The Wicked Women
The very first Disney animated film had as its antagonist the wicked Queen who sought to tear out Snow White's heart for the crime of being more beautiful than her. Since then, Disney has had a number of female antagonists who tend to share a number of features, many of them with unfortunate implications.
First, many of the Disney villainesses are motivated by petty things. The aforementioned Queen is impossibly vain, willing to kill her 14-year-old stepdaughter because she is prettier. Lady Tremaine of Cinderella cruelly mistreats Cinderella because she is not her natural daughter, while the stepsisters follow her lead. It is hinted that they are jealous of Cinderella's beauty and mistreat her accordingly. Maleficent cursed Aurora as a child because she felt slighted at not being invited to the christening. Cruella de Vil of 101 Dalmations sought the slaughter of puppies in order to have an exotic fur coat. Madame Medusa of The Rescuers endangered a small child and kidnapped orphans so she could acquire a rare diamond.
This is not to say that all the female antagonists were villains because they were vain and petty. For example, Ursula desired to rule the ocean in place of King Triton, while Mother Gothel kept Rapunzel locked away because the girl's magic allowed Goethel to drastically expand her lifespan. However, many of these Disney villainesses have at their core remarkably petty reasons for the cruel acts they commit. This is in contrast to the Disney male antagonists, who are usually motivated by a lust for power and glory.
One of the more troubling implications of the Disney villainesses lies in their physical characteristics. Many of them are ugly, as seen in the Queen's hag form or the plainness of Cinderella's stepsisters. This is in contrast to the beauty and attractiveness of the Disney princesses. By conveying the evils of the female antagonists through their ugly appearances and showing the Disney princesses to always be pure and beautiful, Disney seems to be implying that beauty equates to goodness. Also, the beautiful = good and ugly = bad correlation does not always apply to male characters. Disney has had several attractive man who were wicked (such as Gaston from Beauty and the Beast) and ugly men who were virtuous (Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame).
First, many of the Disney villainesses are motivated by petty things. The aforementioned Queen is impossibly vain, willing to kill her 14-year-old stepdaughter because she is prettier. Lady Tremaine of Cinderella cruelly mistreats Cinderella because she is not her natural daughter, while the stepsisters follow her lead. It is hinted that they are jealous of Cinderella's beauty and mistreat her accordingly. Maleficent cursed Aurora as a child because she felt slighted at not being invited to the christening. Cruella de Vil of 101 Dalmations sought the slaughter of puppies in order to have an exotic fur coat. Madame Medusa of The Rescuers endangered a small child and kidnapped orphans so she could acquire a rare diamond.
This is not to say that all the female antagonists were villains because they were vain and petty. For example, Ursula desired to rule the ocean in place of King Triton, while Mother Gothel kept Rapunzel locked away because the girl's magic allowed Goethel to drastically expand her lifespan. However, many of these Disney villainesses have at their core remarkably petty reasons for the cruel acts they commit. This is in contrast to the Disney male antagonists, who are usually motivated by a lust for power and glory.
One of the more troubling implications of the Disney villainesses lies in their physical characteristics. Many of them are ugly, as seen in the Queen's hag form or the plainness of Cinderella's stepsisters. This is in contrast to the beauty and attractiveness of the Disney princesses. By conveying the evils of the female antagonists through their ugly appearances and showing the Disney princesses to always be pure and beautiful, Disney seems to be implying that beauty equates to goodness. Also, the beautiful = good and ugly = bad correlation does not always apply to male characters. Disney has had several attractive man who were wicked (such as Gaston from Beauty and the Beast) and ugly men who were virtuous (Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame).