Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather

Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, known collectively as the Three Good Fairies, are the 3 main protagonists of Disney's 1959 film Sleeping Beauty where they first appeared. Flora is voiced by Verna Felton. Fauna is voiced by Barbara Jo Allen, and Merryweather is voiced by Barbara Luddy.

Background
Flora dresses in red, and appears to be the leader of the group. She seems to deal heavily with flowers and nature, based on dialogue, and her favorite color is pink. Fauna dresses in green. She appears to be 2nd-in-command to Flora and quieter than the others, and often functions as a peacemaker between Flora and Merryweather. Merryweather dresses in blue, her favorite color. She is feisty and pessimisstic, and is often seen arguing with Flora.

As a group, they all have powerful magical abilities, channeled by their wands. They can do many things, such as shrinking, bringing inanimate objects to life, and putting people to sleep. Their wings, naturally, allow them to fly. Flora and Fauna stated that they could only do good things with their magic, which seems to be contradicted by Merryweather turning Diablo into stone. However, as Diablo was evil and worked willingly for Maleficent, it can actually be interpreted as a "good thing".

Though their magic was stated to be secondary to Maleficent in raw power, they were capable of granting people extremely powerful weapons of righteousness, which could triumph over the darkest of evil, as seen when they gave Prince Phillip the Shield of Virtue and the Sword of Truth. In the final fight between Phillip and Maleficent (who had taken on the shape of a terrifying, fire-breathing dragon), they blessed Phillip's Sword of Truth with their magic, empowering it so that it could kill evil with one true, right, accurate blow.

Sleeping Beauty
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather first appear as the invited guests of King Stefan at Aurora's christening. Each fairy intends to give a gift to Princess Aurora. Flora grants her the gift of beauty, while Fauna grants her the gift of song. But before Merryweather can give her gift, Maleficent appears. Insulted by her lack of invitation, Maleficent curses the infant to die, from pricking her finger on a spinning wheel spindle before the sun sets on the princess' 16th birthday. As Maleficent leaves, the fairies realize that Merryweather still hasn't given her gift. Though, Merryweather cannot reverse the curse, she does weaken it, so that Aurora will only fall asleep until awaken by True Love's Kiss.

Deciding that Aurora is still in danger, they decide to raise Aurora themselves. An agreement with Stefan is reached: the fairies will raise Aurora for 16 years, until the curse is no longer a threat, and then return her to the palace. They change the girl's name to Briar Rose, and hide her in a cottage in the woods. The fairies then decide to hide as mortals, as their magic will raise attention, and disguise themselves as Briar Rose's aunts.

16 years later, the fairies prepare a party for Briar Rose on her birthday. After failing in their attempts to bake a cake (this is Fauna, as she doesn't exactly understand culinary talk well) and sew a dress normally (with Flora, using Merryweather as the mannequin), they decide to use magic after closing off (almost) every crack. Flora uses it to sew the dress, Fauna uses it to bake the cake (and later decorate it), and Merryweather uses it to clean up the room (until she is distracted by seeing the dress being pink). After she starts an argument over the color of the dress by turning it blue, they try changing the dress and each other's clothes to the opposite colors, and the magic blasts fly up the chimney and attracts the attention Maleficent's henchman, Diablo. The argument ends when both rays hit the dress at the exact same time, making it a mixture of pink and blue. As Briar Rose is returning from berry picking, Flora quickly turns it to pure pink and hides. Then Merryweather turns it to blue. 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 tells her "aunts" about the man she met in the woods, they forbid her from seeing him again. The fairies also reveal her true identity as Princess Aurora, as well as the fact that she is already betrothed.

The fairies take Aurora back to the castle and take her to a room. After using magic to create a tiara for her, they choose to leave her alone for some time, so as to allow her time to become used to the revelation. However, they hear a faint sound from the room and, realizing that it is Maleficent enchanting Aurora, 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 trigger the curse. The fairies arrive too late as they run into Maleficent, who briefly mocks them of their efforts of stopping her. She then reveals the fallen princess, who have pricked her finger, before she disappears. The fairies initially feel guilt for what they have done, but Flora insists that they put everyone in the castle to sleep until Aurora awakens. However, when putting King Hubert to sleep, Flora learns that the man Aurora met in the woods was actually her betrothed, 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 are shocked to discover that Phillip's hat is left behind. Deducing that the price has been captured by Maleficent, the fairies decide 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 Shield of Virtue, both believed to be weapons of righteousness that will triumph over evil. As Phillip and the fairies exit the dungeon, they are confronted by Maleficent's pet raven, Diablo, who calls the Goons. The Goons drop giant rocks, shoot arrows and pour hot oil, but Flora uses her magic to turn them into bubbles, flowers and a rainbow, respectively. After escaping the Forbidden Mountain, the fairies aid Phillip by protecting him from various obstacles as they make their way to Stefan's castle. Eventually, Phillip is forced into fighting Maleficent in dragon form. The fairies assist Phillip in retreating, but he is cornered at the cliff and loses his shield. Under Flora's direction, the fairies empower his sword, allowing Phillip to throw it straight into the dragon's chest, finally killing the evil enchantress.

With Maleficent gone for good, Phillip and the fairies enter Stefan's castle and go up to the tower where Aurora is in her enchanted sleep. The fairies watch as Phillip gives Aurora a Love's First Kiss that awakens her from that sleep. 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 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 keep alternating colors (pink and blue) as the storybook is closed.

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, Phillip and Queen Leah are away; Aurora is left in charge. Hubert accidentally forgets his speech at Stefan's castle so the fairies finally help Aurora by going to return it.

While Flora and Fauna leave, Merryweather stays for a few moments to give Aurora her wand in case things become too difficult. After giving Hubert his speech, Flora and Fauna learn the secret Merryweather has been hiding about the wand. While they were gone, the wand's power began to get out of hand but eventually due to Aurora's calm attitude; things were settled down. The fairies returned along with the kings, queen and Phillip. Merryweather regains her wand and they all gather for a banquet put together by Aurora without the use of magic.

House of Mouse
The Three Fairies make several cameos. In episode "Humphrey in the House", they performed on stage attempting to cook without magic. 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.

Kingdom Hearts series
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather live with Master Yen Sid in his tower in Kingdom Hearts II. They originally come from the world Enchanted Dominion and appear in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. The three fairies also appear on Aurora's pillar during Sora's Awakening in Kingdom Hearts.

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.

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.

Sofia the First
Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are set to appear in the upcoming Disney Junior series as the supporting sidekick characters to the titular character Sofia sometime in 2012. They are the magical tutors of the young princess and teaches her the ways of the royal highness she will one day become.

Disney Parks


In the Disney Parks, the famous three fairies are usually seen in parades and shows only, making very rare meetable appearances. They also appear in the Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough attraction at Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland.

Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom
The trio are featured in the interactive game at Walt Disney World's 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. Unfortunatley, 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".

Magic, Music and Mayhem
The fairies co-host the former fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom where they showcase dazzling fireworks and thwart the plans of Captain Hook.

SpectroMagic
Like other classic Disney characters, the fairies are seen with lit versions of their regular attire in the nighttime parade at the Magic Kingdom.

Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams
The fairies make notable appearances in the parade at Disneyland alongside other Disney fairies such as The Blue Fairy.

Powers & Abilities
The three good fairies are forces of good, thus they use their magic for good. They possess various magical abilities but require their wands to use them. Their first notable acts of magic were blessings they gave to baby Princess Aurora. Flora blessed the child with the Gift of Beauty: She would grow into a maiden fair, golden sunshine in her hair, lips that shame the red-red rose, etc.

Fauna gave the child the Gift of Song.

Before Merryweather could give the child her gift, Maleficent appeared and nvoked a curse. While Merryweather did not hve the power to break the curse, she was able to weaken it and provide a means for the curse to be broken: Instead of dying, as Maleficent's curse originally entailed, Aurora would instead fall into a deep sleep from which only True Love's Kiss would awaken her, breaking the spell.

The Fairies displayed several magical abilities, such as shrinking themselves, flying, Flora stated she could turn Aurora into a flower (as flowers have no fingers, meaning Aurora would not prick her finger on a spinning wheel) but changed her mind after being reminded by Merryweather that Maleficent always ruins their best flowers by sending frost.

They can disguise themselves as humans by changing their clothes and removing their wings (depriving them of their ability to fly). During their preparations for Aurora' 16th birthday, they displayed the abilities to animate inanimate objects, move objects without touching them (telekinesis), alter objects' appearances (Flora and Merryweather changing the dress from pink to blue and back), making objects appear from thin air when they gave Aurora a crown to wear as a princess (conjuration), making objects disappear, lighting the tips of their wands to provide light, placing an entire kingdom of people into an enchanted sleep, using their wands like cutting torches to free Prince Phillip of his shackles and open the locked door to his cell, conjure holy weapons (the Shield of Virtue and Sword of Truth), turning objects into something else (boulders into bubbles, arrows into flowers, burning oil into a rainbow, Transformation), and turning living creatures to stone, as Merryweather did to Diablo in an effort to prevent the raven from alerting Maleficent.

Trivia

 * "Flora" was the name of Walter Disney's mother.
 * The fairies were alluded by Clarabelle Cow in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episode Pluto's Tale.
 * In the original French story, two of the seven good fairies like Flora and Fauna give the gifts of beauty and vocal abilities.
 * In the original French story it is only the last seventh good fairy who puts the castle to sleep, but in the film all three fairies cast the sleep spell over the castle.
 * The ballet has six, instead of seven good faires with the wicked one being the seventh.
 * Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather's color schemes of red, green, and blue are the primary colors of Light (even though Flora's favorite color is pink)