The Magnificent Maleficent

The self-proclaimed Mistress of All Evil, Maleficent, first met audiences in 1959 in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. The character made such an impact on movie goers at the time that she has since gone on to become one of the most recognizable faces of evil and villainy across all of Disney media.

In the context of Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent appears – having been snubbed in terms of invitations – at the christening celebration of the infant Princess Aurora. She places a curse on the child, dooming her to pricking her finger on a spinning wheel’s spindle and dying (though one of the good fairies uses her magic to change death into instead a death-like sleep). When Aurora returns to the kingdom as a teenager, she lures the princess into fulfilling the curse, and later turns into a massive dragon in order to battle with Prince Phillip, who aims to save Aurora. Phillip kills Maleficent by throwing the Sword of Truth into her chest during the climax of the battle.

The character was designed specifically to be elegant, contrasting with stereotypical portrayals of witches at the time. Her horned headdress and cloak were designed to evoke a bat-like feeling, and the name “Maleficent” literally means “doing evil.” Maleficent was voiced by Eleanor Audley, who also recorded the live-action reference footage that the animators used for the character. Audley had previously voiced Lady Tremaine, Cinderella’s wicked stepmother, in Disney’s Cinderella.

Further portrayals of the character have included multiple live-action versions, such as Kristin Bauer van Straten’s take on the character in Once Upon a Time, and Kristin Chenoweth’s in Disney’s Desendants franchise. The most notable live-action version is likely Angelia Jolie, who portrayed the sorceress in the 2014 live-action Maleficent film, in which the character is portrayed far more sympathetically – her vicious demeanor is the result of mistreatment and betrayal by human friends, rather than innately her nature.

Maleficent has become the main face of Disney’s villains at large, becoming the main face of the Disney Villains merchandising brand, and appearing in various other Disney media as a regular antagonist (such as Disney’s House of Mouse, Kingdom Keepers, and others). She is also one of the primary villains of the Kingdom Hearts series of video games, leading a group of other Disney villains in order to move against Sora and King Mickey; Pete usually appears as her second-in-command.

With a name that has become synonymous with villainy in the Disney canon and beyond over the last six decades, Maleficent has clearly charmed audiences with her elegant form of evil in that time. With another live-action film bearing her name on the way, chances are she’ll continue to do so for quite some time.