Just visually, the Disney princess villains have evolved throughout the past 90 years.
Graphic created by Adrianna Waters
Happy last week of October! I'm sure you've noticed that this month, I've been keeping my posts related to Halloween in some way, whether they be villain rankings or Disney death analysis. My final post for this spooky month is one I have been looking forward to for a long time, and there's no better way to wrap up my villainous content than an analysis of the evolution of villains in Disney princess movies.
You know from my blog that I love analyzing Disney movies, and I love looking at how storytelling in Disney changes along with our culture and society. I think this evolution is prominent in how Disney creates and portrays villains, and nowhere is this more evident than the princess movies, where the dichotomy between hero and villain is most present. After all, the very first princess movie's villain was a jealous queen who wanted to kill her stepdaughter for being more fair and beautiful. The most recent Disney princess villain? Anna and Elsa's grandfather, or rather the actions of their grandfather.
So how did we go from such one-dimensional villains to more abstract, complex conflicts? This evolution has been almost one hundred years in the making, and it reflects changes in storytelling, resources, and culture. I first made this insight when I was a senior in high school, and I've been waiting for an opportunity to present this analysis for over four years, so buckle up: it's going to be a long one.
Note: While I am basing my analysis off of Disney movies and using some sources to back up my points, all observations are my own. The stages I discuss are of my own making, and none of this is official or proven by Disney.
Stage One: The Jealous Woman aka The Reliance on Fairytale Tropes
The original Disney princess villains are vain, jealous, and usually wearing some shade of purple.
Photos Retrieved from Pinterest, Disney Fandom | Lady Tremaine, Disney Fandom | Maleficent, and Digital Spy.
In 1938, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made history as the first featured animated film. Because of that milestone, the movie remains a classic; when considering the time period and available resources, the animation and music are stunning.
What's a little lackluster, though, is the story. It's simplistic and basic and just about everything you would expect from an early-era Disney movie. And a simple story cannot exist without a simple conflict; a simple conflict cannot exist without a simple villain.
Enter the Evil Queen whose name is literally "Evil Queen." The Evil Queen's personality and motivations can be summed up in less than a minute, and although characters for children are supposed to be recognizable and understandable, the clear-cut villainy of the Evil Queen is a bit dramatic.
After all, what are her motivations? Jealousy, which stems from beauty and fairness. She viciously orders her huntsman to kill her stepdaughter because she is fairer than her; when he fails to complete the task, she murders him and transforms into an ugly, old woman to complete the task herself.
It shouldn't be lost that the vain and jealous Evil Queen not only transforms into an "ugly witch" to poison Snow White, but she dies in her ugly form as well.
Photo Retrieved from Wikipedia | Evil Queen.
Feminist scholars have noted the problematic elements of Snow White, one of them being the portrayal of a villain steeped in stereotypical feminine concerns. The villain can't be concerned with ambition or power (though they may be related), but rather by beauty. These concerns are a main reason why older audiences tend to only watch Snow White for nostalgia feels rather than the story. The Evil Queen is boring, and for women, a little troublesome.
So are Lady Tremaine and her daughters, or: the wicked and ugly stepmother and the wicked and ugly stepdaughters. They aren't magical or royal like the Evil Queen, but after that, the similarities start to emerge. All villains are jealous women concerned with beauty and status, and the poor heroine is a naive (but beautiful!) mistreated stepdaughter. The fact that the stepdaughters are often referred to as the "ugly stepsisters" furthers the idea that the villains are ugly and they are jealous of the heroine who is not ugly, which causes them to lash out at the heroine and perpetuate all sorts of villainy.
Riveting stuff, huh?
Writers can't be faulted too much for these portrayals. After all, Disney movies are modeled after classic fairy tales where evil=ugly and good=beautiful. And with animated movies being such a new and risky concept, creators had to latch onto ideas that were familiar and popular; unfortunately, in the 1930s and 1950s, the evil, jealous woman trope was common in all storytelling.
The trio is presented as wicked and clunky compared to the graceful Cinderella.
Photo Retrieved from Pinterest.
But the trio of Tremaine and her daughters isn't the last of the jealous women trope. In 1959, creators decided to use what worked well, and thus Sleeping Beauty was birthed. The plot achingly similar to Snow White, Sleeping Beauty returns to the magical sorceress who seethes with jealousy. While Maleficent doesn't explicitly point to beauty as motivation like the Evil Queen does, it's not a hard stretch to make considering Aurora is given the gift of beauty and Maleficent is painted as a sickly and scary villain who looks more monster than woman—and who literally becomes more monster than woman when she transforms into a dragon at the end. Granted, Maleficent is a much more interesting villain than Lady Tremaine or the Evil Queen. She's given frightening images and language that create a villain that's better written. But all you have to do is cock your head and close your eye to realize Maleficent doesn't look all that different than the Evil Queen. And the Evil Queen doesn't look all that different from Lady Tremaine.
After Sleeping Beauty, though, there was a lag in the jealous women in princess films—but only because there was a lag in the creation of princess films. It wasn't until thirty years later that we get our next Disney princess movie. Three decades is a lot of time to cover, and it's a lot of time in which resources are developed, writers get more creative, and society can progress.
But not too much.
The Little Mermaid was the first Disney princess film in the Disney Renaissance, one of Disney's most successful eras of movies. The contribution of Ashman and Menken's music, improvements in animation, and changes in entertainment made The Little Mermaid a success. Ariel shined, the sidekicks shimmered, and Ursula stole the spotlight with her frightening demeanor, humorous quips, and iconic music. To this day, Ursula remains a beloved Disney villain.
Yet, we just can't shake the feeling that we've seen this villain before.
It's because we have.
Despite their movies being around thirty years apart, Maleficent and Ursula look and act very similar.
Photo Retrieved from Chronicles of the Kwan.
Ursula is ugly (like the Evil Queen's transformation,). Her skin tone is an unusual, pale shade (like Maleficent's). She is a powerful sorceress (like the Evil Queen and Maleficent). And her motivations are steeped in jealousy and unfairness (like all the villains before). True, she is made more interesting by her sassy lines. Yes, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" does wonders for her character. And of course, she is also obsessed with control and revenge, making her slightly more complex than her predecessors. But in the 1980s, Disney is still portraying princess villains that always have two things in common: they're female, and they're jealous.
The rise in feminism and gender equality did wonders for how women and villains were portrayed in fairytale stories. We've seen this effect on current films like Frozen, but the progressive shift toward stronger, well-rounded, and unique villains started much sooner than 2013. Although The Little Mermaid sticks out in this category by being decades away from Sleeping Beauty and so close to the next princess film, the 1990s didn't just mark a shift in Disney films that were more successful for both audiences and critics. It marked a shift in the portrayal of villains in the princess films.
Stage Two: The Power-Hungry Male aka Surprise! Men Can Be Villains Too
In the Disney Renaissance, the princess films switched tactics to use power-hungry and greedy men instead.
Photos Retrieved from. Disney Fandom | Gaston, Disney Fandom | Jafar, Oh My Disney!, and Disney Fandom | Shan Yu.
A lot of my and other people's favorite princess movies were made in the Disney renaissance, and I think the evolution of Disney villains during this time period is a big reason why. While this phase doesn't last long and doesn't include The Little Mermaid like chronology would suggest, there is a definite connection between these four villains (besides the fact that they're all men).
While the first four princess villains were women obsessed with jealousy and vanity, the male villains are obsessed with power, control, and money—understandably so, considering the early movie tropes that women are motivated by beauty while men are motivated by power. The villains in this phase are still a bit one-dimensional, but they are more complex than an evil queen who wants to kill her stepdaughter because of beauty or a jealous stepmother.
The first villain in this phase is Beauty and the Beast's Gaston. Gaston's obsession with control and power isn't like most villain's; he doesn't wish to control a kingdom or have power over a land. Instead, Gaston wants control and power over Belle and his image. I've noted in several previous blog posts that Gaston mirrors toxic masculinity in a way that is impressive and interesting considering its 1991 release date. Although the term "toxic masculinity" wasn't invented until recently and feminism has progressed in the 21st century, Gaston is still a scathing portrayal of sexism, and his need for power or control stems from what we call toxic masculinity.
He wants Belle because she's " the most beautiful girl in town. That makes her the best. And don't I deserve the best?" When he discovers the beast's existence, he immediately orders a mob to destroy him and the castle, reminding everyone that "the beast is mine!" And of course, his villain song is nothing short of a masculine ego trip.
Gaston's villain portrayal is complex, combining the normal fairy tale villain needs with conflict based on reality. In fact, several of the villains in stage two seem to connect to real-world conflicts in some way.
Gaston may be an exaggeration like several Disney characters are, but his motives are in stark contrast to the women in stage one.
Photo Retrieved from Bustle.
Immediately after Beauty and the Beast, which was a hit when it was released, Aladdin premiered. Now admittedly, Jafar is not as complex as Gaston, which makes sense considering his character was based on Maleficent. Whereas Maleficent's motives are jealousy and revenge, Jafar's are power and control.
We don't get a real reason why Jafar wants to become sultan other than the obvious ploy for power. He has an obvious disdain for the Sultan and Jasmine, and his desperation for power and control is furthered by his willingness to do anything to grab it, including using a magical staff and attempting to retrieve the genie lamp.
Jafar's motivations may be simple, and they aren't as directly related to reality as Gaston's are; however, what sets Jafar apart is that, like Gaston, his motivations and actions are steeped in sexism.
When he lies to Jasmine that he killed Aladdin, his voice and body language are smarmy and condescending, especially with his lilting line "I am exceedingly sorry, princess." When Iago suggests that Jafar marry Jasmine to get power, Jafar agrees, conveying the idea that her only purpose is to marry (which isn't far off from how people used to feel about female royalty). Most disturbingly, when Jafar steals the lamp back, he forces Jasmine to serve him with chains on her wrists and utters the awful line: "You're speechless. A fine quality in a wife."
In one of the more disturbing moments in the film, Jasmine is forced to feed Jafar with chains connecting her to his staff (or his power).
Photo Retrieved from Throwback.
Jafar's sexism is presented as more of an additional villainous trait rather than his main motivation, which is control and power. And although Jafar's obsession stems from a royal power, Disney's next princess villain wants power and control in the form of something. different: money.
Pocahontas may be controversial based on how much it strays from history; one thing it does get right, though, is the villain. Governor Ratcliffe may be an exaggeration like most villains are, but his greed and stereotypes mirror what actually happened when Europeans arrived in the "New" World. Governor Ratcliffe's motivation, then, is money, which is intrinsically tied to power and control over the land and the Native Americans who inhabited it. Governor Ratcliffe even has a song that explicitly shows his greed: "Mine, Mine, Mine."
He may not be the most interesting villain, but Governor Ratcliffe is just as obsessed with power and control as Gaston and Jafar, though it's presented in a different way. And the historical basis reminds us of the real-world implications of villainy, even if the rest of the plot is riddled with inaccuracies.
The gold imagery shows the motivation of Governor Ratcliffe.
Photo Retrieved from Film Music Central.
Pocahontas isn't about war directly, but the implications are there. Disney's next princess film, however, is much darker and deeper than the previous because it portrays an event that humanity has experienced: war and loss.
Shan Yu and the Huns invade China because they want power and control over China's land, which is a primary motivation of war. Mulan shows the brutality and tragedy of war, especially in the frightening and disturbing scene where Mulan and the men stumble upon the destruction and massacre of the Huns. The imagery of the doll without its owner and Li Shang's father's abandoned helmet suggest the death caused by war, making Mulan's villain the most directly related to real-world conflict.
One of the darkest and most visually impactive scenes in Disney.
The main reason these villains were more complex and interesting than the first four is because Disney started to stray away from the original stories, using them more as inspiration and script; in fact, some of these villains don't even exist in the original fairytales. The more Disney detours from the originals, the more complex and interesting the villains become. While every villain in this stage is shaped and modified based on the stories' needs, they still possess a similarity. Eleven years after Mulan, Disney released its next villain, one that possessed some of the similarities of previous villain traits while still introducing us to the next villain stage.
Stage Three: The Manipulative Villain aka Disney Loves Dramatic Irony
The villains in this stage are known for their deceit and manipulation, and their characters are becoming more complex and intriguing.
Photos Retrieved from Disney Fandom | Dr. Facilier and Disney Villains Fandom | Mother Gothel.
Admittedly, this phase is the smallest as it only includes two villains. Disney is no longer relying on a villain trope that used the same personality and gender, instead creating a villain based on the story's needs. The Princess and the Frog didn't use a villain based on the original fairy tale, instead choosing to create a villain based on the setting (voodoo was popular in 1920s New Orleans). Tangled already had a villain based on the original tale, so a little modifying for the adaptation was all that was needed. We continue to see Disney stretch further away from the original fairy tale story in both, and we can see that Disney is slowly creating more complex villains; although there is still a rather simple motivation for each, the villains are given more characterization and depth. And while their motivations may seem connected to previous stages (Dr. Facilier with the voodoo's control and Mother Gothel with her health and beauty obsession), each motivation is steeped in something else, making them less shallow.
However, there is one factor that connects Dr. Facilier and Mother Gothel together: manipulation.
While to some degree, all villains are manipulative (Ursula convincing Ariel to give up her voice, Gaston attempting to get Belle to marry him by locking her father up, and a certain modern villain who uses the promise of love to get what he wants), what makes stage three's villains different is that their manipulation ignites the central conflict and is unknown by the protagonist at the time.
Interestingly, in The Princess and the Frog, Dr. Facilier doesn't actually play a huge role in the movie, a stark shift from previous villains; Tiana doesn't have a direct confrontation with Dr. Facilier until the end, though she reaps the consequences of his actions through his shadows (and by becoming a frog, of course). Instead, Naveen experiences the direct confrontation with Dr. Facilier. In the impressive "Friends on the Other Side," we see Dr. Facilier manipulate Naveen into taking a potion. What makes Dr. Facilier a different villain is that his entire character is based on manipulation. Voodoo is known for being a territory that you don't mess with. Whether you believe in the magic or think it's a sleight of hand, you can't deny that practicers of voodoo are often perceived as sketchy and manipulative, hence Dr. Facilier's nickname of "The Shadow Man." Even the imagery surrounded by Dr. Facilier suggests deceit: his shadow is constantly moving differently and objects change to match his villainy. And of course, in "Friends on the Other Side," he manipulates Naveen by telling him the potion will make him green. He doesn't lie; the potion makes Naveen a frog instead of the money that Dr. Facilier used imagery to insinuate (but not technically say) was the green he was referring to. Distorting the truth is a classic method of manipulation, and Dr. Facilier uses it perfectly to instigate the movie's conflict.
Dr. Facilier's shadow is a manifestation of his personality, and whenever his shadow appears in front of the wallpaper, the design changes to skull and crossbones.
Photos Retrieved from Disney Fandom | Facilier's Shadow and Reddit.
However, after Naveen becomes a frog, Dr. Facilier steps out of the spotlight. He uses Lawrence to maintain his power and manipulate Charlotte, he sends his shadows after Naveen and Tiana, and he eventually kills Raymond. But compared to other villains, he has much less screen time as the movie chooses to focus on Naveen's and Tiana's developments instead. This is in contrast to this stage's other villain, who makes regular appearances and acts entirely on her own.
Mother Gothel may be one of the most manipulative Disney villains to exist. We know that Mother Gothel is the villain from our previous fairy tale knowledge, but the use of Tangled's dramatic irony through Eugene's opening narration informs us immediately about Mother Gothel's intentions and motivations. Because we have the knowledge of Mother Gothel's villainy, we can notice the details throughout the film.
Rapunzel spends 18 years convinced she must stay locked in the tower because people want to use her hair, when in reality Mother Gothel is the one using and controlling her. We can tell in the film that Rapunzel has an adventurous spirit, but she is constantly undermined by the manipulative Mother Gothel, preventing her from rebelling earlier; in fact, it's not until Mother Gothel loses a sense of her manipulation and snaps at Rapunzel that she will never leave the tower that Rapunzel finally breaks free of Mother Gothel's hold.
Some people like to make the claim that as twisted as Mother Gothel is, she still cared for Rapunzel in some way; just like Rapunzel, these people are falling victim to Mother Gothel's manipulation because she never cared for Rapunzel, only the power she brought. If you rewatch the film with a close eye, pay attention to every time Mother Gothel says or does something affectionate, such as telling Rapunzel she loves or kissing her. You'll notice that every time she does this, she is directing her energy toward Rapunzel's hair, either by kissing her hair, patting it while saying she loves Rapunzel, etc. These subtle details show the extent of Mother Gothel's manipulation: that she could convince both Rapunzel and the audience that her affection is geared toward our protagonist and not her magical hair.
This effective imagery is shown while Mother Gothel sings "You know why we stay up in this tower/That's right, to keep you safe and sound, dear."
GIF Retrieved from Amino Apps.
Moreover, Mother Gothel manipulates Rapunzel by pretending to be the overprotective mother rather than "the bad guy" that she finally becomes at the end when Rapunzel figures out the truth; after all, why be a kidnapper when you could be a mother? The idea of Mother Gothel being "the bad guy" is mentioned several times in the film in an attempt to guilt Rapunzel. After she yells at Rapunzel, breaking free from the sickly sweet persona she normally uses, she follows it up with "Great. Now I'm the bad guy." She is, and we know she is, but the line has an almost reverse psychology effect in an attempt to convince Rapunzel that Mother Gothel isn't the bad guy; the people outside are.
She constantly undermines Rapunzel, saying that she isn't fit to go outside She preys on Rapunzel's fears and insecurities despite being the instigator of said fears and insecurities. Her villain song "Mother Knows Best" is the best example of her manipulation. The song explains to Rapunzel all the reasons why she should be afraid to leave, yet it is Mother Gothel who is creating the imagery of these fears.
Mother Gothel warns Rapunzel of the "men with pointy teeth," but she is the one holding the paintbrush that created the terrifying image.
Photo Retrieved from YouTube.
And of course, Mother Gothel is constantly criticizing Rapunzel and then saying she is joking, like when she calls Rapunzel's mumbling annoying and then calls her adorable, or when she makes her infamous "Oh look, you're here too" line in front of the mirror, then laughs it off. These lines reinforce the idea that Rapunzel is annoying or unworthy but that her "mother" still loves her.
The belittling continues when Mother Gothel finds Rapunzel, and in a stunning reprise of "Mother Knows Best," doesn't attempt to brush away her critiques against Rapunzel, singing "Look at you! You think that he's impressed?" When Mother Gothel's scheme succeeds, she makes Rapunzel run back to her and hug her, reinforcing the manipulation that Mother Gothel is the sole good and protective force in Rapunzel's life.
It's clear that Mother Gothel fits into the manipulative villain stage, but what's interesting is that at first glance, she may seem to fit into stage one of villains because of her obsession with staying young, beautiful, and healthy. And although there is certainly a vanity component, I would argue that Mother Gothel is more concerned with control and power than physicality. She obviously wants to stay young and healthy, but she never explicitly says this. In the scene where Mother Gothel finds a missing Rapunzel and discovered her crown in the tower, her panic is evident as she comes to terms with the fact that for the first time in 18 years, she is losing control: over Rapunzel, over herself, and over her image. Mother Gothel, then, combines stage one and stage two villains to breed an entirely new antagonist. Like Dr. Facilier, she is concerned with power or control or other surface-level desires, but the manipulation both use makes them entirely more complex.
Stage Four: The Obstacle Villain aka The Emergence of Conflict-Based Stories
While the movies in this stage do have villains, they are much more complex, and the conflict tends to be driven less by villains and more by abstract issues.
Photos Retrieved from Disney Fandom | Villain RP, Disney Fandom | Hans, and Disney Villain Fandom | Te Kā.
It's no wonder, then, that manipulation finds its way into some of the villains in the next Disney stage; after all, one of the best ways to create an interesting and complex villain is to sprinkle in some psychological manipulation. The main difference between stage three and stage four villains is the role the villain plays. Mother Gothel and Dr. Facilier clearly drive the conflict in their movies; on the other hand, the modern Disney princess villain is more of an obstacle than the main conflict, the movies relying on more abstract ideas to create a problem.
This isn't a shift specific to Disney princess villains. If you check out my blog post Vicious Villains vs. Curious Conflict, you'll note that Disney has been shifting away from the black and white hero vs. villain and toward the ambiguous conflict-solution in its movies. However, it is especially noticeable in the princess movies, films that used to rely so much on the hero/villain dichotomy. The shift from this dichotomy to ambiguity marks an evolution in storytelling in all films, especially children's animated films, but it also reflects the changing and progressive culture. This shift is especially evident in the type of "villains" that do appear.
In Pixar's first official Disney princess film, Brave, Merida broke barriers for princes movies by defying marriage, choosing her own path, and not falling in love. The different plot already marks the shift in the princess movies, and without a romance looming in the background, the hero/villain rules change. There is no love interest to save the day (like in the earlier films) and there is no villain to ruin the romance (like we see in the later films). In fact, the main conflict in Brave isn't really driven by a villain but by a concept.
Sure, Mor'du, the selfish prince turned bear, is technically the villain, and he definitely causes conflicts in the film. But the inciting incident isn't caused by him; it's caused by the rift between Merida and her mother, which in turn speaks about the conflicting ideas of tradition and independence. Merida's main goal is to turn her mother and brothers back into humans, and the only reason they were transformed is because Merida made a bargain to change her fate. The only way for her to reverse the curse is to mend the relationship with her mother.
Thus, Mor'du plays a role in the movie, but only to emphasize the pre-established conflict, both on a literal and symbolic level. Compared to earlier villains like the Evil Queen and Ursula whose actions drive the conflict, Mor'du's actions supplement the conflict.
The mother-daughter conflict in Brave takes precedent over the problems caused by Mor'du, who escalates rather than begins the conflict.
Photo Retrieved from Seattle Pacific University Response.
We see the same storytelling method in the 2013 blockbuster Frozen, a movie that followed on the tails of Brave to break even more boundaries. The main love is the sisterly love. There's a romance, but it's barely there, and more importantly, it's not the first guy our heroine meets. Of course, the reveal of Hans as a diabolical villain was groundbreaking in terms of its romantic trope subversion, and the use of the hero-is-actually-a-villain trope is running rampant in modern Disney films (Wreck-It Ralph, Coco, The Incredibles 2, etc.).
All this to say, you may be thinking "Wait, Frozen does have a main villain. It's Hans. And doesn't Hans fit the stage three villain's manipulation motif?"
What's actually going on is that yes, Frozen has a villain. So does Brave. But just like how Mor'du didn't cause the film's central conflict, Hans' role in Frozen's story is actually rather small. Yes, Hans manipulates Anna 100%. But unlike Dr. Facilier and Mother Gothel, his manipulation doesn't ignite the main conflict, instead adding to the problems. He does some swooning and manipulating, but until the end, his actions don't actually have a big effect on the movie's conflict. Sure, his proposal to Anna is what causes the public argument between the sisters, leading to Elsa's power reveal. But, there are countless other actions that could have caused this. Hans plays the manipulative prince well, but until he almost murders Elsa, he isn't the one standing between the two sisters. It's not Hans that the sisters have to overcome, but a deeper, more abstract conflict.
Hans isn't the main villain in Frozen. Fear is.
Frozen uses imagery and colors effectively to convey Elsa's anxiety; as her fear intensifies, her ice castle loses its calming blue and white snowy colors and instead becomes a harsh red and pink, leaving the audience with an anxious and alarming feeling.
Photo Retrieved from Disney Fandom | Elsa.
Hans was not the original villain of the film; ironically, that role went to Elsa until the creators wrote "Let It Go" and realized the film's story could take a very different route. It was through this revision that a new role was crafted for Hans, but even then, he is but a shadow compared to the darkness of Elsa's fear. He doesn't even appear until about 16 minutes into the film (compared to earlier movies where the villain is introduced within the first ten minutes), and while it is possible for a villain to make a late entrance, the princess films in the other stages typically introduce the villain much sooner because they have to get the conflict rolling. This isn't a problem, of course, when your main villain isn't a person.
There's so much more to be said about the role of villains in Frozen (and the sequel, which notably, also focuses more on a conflict than a villain), but there's still one more Disney princess movie in this stage, one that is perhaps the most intriguing and complex. Released in 2016, Moana is the most recent original Disney princess film. It follows its predecessors by shifting the focus away from romance, and it neglects the dichotomy of hero vs. villain. Instead, what we see in Moana is a conflict plagued by villains who are obstacles instead.
The coconut pirates are technically villains, but they only slow down Moana's progress, and after Moana and Maui defeat them, they disappear. Tamatoa gives us a bop of a villain song with "Shiny," but like the coconut pirates, all the heroes have to do is hop over this obstacle before the crustacean disappears from their lives. When Moana and Maui finally reach what we think is the movie's main villain, Te Kā, the plot turns on its head: Te Kā isn't really the villain but a cursed Te Feti who became a lava monster after her heart was stolen. Once the heart is returned, Te Feti returns. By basic storytelling definitions, Te Kā can't be the movie's villain because Te Kā and Moana want the same thing: to restore the heart of Te Feti.
Tamatoa has a lot of purposes in Moana. He breaks up the story with a sassy and catchy villain song. He brings great visuals and imagery for children to enjoy. He presents another problem that Moana and Maui have to solve. What he doesn't do, however, is start the conflict or significantly hinder the heroes' journey.
Photo Retrieved from Disney Fandom | Tamatoa.
So is the villain Maui for stealing the heart in the first place? No, because Maui also wants the same thing as Moana and Te Feti. We already went through the obstacle-like villains of the coconut pirates and Tamatoa. Once again, we have a modern Disney princess movie that uses its villains as instigators of obstacles instead of inciters of conflicts. The added twist of Te Kā being Te Feti makes the use of villains even more complex in Moana, following the progression of abstract and complex conflicts in Disney movies. As the audience of Disney movies expands, culture progresses, and technologies improve, we receive stories that rely less on the fairytale tropes and more on ambiguous conflicts steeped in real issues we face in the world. After all, it's unlikely most people will face an evil sea witch. But mother-daughter disagreements, manipulative boyfriends, or misunderstood angry people? These are topics that relate much more to Disney's dual audience of children and adults.
The evolution of villains in Disney princess movies didn't happen in a snap. In a span of almost a hundred years, we've seen everything from the vain and jealous stepmother to the power-hungry male to the complex conflicts of recent movies. If you compare Ursula or Maleficent with Mor'du or Hans, the difference is so stark, it's no wonder it took so long to get here.
And the use of villains in all Disney films, but especially the princess movies, will likely continue to shift. As technology improves, education increases, and world politics shift, storytelling, too, changes.
Right now, Disney's next Disney princess movie is set to release in March of 2021, The trailer of Raya and the Last Dragon only recently dropped, and the voice actress of Raya, Kelly Marie Tran, referred to Raya as "technically a princess," with the film following the trend of recent Disney princess movies as it changes what it means to be a Disney princess.
As the first Disney movie to feature a Southeast Asian actress as the lead character, Raya and the Last Dragon is already set to break boundaries. Will it cause more shifts in terms of storytelling and conflict?
Photo Retrieved from Indie Wire.
Will Ray and the Last Dragon continue to use the storytelling uses in stage four, presenting a central conflict rather than a central villain? Or will the villain trope mirror past stages while other storytelling devices shift to match culture? It's hard to say based on only the trailer, and we'll have to wait until next year to see what the movie has in store.
If you've made it to the end, congrats! And thank you for sitting through and reading my very extensive, very lengthy analysis of the evolution of villains in Disney princess movies. The intersection of culture and entertainment in children's animated movies is fascinating, and I have been waiting for years to finally write down all the little thoughts and observations I've made about villains.
Are there observations I've missed? What do you think is in store for future Disney princess movies? Drop a comment below or leave a message. And don't forget to check out @genielampofstories on Instagram for more Disney content.
Until later, have courage and be kind.
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