Disney's Villains Take the Spotlight: Are They Truly Misunderstood?

Cruella de Vil desired to turn Dalmatian puppies into fur coats, Captain Hook wanted to throw bombs above Peter Pan, and Maleficent cursed Aurora with an early death. But perhaps these Disney villains are just misunderstood? Disney’s latest show, “Villains: Unfairly Ever After”, is just the latest example of a growing trend: reframing the wicked as wounded, and the bad as simply misunderstood. That's the premise of a new musical show at Walt Disney World that has some of them wondering: Since when did Disney villains not want to be so … villainous?

From Evil to Empathetic

It is not the first time Disney has softened its edges toward antagonists; in 2014's Maleficent, Disney adapted the evil fairy from Sleeping Beauty into a guardian who felt betrayed all because of pain, not because of wickedness. Understand, perhaps, by Angelina Jolie's performance, the contrast from that of an evil-spinning fairy to a nearly-everything-not-bad but unhappy guardian turned by her experiences as she turns dark toward the end. But was she still a villain? Not really.

Then came Cruella (2021), a punk-styled origin story of the fur-loving villain from 101 Dalmatians. She is painted as a misunderstood fashion genius driven crazy by trauma and the class struggle. It is hard to reconcile such a sympathetic image with that of somebody who, in the animated version, literally wanted to skin puppies. But then, isn't this the point? This is how revisionist storytelling works: it does not complete the picture-instead, it rewrites how you picture the whole thing.

Even Villains Need a Backstory?

Disney+ has embraced the theme through various series. In Descendants, the offspring of such villains as Maleficent, Jafar, and the Evil Queen are sent to school alongside the children of heroes. Their backstories include the pain of longing, betrayal, and an earnest desire to belong. It is entertaining, but it comes with the idea that sometimes villainy is inherent, or merely circumstantial.

Another example would be Regina, the Evil Queen from Snow White, who redeemed herself and grew from a power-hungry sorceress to a heroic figure. Rumpelstiltskin, Captain Hook, and even Ursula were all granted redemption arcs. No one was hopelessly beyond redemption within this lore. But does that somehow cheapen the earlier versions of the fairy tales?

So, What’s Disney Trying to Say?

Disney's shift might reflect changing social values. People understand that they are shaped by mental illness, by inequality, and by trauma. And by telling fuller stories, Disney aligns itself with a culture that values empathy over judgment, and that's progress.

It also means losing the pleasure of booing a downright villainous villain, such as Scar unrepentant evildoer in The Lion King, the cold terror of the Evil Queen in Snow White, and the comic cruelty of Hades in Hercules. These characters were magnetic because they loved being wicked. They needed no tragic backstories. They were fun, fabulous, and terrifying all at once.

Final Thought

The world is being asked to remember their childhood fears and now possibly pity them. A nice twist that is probably going to work. But while we sympathize with the villains, let's not forget the birthright of an immaculate villain. Darkness, at times, is required in our storytelling.

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