The first draft you're pretty much on your own, so I love that. I can let my imagination go wild. I just go crazy. Then, over the years - it takes years to write these things, to make these things come to pass - there are many, many, many drafts. For Maleficent, there were at least 15.

You can't go down anybody else's [road]. It's your dream; it's your life. You don't have to be told by other people what to make of yourself. You decide.

For the blockbusters, people were always telling me that if you write female protagonists, the boys won't go, so you have to put the boys' stuff in it to get everybody. I write for people from 8 to 80, and that's not easy.

Even when I'm writing animation, I think of them as real people. I think of them as completely three-dimensional beings, even if it's a talking teapot. I don't think of them as one-dimensional drawn characters running around. Maybe that's why, to me, there's really no difference in writing the two - animation versus live action.

I am a feminist, and I didn't think women would accept a throwback heroine.

I really get fired up with female protagonists. I can really feel the difference in myself when I am writing a script that has a woman at the center.

They're [children] less forgiving. You have to be very conscious of the fact that they're not going to just accept things; they're going to question. They're going to move around if you bore them. They'll actually leave. So you really have to be on your toes.