Maleficent is a fictional character who first appears in Walt Disney Productions' animated film, Sleeping Beauty (1959). Maleficent is a malevolent fairy and the self-proclaimed "Mistress of All Evil", she is an incarnation of pure evil and is responsible for all the misfortune in King Stefan's kingdom. Taking offense at not being invited to the christening of Princess Aurora by Stefan and his wife, Queen Leah, Maleficent curses the princess to "prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die" before the sun sets on Aurora's sixteenth birthday. Maleficent is based on the Wicked fairy godmother character in Charles Perrault's fairy tale Sleeping Beauty.

Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution. Based on Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale, the production was supervised by Clyde Geronimi, and was directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, Eric Larson, and Les Clark. Featuring the voices of Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Barbara Luddy, Barbara Jo Allen, Taylor Holmes, and Bill Thompson, the film follows Princess Aurora, who was cursed by the evil fairy Maleficent to die from a prick from the spindle of a spinning wheel. She is saved by three good fairies, who alter the curse so that the princess falls into a deep sleep and is awakened by true love's kiss.