Maleficent is the magical Disney Villain version of the psychotic Begbie from Trainspotting everyone around her goes out of their way to stay on her good side, because putting the slightest foot wrong with her causes an instant downward spiral of curses, evil plotting and casual violence. Weve all had friends like that, right? Right? King Stefan and Queen Leah make the mistake of forgetting to invite Maleficent to their baby daughter Auroras christening, which causes the unbalanced fairy to instantly materialise and curse the baby to die when she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel on the eve of her sixteenth birthday. Naturally, the rest of the story sees the King and Queen and three bumbling fairy godmothers do their best to allay the curse and keep the young lady safe, and naturally Maleficent does her level best to stop them. Maleficent is cold, elegantly witchy (her sneering greenish face underneath that horned headdress is iconic evil in a single frame), and completely deranged, committing herself to a decade and a half of hateful scheming over an imagined slight, kidnapping and throwing the prince into a dungeon to taunt and torment. More than that, shes an unreasonably powerful sorceress, commanding an army of trollish minions, conjuring a forest full of thorns and transforming herself into an enormous dragon at the end. Finally, fifty-five years after her death, this mistress of evil influenced matters from beyond this veil of tears to have her story remade featuring Auroras father as the villain and herself as the hero - to be played by one of the most famous actresses of the age. All the powers of hell at her command, indeed. Horrifying.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
