Disney Releases Free, Interactive Maleficent Book

Disney announced today the release of Maleficent: The Official Multi-Touch Book, based on Disney's highly anticipated film Maleficent, in theaters Friday. The book, offered for free exclusively through iBooks, explores both the legacy of Disney's classic animated film, "Sleeping Beauty"—which first introduced the iconic villainess Maleficent—and the making of the all-new live-action film, Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie. Features of the book include an interactive timeline of the origins of the timeless "Sleeping Beauty" tale, with rare content from the Disney archives; rich and explorable environments, filled with fantastic creatures from the world of Maleficent—waiting to be discovered at your fingertips; interviews with Angelina Jolie and the cast and crew responsible for bringing the reimagined story to the big screen; an afterword by director Robert Stromberg, two-time Academy Award–winner for production design on Alice in Wonderland and Avatar; exclusive behind-the-scenes photo galleries and video featurettes; never-before-seen concept art, storyboards and sketches from pre-production; fun facts from the set; and profiles of the characters from the film—all created by Apple's digital book creation app, iBooks Author.

The Maleficent book is available for free, exclusively on iBooks here. You can check out the trailer below. Maleficent explores the untold story of Disney's most iconic villain from the classic Sleeping Beauty and the elements of her betrayal that ultimately turn her pure heart to stone. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king's newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions that will change both worlds forever. The film stars Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple and Lesley Manville. Maleficent is produced by Joe Roth and directed by Robert Stromberg, with Angelina Jolie, Michael Vieira, Don Hahn, Palak Patel, Matt Smith and Sarah Bradshaw serving as executive producers. Linda Woolverton wrote the screenplay. Maleficent opens in U.S. theaters on May 30, 2014.