Development
The character was animated by Marc Davis. The wicked fairy was aptly named "Maleficent" (an adjective which means "doing evil or harm"). In determining Maleficent's design, standard depictions of witches and hags were dismissed as Mattinson's opted for an elegant, sinister, green-skinned beauty centered around the appearance of flames, ultimately crowning the villain with a black two pointed headdress, often called an atora." According to Mattinson, Maleficent "was designed like a giant vampire bat to create a feeling of menace." In the end the individual character of the three good fairies and the elegant villain proved to be among the film's strongest points.
She was voiced by Eleanor Audley, who had previously performed Lady Tremaine, the wicked stepmother with gray hair in Cinderella. Audley also provided some live-action recording for both of these characters, to inspire the animators. Dancer Jane Fowler also performed some live-action reference for Maleficent. Animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, in their book The Disney Villain, describe animating Audley's voice as "a difficult assignment but a thrilling one, working to that voice track with so much innuendo mixed in with the fierce power."
Maleficent's dragon form was animated by Eric Cleworth, who said that the dragon was modeled on a rattlesnake, with "powerful muscles moving a bulky body over the rocky terrain." Sound effects man Jim Macdonald searched for the sound of a dragon's fiery breath by asking the U.S. Army to send him some training films on flame throwing. These films provided just the right sound for him.
Read more about this topic: Maleficent
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