What Makes Disney Villains So Gay?

[+ Orin]

There's an article in Seattle's 'Stranger' right now by Matt Baume about how Disney's villains got coded as gay.

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Ursula has the best songs. The Evil Queen has the best cape. Maleficent has the best laugh. Scar has the best quips. Prince John has the cutest underwear. Why waste time with the tedious heroes when you could be partying with these icons?

But the interesting thing is how it got this way.

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It’s a complicated history, but here’s the short version: Around the late '20s and early '30s, American conservatives launched a moral panic over what they perceived as a lack of decency in films. Targets of their ire included interracial couples, characters expressing disrespect for priests, and even (get ready to clutch your pearls here) suggestions of sexual perversion.

So, what were the unanticipated results of what Disney did?

[+ E.T.Bass]

Even the PowerPuff Girls  villain was a huge, disturbing queen.

 

[jeezifonly]

I don’t see it as that much of a mystery how Disney arch villains read as gay.

Lack of trashy women in attendance to the character, as they would be in other stories of arch villains.

The Disney villains use correct grammar and punctuation when speaking …with clear diction, even. Ugh. So gay.

Extreme designs of facial hair, and effective inclusion of unique accessories, not excluding exotic pets. 

Even Ursula from Little Mermaid is a gay man: Divine.
 

 

 

[longtime lurker]

As Matt Baume mentions in his videos, Ursula was a rather specific case with the gay writer/lyricist being a fan of Divine.

Going back into history through the darker days of yesteryear, there are a lot of interesting tidbits worth discussion here.

Perhaps the most "straightened out" Disney feature is BAMBI, since the only villain is the off-camera "Man" and practically every forest critter except Friend Owl is blatantly matched up with a member of the opposite gender. Note that Flower the Skunk is the first of the trio of bro-buddies, before Thumper and Bambi, to get "twitterpated", just so we don't have to question his orientation any further! On the other hand, Flower is a good role model for social acceptance since he tells Thumper earlier in the film that Bambi "can call me Flower if he wants to... I don't mind." Therefore, I would suspect that, if there was some Pride March in the forest, Flower would be a supporter on the sidelines despite being happily married with a son named after our staring deer.

Some of the 1930s Silly Symphonies like KING NEPTUNE (1932) have what we would now define as gay stereotypes. In this one example, a "flamboyant" pirate with blue ribbons in his hair gets the mug tossed over his face when he isn't singing masculine enough by his shipmates.

This brings me to the pirate ship featured in PETER PAN two decades later. Captain Hook and his boyfriend-of-sorts Smee have so much to offer that I am surprised nobody has made a YouTube homage to the very gay jokes between them. I think one reason that film got passed during a very anti-gay, communist-phobic period without any questioning was due to the novel casting of Hans Conrad as the voice to both Hook and Mister Darling, the heteronormal father of the juvenile stars. Thus, two characters are related to each other on a subliminal level.

Whether or not Peter himself is questioning his own orientation, we certainly have Wendy, the constantly jealous Tinker Bell, Tiger Lily and even the mermaids all displaying affection for him. Like Tommy Kirk in his later live-action films, he may have just not found The Right Girl yet... ahem.

Much has been discussed of THE RELUCTANT DRAGON, the mostly live-action feature tour-of-the-studio with its extended animated "fairy" tale involving a rather flamboyant dragon and the very refined knight who deals with him. The upside down cake poem is a delight.

Also FERDINAND THE BULL, although that follows the original book word for word.

In many ways, Jock and Trusty in LADY AND THE TRAMP represent a perfect gay "marriage" of sorts. Although both offer to accept Lady as a possible partner when she is depressed after coming back from the pound and not feeling the love of Tramp who ran out on her, they are far more committed to each other. When Trusty potentially dies, Jock howls in mourning. Later, we see he survived and is wearing crutches. Jock says, in typical husband fashion as if he deals with Trusty daily, "there is no stopping him now" in telling his My Ol' Reliable speech.

What makes PINOCCHIO particularly interesting is that there is only one female character who appears on screen during its entire duration: the Blue Fairy. Maybe Cleo the fish is female too, I guess, but it is hard to determine. Thus, you can stay focused on all of the male/male relationships. Fox and cat are definitely a couple, like Laurel and Hardy. Also Pleasure Island has no girls.

I am sure there are plenty of other examples.

Edited July 27, 2021 by longtime lurker