“Each of us the child may bless, with a single gift no more, no less.”―Flora at Aurora's Christening Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather (known collectively as the Three Good Fairies) are the tritagonists in Disney's 1959 animated feature film, Sleeping Beauty. They are a trio of elderly fairies whom supply magic for King Stefan's court. When trouble arises, the fairies band together to protect Stefan and Queen Leah's daughter, Princess Aurora, from the wrath of their villainous counterpart, Maleficent. BackgroundThe Three Good Fairies dress in medieval-styled dresses with a particular, predominating color. Their dresses are also complemented with matching capes and pointy hats secured to their heads with colored veils. Whenever they shrink in size and fly in the air, they appear to the intent observer as tiny balls of light. Flora's color is red, with her petticoat, cape clasp cuffs, and hat veil a dark yellow. She is the leader of the three, as well as the bravest and most determined of the three. Based on her dialogue in the film, she deals heavily with flowers and nature, her favorite color is pink, and she appears to be the strategist of the group. Flora was voiced by Verna Felton in the original film, Tress MacNeille in House of Mouse, Susanne Blakeslee in Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom, and Barbara Dirickson for most appearances since 2005 (such as Kingdom Hearts II and Sofia the First). Fauna's color is green - her dress is a dark green with accents in a lighter shade of green, and she is second-in-command. Despite her tendency towards absentmindedness and obliviousness, she is the quietest and most introspective of the three, and often acted as a peacemaker between Flora and Merryweather. Fauna was voiced by Barbara Jo Allen in Sleeping Beauty, and by Russi Taylor from 2002 until her death in 2019. Merryweather's color is blue (her favorite color), and is distinguished from the others by her diminutive stature. Though she tends to be feisty, pessimistic, and often challenges Flora's leadership, she is also pragmatic and resourceful. Merryweather was voiced by Barbara Luddy in Sleeping Beauty and has been voiced by Tress MacNeille since 2005. Physical appearanceThe three fairies dress very much alike in long medieval-style dresses and pointy hats reminiscent of the traditional witches' hats. Flora's signature color is red, but her favorite color is pink. Fauna's and Merryweather's favorite and signature colors are green and blue, respectively. They each have a different shape cloak buckle ― Flora's a square, Fauna's a triangle, and Merryweather's a circle. Both Flora's and Fauna's eyes are brown, while Merryweather's eyes are blue. Also, Flora's hair is gray, Fauna's a brownish-gray, and they both wear it swept back and up into a pompadour and bun. Merryweather's hair is black (which implies that she is younger than both Flora and Fauna), but her veil, which covers the entire back of her head, makes it difficult to determine how her hair is styled. When posing as mortals for sixteen years, they wear peasant dresses in their respective colors, with head coverings, stockings, and black slippers, and magically get rid of their wings. The three fairies vary in height, with Flora the tallest, Fauna slightly shorter, and Merryweather about a full head shorter than the both of them. Fauna is also the slimmest of the fairies, with both Flora and Merryweather being slightly larger. Powers and abilitiesAs members of the Fair Folk, the three fairies function as forces of good and use their magic in its service. They possess numerous magical abilities that seem to be channeled solely through their wands, and hence they were practically powerless without them. Besides this, they claimed that they could only do good things with their magic, and their magic was also stated to be inferior to Maleficent's in raw power. Despite these limitations, their magic was revealed to be still an exceedingly powerful force, especially during times of utter crisis (such as their need to rescue Phillip and escort him to Aurora), where they had no qualms in using it to its fullest extent. They could also use their powers not only for their convenience and personal desires (such as their preparations of gifts for Aurora's 16th birthday party), but also in morally ambiguous ways - Flora gifted a sword and shield to Phillip, while Merryweather turned Diablo to stone. Examples of powers the three fairies derived from their magic are:
AppearancesSleeping BeautyThe fairies arriving in King Stefan's castle. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather first appear as the invited guests of King Stefan and Queen Leah at the christening of their newborn daughter, Aurora, announced by the royal herald. After materializing from a beam of sunlight, they fly over to cradle containing the baby princess and remark how adorable she was. They then present themselves to the king and queen, and Flora announces their intention to each bless the child with a single gift; Flora grants her the gift of beauty, ensuring that she will grow to be a beautiful woman, and Fauna grants the gift of song, which will give her an incredible singing voice. But before Merryweather can give her gift, Maleficent appears. Insulted by her lack of invitation from the kingdom, Maleficent curses the baby, Aurora, to die by pricking her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle before the sun sets on her 16th birthday. After Maleficent leaves, the fairies ensure the monarchs that Merryweather still has her own gift; though she cannot undo Maleficent's curse, she was able to weaken it so that Aurora would not die, but rather enter a deep sleep, which she can be awoken from by "True Love's Kiss". Still fearful of his daughter’s life, Stefan orders that every spinning wheel in the kingdom be burned. Knowing that Maleficent will not be deterred by anything to see her curse fulfilled, least of all a "bonfire" as Merryweather puts it, they decide to raise Aurora themselves in secret. An agreement with Aurora's parents is finally reached: the fairies will raise Aurora for 16 years until the curse is no longer a threat, and then return her to the palace. As a further precaution, they change the princess's name to Briar Rose and hide her in a cottage in the nearby woods. The fairies then decide to hide as mortals, as their magic will raise attention (much to Merryweather's dismay), and disguise themselves as Briar Rose's aunts. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather as Briar Rose's "aunts." Sixteen years later, the fairies prepare a party for Briar Rose on her birthday. After failing in their attempts to bake a cake (Fauna has never cooked before) and sew a dress normally (with Flora, by using Merryweather as the mannequin), an annoyed Merryweather insists on using their magic wands, and they decide to use magic after closing off almost every crack except the chimney. While Flora uses her magic to sew the dress and Fauna uses her magic to bake the cake (and later decorate it), Merryweather uses her magic to clean up the room until she is distracted by seeing the pink dress. After she starts an argument with Flora over the color of the dress by turning it blue, they try changing the dress and each other's clothes to the opposite colors. The magic blasts fly up the chimney and attract the attention of Maleficent's raven, Diablo, who immediately flies back to Maleficent with the news of Aurora's discovery. The argument ends when both rays hit the dress at the same time, making it a terrible mixture of pink and blue. Flora was outraged at Merryweather for messing the dress up. As Briar Rose is returning from berry picking, Flora quickly turns it to pure pink and hides. Then Merryweather turns it to blue before hiding herself. After Flora points out that the mop is still running, Merryweather uses her magic to make it stop. Briar Rose, who has returned home from berry picking, is surprised. When she happily tells her "aunts" about the man she met in the woods. The fairies also reveal her true identity as Princess Aurora, as well as the fact that she's already betrothed in an arranged marriage with Prince Phillip and that they intend to return her with her father and mother that same night. Aurora informs them that the man she met is going to stop by the cottage that night, but they forbid her to see him again, which leaves Aurora heartbroken, much to the fairies' dismay. The fairies take Aurora back to the castle and take her to a room. They use their magic to create a tiara for Aurora, to help her realize her true royal identity. However, they soon decide to leave her alone for a time as Aurora is still heartbroken of never again seeing the young man with whom she has fallen in love (not knowing that it's the prince himself). The fairies begin to talk about the boy and want to help Aurora, with Merryweather expressing her opinion that it’s unfair for Aurora to be forced into an arranged marriage. When Fauna suggests they reveal the news to Stefan, they hear a faint sound from the room and realize that it’s Maleficent enchanting Aurora. Realizing that Aurora is in trouble, they frantically try to stop the princess, who keeps following Maleficent (as a will-o-the-wisp) up the tower. They warn her not to touch anything, but Maleficent orders Aurora to touch the spindle to invoke the curse. Unfortunately for them, Merryweather, Flora, and Fauna arrive too late. They gasped as they run into Maleficent, who briefly mocks her archenemies for their efforts of trying to defeat her by protecting Aurora until after her 16th birthday, when the curse would be nullified. She then reveals the now sleeping Aurora, who has pricked her finger on the spindle, much to the fairies’ horror, and she disappears while cackling maniacally in triumph over the fairies’ failure to stop Aurora. The fairies feel extremely heartbroken as they discover Aurora has fallen into a deep sleep after pricking her finger on the spindle. After putting Aurora in bed, Merryweather and Fauna wonder how they will explain everything to the king and queen. Flora decided that they put everyone in the castle to sleep until Aurora awakens. While putting everyone in the kingdom to sleep, including King Stefan, Queen Leah, King Hubert, Minstrel, and the herald, Flora learns from a sleepy Hubert that the man Aurora met in the woods was actually her betrothed fiancé, Prince Phillip. Phillip has previously intended to go to the cottage to meet Aurora, so the fairies race back to the cottage. Upon arrival, they arrive too late and are horrified to discover that Phillip's hat is left behind on the floor in the midst of the wreckage. Deducing that the prince has been captured by Maleficent and her Goons, the fairies decided to go to Maleficent's domain, the Forbidden Mountain, to rescue him. The fairies sneak into the Forbidden Mountain and witness a group of Maleficent’s Goons celebrating the prince’s capture by partying around the bonfire. The fairies follow Maleficent, who has been watching the celebration, to the dungeon, where Phillip is chained to the walls. They wait until Maleficent leaves the dungeon to go sleep in her tower, then they free Phillip and melt the dungeon lock. They arm him with the magical Sword of Truth and enchanted Shield of Virtue, both weapons of righteousness that will triumph over evil. As Phillip and the fairies exit the dungeon, they are confronted by Diablo, who calls the Goons. The Goons do everything in their power to stop the heroes, from dropping giant rocks to shooting arrows and pouring hot oil, but Flora uses her magic to turn them into bubbles, flowers, and a rainbow, respectively. Seeing their failure to stop Philip and the fairies, Diablo goes to warn his mistress. Fed up with Diablo and his attempt to stop them, Merryweather pursues him and just as he reaches Maleficent’s tower, she turns him to stone as he lands on one of the parapets, letting off a smug, angry scowl at having taught the raven a lesson before returning to Philip, Flora, and Fauna. However, all the commotion has awakened Maleficent, who is enraged to discover the escape. After escaping the Forbidden Mountain, the fairies aid Phillip by protecting him from various obstacles as they make their way to Stefan’s castle that is conjured by Maleficent as she tries to stop her enemies. Eventually, Phillip is forced to fight Maleficent, who transformed herself into a dragon. The fairies assist Phillip in retreating, but he is cornered at the cliff and loses his shield. Under Flora’s direction, the fairies greatly empower his sword, allowing Phillip to throw it straight into Maleficent’s heart, finally killing her. With Maleficent finally destroyed for good, Phillip and the fairies enter Stefan’s castle and go up the tower where Aurora sleeps. The fairies watch as Phillip gives Aurora Love’s First Kiss that breaks the curse and awakens her. One by one, everyone else in the kingdom awakens from their slumber as well, including Stefan, Leah, Hubert, Minstrel, and the herald. Lastly, the three fairies go to the throne room, where they watch happily as Phillip and Aurora descend the stairs, reunite with their respective parents, and share a dance. But then, Flora finally notices that Aurora’s dress is blue and uses her magic to turn it pink. This upsets Merryweather, who turns the dress blue, leading to another argument. The argument continues, with the dress continuously alternating colors (pink and blue) as the storybook closes. Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your DreamsThe fairies in Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams. The three fairies reappear in the first Sleeping Beauty story since the original. Since the death of Maleficent, the fairies have become almost desperate to help Aurora out with anything. While King Stefan, King Hubert, Prince Phillip, and Queen Leah are away to a royal conference, Aurora is left in charge of the kingdom, aided by Lord Duke. King Hubert accidentally forgets his speech at Stefan's castle, so the fairies finally help Aurora by going to return it. When Duke reminded Aurora that they have a lot of work to do for the kingdom, Flora and Fauna leave to do the task of delivering the speech to Hubert for the royal conference. While Flora and Fauna leave, Merryweather stays for a few moments to give Aurora her wand if things become too difficult before Aurora goes back to her task of reviewing the signed forms. After giving Hubert his speech, Flora and Fauna learn the secret Merryweather has hidden about the wand. While they were gone, the wand's power began to get out of control, but due to Aurora's calm attitude, things were settled down. The fairies returned, along with Stefan, Hubert, Leah, Phillip, and Duke (who witnessed the magic incident of giant chickens, green pigs, and cows, in which one of the cows sends him out of the castle grounds). Merryweather regains her wand and they gather for a banquet put together by Aurora without the use of magic, including Prince Phillip, King Stefan, King Hubert, Queen Leah, and Lord Duke. Sofia the FirstFlora, Fauna, and Merryweather appear in the Disney Junior series as the supporting sidekick characters to the titular character Sofia. They are the magical tutors of the young princess and teaches her the ways of the royal highness she will one day become. It is shown in several episodes that Flora and Merryweather have yet to settle the blue-pink debate. Their largest role in the series to date is in the episode "Make Way for Miss Nettle" where the fairies' former apprentice, Miss Nettle visits the academy to (supposedly) teach an after school gardening class to Sofia and friends. However, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather soon discover Nettle's actually after their spellbook, in an attempt to become more powerful than the three fairies combined, betraying them. Fortunately, due to the efforts of Sofia and friends, the fairies are rescued and peace is restored. CameosThe Three Fairies make several cameos in the television series House of Mouse. In the episode "Humphrey in the House", they performed on stage unsuccessfully attempting to bake a cake without magic like in the original film. It is in that episode that they are "revealed" to be sisters. In "Jiminy Cricket", they gave Aurora a sewing machine so she wouldn't have to use a spinning wheel. In The Lion King 1½, the Three Fairies make a brief silhouette cameo at the end of the movie. Live-action appearancesMaleficentThe Flower Pixies in the live-action film. The Three Fairies appear in the 2014 live-action film, Maleficent, under different names and are referred to as The Flower Pixies. Knotgrass (Flora) was played by Imelda Staunton, Thistlewit (Fauna) by Juno Temple, and Flittle (Merryweather) by Lesley Manville. Though not outright vilifying them like King Stefan, this film portrays the characters in a rather unpleasant light, as they are now depicted as incompetent, bumbling, and comically inept trio of pixies, compared to their matured and competent counterparts in the original 1959 film. They grant the infant Aurora magical gifts, but when Maleficent places a curse on the young princess, they take her into hiding and raise her as their niece. They claim they are very good with children, but it turns out they are incapable of looking after Aurora, so while they struggle living like humans, Maleficent secretly cares for the princess from a distance and through Diaval while at the same time, pranks the trio just to kill her boredom. Descendants 2According to Jane, it is said that Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather went on a spa vacation with Aurora's daughter, Audrey. Descendants 3Uma mentioned Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather to Mal about the Fairy Cottage where Princess Audrey was hanging out with Cinderella's son Chad Charming. Maleficent: Mistress of EvilThe Three Fairies cheer with excitement as Prince Phillip proposes to Aurora. Later, the Pixies and all the other residents of the Moors are invited to the wedding. During the climax, they get trapped in the chapel and are attacked with red metal dust released by Gerda that strips the creatures of their magic and sentience. Flittle sacrifices herself by going inside the organ and stop the flow of dust. Knotgrass and Thistlewit avenge her death by making Gerda fall to her presumed death when she tries to get the organ working again. At the wedding, Knotgrass and Thistlewit argue over the color of Aurora's wedding dress and keep changing it between pink and green. When the dress turns blue, they turn to a regenerating Flittle telling her how they like the color. Printed mediaOnce Upon A Dream (A Twisted Tale)Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather appear in Liz Braswell's second novel in the Twisted Tales series, where Prince Phillip never manages to wake Aurora up and Maleficent takes them both to a dream world in which she rules. Whilst Maleficent poses as the Queen of King Stefan's castle, which is supposedly the last stronghold in the world, and secretly begins collecting the blood of the inhabitants there to sustain herself, the Good Fairies are left in the real world to care for the sleeping people who live there, but find their magic ineffective against Maleficent's killings. Flashbacks also show the fairies living with Aurora in the cottage in the woods. The fairies send a part of their souls into the dream world to help guide Aurora in her final battle with Maleficent, creating three avatars that highlight their most prominent attributes (Flora's bravery, Fauna's kindness and Merryweather's wit). Flora also manages to guide King Hubert to the castle. The fairies' avatars perish in battle with Maleficent but their real counterparts reunite with Aurora. Video gamesKingdom Hearts seriesFlora, Fauna, and Merryweather live with Master Yen Sid in his tower in Kingdom Hearts II. They originally come from the Enchanted Dominion world and appear in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. The three fairies also appear on Aurora's pillar during Sora's Awakening in Kingdom Hearts. In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, the three fairies appear during Ventus's visit after Maleficent took Aurora's heart using Terra's darkness. Together, they descend into Maleficent's castle to retrieve her heart. After her heart is released, Ventus meets Maleficent in a battle and before Aqua arrives. With Ventus gone, the three fairies find Aqua in a cell, where they meet Prince Phillip, the only true love who can break the curse laid upon Princess Aurora. The three fairies help Aqua and Prince Phillip to the castle and defeat Maleficent in dragon form. At the end of the story, Prince Phillip kisses Aurora and breaks the spell. During the ending credits, the three fairies observe the couple as they dance. But when Flora sees the blue color on Aurora's dress, she changes it to pink and Merryweather changes it back to blue. This continues until the video fades out on the couple. In Kingdom Hearts II, the three fairies give Sora his new outfit after he wakes from his year-long sleep, as well as the Star Seeker Keyblade and the ability to use Drive. When Diablo brings Maleficent's robe to Yen Sid's tower, the fairies' memories accidentally bring her back to life. Although they do not appear physically in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, The three fairies were briefly mentioned in the game. Yen Sid mentions to Mickey, Donald, and Goofy that Lea is being trained to summon the Keyblade in a magically suppressed training session under the three fairies and Merlin. They are mentioned again in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- as the ones who created the cloaks for Riku and Mickey to use while traveling through the Realm of Darkness to protect them from the darkness in their mission to rescue Aqua and in Kingdom Hearts III they are mentioned as the ones who made Sora's new outfit, where it took extra time to make as like with the last outfit it also has special powers. Disney ParksDisneyland ResortFlora, Fauna, and Merryweather at Disneyland. The fairies appear in Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough attraction at Disneyland (as well as Hong Kong Disneyland). The fairies also made notable appearances in Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams alongside other Disney fairies, such as the Blue Fairy from Pinocchio. Walt Disney WorldThe trio is featured in Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom at the Magic Kingdom. Maleficent returns from the dead via Hades and steals a crystal shard in order to rule Fantasy Land. Upon finding out about Maleficent's revival, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather head over to the Forbidden Mountain to find out what Maleficent plans to do. Unfortunately, one of Maleficent's Goons captured Flora and Fauna, but Merryweather managed to escape. Merryweather and the guests travel into Maleficent's castle to free them. Beating one of Maleficent's Goons and breaking through a door with the Sorcerer's Crest, Flora and Fauna are freed and with help from the park guest, they defeat Maleficent. Merryweather also has her own spell card called "Merryweather's Stone Spell". The fairies co-host the former fireworks show, Magic, Music and Mayhem, where they showcase dazzling fireworks and thwart the plans of Captain Hook. GalleryTrivia
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Do the fairies come back to life in Maleficent?Prince Phillip refuses to kill Borra in a duel and peace between humans and the fairies is restored. Ingrith is turned into a goat by Maleficent and horned fairy flies away after blessing Aurora and Phillip.
What happened to the Blue Fairy in Maleficent?Mistress of Evil also fully breaks with tradition to kill off one of the characters crucial to 1958 animated classic Sleeping Beauty. The Blue Fairy Godmother, who was, admittedly, tweaked for Maleficent, gives her life to save magical creatures, including her fellow fairy godmothers.
Why did the fairies take Aurora in Maleficent?And so it happened. Nevertheless the three good fairies thought that it would not stop Maleficent to accomplish her revenge, and so they planned to raise Aurora in the deep forest until the age of sixteen, when the curse finished, and then to take the princess to the castle again, with her parents.
What happened to Aurora's parents in Maleficent?She was married to Stefan as part of his reward for his "slaying" of the fairy, Maleficent. A year or so after her and Stefan's coronation as the new king and queen, Leila gave birth to their only daughter, Aurora. About fifteen years later, Leila contracted an unknown illness and died.
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