50 Movies About Dragons You Need To See

Instead of knocking out a remake of "Sleeping Beauty" during Disney's run of turning classic animated films into live-action adaptations, the studio opted for something different. This brought us "Maleficent," an original story loosely adapted from the original fairy tale, but from the antagonist's perspective. In this film, Maleficent isn't necessarily the villain, nor is she an anti-hero. Instead, she's the protagonist and hero of her own story.

In "Sleeping Beauty," it's never made clear exactly why Maleficent was so angry at being kept out of Princess Aurora's birth celebration, and this movie solves that problem. It depicts a young Maleficent falling in love with farmboy Stefan. When the king invades the Moors, Maleficent mortally wounds him, leading the monarch to declare that whoever kills her will be named king.

Stefan takes up the challenge, but cannot bring himself to kill Maleficent. Instead, he defeats her by removing her wings. He's made king, and he and his queen eventually welcome their daughter Aurora, infuriating Maleficent. From this point, the narrative aligns with "Sleeping Beauty," ensuring a dragon will present itself in the climax.