See the First Glimpse of Maleficent, a Dark Fantasy from Disney
Who is Maleficent?
Maleficent was the name Disney gave to the wicked witch in the classic animated film Sleeping Beauty (1959). She is one of the superb creations of 20th Century film and the character has endured well beyond the original movie. Maleficent has appeared in numerous other Disney books and movies, including the TV series House of Mouse, Ridley Pearson’s Kingdom Keepers novels, the ongoing ABC series Once Upon a Time, and perhaps most notably as a major character in the popular Kingdom Hearts video games. When the Ultimate Disney website hosted their top 30 Disney Villains countdown, Maleficent ranked #1.
Now her story is being told properly, in a big-budget live action release from Disney scheduled to arrive May 30. Described as both a prequel and a remake of Sleeping Beauty, the film presents the story from the point of view of Maleficent. Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol) is behind the project; it was written by Paul Dini and Linda Woolverton, and directed by Robert Stromberg. Imelda Staunton, Miranda Richardson, and Elle Fanning star, and the title role is portrayed by Angelina Jolie.
Watch the first trailer below to get a taste of this new dark fantasy from Disney. It promises to be a wholly different take on a famous story.
I’m guessing an origins type story, something along the lines of ‘Wicked’ – but I’ll be only too happy to be proved wrong!
I think that’s a pretty safe bet.
Trailer looks cool enough, but Disney makes me nervous.
I did like Jolie as Grendel’s mother in BEOWULF.
Brad Bird AND Paul Dini? Dang, you just can’t get a much better creative team involved than that (no offense to the other creative types I don’t know who are involved).
But Bird and Dini have been involved in some of the best storytelling I’ve seen in the last 15 years. This makes me very, very hopeful.
> Trailer looks cool enough, but Disney makes me nervous.
Chris,
After Disney bought Pixar, Marvel, and finally LucasFilm, I decided to make peace with them and stop pre-judging. They haven’t messed with the comics side of Marvel in any way I can detect (yet).
> Brad Bird AND Paul Dini? Dang, you just can’t get a much better creative team involved than that
Howard,
I know, right? Paul Dini is some kind of cartoon genius. And Bird’s “The Iron Giant” is a masterpiece.
On the other hand, while Bird’s name is attached to the project, I can’t figure out what he’s DOING, exactly. He’s not producing, writing, or directing. So how heavily can he really be involved?
… Kolla här…
[ … ] Wow , superb weblog struktur ! Hur långa har du någonsin varit igång en blogg ? För [ … ]…