This premise elevates female agency and maternal bonds above the original Sleeping Beauty structure, replacing Prince Phillip’s romantic rescue with Maleficent’s own awakening of Aurora and redefining true love’s kiss around non-romantic female relationships. The thematic shift is foundational rather than incidental, turning the narrative into a vehicle for critiquing traditional princess tropes and male authority. Creator statements reinforce the intent, as screenwriter Linda Woolverton and producer Don Hahn describe the project as a deliberate rejection of outdated messages that girls need a prince to complete their lives, instead promoting strong female role models and non-romantic love. Angelina Jolie’s casting as the scorned lead anchors this revisionist focus, making the ideological reframing central to the film’s identity and reducing entertainment value by subordinating the fairy-tale plot to progressive messaging about female empowerment and male betrayal.