Maleficent And The Disney Villains Are Fantasmic!

If there's a breakout star of the 1959 Walt Disney animated feature, Sleeping Beauty, it would have to be Maleficent. With her Villain allies, like Cruella and Captain Hook, she's been causing chaos in the Disney Universe for many years. Most of the items shown here are from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s.

Maleficent and the Sleeping Beauty characters look a bit different from most of Disney's classic characters. Production designer Ken Anderson and artist Eyvind Earle were responsible for the film's unique style.

Maleficent is powerful enough, but she also has some minions. Her closest companion is a menacing Raven.

She also has an army of comical Goons.

Together, they plan to take down Sleeping Beauty herself, Briar Rose (the princess formerly known as Aurora).

This Mattel version of Maleficent is very impressive.

Maleficent also has the ability change herself into a dragon.

Swarovski created two different Maleficent diamond pins (I'm guessing the Dragon pin is designed to wear on Mondays).

Dragon Maleficent is one of the coolest Disney characters ever.

Maleficent was not satisfied with staying in the Sleeping Beauty Universe. She decided to join forces with other Disney Villains and work on more projects.

Water seeks its own level, and Maleficent enjoys hanging out with Ursula, Scar, Captain Hook, Hades, and the Evil Queen.

The "Villains" Serigraph by Robert De Michiell was available through Disney's specialty Disney Gallery stores and Catalog in 1999. I love the character designs here.

Wake up from your favorite nightmare and look at the Disney Villains clock.

Chernabog from Fantasia towers over the other Disney Villains for this item created by Walt Disney World.

Little Susie can snuggle up to Cruella and Ursula or have a tea party with Hades thanks to this line of plush Disney Villains.

There was a Chernabog bean bag plush for sale at Walt Disney World, too.

Chernabog, Maleficent and the Queen from Snow White conjure up some trouble with a musical snow globe.

Interestingly, this plays "Grim Grinning Ghosts" from Disney's Haunted Mansion.

The Villains are featured in another similar musical snow globe that plays "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid.


That tree character is really scary!


Dragon Maleficent is the star of this stormy snow globe.


For this set of pewter figures, Maleficent is the coveted bonus character.


Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the rarest Disney Villain of all? Probably The Horned King from The Black Cauldron. Here he is featured in a Disney Villains Chess set.



The pawns are matched up well here.



Cheating is encouraged when you play Disney Villains Chess.


Maleficent seems to have all the Disney Villains at her beck and call for this snow globe. Her dragon form is very intimidating.

Watch out for these tough characters!

These ain't no Mickey Mouse watches here!

You could probably match these Disney Villains with a teacher you had at school.

I encountered Cruella's twin years ago (she was a customer where I worked).


Barbie better run for the hills when these ladies hit the toy box.

I bet it's like that show "The Real Housewives of Orange County" (or New York or Atlanta) when these characters get together.

Would Cruella and Maleficent get along?


They both like clothes, so I bet they would.

When the Disney Villains get together at a party, all heck breaks loose.



Play it safe and stay away from candy served in a Villains Bowl.

Sorry, I'd think twice about getting a cookie from a Villains Cookie Jar, too.

Dramatically throw a drink in someone's face using a Disney Villains Martini Glass.

The Disney Villains love their spirits!

Ursula is known to drink like a fish.
Maleficent is such a bad influence (we already knew that though).


Dragon Maleficent was made into a Disney Wild Racer die cast car by Hasbro (the Black Heart GT) and sold with Mushu (the Rippin Reptile) from Mulan as a Dragon Pack.


Maleficent has a "GO2SLP" Vanity Plate. These were later sold (without the Vanity Plates) as Disney Racers at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Dragon Maleficent could be found in a Sleeping Beauty McDonald's Happy Meal in 1996.

The Maleficent figure doubles as a pen (the toys in this series were school supplies).


A wind-up toy of Dragon Maleficent was sold at the Disney Parks in the early to mid 2000's.

Maleficent is regularly seen at a nighttime show called Fantasmic! at Disneyland in California and at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida (it is in the works for Tokyo DisneySea in Japan).

In Fantasmic!, Mickey Mouse's Dream turns into a Nightmare when the Disney Villains take over.

Fantasmic! debuted at Disneyland in California in 1992. The show features actors, fireworks, water and mist screens, film, floats, and more! I got to see Disneyland's show in 1993, but it wasn't playing during my visit in 2008.

Fantasmic! opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida in 1998. I have never seen the Florida version of the show, but I know some changes were made from the original.

Over the years, there have been many rumors about the Disney Villains getting their own ride, land, or theme park.

A Villain Mountain thrill ride (also known as Bald Mountain) was rumored for Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida (in the former 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea location) as part of a new Villain zone. Fantasyland is currently expanding in this area with a Little Mermaid ride, a Beauty and the Beast village and restaurant, and a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train coaster.

An interactive Villains attraction was also rumored to replace the Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. The rumors mentioned Disney Villains or Movie Villains.

A Disney Villains thrill ride theme park at Walt Disney World in Florida was also a big rumor for many years (Tragic Kingdom?).

For now, the Disney Villains have Fantasmic! Maybe someday they'll have a new place to cause more chaos.