Is it just me, or has the marketing up until now for the Angelina Jolie lead, “Maleficent,” been really terrible? That first teaser — the narration was like an English person poking fun at an English accent.
But during last night’s Grammy awards, something magical happened. A new trailer for the project was revealed along with a creepy new version of “Once Upon a Dream,” by Lana Del Ray. In the 90 second ad, the vibe of the project finally felt right. It finally felt like a story that simply sidesteps the beloved Disney cartoon, in the same way Gegory Maguire’s “Wicked” sidestepped Oz. And Jolie, who looks like she’s been lifted right from the 1959 animation cells, she finally seemed like a character worthy of her own movie.
A great 90 second trailer doesn’t always equal 90 minutes of cinematic wonderment, but for the first time since Disney released that promotional still of Jolie, I’m excited to see how Disney spins this tale… see what I did there?