Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, who’s the SCARE-st of them all? If you can’t make it to the Magic Kingdom right now to catch the Villain Cavalcades, you can get your fill here at FashionEarsta!
As Sinister September draws to a close, it’s time to report on one of my favorite games we’ve hosted this year: the FashionEarsta Villain Vote-Off!
If you’re one of our Facebook friends, you know that over the course of Sinister September, we’ve been hosting a tournament bracket that pitted the most popular Disney Villains against each other, March Madness style!
We started with (Sinister) Sixteen villains, pulled from Disney’s Classic, Renaissance, and Modern Era films!
Join me, won’t you, as I look back at the highlights of these face-offs and announce the winner of our Sinister September Villain Vote-Off!
***Golf clap for the villains who didn’t quite make the cut***
Don’t see your favorite villain in the Sinister Sixteen bracket? Well, there were plenty of contenders who had a great season but who couldn’t quite squeeze into our tournament of tyranny.
Ratigan (The Great Mouse Detective)
The villain of 1986’s The Great Mouse Detective, Ratigan brings some serious drama to every gesture. In Disney’s musical adaptation of the children’s book series Basil of Baker Street (which is itself an adaptation of several Sherlock Holmes stories), Ratigan faces off against mouse-Sherlock. With his sweeping pettiness and dry wit, it’s hard not to cheer for Ratigan.
While The Great Mouse Detective gets points for making just enough money that Disney executives agreed to green-light The Little Mermaid (thereby kicking off the Disney film Renaissance), Ratigan’s movie was just too under-appreciated to snag him a place in our Sinister Sixteen.
Syndrome (The Incredibles)
The antagonist of Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles (2004) has a pretty darn relatable backstory! Rudely rebuffed by his personal idol Mr. Incredible, young IncrediBoy learned how to use technology for evil and transformed into Syndrome, the rich inventor/villain who torments the Incredibles.
But while The Incredibles was a smash success and Syndrome’s monologues were top-notch, he died an pretty ignominious death. Should have listened to Edna Mode’s advice: “NO CAPES!”
Battle of the Classic Era Villains
The “Classic Era” of Disney films–from Snow White in 1937 to Oliver and Company in 1988–featured some villainous girl power. Some of Disney’s most beloved princesses faced off against evil stepmothers and wicked witches alike in their films.
We know these baddies are uniformly defeated by their Disney protagonists, but what if they faced off against each other? The battles of the Classic Era featured face-offs such as:
Captain Hook vs. Cruella DeVille
I feel for both of these fashionable villains. I mean… look at their cuffs, ruffs and coiffs!
But in the face-off over who was the baddest baddie, Cruella’s animal cruelty, road rage, and willingness to skin puppies in the name of fashion allowed her to fairly crush Captain Hook!
“Cruelly is the worst and would surely win over the captain!”
Elizabeth
Lady Tremaine vs. The Queen of Hearts
In a more even match-up, Cinderella’s evil stepmother barely lost to the Queen of Hearts!
Believe it or not, this battle came down to animal sidekicks! In Lady Tremaine’s corner: Gus Gus the mouse and Lucifer the cat. But the Queen of Hearts had not only the adorable Doormouse, but also her fierce flamingo/croquet mallet! In the end, it all came down to a tie broken by coin toss, which went to the Queen of Hearts.
Battle of the Disney Renaissance Villains
The “Disney Renaissance,” which refers to films from The Little Mermaid (1989) through Tarzan (1999), was prime time to be BAD. Some of the most hilarious (Hades) droll (Scar) and downright disturbing (Frollo) villains came of age in this decade. Fortunately, many of them got sequels, prequels, and even T.V. spin-offs where they could keep shining long after they were defeated by their heroes.
But who triumphed in head-to-head matchups? Here were some highlights:
Gaston vs. Ursula
This was one of the toughest face-offs, and it came in the first round!
Surprisingly, Ursula’s use of body language only got her so far in her fight against mob-favorite Gaston.
“No one swims like Gaston
Chops off limbs like Gaston;
No one fries octopus on a whim like Gaston!”
The Fancy Floridian
And, while Ursula left the competition early, you can still learn all about her inspiration and creation on the FashionEarsta blog!
Governor Ratcliffe vs. Jafar
These two treasure-hungry villains faced off in the battle of the Renaissance villains. Both eager to dig dig diggity-dig for gold (or have someone else do the dirty work for them), the Governor and Grand Vizier each ended up in chains.
But in FashionEarsta’s face-off, Jafar smooth-talked his way into the next round, despite Governor Ratcliffe having the objectively superior villain song!
Battle of the Modern Disney Villains
After Phil Collins single-handedly killed the Disney Renaissance in 1999 (sorry, Tarzan!) the “Modern” era of Disney films began. There were plenty of duds (Chicken Little) and films without any real villain (Lilo and Stitch, Wreck-It Ralph). But our current era of Disney animation still produced some real winners. Or… I guess they’re technically losers?
While Yzma faced off against (and thoroughly trounced) Reneissance-era Judge Frollo due to bracket mechanics, two of the most recent Disney villains had an epic match.
Mother Gothel vs. Prince Hans of the Southern Isles
While Prince Hans of the Southern Isles may hold the record for best surprise twist in a Disney film (in theaters a girl behind me literally stood up and yelled “NO FREAKING WAY” at his villainous reveal), he couldn’t hold a candle to Mother Gothel’s witchy ways. To quote one FashionEarsta voter:
“Motheeeeeeeer knows best! MG ftw.”
Patrick
I wholeheartedly agree!
So, as it stood at the end of the first round, the top 16 villains were winnowed down to 8 and the real drama began!
Highlights from the Evil Eight Quarter-Finals
So how did our Evil Eight villains do?
Jafar vs. Hades
These two slick-talking cynics, sick of standing in the shadows of a sultan/Greek god, battled it out to move into the quarterfinals.
This matchup was so close that it came down to…wait for it… voice acting. And not just of Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) and Hades (James Wood) who were equally excellent. Oh no, we had to look at the minions’ voices! In the logic of one FashionEarsta super-fan:
“Hades easily defeats Jafar in my mind, but I’ll add the bonus argument that Pain and Panic also defeat Iago. Gilbert Godfried is great, but he’s got nothing on hearing Bobcat Goldthwait use the word “Lugubriousness.”
Scott
Yzma vs. Mother Gothel
Ok, so both of these ladies are terrible, terrible regents to their wards. Mother Gothel has the whole fake-mother-locks-you-in-a-tower vibe. Yzma violently deposes her young advisee… no one looks good here.
But in the battle of the ladies-of-a-certain-age, Yzma triumphed on her pure evilness and also the coolness of her plan to kill Kuzco. Over-complicated? Yes. But super cool.
So the quarterfinals narrowed the field down to a Ferocious Foursome
The Final, Ferocious Four Villains!
Maleficent vs. Gaston
Gaston made it pretty far on his good looks, ability to sway a mob to violence, and decorating skills (he uses antlers in all of it).
But fan-favorite Maleficent had trounced all of her opponents to this point, and she didn’t stop at the semifinals! Her ability to hold a grudge for decades, coupled with the power to transform into a giant flame-breathing dragon made Mal pretty difficult to beat. And everyone sympathizes with her and her cheekbones. I mean, haven’t we all been snubbed?
Hades vs. Yzma
When you have two villains who are comedic gold, you have to get down to brass tacks when choosing a victor.
In the battle of Hades vs. Yzma, it came down to variations on their signature purple poisons.
“Ok, Hades has only one purple juice in his purple juice room, whereas Yzma has MANY purple juices in her purple juice room. Fight me”
The Fancy Floridian
Yzma won on the quantity of purple juice in her purple juice room, and I was vindicated. (Credit for pointing out the absurdity of Hades’ juice room goes to Lindsay Ellis).
The Final Battle: Maleficent vs. Yzma
It feels appropriate that the finalists of our Villain Vote-Off are two boss babes (in a certain manner of speaking) who were passed over by royalty and just. couldn’t. handle it.
So who won this thing?
The Mistress of All Evil, Maleficent, took the title without even breaking a sweat! She got points for fashion, ferocity, and fabulousness! And even at 61-years-young (Sleeping Beauty premiered in 1959!) Maleficent is still an uber-popular figure, spawning two live action films starring Angelina Jolie and reminding multiple generations of kids that sometimes it’s ok to transform into a giant, fire-breathing dragon when you don’t get invited to a birthday party.
On a recent trip to Disney World during their Halloween season, in which kids of all ages are allowed to wear costumes, I saw multiple Maleficents! And Maleficent ears are super popular right now, with even ShopDisney getting in on the trend! Here’s a look at Disney’s “official” Maleficent ears over the past few years:
I loved how LARGE the plush 2016 ears were! These retired ears are smaller in the horns and colorful! Still plentiful on eBay and even Amazon These are super cheap on ShopDisney right now! The 2020 Maleficent ears are sold out online but you can still get them in the parks! I’ve heard they’re much lighter than past versions!
If you’d rather support Etsy shops, there are so many creative Maleficent ears! Here are a few styles that you can rock this Halloween season (or any time, really!)
And if my Yzma fans need some consolation, check out our review of these adorable Kitten Yzma ears!
Sinister September may be at an end, but fortunately next month is HALLOWEEN so we can continue to dress like our favorite villains in true FashionEarsta style!
Did you have the chance to vote our favorite villain into the top spot? Or maybe you have suggestions for what battle we should host next time? Let me know in the comments below, or on our Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram pages!
Pixie dust and glamour!
The Fancy Floridian
