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Maleficent Clip: Watch Princess Aurora Prick Her Finger on the Spindle and "Fall Into a Sleep Like Death"

Elle Fanning touches the cursed spike in the Walt Disney Pictures movie

By Zach Johnson May 13, 2014 1:00 PMTags

Stay away from that spindle!

In an exclusive clip from Walt Disney Pictures' Maleficent, Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) finds the magical loom. Sixteen years earlier, after crashing the princess's baptism, the Mistress of All Evil (Angelina Jolie) cursed the spike so that it would one day induce a "sleep like death." As fans of Sleeping Beauty well know, the princess does indeed prick her finger and fall into a deep slumber.

But this isn't the princess' story—it's Maleficent's tale to tell. For Jolie, the movie provided an opportunity to give the iconic character more depth. "I was always curious about her," the 38-year-old Academy Award winner said during a May 9 press conference in London. "I can't tell you how much fun it was. It was like being a kid again when I got the script. It was like unwrapping the mystery of where Diaval [Sam Riley] came from and who she was really was, much more than I expected."

While the film has a slightly darker tone that other films in the Walt Disney Pictures cannon, Jolie—who has six children with her fiancé, Brad Pitt—said it's something people of all ages can appreciate.

"I think all kids are curious," the global superstar said. "They're drawn to things that are dark. It's not just simply a desire to be wicked. I think there are things that frighten us in life, and especially children, they want to understand so they can take it on, or they want to understand so it frightens them less."

Maleficent is in theaters May 30.

Check E! News daily for exclusive Maleficent movie content through Friday, May 16.