The Disney Villain in the Flesh By Jeff Totey l Disney Sequels l 102 Dalmations l Maleficent l Queen of Hearts l Disney Villians

Disney, who prides itself for bringing “magic” and “happiness” to the world, is also one the best creators of badness. Nobody does villains like Disney. What kid hasn’t been terrified by at least one Disney cartoon? Some parents shy away from Disney animation for that very reason. For every Snow White, there is an Evil Queen lurking in the distance. However, the very reason we root for Peter Pan is because of Captain Hook. We need the bad guys.

Next month, Disney will release the much anticipated film, Maleficent, the latest Disney project bringing a cartoon villain to “real” life. We’ve seen this before with the live action versions of 101 Dalmatians and Alice in Wonderland, but there are more to come. Here is a tribute to the past, current and future projects comparing the original 2D characters to the new human counterparts.

Maleficent

A re-telling of the 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty told from Maleficent’s point of view will be unleashed in theaters on May 30th of this year. The movie actually features three actresses playing the roles of the two main characters. Angeline Jolie of course plays the adult version of Maleficent with Isobelle Molloy as a child version and Elle Purnell as a teen. Princess Aurora is played by Elle Fanning while a younger version of the character is played by Jolie’s own daughter, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt. Esther Hodnett plays the infant Aurora.

Aurora’s love interest, Prince Phillip, is portrayed by Brenton Thwaites. The three “good” fairies are played by Juno Temple as Thistletwit (Fauna), Imelda Staunton as Knotgrass (Merryweather) and Lesley Manville as Flittle (Flora). In addition, the film will feature the song, “Once Upon a Dream” from the original as the new movie’s theme song. It will be sung by Lana Del Rey.

Queen of Hearts

In the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland (2010), Alice is now 19 and makes a return visit to Wonderland where she meets up with some old friends and one big enemy. Shown with an extra-large head, Helena Bonham Carter plays the Queen of Hearts, also known in this particular story as the Red Queen. Other characters include the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas playing both roles), the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), and the Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman). Anne Hathaway played the White Queen who was not featured in the original movie. She is as opposite of the Red Queen as you can get.

Darker in tone, the 2010 movie is actually a lot better than the 1951 version with a more solid storyline.

Cruella De Vil

The wonderfully evil Cruella de Vil was first portrayed by Betty Lou Gerson in the original 1961 animated film. Glenn Close chewed up the role in the 1996 live action version of the story and its 2000 sequel, 102 Dalmatians. Jeff Daniels and Joely Richardson had supporting roles as Roger and Anita and Joan Plowright played the Dalmatians “Nanny.”

Now, Disney has announced that another actress will don the black and white wig in the simply titled Cruella de Vil to be released in a year or two. The studio is hush hush on who that new actress will be and it will be difficult for some to accept someone other than Close could do the role. But have heart. Close is said to be acting as an executive producer for the new flick, so maybe….