Behind the Scenes of Maleficent

More wicked than the wicked stepmother in Cinderella, more evil than the evil queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent embodies pure darkness, sending shivers down the spines of children and adults alike.

More than 60 years after the release of Sleeping Beauty, Disney is finally giving the queen of mean a chance to tell her side of the story in her own feature-length live action film. Angelina Jolie stars as the titular villain as she goes from a protector of the forest to hateful harridan, cursing princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) to eternal sleep.

Here, the cast and crew of Maleficent give a little background into their characters and the movie’s twist on an old story.