DR. FACILIER (AKA, THE SHADOW MAN)
FROM "THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG"
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!
In my review, I talked about how disappointed I was about Dr.Facilier not being the master of his voodoo minions, where instead they're his master. I get that the film is trying to be somewhat accurate to the voodoo religion and I respect that, but this film pretty much erases the racial prejudice that went on during the era that the film takes place in, which was a big thing at that time. If the film can do that and make it look plausible for its "Once Upon A Time..." look and feel, why not make Facilier the master of his own voodoo spirits and in the end have him reveal his true monstrous form leading to a big climax, instead of him just being a con-artist Witch Doctor who gets help from the spirits, and in the end gets taken away by the them? Even the Bond film "Live And Let Die", while not one of the best Bond films out there for numerous reasons; as out of place that the voodoo villain Baron Samedi was for a Bond villain, he was still a cool and very mysterious villain where we're not 100% percent sure if he's the real Voodoo god of Baron Semedi or not (If he is, why is he working for a drug Kingpin?); and despite not having an army of minions, he still had supernatural powers that made him immortal and a challenge for Bond where he had complete control over his magic, instead of the magic and voodoo spirit world controlling him. That’s pretty much what I was expecting from this Disney villain. I mean wouldn’t it be cool if he was some sort of lord or god of voodoo like how Maleficent was the mistress of all evil; or how Hades was lord of the dead? Making him what he is, just feels like a missed opportunity, especially in a film that’s already taking liberties for its Fairy Tale world. With that said however, as much as I wish that Facilier was the one leading the voodoo spirits, instead of the voodoo spirits only helping him unless they get something in return, I still think he is still an awesome villain.
First of all, his design is freaking awesome! The top hat with the skull and crossbones on it; his clothes being drenched with the colors red and purple; his thin physical appearance with his quick and slick movements as he wields a cool looking cane; those evil and expressive bright purple eyes; and that wicked smile that he carries with a gap in his front teeth (Modeled after the actor voicing him) are just too freaking cool to look at. When I saw his design and heard what kind of a villain he is, I was curious in seeing what this villain had in store. Interesting enough, remember when I compared him to Baron Samedi, well the ironic part is his design is also similar to how Baron Semedi looked in both folklore and the Bond film. He even on one occasion magically removes the skull and crossbones on his top hat and makes them appear on the upper half of his face, which is the facial features that Baron Semedi is best known for. So yeah, even with his design being modeled after a voodoo god and a great Bond villain who either is or isn't the voodoo god he's based and named after, you can tell that it really added to my disappointment of this villain not being a voodoo god or master of his own voodoo minions.
Ok, now I'm seriously harping on the fact that Facilier isn't in charge of the voodoo minions that help him, and yeah it's a bit of a downer, but not down to the point where he himself doesn’t have a few cool abilities of his own! For instance he is a very smart and persuasive villain. Keith David does the voice of this villain and he is absolutely perfect at playing him by making him fun, intimidating, and most of all very persuasive! Whenever he tries to persuade a character to take part in his deals, his voice and mannerisms are so cool and smooth while keeping a confident and friendly approach as he guarantees you that you will be satisfied by his offer; despite how creepy he looks, he does come off as a very manipulative con-artist. Even when he shows his sign of fear to his so called "Friends From The Other Side" when he asks them to help him do his bidding, while promising them the souls of the people in New Orleans once he takes charge of the city in return, he still comes off as manipulative. Even though Facilier gets help from "His Friends On The Other Side", he himself does possess a few powers of his own like using voodoo dolls to kill people; a shadow minion of himself that's completely loyal to him; and having magic cards and powder that both help him convince the people he cons to accept his deals. We know right away how this Witch Doctor operates when we're first introduced to him after the opening credits on the sunny streets of New Orleans as he strikes up a deal with a bald guy by giving him hair in exchange for a coin; the man gets his hair that at first grows on his head just as Facilier promised, but he didn't tell him that it would grow all over his body, which makes Facilier laugh with delight after successfully suckering money out of him.
As good as all of his scenes of conning and manipulating people with his words and magic are, there are two scenes that I think are his best when it comes to tempting people to his deals. First there's the scene in the climax when Facilier turns Tiana back into a human and poofs up the restaurant that she's been dreaming of having that Facilier promises to give to her and keep her in her human form in exchange for the amulet that the voodoo spirits gave him. Ok, yes she doesn't give in and it does seem kind of obvious that she wouldn't since it takes place during the film's climatic showdown, but the way he tries to tempt her is so convincing and manipulating that my guess is, if this scene wasn't part of the film's climax I bet he would win and screw her over. Just look how he causally and smoothly talks to Tiana as he sips his wine and fiddles around with his cards, as he not only turns Tiana into a human and shows her a dreamlike vision of her restaurant, but also shows her past visions of the friends that Tiana has ditched to work for her goal; the people who doubted her in ever achieving her dream; and her deceased Father who was a hard working man, but never ever got his restaurant, which most likely seems like the path that Tiana will go down. He even quotes one of Tiana's lines by telling her that she's "almost there", and as you watch Facilier try to tempt her into giving him the amulet, you can really tell how emotionally torn she is about the situation, and almost seems tempted into giving Facilier what he wants. Once again, Facilier does lose and it seem kind of obvious that he was going to lose since the scene is happening when the film is near its end, but at the same time you can surely say that Facilier was really close to successfully getting back the amulet and probably would win if he didn't spend so much time showing Tiana visions of her young self with her happy family, which makes her realize the important things in life that causes her to not agree to his deal.
The second scene and in my opinion the best scene that involves Facilier tempting people with his deals is his musical number "Friends On The Other Side"! After we see Facilier screw over a customer in his introduction scene, when he finds out that a Prince is going to marry the daughter of the richest man in New Orleans, he figures it is now time for him to make some big doe with his powers and help from his friends. Facilier smoothly and politely introduces himself to the Prince and his servant Lawrence and invites them to his emporium to give them a reading of their future. The Prince is interested, while Lawrence isn't but that doesn't stop Facilier at all from not bringing them in, as he persuades them to come in with a song and use of magic. The first verse of the song is him singing about what he does, what he has, and who he has connections with as he dances around like Cab Calloway to an upbeat jazz tune and sings with singing masks, which he claims to the Prince and Lawrence that they are just his parlor tricks. Once he and his customers are seated, he shows them his magic cards that can show them the past, present, and future, where he promises to make their dreams come true. He promises the Prince that he can be free from being forced to marry a rich women by the power of green, which the Prince thinks that he means money (Even Facilier makes him think it is, as his cards turn to cash); and promises the Prince’s servant that he will no longer be pushed around and will instead be in the Prince's place. The visuals for the cards that he shows are amazing, and the song now taking a slow pace is very fitting and mystical given for what's going on in the scene. After he gets them both to shake his hand, which Lawrence willing agrees, as the Prince feels reluctant about it but will take his chances, the song turns into total madness as we're drenched with colorful and surreal horror imagery as the song gets faster and faster to the point where it becomes insane and intense; especially when we see Facilier with a skull face tie the Prince up to a chair with snakes and use a magic amulet that he got from the voodoo spirits to take his blood, which causes him to change as Lawrence watches in horror. Facilier suddenly ends the chaos by simply hushing all of this where the suddenly lights go out, where all we see left of him is his bright white skull face with tiny dot purple eyes. Almost anyone who has seen this movie will tell you that this song is the best song in the movie and honestly I do whole heartedly agree with it! It's catchy, has a great change of pace for each verse, the singing from Keith David is stunning (Who'd think that Goliath from "The Gargoyles" or The Flame King from "Adventure Time" could sing), and the visuals are incredible!
After the deal is made it turns out that neither the Prince or his servant got what they wanted. Naveen is turned into a Frog, instead of getting money to be free; and Lawrence is given an amulet with the Prince's blood that can make him look like the Prince, instead of him having a Castle of his own. Despite Facilier misleading them into what they thought that they were getting, he still gave them what he promised. Naveen can roam free as a frog once the plan of getting Lawrence in his Prince disguise to marry the rich daughter so that he can claim his fortune and split it with Lawrence is complete (In fact, the card that Naveen looks at that regards his future hints that he's going to be a Frog as the card shows him sitting on a lilypad full of cash); and Lawrence can be rich if he goes along with Facilier's plan, which he reluctantly does so. I will say this about Facilier, he's not only a good con-artist, but he does have a great plan of taking over New Orleans as he makes himself rich, and I guess me calling him a glorified henchman in my review seems pretty unfair considering that this is all his plan where he does for the most part succeed at persuading people to go along with his evil scheme.
This villain is also the first Disney villain to successfully kill off a comical supporting character. Don't get me wrong, other villains that kill supporting characters like Scar killing off Mufasa in "The Lion King" for example do outrank this villain big time since they a play a larger role then what a comical character does in a Disney film, but the thing is killing off a comical supporting character is a rule that Disney has never broken in their animated films, until now! They've been in near death situations before and seemed to be dead, only to reveal that their still alive later on, but they never been flat out killed off before! Can you imagine if someone like the Genie in "Aladdin" or the mice in “Cinderella” suddenly getting killed by the villain, it would be both shocking and devastating; and seeing a comical and cute talking Firefly who's triumphantly kicking the butts of the Shadow Demons with his light to suddenly getting swatted and crushed by the villain was (and still is) shocking and unexpected for the people who first saw this film! We don't see blood or footage of him suffering from being crushed by Facilier, but man does the sound effect used for his death sound really harsh and brutal!
Speaking of death, even though Facilier's death involves his "Friends On The Other Side" turning against him because he can't repay his debut to them since the amulet is broken, instead of our characters being the ones who actually defeat him and his minions, his death is still awesome. Once the amulet breaks and the voodoo spirits begin surround him and taunt him with a reprise of his own song, this cool, smooth, confident and persuasive villain suddenly loses it all to the point where he can't smooth talk his way out of breaking his deal with the spirits and instead resorts to begging! Even his loyal and faithful shadow self is just as scared as he is, and once the shadow demons grab his shadow, he too is dragged along with it into the mouth of a giant mask that leads into the voodoo spirit world where he'll be staying for all entirety. Once he's pulled in and everything vanishes, the only thing that the voodoo spirits leave behind in memory of Facilier is a tombstone with his horrified face engraved to it! Man what a cool and yet scary and intense way for this villain to go!
Even though Facilier may not be some kind voodoo god or leader compared to other Disney villains that led an army of creatures, demons, and soldiers; and not being as powerful as the voodoo god and Bond villain that he's modeled after for that matter, he's still a great villain! His design is cool; Keith David is absolutely perfect for voicing this villain; his song is awesome; the way he cons people into accepting his offers is both creative and skillful; his motivation is interesting; the magic that he does possess is amazing; his defeat makes for an incredible exit; and the fact that he's the first Disney villain to break the Disney code of not killing off a comical supporting character is shocking and ballsy! He may not be what I expected him to be, but with disappointment aside and looking at the villain for what he is, he is indeed one of those sketchy and manipulative Disney villains that you do not want to run into on the street whether it's night or day.
"I hope you're satisfied, but if you ain't don't blame me! You can blame my friends on the other side!"
-Dr.Facilier (Aka, The Shadow Man)
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