Bechdel Test Movie List

To quote the IMDb trivia page:

Second only to Dumbo (1941) (who didn't speak at all), this Disney title character has very few lines of actual dialogue throughout the entire film, which is actually about the three fairies who protect her, not about the Sleeping Beauty herself. Rose/Aurora is only featured in the film in very few scenes and hardly ever says anything. She doesn't utter a single word in the second half of the film, neither before nor after she falls under the spell. Her first line comes 19 minutes into the film, and her last line comes 39 minutes into the film. However, she does sing two songs during that time.

It's always irked me that the queen doesn't have a name.

"Poor King Stephen, and the queen."

I think the linked critique is a bit specious. The fairy godmothers, while often befuddled, demonstrate their strength at the end of the film. They place the entire kingdom under their power for the sake of Aurora, not for the prince, which they only discover at the end of their actions. Likewise, Merryweather demonstrates strong ability and attitudes throughout the film: providing Aurora with the only useful gift (the promise of life), questioning why Aurora must marry a prince instead of someone she actually loves, and deciding to leave the fairies and prince to eliminate the threat of Maleficent's raven, Diablo, chasing it down, outsmarting it, and turning it to stone before it can inform Maleficent of Phillip's escape.

While Flora's leadership may be unearned, and her powers useful only in protecting Phillip, and Fauna all but useless and passive, Merryweather is an excellent example of female agency, albeit nascent.

I think something should also be said for having such a powerful presence in Maleficent (although she is admittedly evil). She completely cows everyone in the film, is only really beaten because of the fairies, not the prince, and she is far more competent than any of her all-male minions. Yes, she is evil, but she's second to no man.

This may be one of the few films that fails the reverse Bechdel test. The only time two men are seen talking together - when the kings are talking about Aurora marrying the Prince or when the Prince is talking to his father about marriage woes.

This assessment is fully accurate. Aurora, the three fairies, Maleficent, and the Queen talked about things that had nothing to do with men. On top of that, the three fairies took an active role to protect Aurora and the Prince from Maleficent, a strong, dangerous woman.