Villains singing their way through teaching

Let me set this straight: I’ve never been a Disney fanatic. But for whatever reason, this past summer, I’ve experienced some kind of Disney Renaissance. One day a video titled “Epic Disney Villains Medley,” by Peter Hollens featuring Whitney Avalon, popped up in my recommended on YouTube. As the title implies, it was a compilation of covers of the songs from the most popular Disney bad guys (and gals), from Ursula to Dr. Facilier and Jafar. I was absolutely blown away by the sheer talent — and intrigued. So I decided to jump into the rabbit hole and looked up “Poor Unfortunate Souls.” One song led to another, shooting through all the Disney movies.

Most Disney songs are catchy and excellent to sing along to until your family begs you to stop — I know I would want them to stop. Myself, I usually prefer the villain songs, the dark and dramatic, over those of the heroes and princesses, the lovey-dovey or optimistic to the point of cringing. A notable exception to this is “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” because it’s totally badass. The villains are generally much more experienced and charismatic than the goody-two-shoes princesses, who tend to be naive. This duality is reflected in their respective songs, the villains imparting a bit of their wicked wisdom to the innocent, wide-eyed princesses and heroes — for a price, just a token really, a trifle.

“A woman doesn’t know how powerful her voice is until she has been silenced.” This nugget is just the surface of the strong feminist message Ursula sends. The sassy sea witch rocks short, spiky hair, bold makeup and a curvy physique, confidently shattering stereotypical standards for feminine beauty. Not only that, she is a successful entrepreneur, using her magical talent to help “poor souls with no one else to turn to” (if you don’t mind being turned into a wrinkly larva-esque thing if you can’t pay). But most importantly, Ursula’s deal with Ariel warns against the folly of sacrificing everything you have for a single goal, just like who Ariel gave up her family, friends, and remarkable talent for singing for a chance with Prince Eric.

Dr. Facilier, the suave witch doctor from “The Princess and the Frog,” seems to have taken a leaf out of Ursula’s book on that last point. This is made painfully clear to the arrogant Prince Naveen in the song “Friends on the Other Side,” when Facilier’s eerie collection of masks and shrunken heads choruses, “you got what you wanted, but you lost what you had.” In other words, don’t chase blindly after something, casting your values aside; you’ll regret it later. But on a more pragmatic note, this particular scene also cautions against engaging in deals or negotiations with suspicious individuals: you never know when a simple handshake may turn out to be a binding contract that turns you into a frog.

“I know that your powers of retention are as wet as a warthog’s backside; but thick as you are, PAY ATTENTION! My words are a matter of pride.” From the very first notes of his song or rant, more of a rant, Scar evinces determination in achieving his goal of becoming king. Let me just say that his public speaking and argumentation skills are on point. He instructs his dull-witted hyena minions — and the viewer — to pursue their ambitions ruthlessly. If you want to make something happen, you’ve got to do it yourself — just don’t kill your brother and overthrow the local monarchy.

These examples only begin to scratch the surface of many layers of meaning behind the despicable actions of Disney bad guys and gals. Keep this in mind the next time you watch a Disney movie, be it by choice or because your little sister forces you to re-watch “Moana” with her for the eighth time. Considering the valuable lessons these fictional baddies have to offer, why should children have all the fun? Now, please excuse me as I go blast “Friends on the Other Side” at full volume.