| “ | And you're not offended, Your Excellency? | „ |
| ~ Queen Leah, asking Maleficent. |
Queen Leah is one of the two overarching protagonists in Disney’s 16th full-length animated film, Sleeping Beauty. As ruler of the unnamed French kingdom, she is the mother of Princess Aurora and the wife of King Stefan.
In the original film, she was modeled by Jane Fowler. In Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams, she was voiced by Barbara Dirikson, who also voiced Flora. In Maleficent, she was portrayed by Hannah New.
What Makes Her a Base Breaking Character?[]
What Do People Like About Her?[]
- Some people consider her a kind and protective mother over Aurora, as proven when she has no choice but to let the Fairies take care of Aurora after being cursed by Maleficent.
- The Disney fans appreciate that she is one of the few Disney Mothers who did not die in a Disney film, also making her the first mother in a Disney Princess film to not be killed off, not counting Maleficent.
- She is known to be a kind ruler over her subjects and tries her best to be polite to Maleficent, even if it's not well executed.
- It can be understandable to some viewers regarding why she didn't talk, appear, or contribute too much in the film is likely because she is one of the few residents in King Stefan's kingdom that were all put under a sleeping spell until they're all awakened by Prince Phillip.
What Do People Hate About Her?[]
- Queen Leah is perhaps remembered for her infamous role as a minor character that some detractors claim wasn't quite necessary for the course of the film.
- A rather infamous case being is due to her not appearing too much or have any remaining dialogue in the film after speaking to Maleficent, despite being in a crucial role that could have carried on the plot.
- The biggest criticism surrounding her is that some detractors accuse her of unintentionally causing the film’s conflict, as well as criticizing her and Stefan for making the situation much worse by not providing a good explanation of why she or Stefan didn't invite Maleficent and just asked her, "You're not offended, Your Excellency?", in which some detractors point out that both Leah and Stefan were quite stupid, naive, ineffective, and gullible in only doing more to further enrage Maleficent by being passive in letting one of the fairies insult her that inadvertently caused her to get revenge on the kingdom and both Leah and Stefan.
- While it wasn’t technically their fault for not inviting Maleficent, one could argue that it was her and Stefan’s fault for unintentionally causing Maleficent’s curse on Aurora as they only worsened the situation since Maleficent tricked them into letting her bestow her so-called “gift” on Aurora which actually turns out to be a curse that Maleficent would inflict on their infant daughter.
- Her and Stefan's decision to burn spinning wheels has become controversial as some detractors think that their decision to ban spinning wheels only did more to bankrupt the kingdom and screw over the working class system. Even Merryweather rightfully pointed out that this attempt doesn't do enough to stop Maleficent. Due to those reasons, some people think Leah is dumb and incompetent when it comes to making decisions.
- Despite good intentions, other people claim that she should have not let Aurora live with the Three Good Fairies and think that she and her husband should raise her themselves until the curse can be avoided, believing her to be a neglectful parent to Aurora as they believe it wasted the opportunity for her to bond with Aurora and also point out that Leah and Stefan should have waited until the day before Aurora’s sixteenth birthday to let her live with the fairies.
- Another criticism regarding Leah by her detractors is that she serves almost no purpose throughout the rest of the film, as well as lacking proper character development and active role that could have impacted the film, other than just being a one-dimensional kind and cowardly ruler who just wanted to keep her kingdom safe, including Aurora and not being convinced that Maleficent is offended.
- What’s more is that the viewers never get to see her engage with other characters like King Stefan or his lifelong friend, King Hubert.
- Just like with Aurora, some detractors find Leah's personality to be quite bland and generic, claiming she didn't do much after unknowingly causing Maleficent's curse on Aurora.
- Not to mention, the truth is still never confirmed by the Disney Studio regarding her voice actress, although many fans continue to believe the allegation of the same actress who voiced Flora, Verna Felton, might have provided two lines for Leah at the beginning of the film.
- Her counterpart in Descendents is considered by several people to be an inferior to her original counterpart since she acts very demanding and a control freak to her granddaughter Audrey, whom Leah expected her to marry Ben but shamed her when she lost Ben’s heart to Mal, the daughter of Maleficent. That is something the original Leah would never be.
- Overall, due to her passive and minor role as the unintended catalyst and her generic character, Leah is viewed as one of the criticized aspects that hasn’t aged quite well in Sleeping Beauty.
- Additionally, this kind of marketing was likely one of the reasons why Sleeping Beauty originally got mixed reviews and how it did not perform well at the box office in its 1959 theatrical release.
Trivia[]
- She and Queen Amaya are the only two Disney Queens to be Base Breaking Characters.
- She, along with her husband King Stefan, George Darling and Sir Ector are the only four parents from the Disney Silver Age to be Base Breaking Characters, as well as the only one of the four from that category to be a female.
External Links[]
- Queen Leah on the Disney Wiki
- Queen Leah on the Heroes Wiki
- Queen Leah on the Likability Scaling Purgatory Wiki
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 Base Breaking Characters
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