**Maleficent **has swung the doors of Disney open for her sinister sisterhood. With the Mouse House set to release the new take on Sleeping Beauty’s misunderstood antagonist next year, the company is now developing a fresh story around 101 Dalmatian****s’ fur-fetishist Cruella de Vil{
Aline Brosh McKenna, who has worked on the script for Disney’s live-action Cinderella (which Kenneth Branagh is now shooting in London), has been handed the gig of bringing de Vil back to life for the new film. Could this do a **Maleficent **and turn her into a hero, saving the world from a pack of cutesome Cujos?
The Hollywood Reporter was unable to dig up any plot details, so we don’t know if this will be another story that digs into the character’s life to find some explanations why she craves animal hides for fashion and what her beef is with critters keeping their coats. Surely, surely, this is one villain who can't be rehabilitated completely. She targets puppies* ***for cryin' out loud. Who doesn't love puppes?
Originating in the 1956 Dodie Smith novel that became Disney’s 1961 ‘toon take, Cruella has been seen in live-action twice already, portrayed by Glenn Close in 1996’s 101 Dalmatians and 2000’s follow-up 102 Dalmatians. Close is actually connected to this one, but only as a producer so far. It seems unlikely that she’ll slip back into Cruella’s mad hair and stylish, if cruel, clothing. As for Maleficent? That hits our screens on May 30 next year.