angelina jolie

ANNA B. SHEPPARD
“Maleficent”

Following in the footsteps of “Snow White and the Huntsman” (2011), the Disney film “Maleficent” sets out to turn the animated story of “Sleeping Beauty” into a live action, fantasy adventure film. With that comes not only some wild costumes for title character, Maleficent, but bringing to real life some costumes that were pivotal in the 1959 animated version, including Maleficent’s black gown worn to baby Aurora’s announcement ceremony in which she places a curse on her. Down to every town’s folk and every practical fairy, the costumes are set to the period and highlighted more so on the main characters, including a few standout dresses for Aurora, a progression of outfits for Maleficent as she transitions into a villain, and even the king’s attire for different occasions. Instead of Colleen Atwood, who designed the costumes for “Snow White and the Huntsman,” they went with Anna B. Sheppard, who was previously nominated for her work in “The Pianist” (2002) and “Schindler’s List” (1993). Both of those films would go on to win major awards like Best Director and for “Schindler’s List,” also Best Picture, but Anna was awarded for her work.

What’s its competition? Not only does Anna B. Sheppard have competition in the realm of fantasy films, this year, with “Into The Woods” grabbing a little more support than “Maleficent” with 3 overall nominations. She also has competition as a whole. “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which has 9 total nominations including Best Picture may put “Maleficent” at a disadvantage from the get-go. Even “Mr. Turner” has more support, with 5 nominations, meaning the Academy is a) going to be focusing on these films more than ones with less nominations and b) making it more likely that these films have bigger support overall, which could result in a win in these smaller categories, especially since they might not be honored in the other categories they are nominated. Since the designs are extravagant, there should not be any counting out of “Maleficent” and for sure it can beat out “Inherent Vice,” but unless it can overcome the popularity of the other nominees, I see little hope for it to win.