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Abstract:Walt Disney and Disney Press have been publishing/producing novels and films since 1923 in the interest of younger generation but as a matter of fact, Disney creations have not left any generation since then untouched to their stories. Maleficent: A tale of sleeping beauty, is authored by Elizabeth Rudnick who is also an Editor at Disney Press, New York. Elizabeth Rudnick is one of the youngest and popular literary authors, most popularized for fictitious piece of work such as Tweet Heart (2010), Frankenweenie (2012), Oz: The Great and Powerful (2013), The Lone Ranger (2013), Maleficent (2014), Cinderalla (2015), Tomorrowland (2015), A Frozen Heart (2015), Pete's Dragon: The Lost Years (2016), Beauty and the Beast (2017).On the other hand, Robert Stromberg is one of the most famous artists, designers and filmmakers of America and has received recognition and respect across the globe with his irreplaceable pieces of work such as Avatar, Alice in Wonderland, Oz the Great and Powerful and many more. This paper is to compare the two different art forms – novel and film adaptation of ‘Maleficent: A tale of sleeping beauty’. There has always been a debatable discussion in the field of adaptation theories and literature about which form of art is better than the other. This paper will technically analyze the two different art forms on different technical parameters which have been laid down by researchers. This paper will also guide the researchers of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary areas to understand two different art forms and their analysis, dissection and observations.Keywords:Characters, Transmutation, Villain, Hero, Montage, Protagonist, Setting, Tone, Imageries (Visual Effects), Semiotics, Literature, Novel, Eye of the Camera, Motion, Stasis, Point of View.IntroductionDrama, fiction, prose, and poetry are all creative writing genres in the field of literature. According to Mario Klarer (2004) in most cases, literature is referred as the entirety of written work (expression) but with a restriction that not every piece of written expression can be categorized as literature. The difference of one literature to other and one literary genre to other is observed from the esthetics of appropriateness of words, language and imagination.‘Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination.’ –Jim Jarmusch. MovieMaker Magazine #53. Cinema is one such entertaining tool that has not left any part of the globe untouched. The cinema industry is one of the most successful industries in the world. As a matter of fact, most movies or films we come across are adaptations of another. The word ‘transmutation’ refers to the action of change from one form to another. Transmutation of text or film adaptation of a text refers to the change of art form ‘Literature’ to ‘Movie’. There are several types of cinematic adaptations:people based adaptation, historic or current events, original artistic material (novel/text/literature), remakes or sequels, original work. When many researchers of adaptation theory on transmutation-, observed that most movies which left an impactful significance on viewers were ‘original artistic material’ based adaptations. Walt Disney, an exemplary icon in entertainment industry has been rejoicing the ardent aesthetes of fantasy world not only with its cartoon representation of imaginative characters but also with fairytales and stories. The Book ‘The Curse of Maleficent: A Tale of a Sleeping Beauty’ is the reconstruction of the “Sleeping Beauty’.About the book
The genre of Maleficent is fiction and fairy tale. Primarily, Maleficent was written in order to attract the readers of the age ranging from 8 to 12 years but its success in all age groups has changed the elementary forecasted vision of author as well as Disney Press as the book has been mostly popular in all the age groups who have been constant admirers of Walt Disney.About the storyWho in contemporaneous generation will deny knowing the story of sleeping beauty! The cute little princess Aurora is cursed by a demonic fairy named Maleficent for not being invited to the christening. The book Maleficent takes on new twists and a melodramatic approach to the story of sleeping beauty. It reveals the hidden secrets behind the curse and unveils the background of the demonic fairy Maleficent.The story is based in the kingdom of King Henry who is a proud and arrogant king. The palace of Kind Henry is surrounded by humans but in the moor there are fairies like beautiful Maleficent. In addition the moor is full of magic and all the desirable things all humans desire and covet, such as precious gems. All the fairies that live in the magical moor have two leader: Hermia and Lysander- who look like human beings and dream of a kingdom where human beings and fairies live in harmony. They were assassinated by the cruel king as they and left their small daughter all alone. Their daughter was raised by fairies of the moor and was named as Maleficent. She grows as the replica of her parents and looks like human beings but with all the magical powers and long powerful wings. As a contradiction to all people (fairies), she shares the same wavelength as her parents used to about humans and wants to live harmoniously with them. One day she finds a young charming lad named Stefan trespassing and she falls in love with him and believes he loves her in return. On the contrary, Stefan follows the human tendency by betraying her and taking her wings after intoxicating her.When Maleficent wakes up, she is heartbroken. She leaves the moor and takes solace in an abandoned castle. She gradually discovers that humans in her absence have been trying to loot the moor she builds a wall of huge thorns around the moors and orders them to protect the moors. When she returnes to the human kingdom, she finds that Stefan has become a kind as reward of Maleficent’s wings (as it was a gift for Maleficent’s wings). She further discovered that he is married and has been blessed with a baby girl too. She also gets to know that three small fairies have left the moor and have started living in the king’s palace. During christening of the little princess, Maleficent reaches uninvited and sees the gifts that were bestowed upon the child. Angry and unhappy, Maleficent bestows her own gift to the baby - a curse that could never be broken, a curse that she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel on her sixteenth birthday and fall into a sleep like death. King Stefan being scared, steps ahead and kneels before Maleficent and begs to take her curse back to which Maleficent laughs and adds an amendment that she can be awoken by true love’s kiss, which Maleficent believes doesn’t exist.King Stefan orders the three fairies to take the Princess into the woods and bring her up till the curse gets over. The three fairies turn into human beings and start taking care of the small princes Aurora. As she grows up, Maleficent was keeps an eye on every bit of it. Following her basic personality traits, Maleficent gradually starts pampering Aurora and takes care of her to the best pretending as if she does really not care. By the time Aurora grows up as a beautiful young princess, King Stefan keeps orders to keep all the spindle of a spinning wheel away from the kingdom. Unaware of the curse and reality, Aurora requests Maleficent to live with her forever and tells her that’s she always considered her as a fairy godmother. Maleficent repents and tries to take her curse back but she soon realizes that her curse cannot be undone by any power on earth. One day Aurora gets to know that she is a princess and goes to meet her father in the palace, where she by mistake touches the spindle of a spinning wheel that was kept in a locked room of the palace and sleeps forever.Maleficent applies her magic and takes the young prince who loved Aurora to the palace. The prince kisses Aurora but the curse is not broken. Here comes the twist in the story, Maleficent while repenting kisses Aurora as she considered Aurora her own daughter. To everybody’s surprise Aurora gets up from her everlasting sleep as the Kiss of maleficent was the kiss of true love- Love of a mother. In the end Aurora goes against the decision of her father Steffen and unlocks the wings of maleficent and lives in the moor with all faeries forever.Final wordsAs a book, Maleficent is a cleverly woven tale with a number of underlying interesting aspects: it changes the antagonist into a protagonist, the colour of Maleficent’s magic changes from green when evil and red when good, and it focuses entirely on the central character Maleficent.Language:The language of maleficent is quiet alluring and the phrases and spells have been chosen wisely to give it a touch of ‘magical realism’. The language right from the curse to till the climax of the novel where the definition of heroism has been transformed and the definition of true love has been modified (the true love if not only of love it can be of mother also).Point of view:The perspective with which the novel has been written (antagonist to a protagonist) sets it true as the character of Maleficent sets her to be a true hero in the text. The point of view of giving new dimension has also done wonders in an unsaid said way with the magic that kept changing throughout the novel from green to red.Treatment of time:The language of the text, however has been presented in the 20th century but still remains to be of the time of fairytales and the commencement of the text remains as same as any other fairytale. The description of attire of each character including the crow has been done according to the time when the story of Sleeping Beauty was written.About the movie
Maleficent is an American dark fantasy film released on 29th April, 2014, directed by Robert Stromberg from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton. Angelina Jolie leads as Maleficent with supporting co-stars Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville. The movie is reconstruction of the fairytale based animated movie Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault and Walt Disney of 1959. The movie gives a total shift to the perceived image of Maleficent from an antagonist to a protagonist, from ‘mistress of all evil’ (Evil fairy) to ‘A Fairy Godmother’ and from a ‘Villainess’ to a ‘Hero’. The movie is a postmodernist revision of the character ‘Maleficent’.Visual effectsThe movie commences in a traditional manner of fairytale based movie. Maleficent as a child is a kind and good-hearted as well as a tragic fairy who is supposed to protect the moors, a realm of supernatural beings and full of mysteries, from the neighboring kingdom of humans. The lucidity of visual effects is quite clearly depicted by the attire of Maleficent as prior to sporting her iconic dark (black) leather attire, she wore a brown outfit, was barefoot and an anklet on her left ankle and two horns on her head. Inn the beginning of the movie she is seen with a pair of huge and beautiful feathery fairy wings. As the story moves on, her attire changes from pretty to devilish with all in black leather and a magical stick. The grace, charm and alluring features of the movie are accompanied by cinematic visual effects as the color of Maleficent’s magic changes according to whether she is being vicious or caring: green and gold respectively. The transformation and companionship of the crow remains same as the in the book but the beauty of textual description becomes more evident and mesmerizing when the crow turns into a human being with the magic of Maleficent on screen. The visual depiction of three fairies that happened to bring Aurora up has been magnificently animated in the movie.Eye of the Camera:The Eye of the Camera in the movie replaces the Point of View of the text. In the movie the shots which have been taken with the help of a jimmy jib are flawless right from the beginning of the movie to till the climax. The adjustment of focus for short and long scenes is flawless and light adjustment as per the requirement of the scenes has done perfect justice to the text.Montage:Montage is a technique used for film editing, has played a vital role in the success of the movie Maleficent. The characters (Main and Side) have done justice to their roles but the way movie moves in the right direction with the proper usage of montage, bolsters the vitality of technical development. Right from the opening scene where Maleficent is in the moor and meets the young lad Stefan to the last scene where Aurora sets the wings of Maleficent free against the wish of her father Stefan is coherently connected and as every scene compels the viewers to watch the movie and fixes them to seats by fastening their seatbelts for 90 minutes voyage of Maleficent movie.Setting and treatment of time:The story of Sleeping Beauty though old, the book and movie of the Maleficent instill it with a new twist and freshness. However, the fact is that not only the text but also the movie do justice to the treatment of time as the story seems is packed with punch. The techniques used in the movie add new flavor to the story and it becomes more vibrant and colourful in comparison to its previous version.Motion and stasis:The cinematic aesthetic can be summarized in one word called ‘movement’. Movement in the movie takes place with the help of camera. There can be two ways with which a camera moves: either the camera itself or the lens. In the movie Maleficent, the vitality has been bolstered with the movements of camera. Long shots covering the agony of Maleficent in the debris land is remarkable and close-ups where the creatures of magic in the moor are spectacular.Conclusion:This research talks about two different art forms ‘Cinema’ and ‘Text’ where both the art forms play their special impactful role on society. Maleficent as a text gives immense pleasure to the ardent readers as it furnishes all novelistic qualities and techniques and Maleficent as a movie reflects the spectrum of cinematic excellence. As a matter of fact, a director has liberty to play with the originality of text during transmutation but the movie Maleficent is an exemplary adaptation in which intertextuality has been kept as is throughout the movie. The cinematic adaptation has given wings to the text for those who may not be interested in reading can watch the movie and see a different perspective of Sleeping Beauty and the curse.Towards the end of the research, it becomes transparent that both the art from are unique in their own selves and have a great impact on the audience and the readers. As a text ‘Maleficent’ gives an immense pleasure to the readers who are habitual of reading fairytales and has all the technical qualities of a fairytales and on the other hand the movie ‘Maleficent’ leaves an imprint of technical enhancement of cinematic adaptations. The movie has proven to be successful as the text with the help of visual effects.Future scope of the research:This research will assist the future interdisciplinary researchers of adaptation theory to entail the devices needed for analyzing the text and the movie. This research will further help to understand two different art forms with which a social message can be conveyed not only to the younger generation but also to the generation of any age. Further this paper can be used as an ICT tool for imparting effective education.
ReferencesConnell. 2003. The Year in Hypertension 2001. London and New York: Taylor and FrancisGadamer, Ricoeur. 2011. Critical Horizons for Contemporary Hermeneutics. Continuum.Garrat, Sardar, Curry. 2004. Introducing Postmodernism. Malta: Gutenberg Press.Gramscy, Antonio. 2002. Critical Assessment of Leading Political Philosopher. London: Routledge.Norlin, Emma. 2009. Sleeping Beauty or Rebellious Antagonist – Passive and Active Stereotypes in Fantasy and Fairytales. Lulea University of Technology.Rene Wellek, Austin Warren, 1984. Theory Of Literature: New Revised Edition, New York : Harcourt, Brace & WorldRosenau, Pauline. 1992. Post-Modernism and the Social Sciences: Insights, Inroads, and Intrusions. United Kingdom: Princeton University Press.http://writersrelief.com/blog/2010/08/short-story-or-novella-whats-the-difference-and-where-to-publish-shorter-fiction/
ReferencesConnell. 2003. The Year in Hypertension 2001. London and New York: Taylor and FrancisGadamer, Ricoeur. 2011. Critical Horizons for Contemporary Hermeneutics. Continuum.Garrat, Sardar, Curry. 2004. Introducing Postmodernism. Malta: Gutenberg Press.Gramscy, Antonio. 2002. Critical Assessment of Leading Political Philosopher. London: Routledge.Norlin, Emma. 2009. Sleeping Beauty or Rebellious Antagonist – Passive and Active Stereotypes in Fantasy and Fairytales. Lulea University of Technology.Rene Wellek, Austin Warren, 1984. Theory Of Literature: New Revised Edition, New York : Harcourt, Brace & WorldRosenau, Pauline. 1992. Post-Modernism and the Social Sciences: Insights, Inroads, and Intrusions. United Kingdom: Princeton University Press.http://writersrelief.com/blog/2010/08/short-story-or-novella-whats-the-difference-and-where-to-publish-shorter-fiction/
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