Highlights from Disney’s Maleficent Mistress of Evil Press Junket
Like so many other Disney fans, I too was fascinated with the villains’ perspective. II wanted to find out why Ursula, Cruella, or Maleficent were so mean? Were they once good and just turned bad or maybe evil all along?
Disney’s 2014 Maleficent movie helped explain some of her bad behavior. After grossing a whopping 750 million in its first installment, the saga continues with “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,”
About Maleficent Mistress of Evil
In this installment, Angelina Jolie (Maleficent), Elle Fanning(Aurora), and Sam Riley( Diaval) reprise their original roles. The noteworthy newcomers are Pfeiffer (Queen Ingrith), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Conall), and Ed Skrein as Borra.
The press junket
Like with most movies, this one too had a global press conference before its release. The Beverly Hills star-studded event included
- Angelina Jolie(“Maleficent”)
- Michelle Pfeiffer(“Queen Ingrith”)
- Elle Fanning(“Princess Aurora”)
- Chiwetel Ejiofor(“Conall”)
- Sam Riley(“Diaval”)
- Harris Dickinson(“Prince Phillip”)
- Ed Skrein (“Borra”)
After viewing several costumes (amazing artistry and design), we all assembled in the conference room to hear from the talent.
The junket started with the movie’s theme song “You can’t stop the girl’ by Bebe Rexha. I am obsessed with the melody and its lyrics. It’s the new “Let it go’ in our house. In case you haven’t heard it yet, the lyrics are an ode to girl empowerment.
Even though the movie features several male characters, the storyline ( an subsequently my post) revolves around the interactions of the three main female characters Maleficent, Ingrith, and Aurora.
Angelina Jolie on non-traditional families
When asked about the movie’s message for families, Angelina Jolie emphasized the importance of non-traditional family ties and respecting each other’s differences.
She started by pointing out how Maleficent keeps doubting her mothering abilities. “Throughout the film [ Aurora and her] are told that because they’re not the same, they’re not family.”
“Aurora and Maleficent were first brought together and became a family, and Maleficent was harmed in her life and lost herself and lost her ability to be soft and to feel loved, and you know it certainly happened in my life, the love of a child, being a mother brought out something in me that transformed me.”
“Both Aurora and Maleficent thrive in Mistress Of Evil because they defiantly present their true selves to the world. “ Maleficent sees Aurora exactly as she is and wouldn’t want her to be any different. And she sees Maleficent as she is and accepts her.
It’s ok to be different
She further explained that in the plot, “ there’s a “real push to say that this is not how it should be. This is not how to live, and that diversity makes us stronger. There must be a better forward and that we have to come together, unite, and say this is the world we choose to live in.”
So “[the message is ] be yourself. Be your true self. We don’t live forever. No matter what people say to you or what they tell you to be, be yourself. Because if you’re not your true nature, you will suffocate. We’re not here to exist.”
“ You have to know what you stand for, what you’re willing to fight for—even die for. And if you live that way, then whatever pain comes with it, whatever sacrifice comes with it, you embrace it, and it fills you with purpose.”
Michelle Pfeiffer on the blurred lines between Good and Evil
Michelle Pfeiffer, revealed that what attracted her to the role was the movie’s unique spin on the ‘good versus evil’ as well as the chance to work with Jolie and Fanning.
She described how her character is much more complicated than just being an ‘evil’ queen.
“What I loved is that [the first film] played in this gray area. It talked about good versus evil, “and that all of us have a little bit of everything in us.”
“My character is brilliant and diabolical, but I wouldn’t consider her terribly wise… Without getting too cerebral about the whole thing, nobody behaves that way unless they’re incredibly damaged on some level. She just doesn’t wear it on her sleeve, I guess. And in some ways, what she resorts to is really, truly, at the end of the day, out of very deep fear.”
Elle Fanning about girl power
But in the movie it is Aurora that delivers the empowering message for young women .iThe grown-up Aurora is as sweet and kind as we all remember her but bold enough to stand up to the feuding Maleficent and Ingrith.
In Maleficent Mistress of Evil, she is no longer an innocent young teenager. She is wiser, persistent, and successfully navigating between powerful adversaries.
As Fanning put it, “ She lives harmoniously with both sides and doesn’t understand why the world can’t do that.”
“We didn’t want Aurora to be in armor or have a sword, and you know, she’s fighting, and that’s what makes her strong. That’s not Aurora’s true nature, and I love that she symbolizes that. I was that girl, and I was always soft and very feminine, and there’s nothing wrong with that, and we get to show the strength in accepting your femininity.”
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MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL arrives in theatres everywhere on October 18th!
Disclaimer: Special thanks to Disney Studios for hosting my son and me on the press junket and pre-screening event. My opinions are my own and cannot be influenced in any way
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