A Profile of Evil: Why All Disney Villains Look the Same

A new round of images of Disney villains/villainesses is making the rounds this week. This one asks the question "what if Disney villains were beautiful?" Here are a few of the artist's new renditions.

These images and that question bring up many topics:

• Who's standard of beauty?
• Art Style
• The profile of a villain
• The profile of a hero

Who's Says I'm Not Beautiful?

By asking the question "what if Disney villains were beautiful," the artist is implicitly saying that Disney villains are not beautiful. But I think most people would disagree with this (including Walt himself), and with good reason.

Maleficent is simply stunning, no other words needed.

The Evil Queen from Snow White is known for being "fair,"
which alludes to her looks and qualities as a ruler. In fact, Walt Disney
specifically said the queen should be "beautiful."

Gaston is the most eligible bachelor in town,
largely because of his good looks.

Disney villains are good-looking. It's partly what makes them evil. Their good looks inspire love and trust. Their evil is insidious because you would not think that someone so beautiful could also be out to kill you. You want to think the best of them. 

So why does the artist of the "beautiful" villains think that Disney villains are not already beautiful? That is something the artist would have to answer, but his/her (I don't know who the artist is; if anyone does, please link me in the comments) ideal of beauty is even more narrow than Disney's. At least Disney has full-figured villainesses, while the "beautiful" interpretations don't.

In fact, Disney even did a photo-shoot last year with Queen Latifah as Ursula which did an amazing job of showing a woman who was evil, full-figured, and beautiful all in one.

(If you haven't seen Annie Leibovitz' entire series of Dream Portraits, I highly encourage you to check them out. Whoopi Goldberg as Genie is pretty fabulous.)

Art Style

What the artist of the "beautiful" series fails to take into account, and is just as guilty of, is artistic style.  Disney villains follow a prescribed artistic style that began with Snow White's Evil Queen and has continued on into the face of every villain and villainess ever since (which I will break down later on).  This artist does the exact same thing.

Every single "beautiful" face is the same. The artist thinks that low brows, small eyes, a pointed nose, thin lips, and a narrow chin makes a face beautiful. It's common for an artist to have a specific style, and there is nothing wrong with that. But to stay one style is more beautiful than another is completely subjective.

Disney does something similar, but uses facial features as a representation of evil, not beauty.

The Profile of Evil

The Original Evil One

The Imitators

So what does evil look like? Regardless of gender, race, or even species, all Disney villains have the same face. Each feature holds a specific meaning.

• Those high, arching brows. 

The high, arching brow signifies thinking. But Disney would never say that thinking is wrong, right Belle?

This thinking is more like scheming, planing, plotting, and even anger. Vivien Leigh was famous for her arching brow when she would portray silent anger.

Similarly, Disney villains are usually angry and out to get some sort of revenge. The high, arching brow signifies that the villain can't be trusted because they are only thinking evil thoughts and are always plotting the downfall of their perceived enemies.

• Those beady little eyes.
  
  
  
  

In spite of the high brow and elongated eyelids, Disney villains have very small eyes. This is because the eyes are the window to the soul, and Disney villains don't have very large souls. They only have one thing on their mind: evil. That evil may come in many forms (they desire power, lust, money, fame, etc.), but whatever the villain desires, it is all they can think about. Their tiny eyes show that they have a one-track mind and are singly devoted to achieving their goals.

• Huge mouths.

While many villains may have small, pursing lips when their mouths are closed...

when they open their mouths to speak, the mouths are disproportionately large.

The mouths are huge because this is the part of the villain's face you need to pay the most attention to; it is the most dangerous. For Disney villains, their weapon of choice is usually their words. Their mouths are filled with vile lies that they spew like poison, but tastes like honey. They say things like...

'mother knows best,'

'I'm just here to give the princess a birthday gift, too,'

'I swear not to lay a finger or a hook on Peter Pan,'

'I only want to help those poor, unfortunate souls,'

...and so on. They are liars, they are monsters, and they are villains. The mouth is how we know this.

• The pronounced chin.

The long chin indicates that these villains are people of power and prestige. They are privileged. You have royal advisers like Jafar and Yzma; princes like John and Scar; Hades, the king of the underworld; queens like the Queen of Hearts and the Evil Queen; Frollo is some kind of city judge; Ratcliffe is the new governor of the Virginia colony; and even Ursula once lived in the palace, but her role there was unclear (possibly another adviser character?). All of these people wield power and influence over others. These are people who could use their gifts for good, but instead use them for evil. They are villains because they have been blessed with authority but use it to squash the innocent people below them.

Heroes are doppelgangers to the villains. 

The facial features of heroes and heroines of Disney films are almost completely opposite, both physically and symbolically.

Disney heroes and heroines have low brows because even though they are smart and clever (they often have to outwit the villain) their thoughts are pure. They are often selfless and are looking for ways to help others. They do not have elongated brows because there is nothing sinister about their thoughts. Their mouths are proportionate to their face. This is because they are honest and speak truth. Their words are golden. They practically have no chins to speak of. This is because most of them are from low birth and hold no power, influence, money, or rank. Most are orphans and do not even have family to speak of. They have nothing so they have no chins.

The feature that stands out on a Disney hero or heroine's face is the eyes. The eyes are the most important feature. While the eyes are the smallest feature on a Disney villain, they are the largest feature in a hero/heroine. This is because their eyes are wide open to the world. They want to see everything and take it all in. Their open eyes symbolize their open hearts and open minds.

Whether or not Disney villains are beautiful or not on the outside is subjective and pointless to debate, but the facial features of Disney villains illustrate the evil of their insides. Now you know what to look for if you need to know if someone is evil or not.

~Love,
the Lost Princess

"After Ever After" Video Fails to Deliver

The following video went viral earlier this week in which the performer, Jon Cozart, supposedly tells the stories of what happened to Disney princesses after the credits rolled. Have a look for yourself.

   

George Takei gave it a “bravo.” As one whose sole purpose in writing this blog is to find strength in the princesses for a modern generation, one might assume that I also think it’s a great video. But, in fact, the opposite is true.

First I do have to give Cozart credit. He is immensely talented. His voice is great, his harmonies are amazing, and he has creativity in spades. I certainly believe he will do well in life and wish him well. However, the content of this particular video I find troubling for several reasons. When I first saw the video I thought, "wow, this sure is preachy." The video doesn't actually tell the "what happened next" of the princesses, but removes them from their times and places to make them prove his agenda. He leaves Ariel in the sea, makes Aladdin a POW in the war on terror, and gives Pocahontas a terrible venereal disease. With these three characters Cozart’s points are mostly clear: need to stop polluting the oceans, close Guantanamo Bay, and feel guilty about the massacre of the Native Americans. But what about Belle? Belle's story is the most problematic for me.

Cozart has Belle as a woman being persecuted for her choice of lover. He purports that Belle and the Beast had a sexual relationship before his transformation back into a human and is attacked for what the villagers see as bestiality. So what is his point here? Is he saying we should not judge the zoophiles? I don't think so. Bestiality is universally condemned and is considered animal abuse in many countries. So what is his actual point? Who are Belle and the Beast representing? I don't think that question should be answered since I don't think anyone wants to be compared with a zoophile. If he is trying to gain support for accepting same-sex couples, he should be aware of the slippery-slope argument comparing gays to zoophiles that is routinely refuted by gay-rights groups. If he is trying to gain support for accepting people of all races and interracial relationships, he should be aware that African-American men have also historically been referred to as "beasts" and I don't think they would take kindly to being compared to zoophiles either. So Cozart’s point is completely lost here because finding meaning in it is actually more problematic than not having a meaning at all.

Finally, as a piece of rhetoric, Cozart fails to give his viewers one pivotal key: a call to action. His agenda is (somewhat) clear, but what he wants his viewers to do about it is not. What can his viewers do to help the oceans? What can viewers do to get President Obama to close Guantanamo Bay? What can viewers do about the massacre of the Indians? What can viewers do about the persecution of zoophiles? He gives no answers, no guidance, no real reason behind making this video in the first place.

In spite of the hype, this video is a poor example of effective argument and a poor piece of rhetoric.

~Love,
The Lost Princess

Why Defend Princesses?

The Start

I recently had a rather lengthy discussion with a friend of mine on Disney princesses as role models for today’s young women. I believe the films are a positive influence on young women and that the heroines are, largely, strong women who have very admirable qualities; she believes the princesses are mainly a negative influence that reinforce negative stereotypes and are defined mainly by the men of the films (this is a summation of the discussion; we both acknowledge the films have good and bad points, but overall I am pro-Disney and she is con-Disney). I grew up with Disney films. I spent my summers watching them over and over again. I actually watched Beauty and the Beast in slow motion and memorized every frame. Disney characters were a major part of my life and most likely influenced, to some extent, the person that I am today.

So who am I?

I think I turned out pretty well. I graduated Summa Cum Laude from my university and went on to get a Master’s degree in English with a 4.0 average. I taught English at the University of Central Florida, one of the largest universities in America. I am a published author. I have a great marriage. I currently work as a writer and English teacher in China. I’m a (god)mother to the smartest and sweetest child a parent could ever ask for and my husband and I are in the process of formally adopting a daughter of our own. I ballroom dance; I’m a nerd; I’m interested in politics and dinosaurs and volunteer when I can. I pride myself on being well-educated, well-informed, and interesting. I believe I am a strong, independent woman. I’m not saying all this to toot my own horn (and I know I am far from perfect), but it ruffles my feathers for people to tear down Disney movies and Disney heroines when I watched them, and I turned out pretty great.

 The Goal

Of course the experience of one person, who was also influenced by a myriad of other sources (parents, friends, religion, teachers, society, etc.), cannot be counted as typical. The purpose of this blog isn’t to recount my personal reasons why Disney movies and Disney characters are a positive influence on today’s young ladies. Instead, I am going to attempt a systematic examination of each film with a critical eye of why each film’s females are either a positive or negative influence on today’s generation of young ladies. I am going to go through each film (from Snow White to Brave) and write a critical essay on each one. Also, along the way, I will look at other contemporary essays and critiques of the films that currently make the rounds in the news to keep the conversation current. I invite everyone who reads this blog to join in the conversation.

Why just females?

There are several reasons why this blog will focus on the females of Disney films and their effects on young females only. Mainly, it is because it is always the females who take the brunt of the criticism in Disney films. While people may criticize Ariel for giving up her voice for Eric, no one ever criticizes Eric over choosing a woman who he cannot communicate with. It is the women who need to be defended. Also, I’m a woman and have a daughter and am in the process of adopting another one. I feel a personal connection to the women of these films. They are what I want to focus on. Finally, the role of women has changed dramatically since the first Disney film was released in 1937. The shift from subordinate, second-class citizens, to independent people equal to men is a completely modern construct. Men have always been the strong leader in family and society. History is filled with positive, fictional role-models for men, from Hector of Troy to Eddard Stark. For a new generation of women who are family-heads, bread-winners, and CEOs, many people claim that they have had few women from stories to give them strength and encouragement. My position is that Disney has always provided strong female role models and we don’t need to tear those models down.

Don’t I have anything better to do than talk about fictional princesses?

It even surprised me how passionate I got about this topic when I was talking about it with my friend. But it really got me thinking about all the films and what I love about them. I’m a busy person with irons in a lot of fires, but this is going to be my fun blog. It is a creative outlet for me that will allow me to do research and critical analyses that I haven’t had a lot of time for since I finished grad school. I’m really looking forward to this project and I hope people will enjoy discussing this topic with me.

The Process

It all begins with Snow White. Since the release of Snow White in 1937, there have been, officially, 51 full-length animated features. However, not all of these movies feature female characters. Movies like Brother Bear, Fantasia, and The Three Caballeros most likely will not get a featured article. Also, the Pixar collaborations are not included in this list. This will exclude movies like Toy Story and Cars. I’m not boxing myself in to say these movies will be completely left out, but I am not planning critical examinations of these films. Of course, this also leaves out the full-length live-action films like Mary Poppins, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, and Newsies. The main difference for me is the live-action films are “family” films, while the animated features are “children’s” films. Much of the criticism of Disney heroines is the effect they have on young children, so I am going to focus on the 51 full-length animated children’s features.

I will organize the essays into several categories. The first one will be “The Princesses” since this is where much of the criticism lies. Snow White, Aurora, Merdia, and others will be counted here. The second category will be the “Average Ladies.” This is where the non-princess women like Mulan, Jane, and Esmeralda will be. Next will be the “Animal Women.” I think a lot of people forget about the female heroines of the animal world Disney has created. Lady, Nala, Perdita, and Miss Bianca fit in this category (and possibly Maid Marian. I’m debating if she is an animal woman or a princess or an average lady because she kind of fits all three). There will also be essays focusing on “Secondary Female Characters.” Disney films have a wide range of supporting females often giving a guiding voice to the female leads. Flora, Fauna, Merryweather, Grandmother Willow, Grandmother Fa, Queen Eleanor, and Nani are only a sampling of the myriad of women also provide strength, encouragement, and guidance for the main characters and viewers. Finally, the last, but not least, category will be “The Villainesses.” Disney villains have a special place in my heart. Maleficent is one of the most fabulous creations by the Disney Company ever. The Evil Queen, Ursula, Cruella deVille, Yzma – they are all so interesting and multifaceted that they couldn’t be lumped into essays about princesses. They will each be getting their own essays and we will probably have some interesting discussions about what makes women “evil” in contemporary and historical societies.

I’m really excited to start this project! So come on in, pull up a chair, and let’s talk about princesses!

~Love,
The Lost Princess