La Belle Au Bois Dormant's Maleficent

Fairy tales are seemingly apart of any “successful” childhood. They attempt to show our 5-year-old selves right from wrong - that you shouldn’t leave the ball on your curfew, to not trust strangers with apples, and to never forget a prince charming will come and save you. Although every infamous tale that I was once told has been manipulated since formation, their deeper ideologies such as criticism and hierarchical dominance are recurrent, yet transformative with modern times.

Maleficent seems a far more appropriate name for a fairy-tale than La Belle Au Bois Dormant, which was originally composed by Charles Perrault in 1696, and is reflective of 17th century cultural paradigms. It tales the events of a princess following her Christening. The lack of widespread invitation results in an old fairy cursing the young girl to death after pricking her finger. Another fairy however, diminishes such extremes of the curse, so the princess will instead sleep for 100 years. The prophecy is materialised, and it is one century later that a young prince finds the princess, kneels beside her as she wakes, and successively declares true love.
In order to produce a significant film in the cut-throat Hollywood scene, my target audience was not traditionally restricted to young children, for the story engages themes and ideologies relative to the greater societal environment. Throughout, I aimed to deliver a mesmerising relief of a notorious tale, while critiquing the corporate values and beliefs that contour our industrial and capitalistic