Angelina Jolie, in taking her first major acting role in years, wanted something “crazy and silly” to counter the more serious parts of her life and her idea of fun was to play a baddie who looks pretty darn scary to children.
Maleficent is a villain, and one of Disney’s most popular since she appeared as the wicked fairy in the 1959 animated feature Sleeping Beauty, in which she casts an evil spell on the princess.
The modern reimagining of that fairy tale in Maleficent allows Jolie to show the hurt that sparked her character’s evil side and how she overcomes it. It may be dark at times – “the darkest Disney will go” says Jolie – but children and adults will get laughs from its wicked humour, an uplifting tale of justice and a new cinematic heroine with a gothic twist.
“There are people today, especially kids, that have been bullied and felt like they are outsiders or felt different,” said Jolie of her character, who sports black horns and sharp cheekbones. “And I loved that this goes in that direction.”
So apparently did her six children, who encouraged her to take the role and helped her find her memorable Maleficent voice. “My children have seen it and it really makes them happy,” she said.
The film, a big Walt Disney Co. production that cost $200 million, opens tomorrow in US theatres and the studio has launched an ambitious marketing campaign that includes Maleficent lines of MAC Cosmetics and clothing and shoes by designer Stella McCartney.
The darkest Disney will go
The audience sweet spot is girls aged 10 and up, an older group than the younger children who swooned for the empowering princesses in the Disney’s animated blockbuster Frozen, according to Phil Contrino, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com.
Riding on the momentum of Frozen, Maleficent should bring in $64 million in ticket sales in its opening weekend in the US and Canada, Contrino said, and Jolie’s global appeal hints at big sales overseas.
The other star of the film may be the elaborate visual production, the creation of first-time director Robert Stromberg who won two Academy Awards as production designer on Avatar and Alice in Wonderland.
In a lush palate influenced by classic painting in which artists heightened landscapes, Stromberg created two worlds; Maleficent’s forest kingdom and the human kingdom ruled by Stefan, the man who wronged her.
Maleficent disrupts the christening of King Stefan’s daughter Aurora and lets it be known that the princess she calls ‘Beastie’ will go into a deep slumber when she turns 16, a spell that can only be broken by the kiss of true love. Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty played by an angelical Elle Fanning, tests Maleficent’s hard resolve with her innocence.
Maleficent “stands up for her home, she is protecting it from mankind,” said Fanning.
Jolie’s next offering will be her second directorial effort, Unbroken, the real story of an Olympic runner taken prisoner in World War II that will be released December 25.