My Favorite Disney Villain: Maleficent
As much as I love Ursula, Scar, Captain Hook, The Evil Queen, The Queen of Hearts, Dr. Facilier and many more there is only one true evil antagonist--Maleficent. All of the villains I mentioned previously have some agenda. For Ursula it was to get Ariel's soul, for Scar it's power, for Captain Hook it's power, The Evil Queen is power, The Queen of Heart's is power, and Dr. Facilier is money. As for Maleficent it's pure evil. She does not want a throne or money, she wants the death of Aurora. She wants to hurt the people around her for no clear or sound reason and she will do everything and anything to achieve it. She loses Aurora for a while, but when she finds her she doesn't hesitate going through with her plans to put a curse on the Princess and put the entire kingdom into a long deep sleep.
I read recently that a movie will be coming out in 2014 called "Maleficent." At first I was excited, and then I read that Angelina Jolie will be playing my favorite evil witch and my excitement level left. I'm hoping that when this movie does in fact come to theaters that Jolie will not take any of the wickedness away from Maleficent. I will say that I always thought Maleficent was beautiful and that Jolie will at least have that going for her. Maleficent does not sing, she does not show any weakness, and that is why she is my favorite villain--because she is the true definition of an evil person. Plus her costume is pretty bad ass.
Favorite Disney Princess: Tiana
Choosing my favorite Disney Princess was difficult because four princesses stood out in my mind. I chose this based on how I relate to them and how I look at femininity. Ariel was willing to throw everything away for a guy, Aurora was naive and didn't see what was actually occurring around her, Snow White was innocent and too good for me--no girl is EVER that nice, we all have a 'claws out' side to us, Cinderella never had a backbone, Jasmine played the damsel in distress, Pocahontas almost chose a man over her people, and Rapunzel never questioned that her hair was freakishly magical. I don't relate to these princesses as much as the ones I'm going to list soon, but I still love them because they do have qualities that I like as well. But the top four in my mind are: Mulan, Merida, Belle, and Tiana.
Mulan: To honor her family she goes off to war and fights in extreme battles. Not to mention she portrays princesses in a new light. She doesn't play the traditional role of a princess, but instead plays an independent woman who can fight and spit "just like the men do." She confronts the Huns and Shan Yu--one of the creepiest Disney Villains.
Merida: An outspoken, tom-boy who isn't afraid to hike up her dress and shoot arrows. She has a mind of her own and adventures to discover. With hair like a flame and the fierceness of 10 armies, Merida proves she doesn't need a man to rule. If she wants a husband, she doesn't want her mother to choose one for her.
Belle: One of the more traditional princesses, but nevertheless one that I think embodies what a female character should. Belle is seen as the "odd" girl simply because she loves to read and think for herself, but in my mind that is how more female roles should be cast, (not the odd part, the intellectual and unique part) not to mention she is selfless enough to give her life over to a "monster" (at least I'd be afraid of a half man half...bear/wolf/ram) in order to save her father.
But my favorite character is one who perseveres through the impossible to reach her dream.
Tiana: A young woman with hardly any money, who dreams of one day owning her own restaurant in honor of her father. He dreamed about having his restaurant, but unfortunately died before he could follow out that dream. So even though Tiana is only a waitress at a local restaurant, making barely enough to scrape by, she never stops trying. "Almost there," is a song that embodies the true Disney slogan that "dreams come true only if you have the courage to pursue them." She also has to teach Prince Naveen a few things about working hard and rolling up his sleeves, rather than letting servants take care of everything. She is a strong independent woman who finds a man that balances out her stubborn work-a-holic attiude. Tiana is beautiful, hard-working, and strong. When life knocks her over, she gets back up hard.
