Disney Villains

No matter how much I hate the villain in movies, at the end of the day I recognize that without the villain there is no movie. There are a select few villains, as a matter of fact, that I can actually respect. By respect, I mean I don’t hate their guts *that much*. One of these villains in particular is Hades from the movie Hercules. My background knowledge on Greek mythology, combined with the background given to us during the movie allows me to feel a certain sense of sympathy for Hades. He is locked in the underworld with a bunch of dead people and he has nothing to do most of his day. This is all while his two other brothers sit atop Mount Olympus with very lavish lives. I can almost put myself in Hades shoes and feel the level of sadness and jealousy that he feels. However, the creators of the show did a good job making it so that I didn’t feel too sympathetic that I wanted him to triumph.

On the polar opposite end, there are many Disney villains who I can’t stand. Scar is one of these villains. His situation would be similar to Hades, but he has a far better life than Hades and he actually manages to murder his brother. As a child I hated scar as much as a little kid knows how to hate. That is why Simba’s eventual victory is just so darn amazing.

Getting away from specific villains, Disney, being the geniuses they are, portrays their villains in very calculated ways. One example, that isn’t necessarily unique to Disney, is the musical numbers that the villains sing. The villains’ songs tend to be very low pitched and spooky. Additionally, the scene/setting is usually very dark and ominous. To give a few examples: “Be Prepared” from The Lion King, “Prince Ali” from Aladdin, and “Friends on the Other Side” from Princess and the Frog. Another thing about Disney villains is that, because of their generally childish viewership, the villains tend to be on the older side. Its far easier for children to root against someone they have nothing in common with. This is in part shown by many of the female villains having gray or graying hair (e.g. Cruelle De Vil, Lady Tremaine, Ursula, etc.). Lastly, like villains from many stories, Disney villains tend to have the upper hand. Sometimes the villain is stronger, sometimes smarter, and many times the villain has some sort of super powers. But hey, everyone likes rooting for an underdog, right?