Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Hump Day Spotty: Cruella DeVille

Last week I traded in the Hottie for the Snotty and this week I'm still addicted to the punny. My apologies. The lusty HDH series proper will return soon. But until then, I'm goofin' around. Today we salute Cruella DeVille.
Cruella DeVille, Cruella DeVille
If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will
To see her is to take a sudden chill
Cruella, Cruella DeVille

They sure don't make animated villains like they used to. They don't make animated films like they used to. But even when they do make great ones, the villains just aren't as resonant. Consider The Incredibles --great movie but the villain? Not much for the all-time lists. I only remember that he has HeatMeiser like hair and a clumsy cape.

Why am I thinking about Cruella today? Well that damn American Idol won't get off of my media. AI Winner Jordin Sparks is smiling at me from the latest cover of Entertainment Weekly and she's wearing dalmations --or leopards or something. I'm trying not to look...

Anyway: Cruella was classic, even Glenn Close overselling just that fact in a live action movie, couldn't dampen her legend. And this is how great Disney villains used to be --she's not even the best one.

Rank your favs in the comments. Here's a list to remind you:
The Wicked Queen (Snow White), Stromboli (Pinocchio), Chernabog (Fantasia), Man (Bambi), Lady Tremaine (Cinderella), Queen of Heart (Alice in Wonderland), Captain Hook (Peter Pan), Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty), Madam Mim (Sword in the Stone), Shere Khan (Jungle Book), The Butler (Aristocats), Madame Medusa (The Rescuers), Professor Ratigan (Great Mouse Detective), Gaston (Beauty & The Beast), Ursula (Little Mermaid), Jafar (Alladin), Scar (The Lion King), Judge Frollo (Hunchback of Notre Dame), Hades (Hercules), Alameda Slim (Home on the Range), Yzma (The Emperors New Groove)

18 comments:

mB said...

I love me some Disney villains, but above all I love the humour-infused villains: who can beat James Wood's fast-talking salesman take on Hades? Or Eartha Kitt as the quirky-albeit evil Yzma?
That said, villains, old and new need to bow down to my all time favourite: Maleficent. I mean, she is evil incarnate, is she not? And she looks damn well for it (I love the colour palette of her scenes).

Honourable mention: Drag-Queen extraordinaire Ursula and sleek-and-slender arabian fop Jafar.

Did I mention I was a die-hard Dinsey fan and enjoy writing about queer undertones in their animated movies?

J.J. said...

Ditto on Maleficent.

Jason Adams said...

Wow, how many of us were terrorized by Maleficent as children? She TERRIFIED me. She still creeps me out. Ugh, I'm getting goosebumps remembering her turning into that giant dragon...

To my fellow NYC people - tell me if this has occured to you before, because thw two are inextricably linked in my, albeit kooky, mind.

The Movie & Music Xpress said...

Hands down the creepiest is Maleficent.

I loved Lady Tremaine, especially now cause she reminds me of Miranda Priestly from "The Devil Wears Prada".

But My Favorite is Yzma and Kronk. They mad that movie in my opinion

Poli said...

I bow down to the scaryness of Maleficent. Only the Horned King (The Black Cauldron) came close to her in terms of scariness, but his movie sucked.

As far as fun villains go, Ursula wins easily. Jafar ain't too bad either.

Neel Mehta said...

I think it's spelled Cruella DeVil.

I'll put in a vote for Judge Frollo, who was a different kind of villain: he believed in censorship, exclusion, the combination of church and state, and self-flagellation. This one-man morality play was around long before President Bush and Opus Dei were in the limelight.

NATHANIEL R said...

it's spelled so many different ways around the net i just kinda guessed ;)

Lucas Dantas said...

omg!! i looooooove cruela!! and your disney villains list made me crave for re-watching all tose movies. i abso-fucking-lutely heart the queen of hearts; perhaps because alice in wonderland is my favorite disney classic, but the fact she's the evil corner of alice's mind makes me love her to death. i use the "off with their heads" line whenever i can, i even do her crazy eyes and imagine their red too. lol, yes i'm crazy like that.
i love cruela too; she made me want a dalmatian fur when i was kid, even if it was politically incorrect.

c.p. iñor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
c.p. iñor said...

1.MALEFICENT
2.URSULA
3.JAFAR
4.MADAM MIM
5.CRUELLA DE VILLE
6.YZMA
7.HADES
8.MADAME MEDUSA
9.CAPTAIN HOOK
10.JUDGE FROLLO

Anonymous said...

Maleficent, no question.

Not just a great Disney character or a great villain in general...but one of the all-time greatest film characters. ever.

Anonymous said...

Maleficent is my favourite, because she looks FANTASTIC, but the one that frightened the life out of me as a kid was the queen in Snow White. Her total fixation on Snow White and her extreme rage made me quiver with fear.

Anonymous said...

Maleficent definitely number 1! Pure evil!!!

After that... hard to say:
Cruella (I had a dalmatian growing up)
Ursula
Gaston (because he seemed so much like a real person, reminding me of the scary people out there)
Scar (jeremy irons' voice... wow! right up there with j.e.jones as vader)

the others never scared me that much...

Joel said...

Bambi is the first film I remember seeing at the cinema (I was four).
I was so traumatized by the shooting scene I squeenzed my drink all over the lady in front of me...

Scariest villan has to be Maleficent. My favourite however is Yzma.

Anonymous said...

Nothing is finer than the Wicked Queen in Snow White. Nothing. I have a Wicked Queen house key (my son had it made for Mother's Day). And a Wicked Queen mug. And a Wicked Queen purse. She is the finest of all fine things.

And by the way, you're not punning. You're rhyming. Just saying.

Anonymous said...

I'll judge by my 3-year old's reaction to Disney villians.

1. Definitely Maleficent. She can barely keep from closing her eyes when the evil fairy's on screen.
2. Ursula
3. Jafar
4. Wicked Stepmother from Cinderella
5. Sher Khan

Pedro said...

For me, it is Maleficent. When she commands "Touch the spindle. Touch it I said." or something like that, it is not the words but the tone of her voice what gets me every time.

In second place, Scar. What uncle would do that to his nephew?

russ said...

Ursula does it everytime for me.