I, literally, have been waiting about four years for this movie to premiere. I will never forget one day in the summer of 2010 when I was browsing a website that shared information for movies that were coming out every year up to 2016. Pretty cool, huh? Anyway, I remember reading about Maleficent and freaking out. If you know me, you know that she is my favorite villain. I got the opportunity to see the movie Thursday in 3D, the day before it was officially released to the public. I wore all black with green eye shadow and pink lips (I don’t own red). I was ready. As soon as I left the theater, I wrote down all the little details that I loved about the movie. Here are some of my favorites!
*This blog is spoiler-free; however, I do mention minor details. The details do not impact the plot whatsoever. I put a little asterisk like the one before these sentences in the titles of things that reveal little details, like a nickname Maleficent uses for Aurora.*
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CGI Effects
The animation in this movie is absolutely AMAZING. The creatures look very real, even the monsters made out of sticks and leaves. I specifically remember one part towards the beginning when we see a big duel, and there were a few creatures that rose from the ground. In that moment, I said out loud “This better win an award for CGI or else I’m moving to Canada!” (Don’t worry, the theater was COMPLETELY empty, and only my dad was in there with me). Especially in 3D, you could see the little details in each and every animal.
Aurora’s Nickname*
Maleficent called Aurora Beastie throughout the movie, which was a little detail that really made me smile. It shows how much she disliked the child and how much disrespect she had for her. Beastie sounds like a name for a dog, not a human! Even when Maleficent did learn Aurora’s true name, she would call her Beastie behind her back. Just a little thing like that was really memorable for me.
Ditzy Fairies*
In the original fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty had semi-responsible fairies as guardians. They succeed much better than these three fairies in the newest movie did! I can’t mention one time when the fairies did something that helped Aurora besides living with her far from her father’s castle. They fought constantly and did an absolutely horrible job hiding Aurora from magic and Maleficent. They were the “comic relief” characters throughout most of the story, and if you pay close attention to the red fairy, you may recognize her!
Diavavavaval?
The raven’s actual name is Diaval, but no one can pronounce it correctly. The way that Maleficent and Diaval meet explains why he obeys her every move. I fell in love with this little bird, and I can’t say why without spoiling a critical point of the movie, so I will just leave it at that.
Prince Philip
Philip is a cutie. He is so adorable! I love how they gave him a childish sense of wonder and he genuinely cared about Aurora. The one thing that I noticed is that the part of the belt that holds the sword is about as tall as the boy himself. I thought that was super cute and a little detail that shows how old Philip is. The actor, Brenton Thwaites, was perfect for the role.
The Mole
Okay, this is going to make me sound really weird, but it’s something I noticed throughout the movie. It may be because I saw the 3D version of the movie, but I noticed that Angelina Jolie has a mole over her right eyebrow. During the close-ups, sometimes it was covered with makeup and other times it was visible. I am still laughing about it today. “Where did the mole go? Oh there it is! Maybe she put a spell on it…”
Capeless Maleficent
Towards the end of the movie, there is a scene when Maleficent does not have a cape on. Well, not a cape, but the part of her outfit that drapes. I don’t know why exactly I loved this part so much, but it was kind of cool to see Maleficent without one of her trademark items. The outfit Maleficent was wearing reminded me of Catwoman! It made her look much more intimidating.
The Main Story*
I believed that the main story would take place before the whole cursing Sleeping Beauty situation and end with the moment that we all know and love: Maleficent giving her monologue at the celebration. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that only about the first half an hour took place before Aurora was born. The rest is the fairytale that we all know – with a twist.
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Maleficent dominated the box office this weekend making $70 million dollars ($100.6 million internationally) at the time I am composing this according to Fox News. Overall, I can understand why some fans and critics were upset. Some people wanted to see even more backstory than supplied. I’m glad that Disney didn’t take this route. The backstory is rather simple and, in my opinion, if it was expanded upon too much, it would have been a little simple and boring to watch. Others wanted more action or more connections to the actual story. Some even thought it was too dark. For me, I was more than satisfied. In fact, I walked out of the movie theater crying because I was waiting so long for this movie, and it was over. I enjoyed the little references to the classic story, and I felt like there was a perfect amount. I have been waiting for years and set the bar so high for this movie, and Maleficent exceeded those expectations multiple times. I love how Disney took this idea and twisted it to make it a very dark story. I personally love reading theories that take a known story and make it seem darker than Disney does (for example, the original end to The Little Mermaid). It was like a dream come true to see this tale come to life, and I am excited to see where this will lead in regards to future twisted Disney tales. Hopefully more fairy tales from the villains’ point of view are on the horizon.
See ya REAL soon!
(Photo from the author’s personal collection. Maleficent image copyright Disney.)
Quote of the Week: “Listen well: all of you…” ~ Maleficent
Makena is a 15 year old high school student who spends much of her free time researching Disney. She enjoys sharing Disney facts and even plans Walt Disney World vacations (including searches for secrets and Hidden Mickeys) for friends and family. You can follow Makena on twitter @Makattack98 or on Facebook (Makena Wolcott). Makena began blogging for WDW Radio in December 2011.
