Maleficent (Live-Action)

[Musical Master]

Thanks a bunch bradk, and I hope it's not to much to ask you a few questions.

How is Maleficent betrayed in the novelization? is it the same as the leaked script?

What is Stefan's fate?

What is the biggest difference from the leaked script to the novelization?

Are Knotgrass, Flittle and Thistlewit helpful to anyone?

Does Stefan force Knotgrass, Flittle and Thistlewit to watch over baby Aurora like in the leaked script or is it different?

Is Aurora's role the same in the novelization or has it been expanded on?

Is Maleficent born with the horns or were they cursed to her like in the leaked script?

What is the ending?

Does Maleficent have a change of heart in the end?

Thanks so much!

[Disney Analysis]

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks bradk for your review !

Is there some (new) pictures in the novelization ?

Can you post somme pictures of the 'Curse' book please ?

[bradk]

Q: How is Maleficent betrayed in the novelization? is it the same as the leaked script?
Pretty much the same. Certain events have been changed/tweaked to further strengthen the way she feels, but I don't believe anything fundamentally has changed about her.

Q: What is Stefan's fate?
Dies in the fight with Maleficent, though it wasn't her intention to kill him (she is involved in his death but not directly responsible)

Q: What is the biggest difference from the leaked script to the novelization?
Biggest difference is there is no Queen/King of the Moors (at least not until Maleficent becomes the de facto ruler and the ending). Maleficent never loses her horns as a result. Stefan is also not half fairy/human and does not grow up in the Moors. The film also starts as Maleficent as an infant with her parents, Hermia and Lysander, who believed in peace between the humans and the fairies and ended up dying as a result during one of the wars. Also, in the script as I recall, Maleficent is unable to break her curse because one of the fairies reversed it. In the Maleficent novelization, it's just implied that Maleficent made sure her curse was unbreakable so she herself could not undo it.

Are Knotgrass, Flittle and Thistlewit helpful to anyone?
Not particularly. Again, they never kill Aurora, so it could've been worse. They also provide fodder for entertainment for Maleficent and others throughout her life (M loves to torture them). Honestly, it's hard to see why they're even friends with the way they bicker and think of eachother. They're more like frenemies.

Does Stefan force Knotgrass, Flittle and Thistlewit to watch over baby Aurora like in the leaked script or is it different?
In order to not have to live under Maleficent's rule in the Moors, they convince Stefan to let them stay in the castle and watch over Aurora, mostly because the Queen takes a liking to them -- Stefan does not care for them at all. When Maleficent announces her curse, Stefan does charge them with taking Aurora away and raising her in secret until the day after her sixteenth birthday. And he is none too pleased with them when Aurora and they return too early.

Is Aurora's role the same in the novelization or has it been expanded on?
Safe to say it's been expanded

Is Maleficent born with the horns or were they cursed to her like in the leaked script?
I honestly don't remember her being cursed with them. I thought I remember the Queen of the fairies taking them away. Maybe I do now that you mention it, but she inexplicably has them from birth. Not sure what her parents were like, but apparently only Maleficent and her parents are human sized as well -- though that's a whole other spoiler in it of itself.

What is the ending? -- READ THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.
I was originally going to go back further, but this is it short and sweet. After Aurora is awoken, Maleficent is mortally trapped inside the castle when she turns Diaval into the Dragon. Diaval releases her from her iron trap and takes on the army while Maleficent ends up facing Stefan. While the two are battling, with Stefan winning, Aurora finds and releases Maleficent's wings which reunite with her and battling in flight with Stefan, he loses his grip and plummets to his death. Aurora becomes queen, but for both human and fairy kingdoms. The end.

Does Maleficent have a change of heart in the end?
This is philosophical. It's very black and white in that fairies and humans don't get along and most don't feel it's possible. Maleficent believes not all humans are bad (just like not all fairies are good) but becomes jaded when Stefan spurns her in order to position himself as Henry's replacement, in part by taking her wings. At that point, she just pretty much hates Stefan, hence the curse on Aurora, which of course is also likely a bit of jealousy on her part since she probably feels it should her baby with him. Of course she pities Aurora being subjected to the 3 fairies so she reluctantly becomes a part of Aurora's life (in great part to Diaval) and learns to love her as her own. So I don't think anything's changed in terms of Maleficent's feels, just the mechanics may have been altered a bit.

Is there some (new) pictures in the novelization?
There are no stills in either. Maleficent has no photos/images at all. The Curse of Maleficent has original illustrations, in the style as featured on the cover.

Can you post some pictures of the 'Curse' book please ?
I'm assuming you want illustrations. Unfortunately I really can't because I don't think anything's been released by Disney as of yet and I can't infringe upon copyright, especially since they provided the books to me. I'm sure within the next couple of weeks, they'll pop up though (just not from me).

[Musical Master]

Wow bradk, thanks so much! If you didn't remember that part of the leaked script about Maleficent cursed with the horns I'll tell you. Queen Ulla is a terrible fairy who want's respect and when Maleficent defies her by telling everyone about Stefan being the son of King Kinloch, she punishes her own niece by giving her the horns to show how "terrible she is"; and when the Queen dies, the curse is broken and Maleficent takes them off untill the time when Stefan betrays her, she finds them again and puts them back on her head.

Does that help?

Edit: I do have a few more questions that I forgot to ask.

How does the scene where Aurora pricks her finger plays out?
How does King Henry die?
Do you think the novelization is better or worse than the leaked script?
Which of the three fairies is the least worst in personality?
How did the scene where Aurora discovers who Maleficent really is plays out?

[bradk]

Q. How does the scene where Aurora pricks her finger plays out?
After she learns about her parents and after she confronts Maleficent, she runs off to the castle. Stefan is upset to see her (and also a bit insane at this point) and banishes her to her chamber until the day after her birthday. She manages to escape and starts to feel a pang in her fingertip, instinctively knowing she wants to touch a spinning wheel, and as luck would have it, she happens to come across one hidden away in the castle under a tarp, despite Stefan ordering them all to be burned. It's probably more compelling visually than it sounds.

Q. How does King Henry die?
Not sure if him dying is that much of a spoiler since we all know Stefan takes the throne, but I'll keep that Q hidden anyway just in case. Anyway, in short, he becomes very sickly and swears vengeance on Maleficent who has been able to block him from taking over the Moors. Since he has no son, he makes an edict that if someone kills Maleficent, he may name them his successor. Stefan, who is a servant to the King, takes Maleficent's wings and uses them as 'proof' that he killed Maleficent. When Henry laughs him off after Stefan asks about being named next in line, Stefan kills him and then uses Henry's ring to seal a falsified edict naming Stefan as successor.

Q. Do you think the novelization is better or worse than the leaked script?
Give and take. There are elements in the script that would probably have been more interesting to watch, but I can understand them being changed for the sake of story. Neither have me particularly excited for the film, but we shall see.

Q. Which of the three fairies is the least worst in personality?
Knotgrass is pretty much the leader and a know-it-all who looks down on the other two. The other two really don't have nearly as much a role other than Thistletwit being a weak link in the chain. But they really don't have too much of a presence anyway, they're supporting roles.

Q. How did the scene where Aurora discovers who Maleficent really is plays out?
Typical romcom type stuff. <- Major spoiler alert. When Maleficent invites Aurora to move into the Moors with her, Aurora decides she has to tell her 'aunts.' They respond by telling her the truth about who they are and who she is and about her parents and the curse. Upset, Aurora runs to Maleficent and begins telling her what she learns, but when she starts to talk about the curse, Maleficent finishes her sandwich sentence for Aurora by saying her name. That's when Aurora realizes her fairy godmother is really Maleficent and she feels betrayed and decides to run off to see her parents. Basically it's the line in the trailers where she asks 'are you Maleficent?' because apparently Aurora never felt the need to ask Maleficent her name prior to that.

[Musical Master]

Once again bradk, thanks a bunch. I find the idea that Aurora decides to see her real parents with no ounce of rebelliousness to stay in the moors is a rather good idea in context of what she learned about Maleficent.

The final question on my mind is this: How does Aurora wake up?

[bradk]

Q. The final question on my mind is this: How does Aurora wake up?
Same as script.

[DisneyJedi]

Q. The final question on my mind is this: How does Aurora wake up?
Same as script.

You mean to tell us that Maleficent will be the one to awaken Aurora and not Phillip and that Phillip is just a five minute cameo?!

[Musical Master]

Here's the first featurette of the movie and Linda Woolverton has made her first appearance in an interview for a new movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmaLCe6ZN5w&hd=1

[bradk]

You mean to tell us that ...

pretty much, yes.

[DisneyJedi]

You mean to tell us that ...

pretty much, yes.

Dammit, Linda!!!

[thedisneyspirit]

Really? That's kinda against all the original Maleficent was.

I'd understand this new trend of modern fairy tale films ala Frozen and Brave to trash old concepts of love and marriage, and "true love's kiss", but this is completely different from the original film.

[Kraken Guard]

Really? That's kinda against all the original Maleficent was.

I'd understand this new trend of modern fairy tale films ala Frozen and Brave to trash old concepts of love and marriage, and "true love's kiss", but this is completely different from the original film.

And goes against the original character...

[Tristy]

Reading all this, I'm not too happy. I will admit visually it looks nice though.

If I go see it, I'll probably go in with the mindset of heckling it for how much it destroys such a great character.

[Musical Master]

Reading all this, I'm not too happy. I will admit visually it looks nice though.

If I go see it, I'll probably go in with the mindset of heckling it for how much it destroys such a great character.

Am I the only one in the whole world who thinks that Maleficent is a good villain but not a great character on her own. The honor of a great character and villian to me, will always be Lady Tremaine.

I for one really could care less about the changes they have done; Sleeping Beauty is a movie, which to me is a masterpiece of art but story and character wise it really stinks compared to Snow White and Cinderella.

[unprincess]

so...tempted...read...spoilers...

[taei]

And goes against the original character...

"We've respected the classic, we tried to bring you what you love about this story." -Angelina Jolie

Me: Really? Cause it seems like you completely trashed the classic, butchered what seems to be one of Disney's most terrifying villains (IMHO), and most of all, made a movie that is supposed to appeal to everyone while leveraging the integrity of one of the most iconic characters.

Disney is no longer taking risks. I don't understand why they had to make Maleficent a motherly character, and ruin her by giving her a lame and uninspired backstory. The whole thing about the wings seems stupid to me and should be irrelevant when telling the story about this great villain. Her relationship with King Stephan is stupid, unnecessary, and downright insulting to the character. Why the heck doesn't she turn into the dragon? It was her signature move!The three fairies were completely ruined. Whenever I thought about them, the first thing that comes to mind ishow much they cared about Aurora. They'd have funny bickering but would never go out of their way to make the other feel bad. And they deeply loved Aurora despite everything.

I think they would be better off if they choose different names for all of their characters and named the movie something else.
They pretty much rewrote the entire story instead of trying to keep it parallel to the original (ALA what Wicked did). I honestly have no interest in seeing this movie, but will do because I want to see how bad it'll be.

SHE DOESN'T EVEN KILL THE BAD GUY IN THE END AND I'M 90% SURE SHE WILL FEEL BAD FOR HIS DEATH!!!!
This movie is frustrating me!!

PS. Sorry, just got back from a really had exam.

[Atlantica]

Hmmm …. I'm not sure what to think after reading the spoilers.

I can see the premise of what the film is trying to do, and I am intrigued by that concept, but it has just made the character of Maleficent seem rather … muddled ? For want of a better word.

I mean, Maleficent is bad. As in, slightly unhinged bad, from what we know from Sleeping Beauty. The film has try to give motivation for this wicked fairy, but where it's fallen down is the fact that it has strayed so far away from the original fairy tale. This is (just my opinion) because there isn't anything in Maleficent from the original that is justifiable in her actions; in order to explain what she does, they have to drastically alter the story to fit in with that purpose.

I thought the film would be a bit smarter than that, like giving an interesting alternate take on things, as per their tagline 'Don't Believe The Fairy Tale' …. in this case, we can't think of the fair tale at all as it is just too different. Like two different entitities that just happen to share some plot points and a few characters names.

I will still see the film as I love the idea of the whole thing, but my expectations have been flattened considerably. I'll just view it as a fantasy film with a vague connection to a few characters from a Classic.

[Musical Master]

Hmmm …. I'm not sure what to think after reading the spoilers.

I can see the premise of what the film is trying to do, and I am intrigued by that concept, but it has just made the character of Maleficent seem rather … muddled ? For want of a better word.

I mean, Maleficent is bad. As in, slightly unhinged bad, from what we know from Sleeping Beauty. The film has try to give motivation for this wicked fairy, but where it's fallen down is the fact that it has strayed so far away from the original fairy tale. This is (just my opinion) because there isn't anything in Maleficent from the original that is justifiable in her actions; in order to explain what she does, they have to drastically alter the story to fit in with that purpose.

I thought the film would be a bit smarter than that, like giving an interesting alternate take on things, as per their tagline 'Don't Believe The Fairy Tale' …. in this case, we can't think of the fair tale at all as it is just too different. Like two different entitities that just happen to share some plot points and a few characters names.

I will still see the film as I love the idea of the whole thing, but my expectations have been flattened considerably. I'll just view it as a fantasy film with a vague connection to a few characters from a Classic.

I guess I'm the only one who is very excited about this movie despite reading the leaked screenplay, which the revisions have helped it so far (to me). Godzilla and Maleficent are the movies I want to see this May.

[Kraken Guard]

Don't worry, I'm sure you're not the only person.