While we might all have loved the Disney Princesses of our youth, the Disney villains are having their moment. And no one more than Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent.
In 2014 retold its iconic fairytale with a fresh perspective in Maleficent, showing us how a forest kingdom’s fierce protector is driven to become the villain.
By revisiting the story and flipping the assumptions, Disney gives the female villain the character complexity she deserves. In turn, she becomes the unexpected hero, and the King our true villain.
Now Maleficent 2: Mistress of Evil is on its way to change everything you though you knew about Sleeping Beauty.
Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning reprise their roles as the dark fairy Maleficent and Princess Aurora, except this time they are teaming up and forming new alliances to protect the magical lands.
It’s not the Sleeping Beauty that we remember, because this version gives the female characters more complex characters and more active participation in the narrative (especially Aurora).
The retelling of Disney Princess fairytales allows for the narrative wrongs to be made right. The women who were dismissed, underdeveloped or merely overlooked are brought front and centre with better stories than they’ve ever had before.
Catch Maleficent: Mistress of Evil in cinemas from October 17.