Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Maleficent And The Disney Villains Are Fantasmic!


If there's a breakout star of the 1959 Walt Disney animated feature, Sleeping Beauty, it would have to be Maleficent. With her Villain allies, like Cruella and Captain Hook, she's been causing chaos in the Disney Universe for many years. Most of the items shown here are from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s.

Maleficent and the Sleeping Beauty characters look a bit different from most of Disney's classic characters. Production designer Ken Anderson and artist Eyvind Earle were responsible for the film's unique style.

Maleficent is powerful enough, but she also has some minions. Her closest companion is a menacing Raven.

She also has an army of comical Goons.

Together, they plan to take down Sleeping Beauty herself, Briar Rose (the princess formerly known as Aurora).

This Mattel version of Maleficent is very impressive.

Maleficent also has the ability change herself into a dragon.

Swarovski created two different Maleficent diamond pins (I'm guessing the Dragon pin is designed to wear on Mondays).

Dragon Maleficent is one of the coolest Disney characters ever.

Maleficent was not satisfied with staying in the Sleeping Beauty Universe. She decided to join forces with other Disney Villains and work on more projects.

Water seeks its own level, and Maleficent enjoys hanging out with Ursula, Scar, Captain Hook, Hades, and the Evil Queen.

The "Villains" Serigraph by Robert De Michiell was available through Disney's specialty Disney Gallery stores and Catalog in 1999. I love the character designs here.

Wake up from your favorite nightmare and look at the Disney Villains clock.

Chernabog from Fantasia towers over the other Disney Villains for this item created by Walt Disney World.

Little Susie can snuggle up to Cruella and Ursula or have a tea party with Hades thanks to this line of plush Disney Villains.

There was a Chernabog bean bag plush for sale at Walt Disney World, too.

Chernabog, Maleficent and the Queen from Snow White conjure up some trouble with a musical snow globe.

Interestingly, this plays "Grim Grinning Ghosts" from Disney's Haunted Mansion.

The Villains are featured in another similar musical snow globe that plays "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid.


That tree character is really scary!


Dragon Maleficent is the star of this stormy snow globe.


For this set of pewter figures, Maleficent is the coveted bonus character.


Mirror, Mirror on the wall, who is the rarest Disney Villain of all? Probably The Horned King from The Black Cauldron. Here he is featured in a Disney Villains Chess set.



The pawns are matched up well here.



Cheating is encouraged when you play Disney Villains Chess.


Maleficent seems to have all the Disney Villains at her beck and call for this snow globe. Her dragon form is very intimidating.

Watch out for these tough characters!

These ain't no Mickey Mouse watches here!

You could probably match these Disney Villains with a teacher you had at school.

I encountered Cruella's twin years ago (she was a customer where I worked).


Barbie better run for the hills when these ladies hit the toy box.

I bet it's like that show "The Real Housewives of Orange County" (or New York or Atlanta) when these characters get together.

Would Cruella and Maleficent get along?


They both like clothes, so I bet they would.

When the Disney Villains get together at a party, all heck breaks loose.



Play it safe and stay away from candy served in a Villains Bowl.

Sorry, I'd think twice about getting a cookie from a Villains Cookie Jar, too.

Dramatically throw a drink in someone's face using a Disney Villains Martini Glass.

The Disney Villains love their spirits!

Ursula is known to drink like a fish.
Maleficent is such a bad influence (we already knew that though).


Dragon Maleficent was made into a Disney Wild Racer die cast car by Hasbro (the Black Heart GT) and sold with Mushu (the Rippin Reptile) from Mulan as a Dragon Pack.


Maleficent has a "GO2SLP" Vanity Plate. These were later sold (without the Vanity Plates) as Disney Racers at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Dragon Maleficent could be found in a Sleeping Beauty McDonald's Happy Meal in 1996.

The Maleficent figure doubles as a pen (the toys in this series were school supplies).


A wind-up toy of Dragon Maleficent was sold at the Disney Parks in the early to mid 2000's.

Maleficent is regularly seen at a nighttime show called Fantasmic! at Disneyland in California and at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida (it is in the works for Tokyo DisneySea in Japan).

In Fantasmic!, Mickey Mouse's Dream turns into a Nightmare when the Disney Villains take over.

Fantasmic! debuted at Disneyland in California in 1992. The show features actors, fireworks, water and mist screens, film, floats, and more! I got to see Disneyland's show in 1993, but it wasn't playing during my visit in 2008.

Fantasmic! opened at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida in 1998. I have never seen the Florida version of the show, but I know some changes were made from the original.

Over the years, there have been many rumors about the Disney Villains getting their own ride, land, or theme park.

A Villain Mountain thrill ride (also known as Bald Mountain) was rumored for Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida (in the former 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea location) as part of a new Villain zone. Fantasyland is currently expanding in this area with a Little Mermaid ride, a Beauty and the Beast village and restaurant, and a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train coaster.

An interactive Villains attraction was also rumored to replace the Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. The rumors mentioned Disney Villains or Movie Villains.

A Disney Villains thrill ride theme park at Walt Disney World in Florida was also a big rumor for many years (Tragic Kingdom?).

For now, the Disney Villains have Fantasmic! Maybe someday they'll have a new place to cause more chaos.

12 comments:

  1. It would be nice to see a Villains attraction or land added to one of the parks sometime. I wish Tokyo DL still had their Cinderella Castle "Mystery Tour" attraction which was devoted to the villains. I wonder what they did with the Horned King and Dragon audio-animatronic figures?

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  2. Hey TokyoMagic! It seems like Disney's Hollywood Studios has always had a Disney Villains themed store, starting in its early years as Disney MGM Studios. Villain Land would be cool, especially if they re-used Tokyo Disneyland's Mystery Tour elements!

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  3. I forgot about the Villain Store at the Disney Studios.....and now you've reminded that there was once a Villain Shop in Fantasyland at Disneyland. Disney needs to give us more villains in their parks!

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  4. TokyoMagic!: I thought there was a Villains Store at Disneyland, but I wasn't sure. I know the Villains are out in full force during Halloween (I think it's the only time of the year to meet The Lion King's Hyenas at Walt Disney World). Yes, it would be nice to see more of the Villains---I say bring them on!

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  5. A story (or film) is only as great as its villains, and fortunately for Disney, they have excelled in the villain department. I agree with you Dan, Maleficent is definitely the breakout star of 1959. It's difficult to image a more classy yet sinister evil than her (although a few others do give her a run for the money).

    I like the idea of a villain ride, but Disney seems to be moving in another direction. If it thinks Snow White's Scary Adventure is too frightening to keep around at WDW, then a villain attraction may not go over well with the suits in charge.

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  6. A Snow White Sanctum: Yeah, there's no way they'd do a Villains ride at the Magic Kingdom. But if the Villains merchandise is really popular, maybe they'd consider something elsewhere. Maybe a Maleficent Dragon ride at Animal Kingdom?

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  7. I agree with you that Dragon Maleficent is one of the coolest characters ever.
    But I'm really worried about this upcoming Malfeicent movie...worried they'll spoil her character. What do you think, Dan?

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  8. Hey THE Disney Freak! A Maleficent film has the potential to be really amazing. If it is a hit, I'd suggest that it could be the basis for a new version of the Imagination Pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot (Maleficent vs. Figment).

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  9. So Dan who do I get my villainous hands on that Maleficent snowglobe? I absolutely love her dragon for in the globe as she stands...as The magnificent MISTRESS OF EVIL!!!

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  10. Hey nietadelaardilla! That Maleficent snowglobe is, as my friends from New England would say, "wicked awesome!" I think eBay may be the best place to find one.

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  11. Any idea if I could find the cocktail set anywhere?! It would make the best Christmas gift ever but I'm not having any luck :/

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  12. Hey amz21, I think ebay is your best bet, though it may take some patience!

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