It's no palace, but it'll do!
In an exclusive clip from Walt Disney Pictures' Maleficent, the Mistress of All Evil (Angelina Jolie) makes the moors tremble as she saunters towards her throne in the enchanted forest. Flanked by her wingman Diaval (Sam Riley), the Sleeping Beauty villainess surveys her subjects as the quiver in fear.
The minute-long video introduces a few minor, mystical characters, including trolls and fairies. The scene also shows a different side of the main character, courtesy of screenwriter Linda Woolverton.
In fact, it was Woolverton's reinvention of the iconic character that inspired Jolie to take the part.
"Since I was a little girl, Maleficent was always my favorite. No surprise!" the 38-year-old Academy Award winner joked during the D23 Expo last year. "I was terrified of her but I was so drawn to her and I wanted to know more about her. I wanted to know what she was like and who she was. She had this elegance and this grace, and yet she was so cruel and she was just wonderfully, deliciously, cruel."
Once she got into character—horns and all—it was clear that Jolie was meant to be Maleficent. At times, however, she forgot just how terrifying she looked in costume! "Somebody said to me, 'What was it like when you got all dressed up? Because to be a Disney character must have been so exciting?' I said, 'It really was.' But the strange thing was, people with little kids would visit set, and I would think, 'Oh, I'm a Disney character.' I would go over to the children and say hi and they would scream and they would run off, and one little kid even said, 'Mommy, please tell the mean witch to stop talking to me.'"
Though it's an inherently dark tale, Jolie said the film appeals to people of all ages. "Like everyone, I've loved Disney since I was a little girl. My children love Disney. As a parent, you know you can bring your kids to a Disney film and you know it's going to be good for them. You know it's not going to say anything offensive, you know it's gonna have some good heart, you know it's going to be beautiful, so there's something very comforting about it. It feels like home. It feels like family."
Because of Maleficent, she added, "Now we can give this magic to our kids."
Maleficent is in theaters May 30.
Check E! News daily for exclusive Maleficent movie content through Friday, May 16.