Disney Villains: Delightfully Evil: The Creation • The Inspiration • The Fascination

This book is one part good concept, one part beautiful artwork and one part thorough research all whipped together with fantastic execution. Disney Villains: Delightfully Evil is broken down into chapters by themes such as “Oh So Vain” (Cruella De Vil, Gaston, and so on) and “All in the Family” (Scar and Mother Gothel). Included in the villain is concept art and photographs of the voice actors getting into character.

I loved the concept art that was featured, especially for characters like Gaston (probably my favorite Disney villain) and Ursula (and I must say, I like the final product much, much better than some of the first ideas animators tested out). We’ve all grown up with the final product, so it’s really cool to see how the character progressed and became the villain we all love to hate. It was also very cool to see the progression of animation from the earlier films to the most recent.

While the art steals the show, this book wouldn’t be what it is without the delightful gems of Disney knowledge that are nestled amongst the artwork. One of my favorite spreads was in the first chapter where author Jen Darcy reveals what villains were brought to life by the same actors as beloved characters like Winnie the Pooh and Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother.

This is a book every Disney lover needs in their lives.