Sleeping Beauty has a long and complicated history, one that’s being recognized by the reemergence of Maleficent in the new Disney film. While the original Disney version is definitely iconic, there was another, more sinister version that Maleficent more closely mirrors.

The original story was published by Charles Perrault in 1697 and was referred to as Little Briar Rose. It was then appropriated by the Brothers Grimm, but also retained a darker thread. In the original versions of the tale, it was much darker. The curse originally was prophesized as a death sentence, and almost came to pass save for the strength of one small fairy who used her powers to turn the death curse into a long slumber. The part that is similar to the Disney movie is the prince awakening her. The part that is most different is that the curse has nothing to do with an evil fairy and more to do with maintaining balance in the universe in real and magical realms.

Also, in the original tale a second part of the story was included, which focused on the second generation as a result of the union of the prince and princess. This epilogue of sorts more closely mirrored Hansel and Gretl. The two stories were complicated together…and the second part eventually fell off and became less popular.

Later retellings decided to focus on the role of the fairy.  This definitely opened up an entirely new avenue to explore and to revisit the old tale. That brings us to the Disney version, which we all know and love, and which ultimately provided more inspiration for Maleficent.

Maleficent lies somewhere between the two – it’s definitely a darker exploration of the story, but it’s not as dark as the original. It also focuses on Maleficent as her own character and tells her own tale…much like Wicked does. We think that each serves a purpose in its own time, but we’re happiest that we get to call Maleficent our own! Maleficent hits theaters 5/30.