THE DEVIL
FROM "FANTASIA"
AND
"THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN"
FROM "THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD"
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!
Now I know what some of you are thinking? "How could
you put them as number one over villains like Frollo and Maleficent? The Devil
didn't do anything? The Horseman wasn't real, it was just Brom in disguise? Why
are they even tied together, they have nothing in common? This is such a
let-down!" OKAY, now look, let me make one thing perfectly clear alright?
This is MY PERSONAL list! These are the villains that I personally feared and
admired when watching these films. And if you don't agree with my rankings and
reasons, that's fine! This is all subjective! We're all going to have our own
personal rankings of Disney villains. So if you're favorite one isn't higher or
even on the list, just remember that this isn't your list. The reason
why you've been following this list or glancing at parts of it is either because you're
interested in Disney villains just as much as I do and are either curious to hear
a different perspective that you haven't considered before, or see if you share
something in common with my thoughts.
So with all that said, let's finally get to my reasons of
why these two are on the top of my list, and more importantly why they are
together? Well the ironic thing about my choosing for these villains is when I
started brain-storming for the list back in 2012 during my senior year of High School,
these two were originally going to be at the bottom. And it wasn't
just for their minim-screen time and having little to no motivation (or least
not as big as other villains), but it also was because I was going to count all
the sequels and spin-offs that these villains have appeared in. And if you saw the
Devil outside of "Fantasia" he was pretty much portrayed as a joke.
He makes public appearances, he can be defeated by Sora and pals in
"Kingdom Hearts" and Mickey in "Fantasmic”, and is afraid of the
dark (as evidenced in "The House of Mouse") and Michael Eisner (in
the "50's Years of Magic" TV Special). As for the Horseman, even
though he hasn't been made out as a joke like the Devil outside of his film, since
it’s possible that Brom could be the Headless Horseman, I felt at the time a
bit disappointed that the Horseman may not be real in the film's world.
However, after deciding to not to count the spin-offs that
the Disney villains were in (with some exceptions though), and watched their
scenes again, these two were cooler and darker than I remember them to
be. And the overall reason why they're tied together in my number one spot is
that they're both powerful supernatural beings that feed on the forces of evil
who can't be destroyed, and both appear towards the end of "Package Disney
films" where they manage to leave a huge impression on you for when it’s
over and only in a matter of minutes as opposed to the whole film. Let's also
not forget how equally scary and demonic that these two are where they manage
to spread fear in every single frame they're in without saying a word (apart
from a laugh)! I know the Devil is more powerful than the Horseman since he's
the lord of evil and the horseman is just a ghost, but I still just couldn't
separate the two for how similar they are to each other.
Much like when I tied Shere Khan and Scar together, each of
these villains will be talked about in a separate post. And to play things fair
since they're tied together, I'm going start the first part by talking about
the villain who appeared first. So let's get into the villain who appeared in
the first of the "Disney package films"...
Now for those of you who are probably complaining at that
this point that he's referred to as Chernabog by fans and even the company, I'm
sorry to differ with you, but I have my reasons. The first and obvious reason
is that he's never referred to as Chernabog in the actual film that he's
appeared in at all, not even by the film's MC, Deems Taylor. In fact, he
himself says that Bald Mountain is "the gathering place of Satan and his
followers". And when you look at his demonic design, giant bat wings, and
large horns as he controls the demons and fires around him, how could you
mistake him for another creature? IT'S THE DEVIL!
And do you know why else refers to him as the devil?
Well yes, him too, but do you know who else?
That's right! The man who's behind everything, even claims "Chernabog" to be "the devil himself".
So if he is the Devil, then why does Disney refer to him by
a different name? My theory is, since the Devil looked so scary and that his
sequence is one of the most iconic scenes in Disney history; Disney wanted to
market him as one of their Disney villains and sell tons of merchandise based
off of him (preferably on Halloween). But to avoid parents and Christians from complaining
that they're selling Satan to their kids, they decided to change his name by
taking a name from one of the Christian folklore gods of evil, thus why
people and Disney referred to him by his marketable name.
And what's amusing about this villain is, even if people
(especially kids) haven't seen the film where he first appeared in, everybody
recognizes his design (mainly from the marketing) and that he's nothing but
pure evil (if you don't count the embarrassing spin-offs that he's appeared
in). Much like Frollo, the Horned King,
and the villain that he's tied with, nothing about his design comes off as fun
or comforting for how frightening and satanic he looks. He's larger than life; has
ginormous bat-wings that span out wide; has long sharp pointy horns; a devilish
smile with sharp fangs; his whole entire muscular body is consumed by the
colors of darkness; and the only bright color that he has on him (when the
flames below aren't reflecting on him) is the color yellow for his long demon
eyes that express nothing but evil! He just has the word evil written all over
every single inch of his design!
And do you know who originally served as a live action model for the Devil? Bela Lugosi.
Yes, Dracula himself actually did demon-like poses for the
animators to use as a reference. However, the animator for the Devil (Bill Tytla)
somehow wasn't happy with Lugosi's poses, and replaced him by having the
director of the sequence Wilfred Jackson to do the posing instead.
It’s needless to say that the person that they got to replace
Lugosi did a phenomenal job for the modeling. But a part of me feels like that
the animators did keep a few of Lugosi's poses and expressions in if not all.
Or in the very least used some of his expressions and movements from "Dracula".
When the sequence itself begins we gaze at a glowing green
ominous looking mountain at night time, where we see the top of the mountain
open up to reveal the Devil and that those rocky tops are actually his wings.
What I find cool about the devil's first on-screen appearance is before he
starts doing anything, he loosens himself up a bit with his body language
saying "Alright, let's get ready to spread some evil". And when he
does he doesn't just wave up his arms and poof the ghosts and demons start to
appear; his claws turn into dark shadows covering the small village below him
as he pulls some of the houses and sights to raise the dead. What we then see
rise out of the ground are ghosts and evil spirits floating up to the mountain
to join their evil master. The ghosts that appear are all eerie for how
supernaturally unholy and helpless they look, and I admire the endless
creativity for the variety of different designs that we see of these paranormal
beings. We pretty much see almost every single scary ghost design possible such
as grim reapers, skeletons, devil-like witches, and ghost soldiers riding on
skeleton horses; and the places they appear from (given the settings
time-frame) are all appropriate places for the dead to be awaken such as the gallows,
a ruined castle, and a foreboding old graveyard. Once the ghosts are all joined
together and approach the Devil, they swirl around him until he pushes them
away and summons the fires of hell from below him!
What then follows is the Devil playing with his demons like
toys, as all the others dance and rejoice around the burning flames that
constantly changes color. He brings some of these ghosts to life as demonic creatures
only just to destroy them again by throwing into the fiery whirlpool of flames
down below; creates beauty out of flames to then turning them into hideous
animals, to feisty lizard-like demons, to miniature blue devils that almost
look like him; and bathes in the flames that rise above and around him! I know that
in terms of Disney villains, a villain bringing the dead back to life just for their own amusement
isn't much of a motivation, BUT HE'S THE DEVIL, he doesn't need a motivation!
He is everything that is wicked and sinful, and watching him create evil in
Disney's version of HELL is more than enough for us to feel intimidated by him!
You look at his fiendish smile and see his bright yellow eyes light-up and
squint as he's creating minions, watching them dance for him, and destroy them all
while the colorful flames reflect on him, and you are in constant terror for
how much he's having fun with it!
The whole sequence itself as we watch the devil fiddle
around with the dead and his followers gives you the feeling that you're
trapped in hell, and that this is what's more than likely in-store for you if
you don't get to heaven. Come to think of it, I don't think that Disney could
ever get away with something like this if it was done today. It involves Satan
and hell; we see poor demonic souls being abused and killed left and right; it's
full of dark and scary imagery; and it's very suggestive, as well as having some
nudity. The last time that Disney was able to get away with something as
similar as the Bald-mountain segment is the "Hellfire" sequence in
"The Hunchback of Notre Dame". And much like the controversy that
"Hellfire" got, this was no exception. So many parents complained
about how disturbing, adult, and terrifying this sequence was to their
children, that the scene was cut when it was first released on video. And
believe it or not, parents and people who oppose Disney still complain about it
now. As a kid, I would occasionally fast-forward to the end
of the film on my VHS copy once or twice just to watch the Bald-mountain
sequence since I've seen and heard so much about this Disney villain, and this was
before I would start to fully watch the film after my second experience on
"The Great Movie Ride". And when I saw the scene, I wasn't scarred
but more amazed by how surreal, colorful, and scary everything looked. To me it
was like watching something as surreal as the "paraphernalia wagon"
sequence in "Halloween Is Grinch Night" or the "Tunnel
Scene" in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", it throws so
much scary and creative visuals at you in such a short amount time that it
feels like one big exciting ride. And as I contentiously watch the sequence
when I started to develop more of an interest in the film, I find more and more
things to admire about it, for how gorgeously animated it is, how Modest
Mussorgsky's famous piece perfectly fits within the movement of the animation
and the world that’s created, and how adult and risqué it is.
When the chaos from the celebration ends, we get a blinding
flash of light from below as the Devil gives a mighty poses. But before he's
about to create more evil and toy-with his followers and trapped souls some
more, he is halted by the sound of a church bell. He ignores the first warning and
is about to proceed with his evil, until the church bells ring again, and the
heavenly morning light begins to shine on him. Finding the powers of god and
all that is holy and good to be too strong for him; the ghosts go back to their
graves, his minions retreat, and he closes his wings to protect himself from
the sunlight to once more becoming the mountain's peak, and what follows after
is one of the most powerful, atmospheric, and beautifully breathtaking pieces
of animation with religious themes to ever be brought to the screen. With
"Night on Bald-Mountain" being Disney's representation of hell and
our fears of eternal damnation, the "Ava Maria" sequence is Disney's
best representation of hope and the unknown beauty that lurks in the heavenly
clouds above.
Unless they create another supernatural being who is just as equally pure-evil as the Devil is!
TUNE IN TOMORROW FOR PART 2!
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