MALEFICENT is MAGNIFICENT! (Movie Commentary & Reaction) 

If you do the 1959 original cartoon (which I hope you do after seeing this), here are some facts: 1. The original film was based on the ballet by Chickovisky, which was also based on a fairytale written by The Brothers Grimm. The original fairytale was two paragraphs long, so Disney had to expand on it by adding to the story and using the Chickovisky score. In that version, Mary Costa, an opera singer from Tennessee, did the singing and speaking voice for Aurora and Eleanor Audley (who voiced the stepmother in Cinderella), did the voice of Maleficient. In Maleficient, the producer used one element from the original story, and that was the eighth fairy (there were seven in the original tale. Disney reduced it to three and gave the eighth fairy a name) was actually a good fairy before she became evil. They took that element and built a story around it. Bill Shirley, a famous pop singer, did the singing and speaking voice of Prince Phillip ( though I find it interesting that he is a pop singer because he sounds more like an opera singer in the film). Verna Felton, who played the fairy godmother in Cinderella, did the voice of Flora, the self-appointed leader of the three fairies. One thing about Mary Costa I forgot to mention: she had to drop her southern Tennessee accent for the role, but on the line "it wasn't that", she briefly goes back into it, so if you're wondering why that line sounds different than her other lines, that's why. I'm surprised Walt allowed her southern accent to stay in on that line since she was supposed to have an English accent. 2. The original 1959 film was the first Disney animated film shot in widescreen. Walt made that decision because he felt it would look better that way. 3. The original film, like all the other Disney hand-drawn films before and since, used live-action references for the human characters. It's when models are hired to play the characters and recreate the scenes while animators are nearby drawing them. This was done so the animators can draw movement better and make it more authentic. Helene Stanley was the model for Aurora (as well as Cinderella) and Eleanor Audley herself was the model for Maleficent (she also was the model for the wicked stepmother in Cinderella, making her one of the only voice actors to do both). 4. This was the last Disney Princess film until The Little Mermaid in 1989. The reason is because of the film's release. Walt spent 6 million dollars on Sleeping Beauty, making it the most expensive animated film that year. When it came out, it opened at 5.3 million dollars, less than what they were hoping for. In total, it made 51.6 million dollars, making it one of the top highest-grossing films that year. However, due to the high cost of advertising, promotion, and distribution (which is where the money went), Disney never recovered the costs from the film. As a result of this, and the low opening box office numbers, Disney decided it was too expensive and people were no longer interested in fairy tales. He stopped doing Disney princess films and focused on projects that were cheaper to make and hoped would satisfy the public's interest. 5. This is the last film for the ink and paint department. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the men did the drawing and the women did the painting. The men would draw the picture, the picture would be put on cells, and the women would paint the cells for color. After Sleeping Beauty, Walt got a machine that would make painting cells quick and cheap. As a result, the ink and paint department was shut down indefinitely. The film after Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmations, was the first Disney animated film that used this new technology. Sorry for the long history, but I researched so much on the original film that I wanted to let you know in case you decide to react to it. Hope this was helpful.

@@naimahal-azeez1728 to help correct since I’m a big fan lol Tchaikovsky and they actually based the story more off of the French author, Charles Perrault (who wrote the famous version of Cinderella, Disney also took inspiration from). Everything else is accurate. If I’m mistaken, I assume “Lady and the Tramp” was the first to use Technirama.

@@benarts2271 Ok. I watched the making of documentary and read online to get the information. Since Walt and the animators didn't exactly say which version they used, I assumed it was from the brother's Grimm. Thank you for clarifying and thanks for the correct spelling of the composer's name ( it was hard to spell because it sounds different from the spelling).

@@naimahal-azeez1728 I didn’t realize until as I gotten older, but look back at the opening credits. It would say they based it off of both Tchaikovsky’s ballet and Perrault’s source material. I was shocked when I saw that like wow they really did their homework haha

@@benarts2271 You watch the opening titles? I fast-forward through them because I find that section boring.

it's such a great metaphor for SA, and I liked that the film deconstructs the notion that women need to be broken down in order to be strong (a lot of "strong female characters" had horrible things done to them in their backstories which largely contributes to why they're badasses). maleficent's trauma didn't make her stronger, it caused her to hurt others, she lost the kind part of herself and was unable to process and grow past her trauma and she only gets better through her love for aurora. it's by hurting a person she loves so dearly that causes maleficent to reexamine what her trauma has done to her and she finally starts being able to move on from it and I think it's so refreshing to see a movie that says that "no, your trauma didn't make you stronger, but it also doesn't have to define who you are"

@@clarasundqvist6013 exactly. She's always been strong. Its also a great homaje to the power of motherhood (wich is further explored in the second movie) and the concept of chosen family. Maleficent and Diaval were Aurora parents in every way that matters. Its also why Angelina accepted this role.

Holy shit…that’s daaark. I didn’t read it that way (only saw it once)

Whats SA?

@@roseflowth SA stands for s*xual assault, it's usually shortened or censored because words like that tend to get suppressed by the algorithms these days and it can be triggering for some

I totally agree! Sleeping Beauty is actually one of the few popular fairy tales in which the birth mother is alive, and what's more is that she's a good, kind-hearted person (not a wicked stepmother). I almost consider Sleeping Beauty to largely be the Queen mother's story, or at least my favorite versions of the tale feature the Queen prominently. Her not being given a fair rendering in Maleficent is just one of many issues I have with the movie.

@@blerksnarfgut2766 Agreed. They even made Aurora's mother look bad in Maleficent. After Maleficent curses Aurora and leaves they show Aurora's mother flee the room unlike in Sleeping Beauty where she immediately goes to her child who was just attacked. Also in the Maleficent movie, Aurora's mother knew baby Aurora for months and conveniently both her and Stefan didn't have "true love" for their own daughter. All the characters in the movie, except Diaval/Diablo, were made worse (evil and/or weak and/or stupid, etc) just to try to make Maleficent look better.

Let's get it on a t-shirt!

The new ‘gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss’.

@@SessVlogs first time hearing this and I enjoy it as well

my new motto

That would have been awesome to include, and I'm now going to have to watch that version if I can find it! I would also be pissed if I wasn't invited to a party because the host had poor planning skills when ordering plates

In the Charles Perrault version (French), there were eight fairies. Like in Grimm’s, the King and Queen were short on golden plates. But the differences are the reason they didn’t invite the eighth fairy was because people assumed she died or just disappeared since she hadn’t left her tower for 50 years. When the eighth fairy arrived at the christening, the royal couple offered her a silver plate to make up the mistake for not inviting her. Still mad, though. This made the youngest fairy sense that the eighth fairy would cause a scene or do something awful as in bestowing a curse and she hid herself behind heavy velvet curtains, until the eighth fairy says her gift to the Sleeping Beauty. Smart move, youngest fairy 😅

that's so cool wth 😳 would've loved to seen that

I had this verson read to me as a child

I love me some petty faeries. Faes just be like that.

Yes! Also brings to mind Cersai Lannister, especially if you've read her chapters in the fourth book. She is her own downfall. Self fulfilling prophecy.

Angie's screams are really powerful

I hear you, that scene was pretty intense - Sam

That's a nice detail, I didn't realize

I would too, I genuinely loved this movie! Hope your kids enjoyed it 😊 - Sam

Right!!😄

@@Fwtbn Still love the little tune she sings in that movie. It's so weirdly bittersweet to me.

Her dress was so stunning too

Thank you so much! - Sam

He wasn't suffering. His parents were dead and he was a peasant. Just like 80% of the people in that kingdom. It's not a special or unique case.

Coming black to this after new video yess hahaha

this is 100% a take from someone who's brain isn't fully developed

This is exactly how it feels. Angelina is such a phenomenal actress

That's an incredibly powerful metaphor, it really comes across that way on screen.

So that's why it hit me so deep.

Yeah when I watched that scene the first time I instantly got that parallel. It gives me the shivers every time.

Yes, a woman and not humans . . . . .

And that's amazing

I mean to be fair, the concept wasn't new when this film came out. In the UK one of my favourite books when I was pretty young in the late 80s was one that was a retelling of fairly tales told from another perspective where things weren't what we had been told (called "There's a wolf in my Pudding"). And there was a cartoon that had done something along those lines in the 80s as well.

ummm, Wicked would like a word with you 🤧

I would say that "Wicked", although it's a play, did that much before this movie ever did. It's one of the most succesful and longest running plays, based on one of the most popular movies/stories of all time (The Wizard of Oz) and twists the story around to reveal that one of the most iconic villains of all time (The wicked witch of the west) was not so wicked or evil after all.

@@kweeniepiez That doesn't even make sense, a word about what? What are you talking about? It came after what I mentioned . . . . .

It's like a color representation of the poison/venom she's feeling inside versus happiness.

Plus I love that when she's messing with the three "pixies," her magic is that golden color. Nice to see she can be a bit less than respectful of the ones my favorite reviewer calls "dingbats" without going green with her magic. So, she can still have a bit of fun playing pranks even if she's not doing it "for the evulz."

@@brandiarmstrong2902 exactly! it also tracks with the playful side of her personality that she had when she was younger. she's having fun with it because messing with stupid people can be fun and that doesn't make you evil

@@clarasundqvist6013 I agree, but I will concede that it's generally less fun to *be* messed with as the stupid person, than it is to do the messing around.

And then if you associate her happier magic with the colours copper and bronze, the green is even more fitting, since copper tarnishes green and bronze oxidizes green as well.

Yesss

AND it's getting a sequel called "Disenchanted"

Omg yes!!! I would love for them to do Enchanted!!!

i would loooove for them to watch this!!! One of my faves!

Definitely

Yeah, they pointed out that the baby was Angelina's own kid, but it's actually the toddler, not the baby. Very cute!

I thought both of the younger versions of aurora were angelina's kids. The baby and the toddler versions.

Спасибо за информацию!

Great points! I also thought it was sort of poetic how the tool used to enact the curse on Aurora was an iron spindle since fairies are allergic to iron. It was like Maleficent's way of turning the human's/King Stefan's advantage over the fair folk against them/him.

The true love’s kiss was more of a mockery than a statement, as if it were true, they’d still be together, and also the fact Aurora could have been her child

it’s already been said in this comment section but the allegory is fairly clear. it’s painful and angelina jolie is a phenomenal actress which surprises nobody