We’ve got a special double-feature pairing of lists here
today on Rhode Island Movie Corner. Disney Month, a month dedicated to the best
of the best from the House of Mouse, continues in preparation for Disney
Animation’s 56th animated feature, Moana, out later this month. Last time, I ranked all the current members of the Disney Princess line, from the originals like Snow White and
Cinderella to new members like Rapunzel, Anna and Elsa (who technically aren’t
part of that line but I included them anyway because they’re still ‘Disney
royalty’; in fact, the latter outranks them all as a queen), and Merida. So today,
I’m going to be highlighting the other great main characters of Disney films.
Specifically, I’ll be listing my Top 5 favorite ‘non-Princess’ main characters
as well as my Top 5 favorites from the many great sidekicks of Disney Animation
that sometimes even outshine main protagonists to become the standout
characters of their respective films. Now, the reason why I’m pairing these two
lists together is because otherwise I would have to have done three ‘Disney
Month’ posts in one week. You see, my original plan for this week was to have
the protagonists list posted on Monday, followed by the sidekicks list which
would’ve been posted on Wednesday, and then culminating with the post that was
originally meant to be posted today, my Top 10 Disney Villains list. And simply
put, that’d be too much to do in just one week, especially for someone like me
who must also deal with things outside of writing these posts, namely
schoolwork. Thus, I decided to indefinitely postpone the villains list, pair
the two other lists together, and move them from their original posting date of
Tuesday to today. So, without further ado, let’s get into the first of today’s
list; my Top 5 favorite Disney Protagonists.
PROTAGONISTS
HONORABLE MENTION: THE BIG HERO 6 TEAM (BIG HERO 6)
Big Hero 6 was a
highly entertaining entry in the Disney canon that continued Disney’s recent
hot streak. The first Disney animated film to utilize the company’s recent
acquisition of Marvel Comics, it was very much the animated equivalent of a Marvel
Cinematic Universe film. It was fast-paced, full of great visuals, and featured
a fun cast of main characters. But also like a lot of the best MCU films, the
story had a lot of heart to it. This is mainly reflected in the film’s main
character, Hiro (Ryan Potter), a robotics prodigy who tragically loses his
older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) in an explosion. The film does an
impressive job at handling Hiro’s attempts to cope with this loss. At first,
he’s driven by revenge to take down the man in the kabuki mask when it’s
revealed to be noted robotics professor Robert Callaghan. Because it means that
when Tadashi went in to save Callaghan from that burning building, he died for
nothing. It’s only until the helpful words of Baymax and a series of videos of
Tadashi running tests on him effectively calm Hiro down and realize that this wouldn’t
be what Tadashi would’ve wanted. As for Baymax (Scott Adsit), he’s easily the
best part of the film. He may be limited in emotion because he’s a robot but
the ways in which he interacts with people and things in his environment
produce hilarious results. And then there’s the other members of the team;
tough-girl GoGo (Jamie Chung), hyperactive chemistry enthusiast Honey Lemon
(Genesis Rodriguez), neat freak/laser expert Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), and
fanboy Fred (T.J. Miller). The great camaraderie between them all help make
them a solid team in what was a super fun Disney film and what is sure to be a
fun TV series spin-off that debuts next year.
5. BERNARD AND MISS BIANCA (THE
RESCUERS/THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER)
The Rescuers films
are one of the rare instances of a Disney franchise in which both films have seen
a theatrical release and are officially part of the ‘Walt Disney Animated
Classics’ line. The first one was a decent albeit flawed adventure flick while
the sequel upped the ante in the best of ways but was unfortunately
under-marketed and became the lowest-grossing film of the Disney Renaissance.
And through it all, the best thing about both films is its lead duo; Bernard,
played by Bob Newhart, and Miss Bianca, played by Eva Gabor. Both characters
are incredibly likable and balance each other excellently. When they’re first
paired together, it’s established that Miss Bianca is a sophisticated and
experienced member of their organization, the Rescue Aid Society, whereas
Bernard is just the janitor who ended up getting picked by Bianca to join her
on her newest mission. In short, Bernard is the everyman in this situation and
you can also see that in the sequel with the running gag of him trying to
propose to Bianca and yet something always happens to distract him. To make
matters worse, on assignment in Australia they team up with another mouse named
Jake who starts to flirt with Bianca. Seriously, our boy Bernard can’t catch a
break, can he? Thankfully, that changes at the end when he finally manages to
propose and Bianca happily accepts. Goes to show that while Miss Bianca is the
more ‘dignified’ of the two, she’s also a very kind soul and a perfect match
for Bernard. In short, Newhart and Gabor do fantastic jobs in these roles and
thus, this mouse duo is one of Disney’s most underrated pairs.
4. RAPUNZEL AND FLYNN RIDER (TANGLED)
Ok, kind of cheating here a bit because Rapunzel is a Disney
Princess and I said that I would limit this list to ‘non-Princess’ characters.
But still, I had to include her along with Flynn because not only are they the
main characters of the film but they do form a great team in it. As I stated
before, there was some controversy over the film getting a title change.
Originally titled Rapunzel, it was then
changed to Tangled reportedly because
it was intended to appeal to a wider demographic. Some might say that this was
a cheap marketing ploy or that the new title was too generic. Still, it does
accurately reflect the fact that Rapunzel and Flynn Rider are equals in the
story. So, because I already talked about Rapunzel last time, let’s discuss the
charming thief Flynn Rider, whose profile is never truly portrayed right on a
wanted poster (“They just can’t get my nose right!”). While on the run after
stealing a crown (Rapunzel’s crown, for the record) from the kingdom of Corona,
he ends up at Rapunzel’s tower and after spending a brief amount of time as her
‘prisoner’, he agrees to help her escape from the tower and go to the kingdom
so that she can see the lanterns. Simply put, Flynn works off Rapunzel well (as
some critics have noted, their back-and-forth banter is like something out of a
romantic comedy) and his voice actor, Zachary Levi, does a great job in giving
Flynn his sarcastic but charming personality. In short, one of the best things
about Tangled was that it was a true fantasy-adventure
and at the heart of it all was the lead duo of Rapunzel and Flynn AKA Eugene
Fitzherbert.
3. ALADDIN (ALADDIN)
Aladdin kind of has it all in terms of character traits. He’s
a quick-witted, good looking (fun fact, his design was inspired by both Tom
Cruise and Michael J. Fox), adventurous young man who’s burdened by the fact
that he’s a street-rat in the city of Agrabah. Day after day he is forced to
survive on the city streets, constantly being pursued by palace guards whenever
he does something like steal a loaf of bread (“All this for a loaf of bread?”).
But then things start to change when he comes across Princess Jasmine. At first
unaware that she is the Princess, the two immediately start to form a
connection out of them sharing a similar habit of disliking their current
situations (in her case, being forced into marriage). But then the reality of
his situation hits once he finds out that she is the Princess; clearly, she’s
‘out of his league’. But then he finds the magic lamp which contains the Genie
and soon finds himself becoming ‘Prince Ali Ababwa’. Admittedly there’s not
much else that I can say about Aladdin. Simply put, he’s a very likable
protagonist and a lot of that comes from his voice actor, Scott Weinger (AKA
Steve from Full House for you 90’s
kids). Weinger does do a fantastic job in making Aladdin a clever lead
character but also one with a good heart. And even though the film does focus
around Aladdin putting on a false persona, this lie does come back to haunt him
from time to time, namely when he is forced to consider going against his
promise to Genie that he’d free him just because he’s now realized he’s being
prepped to be Sultan and he can’t keep up this charade forever. But at the end
of the day, Aladdin’s still a good guy and it's easy to see why he is known as
‘the Diamond in the Rough’.
2. JUDY HOPPS AND NICK WILDE (ZOOTOPIA)
Disney’s latest lead duo take the number 2 spot on this
list; Officer Judy Hopps and con-man Nick Wilde. Originally, Zootopia was to focus on the character
of Nick Wilde as he tried to clear his name from a crime he didn’t commit while
being pursued by Officer Hopps. That plotline ended up getting scrapped in
favor of focusing more on Judy. And overall that was the smart move as Judy is
immediately established as a likable optimist who dreams of becoming a police
officer, even though many people tell her that there has never been a ‘bunny
cop’ before in the generally predator-based police force. But she manages to
prove a lot of her critics wrong and lands a position at Zootopia’s primary
precinct… before getting delegated to the lowly position of meter maid. But on
a whim, she assures the wife of a missing otter (one of many missing animals
all over the city) that she’ll be on the case to find him, even though she ends
up coming to an agreement with her superior, Chief Bogo, that she’ll resign
from the force if she doesn’t find the missing mammal in 48 hours. Again,
Judy’s greatest strength is that she’s optimistic and doesn’t give up. But at
the same time, she also has her own imperfections, namely the fact that in a
story that turned out to be a timely fable of combatting prejudice and racism,
she had to deal with her own prejudices, namely her species’ general distrust
of foxes. Because even when it looks like she and Nick have become friends and
she encourages him to become a cop as well, that ‘bunny-fox’ rivalry slinks
back into the situation and messes everything up.
As for Nick, while he does start out as an ‘antagonistic’ character
towards Judy, he ends up becoming one of the most sympathetic characters in the
entire film. We learn that even he’s struggled with having to deal with
prejudice and the stereotype of being a ‘sly fox’ directed towards him on a
regular basis. In his case, it’s shown in what is easily the most emotional
moment in the entire film; a flashback to his youth. Back then, his biggest
dream was to join his local Ranger Scout group. But, when he attends an
initiation ceremony, he is instead hazed and muzzled for being a ‘untrustworthy’
fox. And so, he decides in that moment that if the world won’t see him as
anything but a ‘sly fox’, why should he try to be anything different? It’s a
powerful scene that I’ll admit even got me a little teary-eyed. But in the rest
of the film, Nick serves as a great foil to Judy in this ‘buddy cop’ story.
While she’s the straight-faced cop, he’s the charming swindler with a dry sense
of humor. And both are voiced excellently by Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason
Bateman, respectively. This is pitch-perfect casting; Goodwin imbues Judy with
her optimism as well as a great no-nonsense attitude, especially in scenes
where she and Nick trade quips, while Bateman’s dry wit is obviously a perfect
fit for Nick. In short, pair Judy and Nick together and you have one of the
best ‘buddy cop’ duos ever to be put on film.
1. SIMBA (THE LION KING)
Taking the top spot as my favorite Disney protagonist is
Simba from The Lion King. To me,
Simba has one of the best arcs of any main character in a Disney film. The son
of King Mufasa, the film begins with Simba eagerly awaiting the day when he’ll
become the king of Pride Rock. However, he’s shown to be a bit
arrogant/rambunctious at times. When he learns of the Elephant Graveyard, which
Mufusa orders him not to go to because it’s beyond the borders of their
kingdom, he goes anyway with his best friend Nala and they nearly get eaten by
a group of hyenas. And then of course, there comes the tragedy of the death of
Mufasa. Because Simba was tricked by his uncle Scar into waiting in a large
gorge before having to flee from the wildebeest stampede he set upon him, Scar
led him to believe that it was his fault that Mufasa died. And so, he runs away
from the Pride Lands and ends up coming across Timon and Pumbaa, who cheer him
up by teaching him about their care-free way of life. And that lifestyle is
exactly what Simba embraces for years until he’s reunited with Nala as an
adult. He learns about the ways in which Scar has ruined Pride Rock and after
doing some soul-searching, he finally returns home to fight his uncle and take
his rightful place as the king of Pride Rock. It’s well-known that Simba and
the whole story of The Lion King in
general was inspired by Hamlet and
overall it ends up delivering a solid new twist on that story. Simba also benefits
from solid performances from his two main voice actors. Jonathan Taylor Thomas
(AKA Randy from Home Improvement)
voices young Simba while Matthew Broderick voices adult Simba. Both do a great
job in conveying Simba’s adventurous but also conflicted personality. So, in
short, Simba is a well-layered protagonist who slowly but surely develops into
the leader he’s meant to be. And that is why he’s my favorite Disney
protagonist.
Now it’s time to move
on to the characters who sometimes become the true stars of the show…
SIDEKICKS
HONORABLE MENTIONS
I got a few Honorable Mentions when it comes to Disney sidekicks
so I’ll just quickly rattle them off here. First there’s the fairy trio of
Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather from Sleeping
Beauty. These three fairies work off each other excellently, resulting in
some great humor. Said humor namely stems from their attempts to do various
household chores (e.g. baking a cake for Aurora’s 16th birthday,
making her a dress) without the use of their magic. Next up is the wise wizard
Merlin from The Sword in the Stone.
This may just be the definitive on-screen version of the iconic wizard; goofy
but wise and ready to help Arthur become king of Camelot. His owl assistant,
Archimedes, is a pretty fun sidekick as well. A total grump but nevertheless
very intelligent at the same time. And finally, we have Mowgli’s two best
friends from The Jungle Book; the
panther Bagheera and the bear Baloo. The contrast between these two is
hilarious, with Bagheera being the wise, no-nonsense protector and Baloo being
the care-free friend who teaches Mowgli to ‘look for the Bare Necessities of
life’. And both are excellently voiced by Disney regulars Sebastian Cabot (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Sword in the Stone) and Phil Harris
(Robin Hood, The Aristocats),
respectively.
5. THE ATLANTIS CREW (ATLANTIS:
THE LOST EMPIRE)
Atlantis: The Lost
Empire was released to generally mixed results in 2001. Critics were split
on it and the film only did okay at the box-office, effectively silencing any
plans for a franchise, including a TV series spinoff and an underwater
attraction at Disneyland. And that’s a shame because it’s an underrated entry
in the Disney canon that dared to do something a little different. Instead of
being a musical, Atlantis is an
action-adventure flick with great animation that feels like it came right out
of a comic-book. One of the film’s best aspects is its cast of main characters.
Not the main villains, who are basically just greed-obsessed, but more the
title character Milo (voiced by Michael J. Fox) and his primary allies. Now
sure, characterizations in this film are simple at best but still these
sidekicks do prove to be very memorable. There’s tough-girl mechanic Audrey,
friendly doctor Joshua Sweet, eccentric geologist ‘Mole’, old-fashioned chef
‘Cookie’ (voiced by Jim Varney in his final film role), sarcastic radio
operator Packard, and probably everyone’s favorite, demolitions expert Vinny
(played by SNL alum Don Novello AKA Father Guido Sarducci). Simply put, Vinny
gets the best lines (“We done a lot of things we’re not proud of. Robbing
graves, eh, plundering tombs, double parking. But, nobody got hurt. Well, maybe
somebody got hurt, but nobody we knew!”). These characters work off each other
phenomenally and it’s a shame that we didn’t get to see these characters go off
on further adventures. I mean, we did kind of get that with the direct-to-video
film Atlantis: Milo’s Return, which
was basically the pilot for the canceled show, but the less said about that the
better.
4. OLAF (FROZEN)
While Anna and Elsa have proven to be an excellent lead duo,
many consider Olaf to be the breakout character of Frozen. And rightfully so because Josh Gad’s happy-go-lucky,
innocent snowman provides the film with a lot of its best humor. Olaf’s main
role in the plot revolves around him wishing to get the chance to experience
summer. Obviously, we all know what would happen to snowmen after winter
(Kristoff: “Somebody’s got to tell him…”) but for the most part, Olaf is
blissfully unaware. And that is hilarious. In fact, Olaf gets a lot of the best
lines in the film. There’s the instance in which he nonchalantly remarks that
he just ran into an icicle (“Oh look at that… I’ve been impaled”). There’s the
instance in which you think he’s talking about Kristoff’s reindeer pal Sven but
he was referring to Kristoff the whole time. There’s the instance in which he
interjects with “You hesitated…” when Kristoff stumbles a bit when answering a
question about Anna’s hair. And that’s just to name a few. But at the same
time, Olaf also proves to be a warm (no pun intended) presence in the story.
It’s established that when Anna and Elsa were kids, Olaf was the name of a
snowman that the two built on the night when Elsa accidentally injured Anna
with her powers. Later, during the big ‘Let it Go’ scene, we see Elsa
reconstruct Olaf and this, it turns out, results in him being brought to life. And
although Anna’s memories of Elsa’s powers were wiped when she was a child, her
memories of Olaf weren’t, hence why she can remember him. Simply put, there is
a solid personal connection there and thus, it’s easy to see why Olaf became
the lovable sidekick that he is.
3. PACHA (THE EMPEROR’S NEW
GROOVE)
Who doesn’t love Pacha? Voiced by ‘America’s Uncle’, John
Goodman, Pacha is the kind leader of an Incan village who learns that Emperor
Kuzco plans to build his ultimate summer get-away, Kuzcotopia (complete with
water slide!), on the hilltop where the village is located. Obviously, though,
this would mean that everyone in the village would lose their homes. But
despite Pacha’s arguments against it, he is unable to change Kuzco’s mind,
making it seem like his village is nearing its final days. That is, until Kuzco
ends up becoming the victim of a plot by his advisor Yzma to take over the empire.
He’s turned into a llama but ends up getting dumped onto Pacha’s cart as he
travels back to the village. As soon as Kuzco realizes what happened, he orders
Pacha to help him get back to the palace but Pacha refuses unless Kuzco changes
his mind and builds his summer house somewhere else. Being the self-absorbed
leader that he is, Kuzco refuses at first but eventually starts to reconsider.
And so, this begins a crazy buddy road trip complete with all sorts of misadventures,
from the two of them getting stuck on a tree log as it falls off a waterfall to
them getting caught up in an awkward situation when Pacha tries to revive Kuzco
via mouth-to-mouth (“For the last time, it was not a kiss!”). And like Judy
Hopps and Nick Wilde in Zootopia,
Kuzco and Pacha work off each other incredibly well, with Kuzco being the
arrogant spoiled brat and Pacha being the straight man in their situation.
Sure, when it comes to the film’s humor, a lot of the best moments come
courtesy of main villain Yzma and her lackey Kronk. But there are also some
great funny moments with Kuzco and Pacha as well. One of my favorites is when
Pacha is swinging in on a vine to save Kuzco from a bunch of jaguars but misses
at first. Then, after he finally nabs Kuzco… they end up getting tied to a tree
(“Maybe I'm just new to this whole rescuing thing, but this, to me, might be
considered kind of a step backwards, wouldn't you say?”). In short, Pacha is a
lovable sidekick who manages to spark a change in attitude for the selfish
emperor and is one of the many reasons why The
Emperor’s New Groove is one of my favorite Disney animated films.
2. TIMON AND PUMBAA (THE LION
KING)
You just can’t go wrong with this legendary duo from one of
Disney’s most legendary films. Timon, voiced by Nathan Lane, and Pumbaa, voiced
by Ernie Sabella, first appear to help liven up the mood after the devastating
scene that was the death of Mufasa. They come across Simba while out on the
desert and offer to let him stay with them. It is through them that Simba
learns to live a care-free lifestyle as inspired by their motto, “Hakuna
Matata” (Simba: “What’s a motto?” Timon: “Nothing! What’s the motto with you?”).
But even after Simba finally accepts who he is and goes back to fight Scar,
Timon and Pumbaa go to help him as well. They distract a bunch of hyenas by
putting on a luau performance so that Simba and Nala can sneak by them. And
later, when Timon gets captured, Pumbaa takes on his captors in what I must admit
is a pretty badass moment. After getting called a ‘pig’, he references a
classic film line (“They call me Mr. Pig!”) and charges at the hyenas like a
battering ram. In short, while these two aren’t exactly the kind of characters
who try to get too involved in certain conflicts, their loyalty to their friend
Simba always shines through. It’s easy to see why these two became some of the
most popular characters from the franchise. They got their own spin-off show, Timon and Pumbaa, which ran for 3
seasons from 1995 to 1999. I fondly remember watching this show all the time
when I was younger. They also starred in their own direct-to-video sequel, The Lion King 1 ½, a re-telling of the
first film from their perspective and while it’s not saying much, I consider it
to be one of the better Disney direct-to-video films.
1. THE GENIE (ALADDIN)
At the end of the day, though, I’d argue that it’s hard to
top what the legendary Robin Williams did in the role of Aladdin’s
wise-cracking sidekick, the Genie. Genie… is the best thing about Aladdin. It’s interesting to note that
when Williams first signed onto the film, he agreed on the condition that the
marketing wasn’t centered around him and the character. Disney obviously went
back on this agreement, effectively resulting in Williams not returning to
voice the character in the first direct-to-video sequel, The Return of Jafar. Dan Castellaneta (AKA Homer Simpson) voiced
the character instead but Williams later returned for the second
direct-to-video sequel, Aladdin and the
King of Thieves. Regardless of this whole ordeal, the Genie does end up
stealing the whole show. Williams’ talents in accents and improvisation results
in plenty of hilarious moments. Obviously, some of the references that he makes
are anachronistic; by that I mean they’re references that no one in the time-period
that the film takes place in would recognize. But for us modern audiences,
they’re a hoot; Rodney Dangerfield (“I can’t believe this, I’m losing to a
rug…”), Jack Nicholson (“Alright, Sparky, here’s the deal. If you want to court
the little lady you gotta be a straight-shooter, do ya got it?”), the list goes
on. But through it all, Genie also comes with an endearing plot thread of him
yearning for freedom; because despite all the “phenomenal cosmic power” that comes
with being the Genie, it also comes with the “itty-bitty living space” that is
the lamp. Not only that, but the friendship that forms between him and Aladdin
is extremely heart-warming. Simply put, you could truly sense the warmth that
Robin Williams brought to not just this role but basically every role that he
ever did. And that’s why we’ll always remember him; for roles like the Genie.
Not only is the Genie my favorite Disney sidekick, he may just be my favorite
Disney character period.
And those are my Top
5 Disney Protagonists and Top 5 Disney Sidekicks. Be sure to sound off in the
comments below with your own favorite Disney main characters/sidekicks. Disney
Month will continue next Friday with a big Top 10 list; my Top 10 favorite
Disney Songs.
