Directed by:
Robert Stromberg
Produced by:
Joe Roth
Screenplay by:
Linda Woolverton
Based on:
Disney's Sleeping Beauty
La Belle au bois dormant by Charles Perrault
Starring:
Angelina Jolie
Sharlto Copley
Elle Fanning
Sam Riley
Imelda Staunton
Juno Temple
Lesley Manville
BUZZ: An elderly woman narrates and tells the story of Maleficent, a young and very powerful fairy living in the Moors, a magical realm bordering a human kingdom. As a young girl, she meets and falls in love with a human peasant boy named Stefan, whose love for Maleficent is overshadowed by his ambition to become king. As they grow older, Stefan stops seeing Maleficent. After Maleficent defeats the current king in battle when he attempts to invade the Moors, he offers to name whoever kills her his successor. Stefan overhears this and visits Maleficent at night, drugs her and attempts to kill her but cannot bring himself to do so. Instead he burns her wings off with iron, a lethal substance to fairies, and presents them to the king as proof of her death. After discovering Stefan's betrayal Maleficent rescues a raven named Diaval to serve as her informant and he reports to her that Stefan has been crowned king. The realization Stefan betrayed her to gain the throne devastates Maleficent and in retaliation she declares herself queen of the Moors, forming a dark oppressive kingdom with Diaval as her one companion and confidant.
Some time later, Diaval informs Maleficent that Stefan, now king, is hosting a christening for his newborn daughter, Aurora. Bent on revenge against Stefan, Maleficent arrives uninvited and curses the baby with a sleeping curse to take effect on her 16th birthday after pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. After Stefan is forced by Maleficent to beg for his daughter, however, Maleficent offers an caveat, saying the curse can be broken by true love's kiss. Paranoid of Maleficent and her vengeance against him, Stefan has all the spinning wheels locked away and sends Aurora to live with three pixies until the day after her 16th birthday. He sends out his armies to find and kill Maleficent, but she surrounds her kingdom with an impenetrable wall of thorns.
Despite her initial dislike for Aurora, Maleficent begins to care for the girl when the naive and neglectful pixies fail to do so. After a brief meeting with the young Aurora, Maleficent watches over Aurora from afar. When Aurora is 15, she sees Maleficent for the first time since then and calls the woman her "fairy godmother", as she recalled being watched over by her all her life. Maleficent allows Aurora to spend more time in Moors, realizing she has grown fond of the princess. She attempts to revoke the curse but cannot as she herself had declared nothing could stop it. Aurora later meets a prince named Phillip and falls in love with him. Diaval thinks it must be true love and the key to lifting the curse, but Maleficent is unsure. On the day before Aurora's 16th birthday, Maleficent, hoping the avoid the curse, allows the girl to live in the Moors, far away from any spindles. But the pixies inadvertently tell Aurora of her parentage and of Maleficent's true identity as the one who cursed her, and Aurora furiously disowns Maleficent and she runs away to her father.
After a quick and dismissive reunion, on his part, Stefan locks Aurora away for safekeeping. She begins to fall under the curse's trance as she escapes her room while being drawn to the dungeon. There, the curse assembles a spinning wheel, Aurora pricks her finger, initiating the curse. Intent on saving Aurora, Maleficent abducts Phillip and infiltrates Stefan's castle to have him kiss Aurora and break the curse. However, Phillip's kiss fails. Maleficent apologizes to the princess while swearing no harm will come to her, and then kissing Aurora's forehead, causing Aurora to awaken. Maleficent's curse has been broken as her motherly concern for Aurora constitutes "true love", and Aurora forgives her. They attempt to flee the castle but Maleficent is trapped in an iron net and attacked by Stefan and his guards, all wearing iron armor and wielding iron weapons. Maleficent transforms Diaval into a dragon and he lifts the net off her but soon is driven back by the soldiers. Stefan beats Maleficent and taunts her about the loss of her wings but before he can kill her her wings are restored to her, freed by Aurora. With her wings Maleficent frees Diaval and overpowers Stefan with their fight eventually ending with the king falling to his death. Later, Aurora is later named queen of both the humans and fairies by Maleficent, unifying the two kingdoms, with Phillip at her side. The narrator then reveals her identity as Aurora herself.
Some time later, Diaval informs Maleficent that Stefan, now king, is hosting a christening for his newborn daughter, Aurora. Bent on revenge against Stefan, Maleficent arrives uninvited and curses the baby with a sleeping curse to take effect on her 16th birthday after pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. After Stefan is forced by Maleficent to beg for his daughter, however, Maleficent offers an caveat, saying the curse can be broken by true love's kiss. Paranoid of Maleficent and her vengeance against him, Stefan has all the spinning wheels locked away and sends Aurora to live with three pixies until the day after her 16th birthday. He sends out his armies to find and kill Maleficent, but she surrounds her kingdom with an impenetrable wall of thorns.
Despite her initial dislike for Aurora, Maleficent begins to care for the girl when the naive and neglectful pixies fail to do so. After a brief meeting with the young Aurora, Maleficent watches over Aurora from afar. When Aurora is 15, she sees Maleficent for the first time since then and calls the woman her "fairy godmother", as she recalled being watched over by her all her life. Maleficent allows Aurora to spend more time in Moors, realizing she has grown fond of the princess. She attempts to revoke the curse but cannot as she herself had declared nothing could stop it. Aurora later meets a prince named Phillip and falls in love with him. Diaval thinks it must be true love and the key to lifting the curse, but Maleficent is unsure. On the day before Aurora's 16th birthday, Maleficent, hoping the avoid the curse, allows the girl to live in the Moors, far away from any spindles. But the pixies inadvertently tell Aurora of her parentage and of Maleficent's true identity as the one who cursed her, and Aurora furiously disowns Maleficent and she runs away to her father.
After a quick and dismissive reunion, on his part, Stefan locks Aurora away for safekeeping. She begins to fall under the curse's trance as she escapes her room while being drawn to the dungeon. There, the curse assembles a spinning wheel, Aurora pricks her finger, initiating the curse. Intent on saving Aurora, Maleficent abducts Phillip and infiltrates Stefan's castle to have him kiss Aurora and break the curse. However, Phillip's kiss fails. Maleficent apologizes to the princess while swearing no harm will come to her, and then kissing Aurora's forehead, causing Aurora to awaken. Maleficent's curse has been broken as her motherly concern for Aurora constitutes "true love", and Aurora forgives her. They attempt to flee the castle but Maleficent is trapped in an iron net and attacked by Stefan and his guards, all wearing iron armor and wielding iron weapons. Maleficent transforms Diaval into a dragon and he lifts the net off her but soon is driven back by the soldiers. Stefan beats Maleficent and taunts her about the loss of her wings but before he can kill her her wings are restored to her, freed by Aurora. With her wings Maleficent frees Diaval and overpowers Stefan with their fight eventually ending with the king falling to his death. Later, Aurora is later named queen of both the humans and fairies by Maleficent, unifying the two kingdoms, with Phillip at her side. The narrator then reveals her identity as Aurora herself.