Classic Disney Villains Explored

To make up for yet another Valve bitching post, I’ve thought I should promptly put up another post. And when finishing the last villain article, it came to me…I haven’t overviewed some of the Disney villains, which when done right are arguably some of the best villains around. So here I’d like to look over a few and discuss what gives them their appeal, in hopes that if you are a writer or character creator, you have an example to look at and learn from. What works and what doesn’t.

DISNEY VILLAINS

Cruella de Vil

Do I even need to explain this one? First and foremost the woman wants to kill cute puppies so she can have a nice fur coat. Puppies hold a special ability of humans, in that their eyes can make you fall to your knees in willingness to do whatever they want. It is only by the grace of God that puppies can’t speak, otherwise we would undoubtedly be their slaves. So what kind of soulless person would want to harm a puppy? Only the nastiest of people and Cruella is just that.

As a child I never really got her name but I’m not always quick on the uptake. Her name is a sort of anagram for Cruel Devil. Again, I don’t think Lucifer himself would kick a puppy, let alone skin one. I imagine of the seven circles of hell, the 7th and worst is made especially for people who hate puppies and kittens.

Visually she’s a bit bizarre. Her hair is half black and half white, like the dalmatian puppies. She’s also emaciated and wears large and lavish fur coats to hide her body. Plus she smokes something that emits yellow smoke. I can only imagine what kind of animal she would like to smoke.

In the end she’s a simple character but a straight up villain, and her features do nothing to hide it.

Gaston

In a much needed twist, Disney opts to make the creepy Beast the protagonist and the handsome chiseled prince type the antagonist. I’m really glad Disney did a complete 180 with the villain and protagonist. At first Gaston seems just vain and egotistical but when fighting the Beast upon the tower we get a glimpse into what Gaston is really like, a controlling, jealous, and obsessive man. I really enjoy this character because of that dichotomy. We get the fun part of him for most of the movie and then we see a transformation, much like the Beast.

Here’s a video of the scene:

Scar

Perhaps the best and most conniving of the Disney villains. While not overtly strong, his wit is sharp as a knife and he is able to orchestrate not only the death of his brother, the king, but exile of the prince, thus passing the crown to himself. He is constantly showing a soft side to himself, all the while planning malicious things for those around him. There’s even a little bit of an ode to Hitler when the hyenas goose step past him in the song Be Prepared, Scar offering them false promises of reviving the hyena nation state (the video is below).

The other great thing about this villain, and something to keep in mind if your character is not just in the context of written word, is there voice. You can tell exactly what sort of person Scar is simply by listening to his voice. It’s snide and elusive, yet creepy.

Stromboli & The Coachman

One’s a pedophile who brings little boys to Pleasure Island and the other is creepy as hell. There really isn’t anything more to say.

Ursula

What I think it really comes down to for Ursala is she’s got attitude. And just look at that picture of her. She, like Scar, has always got an ulterior motive behind everything, willing to screw everyone over to get what she wants. It doesn’t get her friends but I doubt she minds. She’s also incredibly clever. She think to steal Ariel’s voice, so she could marry the prince so Ariel would be made into one of those weird sludgy things, only to have King Tridant giver her the trident of the sea. Most villains haven’t got their plans down that many steps ahead, but Ursala has contingency plan after contingency plan.

Captain Hook

Captain Hook is classic and unfortunately in both the Disney and theatre productions, he’s played as sort of an idiot. I much prefer Hook from the movie Hook, where the famous pirate is a bit odd but is also ruthless when it comes to getting what he wants. And I know a lot of people like Rufio but I clap when Hook gets rid of that menace. Captain Hook is by far up there with the best of the pirates including Long John Silver, Captain Jack Sparrow, and Captain Morgan.

I orignally wanted to write this piece to show how great Disney was at making villains. But the more I looked up the characters and studied them, the more I found I didn’t like them. While good for kids a great many of them a cliche cutouts walking around so the protagonist has something to struggle against.

Feel free to point out any I’ve missed.