A comical vulture once soared above the shoulder of "Sleeping Beauty's" Maleficent before a silent raven replaced him in the 1959 Disney animated classic.
Researchers at the Walt Disney Animation Research Library discovered early sketches of the large bird that had gone undetected since the late 1950s, according to USA Today. The vulture had a New York-accent and served as a comical henchman for Maleficent, the self-proclaimed Mistress of All Evil.
"The vulture didn't add much to the story and also somewhat detracted from that imposing nature of the villain Maleficent," Disney's Fox Carney told USA Today. "And this New York type of vulture didn't fit into the world of this classic medieval Europe where this film is set. So they dropped the character."
Carney is a research manager with the library that stores a number of animation pieces from the Walt Disney Co. His team restored the images and he brought the vulture to life, by providing the bird's New York voice, in a deleted scene that will be featured on the Blu-Ray DVD extras.
"The vulture has been hidden in boxes and now he's been properly identified," Carney said. "It's a lot of detective work, piecing together this puzzle. But it's a real gem."
The Blu-Ray will also feature a lost story line where Princess Aurora, dressed in disguise, meets Prince Phillip at a local fair.
Vulture characters have appeared in other Disney films such as "Snow White" (1937), "The Jungle Book" (1967) and "Robin Hood" (1973). The scavenger birds originally had a larger role in "The Lion King," but they only circle over young Simba's body before Timon and Pumbaa break up their potential feast.
