When people look at why Maleficent does what she does, within the context of Sleeping Beauty, the answer is that she's angry about not getting invited to King Philip's party for Aurora. Now, is Maleficent angry about missing the party itself? Probably not: I doubt she and the rest of the crowd have much in common. What matters, though, is the snub: Maleficent can handle the idea that there was a gathering of all the people in the kingdom, and they weren't gathered to witness her. Worse, they were assembled to spread their affection and adoration on someone who wasn't her. What's really driving Maleficent is the desire to be the center of these people's worship, to have their attention focused on her and her alone. She wants to be loved and feared: loved because it would mean that she is able to satisfy her need to be at the center of attention, feared so that no one will dare to look away.
This carries on into Kingdom Hearts. Maleficent wants the Heart of All Worlds for the same reason: she wants the entire universe to love and revere her as its one true master. This motivation can trace through nearly all of her actions. She wants to take the journal because their are souls in there who are not familiar with her. She wants to take Mickey's Castle because his Majesty is a rival for the adoration of the people. Everything she does is fueled out of a selfish desire to have all eyes on her.
Yet, it's interesting to note that this all ties back to the idea of the desire to be loved, by as many people as possible. It's not as if Maleficent is alone in this: Sora wants to open his heart to as many as possible, and to make friends wherever and whenever he can. In fact, love is the driving motivation behind most of the series. But not everyone is going around trying to take over worlds through fear and force in order to obtain it. Maleficent wants what most other people want, but she almost wants it too much: the desire to be the focus leads her to become drastic in her measures.
What does this mean to the series? Well, the theme of Darkness and corruption of the Light can mean a great many things, but I've always taken it to mean that Light are desirable traits in a person, and Darkness is when those things become corrupted, or turned to evil. Things like how the friendly rivalry of Riku and Sora slowly turns to jealousy and obsession with Riku, or how Terra's lifelong desires become twisted into frustration and anger. So too does Maleficent embody this idea: a desire for something innocent is exaggerated and corrupted to the level of evil that the witch now embodies.
This, in turn, highlights the importance of Sora. Sora wants the same thigns as Maleficent, but does not go to the lengths she does to obtain them. He wants love, but he allows himself to remain modest and humble, knowing that love isn't a thing that can be forced, but which can be won with kindness. Maleficent, in her haste and greed, cannot see the things that Sora can, and is, in many ways, the incarnation of what Sora would be if he had given into the Darkness along with Riku.
Maleficent is an important staple to the series; she builds on the strengths of the central themes, and the central character.
When people look at why Maleficent does what she does, within the context of Sleeping Beauty, the answer is that she's angry about not getting invited to King Philip's party for Aurora. Now, is Maleficent angry about missing the party itself? Probably not: I doubt she and the rest of the crowd have much in common. What matters, though, is the snub: Maleficent can handle the idea that there was a gathering of all the people in the kingdom, and they weren't gathered to witness her. Worse, they were assembled to spread their affection and adoration on someone who wasn't her. What's really driving Maleficent is the desire to be the center of these people's worship, to have their attention focused on her and her alone. She wants to be loved and feared: loved because it would mean that she is able to satisfy her need to be at the center of attention, feared so that no one will dare to look away.
This carries on into Kingdom Hearts. Maleficent wants the Heart of All Worlds for the same reason: she wants the entire universe to love and revere her as its one true master. This motivation can trace through nearly all of her actions. She wants to take the journal because their are souls in there who are not familiar with her. She wants to take Mickey's Castle because his Majesty is a rival for the adoration of the people. Everything she does is fueled out of a selfish desire to have all eyes on her.
Yet, it's interesting to note that this all ties back to the idea of the desire to be loved, by as many people as possible. It's not as if Maleficent is alone in this: Sora wants to open his heart to as many as possible, and to make friends wherever and whenever he can. In fact, love is the driving motivation behind most of the series. But not everyone is going around trying to take over worlds through fear and force in order to obtain it. Maleficent wants what most other people want, but she almost wants it too much: the desire to be the focus leads her to become drastic in her measures.
What does this mean to the series? Well, the theme of Darkness and corruption of the Light can mean a great many things, but I've always taken it to mean that Light are desirable traits in a person, and Darkness is when those things become corrupted, or turned to evil. Things like how the friendly rivalry of Riku and Sora slowly turns to jealousy and obsession with Riku, or how Terra's lifelong desires become twisted into frustration and anger. So too does Maleficent embody this idea: a desire for something innocent is exaggerated and corrupted to the level of evil that the witch now embodies.
This, in turn, highlights the importance of Sora. Sora wants the same thigns as Maleficent, but does not go to the lengths she does to obtain them. He wants love, but he allows himself to remain modest and humble, knowing that love isn't a thing that can be forced, but which can be won with kindness. Maleficent, in her haste and greed, cannot see the things that Sora can, and is, in many ways, the incarnation of what Sora would be if he had given into the Darkness along with Riku.
Maleficent is an important staple to the series; she builds on the strengths of the central themes, and the central character.