Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather (known collectively as the Three Good Fairies) are the tritagonists in Disney's 1959 animated feature film Sleeping Beauty. They are a trio of elderly fairies who supply magic for King Stefan's court. When trouble arises, the fairies band together to protect Stefan and Queen Leah's daughter, Princess Aurora, from the wrath of their villainous counterpart, Maleficent.
The Three Good Fairies dress in medieval-styled dresses with a particular, predominating color. Their dresses are also complemented with matching capes and pointy hats secured to their heads with colored veils. Whenever they shrink in size and fly in the air, they appear to the intent observer as tiny balls of light.
Flora's color is red, with her petticoat, cape clasp cuffs, and hat veil a dark yellow. She is the leader of the three, as well as the bravest and most determined of the three. Based on her dialogue in the film, she deals heavily with flowers and nature, her favorite color is pink, and she appears to be the strategist of the group.
Fauna's color is green - her dress is a dark green with accents in a lighter shade of green, and she is second-in-command. Despite her tendency towards absentmindedness and obliviousness, she is the quietest and most introspective of the three, and often acted as a peacemaker between Flora and Merryweather.
Merryweather's color is blue (her favorite color), and is distinguished from the others by her diminutive stature. Though she tends to be feisty, pessimistic, and often challenges Flora's leadership, she is also pragmatic and resourceful.
The three fairies dress very much alike in long medieval-style dresses and pointy hats reminiscent of the traditional witches' hats. Flora's signature color is red, but her favorite color is pink. Fauna's and Merryweather's favorite and signature colors are green and blue, respectively. They each have a different shape cloak buckle ― Flora's a square, Fauna's a triangle, and Merryweather's a circle.
Both Flora's and Fauna's eyes are brown, while Merryweather's eyes are blue. Also, Flora's hair is gray, Fauna's a brownish-gray, and they both wear it swept back and up into a pompadour and bun. Merryweather's hair is black (which implies that she is younger than both Flora and Fauna), but her veil, which covers the entire back of her head, makes it difficult to determine how her hair is styled.
When posing as mortals for sixteen years, they wear peasant dresses in their respective colors, with head coverings, stockings, and black slippers, and magically get rid of their wings.
The three fairies vary in height, with Flora the tallest, Fauna slightly shorter, and Merryweather about a full head shorter than the both of them. Fauna is also the slimmest of the fairies, with both Flora and Merryweather being slightly larger.
Powers and abilities[]
As members of the Fair Folk, the three fairies function as forces of good and use their magic in its service. They possess numerous magical abilities that seem to be channeled solely through their wands, and hence they were practically powerless without them. Besides this, they claimed that they could only do good things with their magic, and their magic was also stated to be inferior to Maleficent's in raw power.
Despite these limitations, their magic was revealed to be still an exceedingly powerful force, especially during times of utter crisis (such as their need to rescue Phillip and escort him to Aurora), where they had no qualms in using it to its fullest extent. They could also use their powers not only for their convenience and personal desires (such as their preparations of gifts for Aurora's 16th birthday party), but also in morally ambiguous ways - Flora gifted a sword and shield to Phillip, while Merryweather turned Diablo to stone.
Examples of powers the three fairies derived from their magic are:
Flight: Through their wings, the fairies are able to defy gravity and fly, and they were shown to maneuver adroitly through the air.
Blessing: The fairies possessed the ability to produce benevolent effects through enchantment. In fact, their first notable acts of magic were the blessings they gave to the baby Princess Aurora - Flora gave the child the Gift of Beauty, Fauna gave the child the Gift of Song, and Merryweather altered Maleficent's curse by replacing the tragic death intended for Aurora with a deep sleep that could be woken by True Love's Kiss. Later on, during the final battle between Phillip and Maleficent, they blessed the former's Sword of Truth so that it could kill the latter with one well-aimed blow. Hence, it could be said that this ability of blessing was one of the strongest magical powers that the fairies were able to access, for it enabled them to negate potent curses and even help to destroy the most powerful of evil supernatural forces (such as Maleficent).
Enchanting/Animation: As demonstrated during their preparations for Aurora's 16th birthday, the fairies had the ability to bring inanimate objects to life to do their bidding.
Telekinesis: As demonstrated also during their preparations for Aurora's 16th birthday, and later while guiding Phillip through the forest of thorns, the fairies had the ability to move objects with their mind.
Color-Manipulation: As demonstrated again during their preparations for Aurora's 16th birthday, the fairies had the ability to manipulate colors - Flora and Merryweather changed Aurora's birthday gown from pink to blue and back again.
Conjuration: The fairies were shown to possess the ability to materialize imaginary objects at will. They conjured a crown out of thin air for Aurora to wear as a Princess, holy weapons (the Shield of Virtue and Sword of Truth) for Phillip to use in his battle against Maleficent, and a rainbow to act as a bridge for Phillip to escape from Maleficent's castle. Given how Phillip used the shield and ultimately the sword to vanquish Maleficent, it could be said that this ability of conjuration was also one of the strongest magical powers that the fairies were able to access, for it enabled them to provide one with formidable weapons of righteousness that could triumph over the most powerful of evil supernatural forces.
Disappearing/Vanishing: The fairies possessed the ability to make objects disappear or vanish into thin air. When they disguised themselves as humans by dressing as peasants, they concealed their wings through this ability. Later on, Merryweather made a pile of dust vanish after it was swept around the room, and, in the palace, Flora made a wall in the fireplace disappear so she, Merryweather, and Fauna could search for Aurora.
Photokinesis: The fairies possessed the ability to create and manipulate light, as demonstrated by their lighting the tips of their wands. This skill enables the fairies to navigate through dark places, such as the secret stairway behind the fireplace within an abandoned tower.
Sleep Induction: The fairies possessed the ability to put beings to sleep at will. After Aurora pricked her finger and fell into the enchanted sleep, they cast a spell to put the entire kingdom into a similar sleep that will only end when she awoke. They even used this move to turn the water fountain down and put out the flames on the palace torches and the kitchen candles.
Pyrokinesis (Advanced): The fairies possessed the ability to create and manipulate fire at will, but at a highly advanced level - they used their wands as cutting torches to free Phillip of his shackles and open the locked door of his cell, as well as cutting the shackle around Samson's right front hoof, through this ability. Their torches manifested as beams of highly concentrated torch-like fires of pink (Flora), green (Fauna), and blue (Merryweather) respectively. Furthermore, they were able to remove the restraints without the sparks doing any harm to Phillip or Samson nor set anything around them on fire, indicating these fiery effects would only work on the metal restraints themselves and thus do no harm.
Transformation: The fairies possessed the ability to manipulate reality to transform any object or being into something else. While brainstorming ideas to keep the Princess safe, Flora initially considered transforming Aurora into a flower (since flowers have no fingers, Aurora could not prick hers on a spinning wheel or anything else), but Merryweather derailed that course of action by pointing out that it would work fine until Maleficent sends a frost. Later on, while helping Phillip to escape from Maleficent's castle, they utilized this ability to spectacular effect - transforming boulders into bubbles, arrows into flowers, and burning oil into a rainbow.
Petrification: The fairies were revealed to possess the ability to turn other beings into stone, as Merryweather did so to Diablo in an effort to prevent the raven from alerting Maleficent.
Size-Manipulation: The fairies possess the ability to change their sizes while preserving body proportion. This is their most commonly-used ability throughout the film - they first use it to conduct a secret meeting of brainstorming ideas, later to cast a secret sleeping spell over the entire kingdom, to navigate undetected around Maleficent's castle in their search for Phillip, and finally to guide Phillip to Aurora.
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather first appear as the invited guests of King Stefan and Queen Leah at the christening of their newborn daughter, Aurora, announced by the royal herald. After materializing from a beam of sunlight, they fly over to cradle containing the baby princess and remark how adorable she was. They then present themselves to the king and queen, and Flora announces their intention to each bless the child with a single gift; Flora grants her the gift of beauty, ensuring that she will grow to be a beautiful woman, and Fauna grants the gift of song, which will give her an incredible singing voice. But before Merryweather can give her gift, Maleficent appears. Insulted by her lack of invitation from the kingdom, Maleficent curses the baby, Aurora, to prick her finger on a spinning wheel's spindle before the sun sets on her 16th birthday which will cause her death. After Maleficent leaves, the fairies ensure the monarchs that Merryweather still has her own gift which can help; though she cannot undo Maleficent's curse, she is able to soften it so that Aurora would not die, but rather enter an enchanted sleep, which she can be awakened from by "True Love's Kiss".
Still fearful of his daughter's life, Stefan orders that every spinning wheel in the kingdom be burned. Knowing that Maleficent will not be deterred by anything to see her curse fulfilled, least of all a "bonfire" as Merryweather puts it, they decide to raise Aurora themselves in secret. An agreement with Aurora's parents is finally reached: the fairies will raise Aurora for 16 years until the curse is no longer a threat, and then return her to the palace. As a further precaution, they change the princess' name to Briar Rose and hide her in a cottage in the nearby woods. The fairies then decide to hide as mortals, as their magic will raise attention (much to Merryweather's dismay), and disguise themselves as Briar Rose's aunts.
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather as Briar Rose's "aunts".
Sixteen years later, the fairies prepare a party for Briar Rose on her birthday. After failing in their attempts to bake a cake (Fauna has never cooked before) and sew a dress normally (with Flora, by using Merryweather as the mannequin), an annoyed Merryweather insists on using their magic wands, and they decide to use magic after closing off almost every crack except the chimney. While Flora uses her magic to sew the dress and Fauna uses her magic to bake the cake (and later decorate it), Merryweather uses her magic to clean up the room until she is distracted by seeing the pink dress.
After she starts an argument with Flora over the color of the dress by turning it blue, they try changing the dress and each other's clothes to the opposite colors. The magic blasts fly up the chimney and attract the attention of Maleficent's raven, Diablo, who immediately flies back to Maleficent with the news of Aurora's discovery. The argument ends when both rays hit the dress at the same time, making it a terrible mixture of pink and blue. Flora was outraged at Merryweather for messing the dress up. As Briar Rose is returning from berry picking, Flora quickly turns it to pure pink and hides. Then Merryweather turns it to blue before hiding herself. 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 happily tells her "aunts" about the man she met in the woods. The fairies also reveal her true identity as Princess Aurora, as well as the fact that she's already betrothed in an arranged marriage with Prince Phillip and that they intend to return her to her father and mother that same night. Aurora informs them that the man she met is going to stop by the cottage that night, but they forbid her to see him again, which leaves Aurora heartbroken, much to the fairies' dismay.
The fairies take Aurora back to the castle and take her to a room. They use their magic to create a tiara for Aurora, to help her realize her true royal identity. However, they soon decide to leave her alone for a time as Aurora is still heartbroken of never again seeing the young man with whom she has fallen in love (not knowing that it's the prince himself).
The fairies grief over Aurora after she succumbs to the curse.
The fairies begin to talk about the boy and want to help Aurora, with Merryweather expressing her opinion that it's unfair for Aurora to be forced into an arranged marriage. When Fauna suggests they reveal the news to Stefan, they hear a faint sound from the room and realize that it's Maleficent enchanting Aurora. Realizing that Aurora is in trouble and it was wrong to leave her alone, they frantically try to stop the princess, who keeps following Maleficent (as a will-o-the-wisp) up the tower, where Maleficent creates a spinning wheel with a glowing spindle which Aurora begins to touch. The fairies warn her not to touch anything, momentarily breaking the spell, but Maleficent orders Aurora to touch the spindle to invoke the curse. Unfortunately for Merryweather, Flora, and Fauna, they arrive too late to save Aurora from pricking her finger. The fairies gasped as they run into Maleficent, who briefly mocks her archenemies for their efforts of trying to defeat her by protecting Aurora until after her 16th birthday, when the curse would be nullified. She then reveals the now sleeping Aurora, who has pricked her finger on the spindle, much to the fairies' horror, and she disappears while cackling maniacally in triumph over the fairies' failure to stop Aurora.
The fairies feel extremely heartbroken as they discover Aurora has fallen into a deep sleep after pricking her finger on the spindle. After putting Aurora in bed, Merryweather and Fauna wonder how they will explain their failure to the king and queen. Flora decided that they put everyone in the castle to sleep until Aurora awakens. While putting everyone in the kingdom to sleep, including King Stefan, Queen Leah, King Hubert, Minstrel, and the herald, Flora learns from a sleepy Hubert that the man Aurora met in the woods was actually her betrothed fiancé, Prince Phillip, who may be the only one who can break the spell in order to save Aurora, their family, and everyone else in the kingdom. He had previously intended to go to the cottage to meet Aurora, so the fairies race back to the cottage. Upon arrival, they arrive too late and are horrified to discover that Phillip's hat is left behind on the floor in the midst of the wreckage. Deducing that the prince has been captured by Maleficent and her Goons, the fairies decided to go to Maleficent's domain, the Forbidden Mountain, to rescue him.
The fairies aid Philip in his escape.
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 enchanted Shield of Virtue, both weapons of righteousness that will triumph over evil. As Phillip and the fairies exit the dungeon, they are confronted by Diablo, who calls the Goons.
The Goons do everything in their power to stop the heroes, from dropping giant rocks to shooting arrows and pouring hot oil, but Flora uses her magic to turn them into bubbles, flowers, and a rainbow, respectively. Seeing their failure to stop Philip and the fairies, Diablo goes to warn his mistress. Fed up with Diablo and his attempt to stop them, Merryweather pursues him and just as he reaches Maleficent's tower, she turns him to stone as he lands on one of the parapets, letting off a smug, angry scowl at having taught the raven a lesson before returning to Philip, Flora, and Fauna. However, all the commotion has awakened Maleficent, who is enraged to discover the escape. After escaping the Forbidden Mountain, the fairies aid Phillip by protecting him from various obstacles as they make their way to Stefan's castle that is conjured by Maleficent as she tries to stop her enemies. Eventually, Phillip is forced to fight Maleficent, who transformed herself into a dragon. The fairies assist Phillip in retreating, but he is cornered at the cliff and loses his shield. Under Flora's direction, the fairies greatly empower his sword, allowing Phillip to throw it straight into Maleficent's heart, finally killing her.
The fairies happy for Aurora and Philip.
After defeating Maleficent, Phillip and the fairies enter Stefan's castle and go up the tower where Aurora sleeps. The fairies watch as Phillip gives Aurora Love's First Kiss that breaks the curse and awakens her and the entire kingdom residents from their eternal sleeping curse, including Stefan, Leah, Hubert, Minstrel, and the herald. Lastly, the three fairies go to the throne room, where they watch happily as Aurora and Phillip descend the stairs, reunite with their respective parents, and share a dance. But then, Flora finally 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 continuously alternating colors (pink and blue) as the storybook closes.
The fairies in 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, Prince Phillip, and Queen Leah are away to a royal conference, Aurora is left in charge of the kingdom, aided by Lord Duke. King Hubert accidentally forgets his speech at Stefan's castle, so the fairies finally help Aurora by going to return it. When Duke reminded Aurora that they have a lot of work to do for the kingdom, Flora and Fauna leave to do the task of delivering the speech to Hubert for the royal conference.
While Flora and Fauna leave, Merryweather stays for a few moments to give Aurora her wand if things become too difficult before Aurora goes back to her task of reviewing the signed forms. After giving Hubert his speech, Flora and Fauna learn the secret Merryweather has hidden about the wand. While they were gone, the wand's power began to get out of control, but due to Aurora's calm attitude, things were settled down. The fairies returned, along with Stefan, Hubert, Leah, Phillip, and Duke (who witnessed the magic incident of giant chickens, green pigs, and cows, in which one of the cows sends him out of the castle grounds). Merryweather regains her wand and they gather for a banquet put together by Aurora without the use of magic, including Prince Phillip, King Stefan, King Hubert, Queen Leah, and Lord Duke.
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather appear in the Disney Jr. series as the supporting sidekick characters to the titular character Sofia. They are the magical tutors of the young princess and teaches her the ways of the royal highness she will one day become. It is shown in several episodes that Flora and Merryweather have yet to settle the blue-pink debate.
Fauna plays a major role in "The Princess Test", as part of a secret reveal behind Sofia helping Mrs. Higgins get her books to her house. Sofia was the only one willing to help her, at the risk she would miss the test and ends up ruining her gown in return; to her surprise, Sofia is teleported to the test by Mrs. Higgins, who was revealed to be Fauna in disguise having given Sofia the chance to display the most important part of a princess: kindness. While the other students are given silver stars for their performances, Sofia passes with the highest score possible and is rewarded a gold trophy in reward of passing the secret test.
Their largest role in the series to date is in the episode "Make Way for Miss Nettle" where the fairies' former apprentice, Miss Nettle visits the academy to (supposedly) teach an after school gardening class to Sofia and friends. However, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather soon discover Nettle's actually after their spellbook, in an attempt to become more powerful than the three fairies combined, betraying them. Fortunately, due to the efforts of Sofia and friends, the fairies are rescued and peace is restored.
The fairies had a subplot in "Scrambled Pets" where they are giving Princess Zooey a new princess attending Royal Prep and her mother Queen Avery a tour around Royal Prep.
Merryweather plays a role in "The Princess Prodigy", where she invites Baron Von Rocha to Royal Prep to teach the students. Unaware to Merryweather, Von Rocha is actually a fraud and using magic to steal musical talents from many people for years. When Merryweather learns that Von Rocha stole Vivian's musical talent, she helps Sofia, Vivian, James, Amber, and Khalid stop Von Rocha by using a counter spell thanks to Piccolo. After stopping Von Rocha by returning Vivian and everyone's musical talents he stole, Merryweather sent him packing.
Cameos[]
The Three Fairies make several cameos in the television series House of Mouse. In the episode "Humphrey in the House", they performed on stage unsuccessfully attempting to bake a cake without magic like in the original film. Humphrey disguises himself as Merryweather only to be caught by Donald and Woodlore. 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 so she would fall into a sleep.
In The Lion King 1½, the Three Fairies make a brief silhouette cameo at the end of the movie where they along with other Disney Character came to rewatch the film with Timon and Pumbaa.
In Once Upon a Studio, the Three Fairies appear outside the studio, with Flora and Merryweather once again alternating colors (pink and blue) on this time The Sorcerer's Hat on the studio building. They later appear in the group photo along with the rest of the Disney characters.
In Disenchanted, when Giselle makes a wish and becomes a wicked stepmother, three women who resemble Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather watch over the garden while evil Giselle is taunting her daughter Morgan. The women are shown to also be fairies like the animated counterparts, with also the same colour schemes.
Printed media[]
Once Upon A Dream (A Twisted Tale)[]
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather appear in Liz Braswell's second novel in the Twisted Tales series, where Prince Phillip never manages to wake Aurora up and Maleficent takes them both to a dream world in which she rules. Whilst Maleficent poses as the Queen of King Stefan's castle, which is supposedly the last stronghold in the world, and secretly begins collecting the blood of the inhabitants there to sustain herself, the Good Fairies are left in the real world to care for the sleeping people who live there, but find their magic ineffective against Maleficent's killings. Flashbacks also show the fairies living with Aurora in the cottage in the woods. The fairies send a part of their souls into the dream world to help guide Aurora in her final battle with Maleficent, creating three avatars that highlight their most prominent attributes (Flora's bravery, Fauna's kindness, and Merryweather's wit). Flora also manages to guide King Hubert to the castle. The fairies' avatars perish in battle with Maleficent but their real counterparts reunite with Aurora.
Kilala Princess[]
The Fairies attend Aurora's 17th birthday party in the castle. They are attacked by Maleficent who had come back to life, and saved by the power of love from Kilala Reno and Rei.
In Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, the three fairies appear during Ventus' 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.
In Kingdom Hearts II, the three fairies give Sora his new outfit after he wakes from his year-long sleep, as well as the Star SeekerKeyblade 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.
Although they do not appear physically in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, The three fairies were briefly mentioned in the game. Yen Sid mentions to Mickey, Donald, and Goofy that Lea is being trained to summon the Keyblade in a magically suppressed training session under the three fairies and Merlin.
They are mentioned again in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A Fragmentary Passage- as the ones who created the cloaks for Riku and Mickey to use while traveling through the Realm of Darkness to protect them from the darkness in their mission to rescue Aqua and in Kingdom Hearts III, they are mentioned as the ones who made Sora's new outfit, where it took extra time to make as like with the last outfit it also has special powers.
The trio is featured in Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom at the 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. Unfortunately, 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".
The fairies co-host the former fireworks show, Magic, Music and Mayhem, where they showcase dazzling fireworks and thwart the plans of Captain Hook.
The fairies are very prominent for Tokyo Disneyland's Nightfall Glow, which is only performed on nights when it's too wet and rainy to run Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights. Both Flora and Merryweather fight over the parade's colors with Fauna joining in. The trios quarrel (mainly between Flora and Merryweather) over their color preferences are seen throughout the entire parade.
Although they are officially considered the sidekicks in Sleeping Beauty, the fairies have the most screen time and involvement in everything, including the battles. They are often considered to be the protagonists for this reason.
This makes them the only sidekicks in a Disney Princess movie to have more dialogue and screen time than the princess and the prince.
Originally, Walt Disney wanted the Three Good Fairies to be similar to Huey, Dewey, and Louie until animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson decided to give them their own personalities.
In a deleted scene, the Fairies were baking the birthday cake for Aurora until the oven blown up. This was cut as the scene would be more appropriate for a Donald Duck short rather than Sleeping Beauty.
In the original fairy tale, two of the twelve good fairies like Flora and Fauna give the gifts of beauty and abilities of song and music.
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 fairies, 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). This is fitting in that they are the most powerful of the good fairies.
In Kingdom Hearts II, when the three fairies remember Maleficent and went to inform Yen Sid, there were two different versions. In the Japanese version, the fairies simply disappeared; in the English version, they turned into a ball of light much like in the original Disney film.
In early drafts of the story, the three good fairies would have had connections to the various aspects of nature. As their names suggested, Flora would have been in charge of the plants and vegetation, Fauna would have held dominion over the animal kingdom, and Merryweather would have controlled the weather. This initial concept was dropped being seen as too complicated, yet the names stuck.
In the demo recording, they originally had a song while making preparations for Aurora's birthday party, "Riddle Diddle".
Also in the deleted song, while Verna Felton and Barbara Jo Allen were officially chosen as Flora and Fauna, Coleen Collins recorded dialogue as Merryweather before being replaced by Barbara Luddy for the film's final cut.
Earlier concepts also had the names of the fairies as Fernadell, Merryweather, and Tranquility, each connected to certain aspects. Fernadell represented the forest, Merryweather the elements and weather, and Tranquility dreams.
Although, in the end, Merryweather was the only name retained from the original concept.
In the Latin American dub, Merryweather's name is changed to "Primavera" which is the Spanish name for "Spring".
Notably, in the Hungarian dub, Merryweather was renamed to "Fióna" to match Flora and Fauna's respective names.
Merryweather almost resembles Nanny from One Hundred and One Dalmatians, due to them having a similar face. However, Nanny would actually resemble all the fairies as it shows a few scenes where she would have Flora's face and Fauna's face.
The fairies always have black eyes during the movie, but their eye colors obviously change a few times. At Rose's birthday party, Flora and Fauna have brown eyes while Merryweather has blue eyes. Fauna has green eyes when Aurora is put to sleep. Flora has pink eyes upon finding Phillip's hat on the floor of the cottage and realizing he was captured by Maleficent. Afterwards, all three of the fairies' eyes go back to black for the rest of the movie.
Flora's favorite color is pink and Merryweather's favorite color is blue. It is unknown what Fauna's favorite color is, but it could be green, which is the color she wears.
Fauna has never been seen wearing glasses in any other movie or TV show, but in Sofia the First, she wears glasses as her only difference. Flora and Merryweather are the only fairies that don't and never wear glasses.
The running gag of Flora and Merryweather arguing about whether Aurora's dress should be pink or blue originated from the filmmakers' problem as to deciding just that.
It is unknown what gift Merryweather was going to bestow upon Aurora, since she uses it to weaken Maleficent's curse. But according to the audio commentary on the platinum edition DVD of Sleeping Beauty, her gift was going to be happiness.
In House of Mouse, Flora mentions and reveals that the fairies are sisters.
Flora and Merryweather are always getting into fights over their own colors on something they want either blue or pink. Fauna doesn't seem to blend in with the arguments since her color doesn't matter that much to her as it seems she might be the only fairy that doesn't even mind any color as long as the object is beautiful in its own way.
