With Walt Disney set to add a seventh Princess to their collection in 2009, with the upcoming release of The Princess and the Frog, it brings to mind all of the great characters of past Disney films. For eight decades, grown-ups and children alike have enjoyed the retellings of classic storybook tales (in addition to some not so well known stories), all which the magic of Disney studios have brought to life. Hence, the following is a list of the ten greatest heroes in Disney animated history.
Of course every list can be debated, so to understand how this group was chosen, the following is the criteria: 1) Must have demonstrated bravery 2) Must have accomplished a difficult feat and/or a very noble deed 3) Must stand for truth and justice (in the Disney sense) 4) Must have defeated a great source of evil 5) Must be the cause of a happy ending. Here are the heroes in reverse order:
10. Lewis (the future Cornelius Robinson – from Meet the Robinsons)
Pros: Wilbur manages to save the world (albeit an alternate world from the future) from being consumed by evil bowler hats (it’s more terrifying than it sounds). He also managed to fix the damage done to the life of his childhood roommate, Mike “Goob” Yagoobian, which sets him on a better path in his future.
Cons: The way he eliminated the original bowler hat, named Doris, was simply to decree that he would not invent Doris when he became Cornelius Robinson. That is by far not the most heroic dispatching of a villain we’ve ever seen. Lewis was also a little bit on the negative side for a good part of the movie.
9. Pongo (from 101 Dalmations)
Pros: Pongo brought together Roger and Anita, which of course led to happiness for both them and himself and Perdita. Then, Pongo traveled seemingly forever to find his children. He was smart enough to cover them all in soot to fool Cruella’s idiotic henchmen. He seemed completely determined to recover his kids and keep them away from Cruella despite any weather or danger he might have encountered.
Cons: You have to give a big assist to members of the “Twilight Bark” gossip chain. Without help from a long line of animals, especially Colonel and his men, Pongo would have never found the pups in the first place and may have gotten caught by Cruella and company even if he did. Pongo also didn’t actually defeat the bad folks with his own paws.
8. Aladdin (from Aladdin)
Pros: He saved Agrabah from the rule and probable tyranny of Jafar by tricking Jafar into trapping himself in a magic lamp. He also committed the very noble and unselfish act of freeing the Genie with his last wish.
Cons: Aladdin was a thief. It is hard to consider him a hero when he was stealing food to start the movie. Granted, he had good reason, and he did offer some bread to some unfortunate kids, but the truest of heroes would not have been a former law-breaker.
Pros: The only princess that can be considered a hero. Belle went searching for her lost father, sacrificed herself to free him from prison, then, she went on another search for him in the dangerous forest after she was let go by the Beast. Later, Belle goes to the castle to warn, and possibly help the Beast against Gaston and the angry mob. Belle’s mere presence inspired the Beast to fight back, which led to Gaston’s demise. Belle also had the compassion to admit she loved the Beast, which led to freeing everyone in the castle from their enchantment.
Cons: Belle didn’t defeat Gaston herself, and she did need rescuing herself on two occasions, once by Chip and of course by the Beast when she was being attacked by wolves.
6. Tarzan (from Tarzan)
Pros: Tarzan saved Kerchak from Sabor, he saved Jane from a pack of wild baboons, and then he actually thwarts an attack by Kerchak on Jane, her father, and Clayton. Later, he returns to the Gorillas’ nest just in time to stop Clayton and his men from capturing his adopted family and he defeats Clayton in combat, even trying to warn Clayton at the last second that he was cutting too many vines, which of course resulted in Clayton’s death by self-hanging.
Cons: Tarzan was captured by Clayton and needed Terk and Tantor to rescue him. He also loses points for leading the bad guy to the gorillas after being warned not to by Kerchak. Kerchak’s death could also be considered Tarzan’s fault, but Kerchak’s final speech, which places the blame for things on himself, absolves Tarzan for that tragedy.
5. Simba (from The Lion King)
Pros: Simba saves his fellow lions from the oppression of Scar and fulfills his destiny by overthrowing Scar and becoming King of the Pride Lands. This feat was impressive when you consider that Simba had to overcome the guilt of his father’s death, confront a family member, and overcome an extremely evil villain with no reservations about killing.
Cons: Simba was young when Mufasa was killed and Scar convinced him that it was his fault, but still, he did run away from his responsibilities and it took a great deal of convincing to get him to return to the Pride Lands and confront Scar.
Pros: He defeated Ursula on her home turf (the water), which was no easy feat considering she had the benefit of her magic, plus the trident she obtained from King Triton, and her two eels.
Cons: There are not too many negative things you can say about Eric, other than he fell under Ursula’s spell, but you can hardly blame him for that.
Pros: He defeated one of the scariest, if not most dangerous villains in Maleficent in her fire-breathing dragon form. His kiss then woke Aurora from her sleep, which allowed the two to presumably be married and live happily ever after.
Cons: He was captured by Maleficent (most heroes would have trouble avoiding that) and needed the help of the good fairies to escape. It was a tough call between Eric and Phillip, but fire is more deadly than water, so Phillip gets the edge here.
Pros: Mulan proved that girls can do anything boys can do, and sometimes do them better. She saved Captain Shang and bested the massive, seemingly indestructible villain, Shan Yu, not once, but twice. In the end, she saves China, earns the respect of the Emperor, and brings honor to her family. All of this happens because she had the courage and love for her father to take his place in the army, despite knowing that if she was caught doing so (because she is a woman) she would be put to death.
Cons: Mulan had to resort to deception to be a hero, but her reasons were more than worthy of overlooking this transgression.
1. Hercules (from Hercules)
Pros: Hercules defeated a countless number of monsters, all of which were thrown at him by Hades, who had plenty of powerful characters at his disposal. Hercules spends the entire movie striving to be a true hero, with his big accomplishments coming when he helps the gods defeat the titans, followed by sacrificing himself to save Megara, which is the act he needed to prove he was worthy of once again becoming a god himself. In accomplishing all of this, he foiled the plan of Hades to overthrow Zeus, which certainly would have made life extremely difficult for mortals everywhere.
Cons: None. Even when Hercules lost his strength in a deal with Hades (which he made so that Meg wouldn’t be harmed), he was still courageous enough to challenge the titan Cyclops. Hercules is the greatest Disney animated hero.
