She's Maleficent!
National Geographic Kids: Fifty years on, do you look at Maleficent differently from when you were animating her?Burny Mattinson: Actually, I probably like her more now than I did then – she is a much better villain now than at the time. Sometimes you get so close to these pictures as you're concentrating on the work, you don't think about the characters so much, but, I think she's a real stinker of a villain – which makes for a good villain!
NGK: Why do you think she still stands up as a memorable Disney villain even after five decades?
BM: This picture has become a classic and within this great picture Maleficent is such a strong villain. A classic stands out over time.
NGK: What fictional villains frightened you as a child?
BM: Frankenstein! I remember sitting in the theatre and thinking he was coming down the aisle behind me. The other one was The Thing!
NGK: Do you base your characters on people you know or do they come from your imagination?
BM: When I'm animating, I try to create them from real people when I can. I try to add imagination to them as best you can, but it varies per story and character. Maleficent was tremendously influenced by Eleanor Audley who provided her voice.
NGK: Were there ever any concerns about Maleficent becoming too scary?
BM: I don't believe I had any concerns about her being too scary. You want a villain as bad as possible, but you also want to present them in a tasteful manner.
BM: The reason for having the raven was to give Maleficent somebody to talk to – otherwise, she'd just be standing there giving speeches into the air – she would have had nothing to work against. Later, I found the raven was a great device to go out and do her bidding – finding Briar Rose, when the goons had failed.
NGK: You say "less is more" when it comes to animation. How did that work with Maleficent?
BM: By the very fact that she moved very little – this was a stronger message than if I had her moving all around and being overly dramatic. I kept her movements confined purposely to give her a strong, evil, controlled state.
NGK: Do you think the change to CGI from hand-drawn animation has been a good one?
BM: I think the method of animation in which a story is told is not the important . The story itself is the most important part of
it – that’s why we spend such a long time in story development.Sleeping Beauty: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition is out on Disney DVD now
Photos: © Disney