A New Perspective On Disney Villians As An Adult.

With Disney+ premiering their streaming service to the world early this month, as a past and present Disney channel fanatic, I took it amongst myself to log on to the free trial and binge-watch my favourite Disney movies. So whether you were falling in and out of love with the Disney princesses or cursing the day that Mufasa (Lion King) got tricked by his brother. My child self eventually had to learn the hard way that life is not as simple as black and white. And those villains I hated so, would actually become more relatable as an adult. 

Take the Little Mermaid as an example, we all know the story. Restless princess mermaid – Ariel – wishes nothing more but to be part of the human world. So after saving the life of a handsome human prince, without even saying a word to him, she makes a deal with an infamous sea witch -Ursula. Ariel must exchange her voice for human legs and have the Prince who is also a complete stranger, fall in love with her in a short period of time or else her soul would be sold to Ursula. This girl risks her entire life and relationship with her family for a man she’s never met…and when surprise, surprise it doesn’t work out, Ursula comes to collect.

Now whilst as a child I immediately vilified Ursula for being a heartless trickster, she’s, in fact, a businesswoman. If witchcraft was easy, everyone would be doing it, right? Ariel knew exactly what she had signed up for and I’m sure if we weren’t all princesses we wouldn’t have gotten out of it so easily. So, I have come to a decision to take another look at the most iconic Disney Villians and offer a new perspective as to why they made the decisions they did.

Ursula (A Little Mermaid) – A businesswoman who had every right to collect what she was owed. 

Evil Step-Mother (Cinderella) – Don’t let her name stir you the wrong way, she certainly wasn’t a barrel of laughs but the poor woman had been widowed twice and wanted her less than charming daughters to marry before Cinderella to give herself some peace of mind.

Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty) – Just wanted to be feel included and be invited to quote “the biggest celebration the land had ever seen”. How would you feel to be the only one in the kingdom without an invite? 

Scar (Lion King) – Nope! I can’t justify this one…sorry. 

Dr Facilier (Princess And The Frog)- I believe that he was more of a teacher than a trickster. 

Make sure you don’t miss out on Disney’s + 7-day free trial this spring and melt into the nostalgia of your childhood this self-isolation period. 

Check out the GUAP Arts & Culture section, to discover new art, film, and creative individuals.