2007)]]
*[[Fantasia (partially lost original audio of Disney animated film; 1940)]]
*[[Jack Wagner (partially lost Disney Park background music collection from American actor; 1970s-2001)]]
*[[Mars Needs Moms (found Seth Green vocal performance of Disney motion-capture animated film; 2011)]]
*[[The Nightmare Before Christmas (lost original Vincent Price audio of Disney stop-motion animated film; early 1990s)]]
*[[Pinocchio (lost Mel Blanc's "Gideon the Cat" dialogue from Disney animated film; 1940)]]
*[[Toy Story 2 (partially found Bullseye dialogue test footage from Pixar animated sequel film; late 1990s)]]


The timing of the idea was largely inspired by the Broadway smash, "Wicked," which delved into the history of the witch sisters from "The Wizard of Oz," Hahn said.
===Live Action===
*[[101 Dalmatians (found "Spotted Landmarks" teaser trailer of Disney live-action film; 1995-1996)]]
*[[Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (found deleted scenes from Disney live-action film; 1993)]]
*[[Something Wicked This Way Comes (lost original cut of Disney dark fantasy film; 1982)]]
*[[Walt Disney (lost physical Mickey Mouse animation reference footage of animator; late 1930s)]]


"We thought we could do a 'Wicked' thing with Maleficent and show her back story. That was just the germ of the idea and it sat in animation for a while," Hahn said. "We did some development and some drawings on it, but then it went over to live-action as Tim Burton got involved around 2005."
===Short Films===
*[[Alice Comedies (partially lost series of Walt Disney animated short films; 1920s)]]
*[[Blowin' in the Wind (found Pixar animated short film; 1985)]]
*[[Lafflets (lost series of Walt Disney animated short films; 1922-1923)]]
*[[Language Arts Through Imagination (found series of Disney educational short films; 1988-1989)]]
*[[Mickey and Minnie Mouse (lost unauthorized pornographic animated short film; existence unconfirmed; 1936)]]
*[[Mickey's Man Friday (partially found production material of unproduced remake of Disney animated short film; 1939-1941)]]
*[[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (partially lost series of Walt Disney animated short films; 1927-1928)]]
*[[Poor Papa (found "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" Walt Disney animated short film; 1927)]]
*[[The Princess Academy (lost production material of cancelled Disney animated short film; 2009)]]
*[[Short Subject aka "Mickey Mouse in Vietnam" (found unofficial animated short film; 1968)]]
*[[Tales from Radiator Springs "To Protect and Serve" (lost episode of "Cars" animated miniseries; 2015)]]
*[[Totally Twisted Fairy Tales (partially found Disney animated short series; 1997)]]
*[[Uncle Walt (lost unauthorized Disney short film; 1964)]]


Eventually helping "Maleficent" along in its live-action ambitions was the blockbuster success of director Tim Burton's vibrant, colorful live-action opus "Alice in Wonderland," which gave somewhat of an alternate take on the time-honored tale-turned-Disney animated classic.
==External Links==
*[https://cancelled-movies.fandom.com/wiki/Maleficent_(Animated_movie) Cancelled Movies Wiki page on the film's plot.]


Hahn said the first person he pitched "Maleficent" to was Burton, along with another film that gave Burton a chance to revisit a bit of his own filmmaking past and here is where the live-action adaptation started.
==References==
{{reflist}}


== Gallery ==
[[Category:Lost animation]]
<gallery>
[[Category:Lost films]]
F11A8126-2CA7-4E90-B858-65FAB23C00DA.jpeg|Concept shown during Private Screening in 2004
[[Category:Completely lost media]]
D186A04B-C9A6-49FA-85AF-10E4E7AF908E.jpeg|Concept shown during Private Screening in 2004
9356735C-D253-4102-AC11-E7BD2940B706.jpeg|Concept Art
4AEC62C0-6C5E-447D-9CB8-BA92011D715D.jpeg|Concept Art
E290FDE8-5D4F-456C-AB67-FA11F2EEDCF0.jpeg|Concept Art
CC15B915-0122-4E2E-B5A8-E307B1E512A0.jpeg|Concept Art
1753DA4D-2101-4CE9-BE32-0C3CF6F701C2.jpeg|Concept Art
2CF3DCA8-0D6D-4C73-B310-51FC1D702522.jpeg|Concept Art
232D95B9-3160-414B-B2B5-533E4394895F.jpeg|Concept Art
8F9970D2-3398-4E58-A842-90E011E03E22.jpeg|Concept Art
</gallery>

Latest revision as of 21:32, 15 August 2023

Maleficent.jpg

Maleficent as she appears in Sleeping Beauty.

Status: Lost

Maleficent was a Disney 3D animated feature based on the 1959 Sleeping Beauty film that started development around 2003 but was cancelled in 2005 as they wanted to go for a live-action approach instead. In 2003, during Don Hahn's meeting with Disney's animation department, it was suggested to create an origin film about Maleficent from Disney's animated film Sleeping Beauty (1959) in the same vein as the just released Broadway musical Wicked, with a screenplay written by Paul Dini [1], the project was kept private and was expected to be announced with the voice cast, however it eventually got cancelled.[2][3]

Plot

A newborn is found in a barren land that was part of the Enchanted Forest. The Queen of fairies, who raises all creatures born in the forest, finds the baby and names her Maleficent. As she grows up, Maleficent is hated by other fairies for her dark magic and selfish behavior, but she dreams of taking the throne. During one of her wild adventures, Maleficent meets Amitola, a bright and colorful fairy, they soon became close friends. On the lunar celebration, the holy dove, a white bird that gives power to fairies, doesn't bless Maleficent, causing her to crash into the Queen's hall and later reveal a dark secret about the queen’s relationship with a human king named Stefan.

The Queen curses her with horns, and Maleficent is now known as the "Mistress of All Evil". She gathers followers, kills the Queen, and plans to overthrow the Queen's son, Albriech, who took the throne. During that time, Amitola and Maleficent got separated, their paths eventually diverged when Maleficent's thirst for power became too much to bear. Amitola decided to leave the Kingdom after it’s destruction and unfair rule. When King Stefan and his wife celebrate the birth of their daughter, Maleficent curses her to die on her 16th birthday. The King seeks help from fairies who hide and raise the baby, Aurora. As her 16th birthday approaches, the fairies set out to find Prince Phillip to break the curse.

History

In an interview with Don Hahn, Hahn said the light bulb to give Maleficent her own story went off more than 10 years before the live-action Maleficent film was released, in a meeting with Disney's animation department, as they were all mulling over possibilities of fleshing out existing characters in the Disney canon.

"It was about 2003 when were sitting around one day, asking, 'Who is a really strong and interesting female character we can base a movie on,' and somebody said 'Maleficent,' but I can't point out exactly who it was," Hahn recalled. "It made sense, because she was this really popular villainess who is glamorous and like a runway model. Still, she's been wounded somehow in the past."

The timing of the idea was largely inspired by the Broadway smash, Wicked, which delved into the history of the witch sisters from The Wizard of Oz, Hahn said.

"We thought we could do a 'Wicked' thing with Maleficent and show her back story. That was just the germ of the idea and it sat in animation for a while," Hahn said. "We did some development and some drawings on it, but then it went over to live-action as Tim Burton got involved around 2005."

Eventually helping Maleficent along in its live-action ambitions was the blockbuster success of director Tim Burton's vibrant, colorful live-action film Alice in Wonderland, which gave somewhat of an alternate take on the time-honored tale-turned-Disney animated classic.

Hahn said the first person he pitched Maleficent to was Burton, along with another film that gave Burton a chance to revisit a bit of his own filmmaking past and here is where the live-action adaptation started.[4]

Availability

The development of the project began in 2003 and was cancelled two years later in 2005 during the voice casting process. Catherine O'Hara and Kiera Knightley were among the potential voice actors being considered. Despite having completed computer-generated models and test animations, the project was kept confidential and was expected to be announced with the voice cast.

However, the project was eventually cancelled and wasn't pursued further until 2009 when it was revived as a live-action film with Tim Burton as director. The film was finally released in 2014 with Angelina Jolie playing the role of Maleficent, noting that Angelina’s facial features were inspired for the Character “Maleficent” during the development of the animated film.

See Also

Sleeping Beauty

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Animation (Disney)

Animation (Pixar)

Audio

Live Action

Short Films

External Links

References

  1. ↑ Paul Dini revealing his involvement in a tweet Retrieved 30 Jan '23
  2. ↑ News4Jax article on the film. Retrieved 09 Jan '23
  3. ↑ Indie Wire article on the film. Retrieved 26 Jan '23
  4. ↑ Den of Geek article on the film. Retrieved 26 Jan '23
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