Maleficent

Maleficent
Sleeping Beauty character
Maleficent (along with her raven Diablo), as she appears in Disney's Sleeping Beauty.
First appearanceSleeping Beauty (1959)
Created byMarc Davis
Based onThe Wicked fairy godmother from Charles Perrault's fairy tale
Voiced by
Portrayed by
In-universe information
AliasThe Mistress of All Evil
Mistress of Evil
SpeciesFairy[2]
GenderFemale
TitleMistress of All Evil
Queen of the Moors (in Maleficent)
AffiliationDisney Villains
Significant othersHades (in House of Mouse and Descendants)
King Stefan (in Maleficent)
ChildrenMal (daughter; in Descendants)
Aurora (surrogate daughter; in Maleficent)
HomeThe Forbidden Mountain
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 a malevolent fairy and the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil", she is an incarnation of pure evil and is responsible for all the misfortune in King Stefan's kingdom. Taking offense at not being invited to the christening of Princess Aurora by Stefan and his wife, Queen Leah, Maleficent curses the princess to "prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die" before the sun sets on Aurora's sixteenth birthday.[3] Maleficent is based on the Wicked fairy godmother character in Charles Perrault's fairy tale Sleeping Beauty.[4]

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).[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. ^ Grant, John (1998). Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters (2nd ed.). Hyperion. pp. 263–264. ISBN 978-0786863365.
  4. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. pp. 252–254. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  5. ^ "Audley, Eleanor - D23". d23.com. September 6, 2015.
  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.