The Progression of Disney Villains

One thing I’ve noticed about recent Disney movies is that the way villains are portrayed has changed in recent years.  Both older Disney movies, like Sleeping Beauty, and movies from the 1990’s, like The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, had very clear villains from the start of the movie.  I mean, Maleficent literally declares herself “Mistress of All Evil”.  

On the other hand, recent Disney are not immediately obvious until their big reveal part way through the movie (Spoilers ahead).  The example that first comes to mind is Prince Hans in Frozen, who seems helpful, caring, and even loving to Anna until he reveals that he only wanted her throne.  This type of villain contributes to the plot in a very different way than those mentioned above.  Whereas characters like Scar and Maleficent act as the primary drivers of their respective films’ plotlines, the central conflict in Frozen centers on the relationship between Anna and Elsa, and their struggle to keep their kingdom safe (from a major ice storm, among other things).  Hans serves as an additional obstacle in that journey.  

A similar example is Zootopia.  The storyline centers around Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde trying to solve the mystery of several predators “going savage” and attacking other animals.  Judy lets slip that she thinks the predators’ biology may be responsible for the attacks, and soon predators across the city are being profiled and looked down on by prey animals.  The movie has no clear villainous character until near the end, when Assistant-Mayor Bellwether reveals that she is the one causing the predators to “go savage”.  Before this, one could argue that Judy was a villain for causing people to think predators are inherently violent, even though she spends most of the movie trying to undo the damage she accidentally caused.  Even the city of Zootopia could be seen as a villain, since so many citizens readily believed and acted upon the anti-predator statements.  While Bellwether’s actions do provide a catalyst for the story’s conflict, the central storyline really does not revolve around a hero-villain conflict in the way that many older Disney movies do.

I also want to mention Moana for a couple reasons (again, if you haven’t seen it, I will spoil the ending).  First of all, Moana and Maui actually face multiple villains throughout their quest.  These villains progressively become bigger and more dangerous, culminating with a face-off against Te Kā, a huge lava monster.  Moana must get past her in order to restore Te Fiti’s heart.  However, after initially defeating Te Kā, Moana realizes that she is actually Te Fiti, the goddess whose heart Maui stole. In this case, the villain is actually a “good guy”, but neither the hero nor the villain realize it.  Te Kā further illustrates the movie’s central theme of listening to one’s inner voice.  After losing her heart, Te Fiti loses the ability to be or even know who she truly is.