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Don Hahn, Executive Producer of Disney’s Maleficent

Lolli — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 16:17:05 +0000

I had the chance to sit down with the executive producer of Maleficent as part of the Disney #Maleficent | #Sleeping Beauty | #DisneyInHomeEvent | #VeryBadDayEvent press trip. Travel, accommodations, and products for review were provided by Disney, but all opinions are my own. Photos are courtesy of Disney.

Don Hahn was an incredibly down-to-earth, easy-to-talk-to kind of guy. But looking through his credentials, it would be easy to get distracted by what he has accomplished and helped create. Don Hahn has produced some of the most successful animated films EVER, including The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast (which was the first animated film to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture). He is Executive Producer of the Disneynature films (love those!) and, of course, most recently, the executive producer of Maleficent.

Don has been making films since junior high, when he and some friends made a stunt motion film “where we’d each jump off the ground and take a frame when we were up in the air and then when you played it back, it looked like we were floating three feet off the ground, like down the hallways and things.”

Interestingly, he was a music major and an art minor in college who happened to get a summer job with Disney and never looked back. Now, instead of tackling silly stunts in public school hallways, Don is making brilliantly creative movies – both live action and animated.

Don Hahn and Walt Disney standing in front of Walt Disney’s Woking Way Estate

What was the most challenging thing about producing Maleficent?

Don Hahn: “It’s trying to pull all the pieces together and a lot of it is just calendar work, as simple as that sounds. But once we had all the elements together in the script and wanted to make the project, we had four months to prepare. And that was four months to build a whole world. A lot of the credit for that goes to our director Robert Stromberg who had production designed Avatar and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. So he’s a amazing world- builder.

But it was incredibly difficult. Because we only had three months with Angelina and it was a very tight fit in that three month time. And then also just the script – it’s an iterative process where you’re re-inventing the story and going back and revisiting it again. It’s a little bit of an insecure feeling. It’s like you’re driving in a car while you’re building it kind of feeling. So the build up to shooting is always the hardest part.”

How long did it take to make Maleficent?

Don Hahn: “We had three months Angelina Jolie. We shot for eighty-five days. When she left we still had Elle Fanning, we still had some other pick-up shots along the way. And then we had about a year and a half of special effects and putting it all together. Cause if you were to visit the set, there’d be a couple of trees and a river and a lot of green screen behind it. The world almost entirely was created with back paintings and computer graphics.

The only things we built were the throne room, where the dragon gets unleashed at the end was a complete set built all the way around. The exterior battle scenes were filmed right between Pine Wood and the M-4, M-5 freeway. So if you were to turn the camera while the battle scenes were happening? You’d see a freeway going behind. But a lot of the things, like the castle, were added in computer graphics later.”

Did you have an actress in mind from the very beginning?

Don Hahn: “It was always Angelina. I’m not sure that we would have gotten made without her? She loved the character. She grew up with it, loved the idea of playing a Disney character for her and for her family. I’m sure there are other actress that could have done it? But she was so right for it. Because when you said, ‘We’re gonna do Sleeping Beauty from Maleficent’s point of view, kind of like Wicked with Angelina Jolie,’ people said, ‘Yep, let’s go.’

That’s a lot of the fight when you’re trying to get a movie off the ground. And she brought a lot to it, I have to say. She was on before the director. The first director we had for a short time was Tim Burton and she was on even then. And then, the amazing Linda Woolverton who wrote our screenplay, I had worked with on Beauty and the Beast ages ago. And Linda’s really extraordinary when it comes to writing these stories and creating these strong, particularly female characters that have these strong relationships. Cause we wanted to break some rules in this movie to say that love doesn’t always have to come from the guy in your life? That love conquers all is a bigger phrase. That it can be love between two women, two men, a godmother character and a childlike character, like Aurora and Maleficent. And she fearlessly attacked all those things and I think did a great job with it.

There were some days when I thought ‘what are we doing?’ We’re messing with this Disney fairy tale. But you also knew we couldn’t tell the other story. We couldn’t say, you’re a young woman, you’re gonna be asleep until a man comes into your life and tells you it’s okay to wake up? And then you can start living your life. That’s an awful story to tell in 2014. So, it didn’t take too much smarts to abandon that and do something that’s more relevant.”

Why is Aurora not called Briar Rose in Maleficent?

Don Hahn: “I think for clarity, just for the audience. So that it’s clear that she’s always one character name. We wanted to simplify it and we wanted to get away from the idea that she was the, the sacrificial flower that someday would be opened up by a man. I mean those are all great if you’re in 1959, but it just didn’t seem appropriate for this movie.”

Was it always the plan to use Angelina’s daughter as the baby for Aurora?

Don Hahn: “That was out of necessity because when we brought in little girls and dressed them up like little Aurora, they would come up to this amazing actress and scream and run away. Or get picked up by Angie and just not doing anything? And there’s so much genuine love and attachment in that scene where she just walks right up to her and goes, ‘Up.’ I have a little girl and, and you just know what that feels like. And so there’s a real genuine moment in that scene.

(Plus, Angelina’s costume…) it’s formidable. You know she’s a big lady to begin with, plus the horns and all that stuff. So that was the real reason is to get a scene that played more as reality. We had to use Vivienne.”

Creating a Maleficent that was both beautiful and powerful

One blogger asked, “I heard Walt Disney had a hard time trying to create Maleficent as being both beautiful and powerful at the same time. Did you have that same challenge when trying to transform Angelina for the part?”

Original Maleficent drawing from Sleeping Beauty

Don Hahn: “Yeah the problem is with most fairy tales, the villains are very black and white. They’re often the most interesting characters in movies because they have a lot of complexity to them. The original Sleeping Beauty that, you know the most boring characters are the princes – they’re incredibly wooden. But a character like Maleficent was at least interesting in her beauty, and in her look, and the way she behaved. I think what our problem was is how do you then open that character up to show that there’s a heart inside? Because you couldn’t just go out to the press and say (before the movie came out), ‘You know this awful villain? She’s really nice.’ No, that ruins it all. She’s still Maleficent. She still has a very complex view of life and she still has a lot of challenges, but there’s enough of a light inside that she can open up and show you that she has some benevolence and some love inside.

It took a long time. And I have to say, Angelina gave us almost all of that, because she has a very restrained performance where she only shows you a little bit of that at a time. So she’s opening up to the baby Aurora or the little kid Aurora whatever, she shows that she has something inside, but not until she actually says, ‘I’m sorry. I cursed the wrong person,’ and kisses her on the forehead. You go, wow, this is a far more complex, evil person than we’ve ever dealt with, at least in a Disney movie.

And I think that’s what was interesting about making this movie – it wasn’t just a bad guy. You know whether it’s Ursula the sea witch or Scar or something like that? They’re just bad. And they’re clever and they’re cunning, but they’re bad. Maleficent couldn’t just be bad. You had to show that there was some reason why she got wounded and her wings were clipped and what that meant to her and how horrific an experience that was. And so that was part and parcel of telling that story.”

Were Maleficent’s wings real or special effects?

Disney’s “MALEFICENT” –
(Angelina Jolie) Photo Credit: Film Frame ©Disney 2014

Don Hahn: “They’re all fake. Yeah they are. If you were to watch the dailies of her being filmed, she had a little green square on her back which held a battery. And two little antennae that came out with bright orange spots on the end. And that was enough for the visual effects guys to know the symmetry of her back. And that’s all. And so everything you see in terms of when she’s flying, most the time it’s a hundred percent animated.”

On the Maleficent bonus clips, you see a tiny set with a green screen. One blogger commented, “It looked like the actress couldn’t move a whole lot, which had to be difficult.”

Don continued: “I think it’s remarkable cause they had their costumes but you would argue that so much of a performance comes from feeling like you’re in the time period and in the zone with that space. And there’s nothing there. The sets were smaller than this backyard in many cases. So it’s really suspension of disbelief, not only to be an actress.

Can you imagine what Elle Fanning felt? She’s fourteen. She gets hired on a movie with Angelina Jolie and she has to show up on the set and play opposite her and remember her lines and there’s no set. With a green screen. And “Action.” So you just go, Wow, what a remarkable actress she is. Cause she really delivers a lot of warmth to this movie.”

Be sure to check out my previous Maleficent posts, with interviews, movie review, activities, and more! And if you haven’t purchased Maleficent on Blu-ray/DVD, it’s not too late!

Maleficent on Disney Blu-ray/DVD with Bonus Features

Lolli — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 14:00:21 +0000

Disney’s Maleficent is available on Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Combo pack as of November 4! I received an early copy of Maleficent on disk as part of the Disney #Maleficent | #Sleeping Beauty | #DisneyInHomeEvent | #VeryBadDayEvent press trip. Travel, accommodations, and products for review were provided by Disney, but all opinions are my own. Photos are courtesy of Disney.

Disney’s “MALEFICENT” – Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) Photo Credit: Film Frame ©Disney 2014

Before I left for my September press trip with Disney, I was sent a very-early copy of Maleficent on DVD to screen. The kids and I were excited to see the movie again, but we were especially excited to share the movie with my husband, who hadn’t seen it in theaters with us. I was tickled when it was my 13-year-old son who was Maleficent’s biggest fan and proceeded to convince his Dad that this was NOT your average princess movie. It was exciting, full of adventure and really good acting.

We planned a family movie night and watched Maleficent together….and Dad was even more impressed with the movie than he expected.

This past weekend, my mother-in-law has been in town, and when she asked what new movies we had that she probably hadn’t seen (she catches up on family movies whenever she’s at our house), the first movie suggested was Maleficent. Not a single person complained that we had seen it too many times. This is a movie that the entire family enjoys, not just once but over and over again.

About Maleficent:

MALEFICENT is a “wickedly fun twist on the Disney classic ‘Sleeping Beauty.'” I love how Disney stayed true to the Sleeping Beauty story we grew up with, while taking it deeper and exploring the characters – and the WHYs – more. In an unforgiving mood after a neighboring kingdom threatens her forest, Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) places an irrevocable curse on the king’s newborn daughter, the Princess Aurora. But as the child grows, Maleficent finds herself becoming fond of the girl. And as the conflict between the two realms intensifies, Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land.

Disney’s most iconic villain “MALEFICENT” comes to life for all to own on November 4, 2014. Starring Academy Award®-winning actress Angelina Jolie (Best Supporting Actress, “Girl, Interrupted,” 2000) as Maleficent, and Elle Fanning as Aurora, Maleficent will be available on Disney Blu-ray Combo Pack, Digital HD, Disney Movies Anywhere, and On-Demand platforms.

MALEFICENT Bonus Features:

Not only is MALEFICENT a visually spellbinding and emotionally thrilling story that families will love to enjoy together, but the the Blu-ray Combo Pack contains all-new bonus features, including several deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes featurettes that immerse viewers into the magical world of Maleficent and Aurora even more.

Disney’s “MALEFICENT”
Aurora (Elle Fanning) and Prince Phillip (Brenton Thwaites) Photo Credit: Film Frame
©Disney 2014

Maleficent Blu-ray Combo Pack, Digital HD/SD & Disney Movies Anywhere:

From Fairy Tale to Feature Film – Reimagining Maleficent for a new generation – see how Disney’s animated classic “Sleeping Beauty” was re-imagined as an innovative, live-action epic.

Building An Epic Battle – Creating the clash between Maleficent and King Henry’s Forces: see how the opening battle scene was created using gigantic wire rigs and elaborate choreography.
Classic Couture – Examine Maleficent’s spellbinding head wraps and jewelry and the meticulous detail that went into creating them.
Maleficent Revealed – Relive the film’s journey to the screen through concept art, layered visual effects and behind the scenes footage.

Aurora: Becoming A Beauty – Elle Fanning reveals her lifelong love of Disney’s original animated classic and how playing Aurora was a fairytale come true.

Deleted Scenes:
- “Stefan In King’s Chamber”
- “Pixie Idiots”
- “Diaval asks about the Curse”
- “Pixies Seek Asylum”
- “Suitor”
And More!

*Note: Digital bonus offerings will vary per retailer

DVD

Aurora: Becoming A Beauty

Connect with MALEFICENT:

Get Maleficent on Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Combo Pack
Maleficent on Facebook: Facebook.com/DisneyMaleficent
Maleficent on Twitter: @Maleficent or @DisneyPictures
Visit the Website and Mobile Site: https://www.disney.com/maleficent
Check out Disneymoviesanywhere.com and download the Disney Movies Anywhere App.

Want more Maleficent? Check out my other Maleficent posts, with full movie review (is it good for kids or not?), activity sheets, and more HERE.

Good vs Evil – Get the Look with Maleficent Makeup

Lolli — Tue, 28 Oct 2014 16:20:37 +0000

I received select pieces of the Good vs Evil Disney Princess Beauty Collection as part of the Disney #Sleeping Beauty | #Maleficent | #DisneyInHomeEvent | #VeryBadDayEvent press trip. Travel, accommodations, and products for review were provided by Disney, but all opinions are my own.

Are you a Maleficent or an Aurora…where makeup is concerned? You can be BOTH with fun and affordable makeup and accessories inspired by the movie.

I have never been much of a makeup artist, though I do wear makeup everyday to even out my skin and bring color to my eyes and lips. Somehow I raised a daughter who does amazing things with makeup and who is now my inspiration when it comes to hair and all things beauty (I still have a long way to go, but isn’t it fun when our kids start teaching US things?).

When I received some fun Maleficent-inspired makeup as part of my recent Disney press trip, I immediately thought of her. I just wished that she could tag along with me on all of my trips and give me hair and makeup advice!

This morning, I decided to play with my eyes a bit more than I usually do when I get ready for a day of work in front of my computer. I used the Good vs Evil eye makeup from e.l.f. that I got on my trip to LA last month which included a 6-shade eyeshadow palette, a shimmer eyeliner pencil, and lengthening and defining mascara.

What colors do you usually gravitate towards when you’re applying makeup? My oldest daughter looks amazing in dark blacks and bold colors, where I usually gravitate towards the browns and other earthy tones. On this eyeshadow palette, I was immediately drawn in to the browns and roses that would make more of the Aurora look.

To make things a little more fun this morning, I added a line of silver right above the lash line and some purple right at the outer corners of my eyelids to bring out a touch of my Maleficent side (we all need to channel a little Maleficent every now and then, don’t you think?). I love the way it turned out. It’s still soft and subtle and feels like me, but with a dash of fun that I don’t always get on a weekday.

My 11-year-old has been dying to take over the fake eyelashes, and I’ve promised her that she can use them for Halloween (don’t you think they’ll be perfect for her costume??) Which set of eyelashes would you love to wear on a night out? I am in love with the bejeweled Aurora eyelashes.

Channel your inner Disney Princess (or villain!) with a beauty collection that embodies the characteristics, stories and personalities of Disney’s beloved heroine, Aurora, and villain, Maleficent. The collection includes look books, eyelashes, nail art and cosmetic bags.

Get the Look! Maleficent or Aurora | Good vs Evil

The Disney Beauty Collection is available from e.l.f. (makeup look books), Ardell (eye lashes), SOHO (makeup bags), Kiss (nail art) and can be found at Walgreens (MSRP: $7.99-9.99) and online.

If you can’t make it out to a nearby Walgreens but would love to get some of these Good vs Evil Disney Makeup Collection products, I’ve gathered up several of them here. Enjoy!

Sleeping Beauty is currently available on Blu-Ray and DVD. Maleficent will be released on Blu-Ray and DVD releasing November 4 (just around the corner!).

Maleficent Movie Review: Should I Take My Kids to See #Maleficent?

Lolli — Fri, 30 May 2014 17:33:24 +0000

My 13 year old son and I were invited to attend a local screening of Disney’s Maleficent earlier this week, but all thoughts and opinions in this Maleficent movie review are my own.

I almost ended up at my Maleficent screening by myself. Two of my kids had karate (and my husband was needed to take them there), one daughter had to work, and another daughter had an orchestra/band potluck at school. That left me and my 13-year-old son. I’ll admit – the teenage boy was not overly enthusiastic about going to a princess movie….even if the princess movie was focused on the story’s villain. He decided to come at the last minute, probably motivated by the idea of movie popcorn more than anything else.

I’m sure by now you’ve seen a trailer or two for Maleficent. I have been looking forward to seeing Maleficent but I really wasn’t sure what to expect from the previews. I knew it had something to do with the Sleeping Beauty story told from the perspective of the evil Maleficent…but I went in to the movie strangely (and happily) naive.

About Maleficent:

MALEFICENT explores the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the classic “Sleeping Beauty” and the elements of her betrayal that ultimately turn her pure heart to stone. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king’s newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions that will change both worlds forever.

The film stars Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville.

My reaction to Maleficent:

I was blown away. The moors, where Maleficent and the other mystical creatures reside, is visually fascinating. The story surprised and delighted me. (I’m actually hoping to keep my review vague enough that more movie-goers can have that delightful surprise element when seeing the movie for the first time). I was entertained and touched…and I didn’t expect both to happen. Yes, I even cried.

Do I recommend seeing it in the theaters? Wholeheartedly YES! Run out to see it. Take your husband and see it on a date night. Go with your girl friends. See it with your kids (more on which kids to bring to the theater below…). You can safely skip the 3D, in my opinion, but please, please see it in the theater!

About the casting: Angelina Jolie was the perfect Maleficent. I expected to hate her…to find Maleficent horribly evil and cruel. Angelina somehow captured all of Maleficent’s flaws and strengths perfectly – her tenderness, her cruelty, her rage, her sorrow, her power. Maleficent is a very complicated character, and Angelina Jolie captured it all perfectly.

I was worried that Elle Fanning would play a Princess Aurora that was too sweet to really care that much about. I was so wrong. While Aurora is full of innocence and naivety, she was a character that no one could help but love.

A surprising favorite was Diaval, played by Sam Riley. His character was so much more than a bad guy’s sidekick, and I grew to really love and appreciate him throughout the movie, too.

Should I take my kids to see Maleficent?

I’ve seen a lot of buzz online about whether or not Maleficent is appropriate for kids, and I hope I can answer some questions and help parents decide if this is the right movie for their whole family to enjoy in the theater.

Maleficent is rated PG – and while it is full of Disney magic, I have to say that I would not recommend it for kids under 8. Of course, each child is different in what they can tolerate and what scares them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some 10-year-olds were scared by some of the scenes in the movie. Maleficient is not for kids who scare easily. There are magical creatures that are very intimidating. There are war scenes with tree creatures fighting human soldiers. There is a dragon breathing fire and knocking down things in the castle. There are loud noises. You see all of these elements in the trailer I posted above. None of it should come as a great surprise.

While I found the entire movie enchanting and the fight scenes and scary creatures family-friendly and totally fine for my tastes, I would definitely keep young kids home. If the trailer makes you uncomfortable, then seeing it on the big screen will only intensify that. Remember: I am only making these recommendations for very young kids, probably younger than 8 or so, but please do not mistake my warnings to mean that I did not love the movie.

On the flip side, I was surprised at how engaged my 13-year-old was through the whole movie. The teen years are tough….teens don’t want to “waste their time” with kiddy movies, but the movies that they’re naturally drawn to (and that are targeted to them) are NOT movies that we want them to see.

I was thrilled to hear him laughing, “wow”-ing, and in the end, raving about how it held on to his attention AND got him thinking (yes, that’s exactly what he said as we left the theater!). In fact, he compared Maleficent to a certain monster movie that he saw last weekend and said, “Maleficent really made me think. It was a really good story. That other movie was basically just non-stop action, but it didn’t DO anything for me, you know?” He said he would recommend Maleficent to his fellow middle school friends.

Yes, that’s right: Maleficent is teenager-approved!

What do you think? Have you seen Maleficent yet? Will you be taking your kids?

Connect with Maleficent:

Like MALEFICENT on Facebook: facebook.com/DisneyMaleficent
Follow MALEFICENT on Twitter: @Maleficent
YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTnR43JTLNs8AKNpJ4KFI6SSdpTzkcXjw
Instagram: https://instagram.com/disneystudios
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/disneystudios/maleficent/
Tumblr: https://disney.tumblr.com/

MALEFICENT is rated PG and is in theaters now!

All photos are provided by Disney.

Maleficent Activity Sheets and Coloring Pages #Maleficent #Printables

Lolli — Sun, 18 May 2014 12:00:03 +0000

Are you as excited as I am to see Disney’s MALEFICENT in theaters at the end of this month?? I’m thrilled to be able to share these Maleficent-inspired activity sheets and coloring pages for you to print off at home.

Just click HERE or click on any of the activity page images below to download the full-size PDF packet with 8 pages of activities to do at home. Enjoy!

Below is just a sampling of what you’ll find inside this fun activity packet for Disney’s Maleficent!

About Maleficent:

The film stars Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville.

Like MALEFICENT on Facebook: facebook.com/DisneyMaleficent
Follow MALEFICENT on Twitter: @Maleficent
YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTnR43JTLNs8AKNpJ4KFI6SSdpTzkcXjw
Instagram: https://instagram.com/disneystudios
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/disneystudios/maleficent/
Tumblr: https://disney.tumblr.com/

MALEFICENT is rated PG and releases in theaters everywhere on May 30th!

Note: Maleficent Activity Sheets and images provided by Disney. No compensation has been exchanged.