At San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), renowned Disney animator Andreas Deja (known for Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast) revealed a key inspiration for Gaston while discussing why Disney villains are always so popular. Deja, who was there for the "Andreas Deja: 30 Years of Disney Villains" panel, revealed to The Direct in an interview that part of his inspiration behind Beauty and the Beast's Gaston is how he would "see those guys at the gym in LA" who are always "look[ing] into the mirror" and sizing themselves up. He joked that he "[gets his] research from present-day that [he] meet[s] at the gym."
As for why Disney villains are inherently so prevalent and popular in pop culture, Reja noted that the secret is not only that they "have to be interesting," but they "have to go beyond evil and just being bad." He added that "you have to find maybe flaws, weird interests, [perhaps] a sidekick," all in the pursuit of "[creating] a full personality with a villain."
Also joining Andreas Deja were animator and artist John Ramirez (The Lion King, Hercules, Toy Story 2) and legendary voice actor Jim Cummings (the voice of Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Darkwing Duck, Hondo Ohnaka, and more).
Legendary Disney Animators & Iconic Voice Actor Jim Cummings on Why Disney Villains Are So Popular
"You Have to Go Beyond Evil and Just Being Bad."
- The Direct: "Disney Villains are all the rage many times, quite literally. What do you feel has been the key to their success and ability to penetrate the cultural zeitgeist so deeply and so consistently?"
Andreas Deja: I think the thing about villains, about any villain, they have to be interesting. You have to go beyond evil and just being bad. We did that on the first Disney film that I worked on, which was 'The Black Cauldron.' Not a big hit at the time. The Horned King was just slapping characters around. He was just evil. There was really nothing interesting about him.
You have to find maybe flaws, weird interests, [perhaps] a sidekick. You have to create a full personality with a villain. And I think we did that, and we also did this in a modern way. I mean, the classics will always be great, whether it's Captain Hook or Stromboli and Pinocchio, those always be great.
But I think at least audiences tell me this, that when they see Gaston, they identify with him, because they know people like that, and I have to say too, in creating Gaston, doing some research, he is so into himself and so arrogant, and, of course, the bodybuilder he is. You see those guys at the gym in LA, you know, look in the mirror, looking good. So I got my research from present-day people that I meet at the gym.
John Ramirez: Having that Disney name behind them and those great Disney stories helps, but in working on these films, because I was a story artist on 'Hercules,' and so, you know, we got to create the stories. Hopefully, I did a good job. But, generally, these villains are a one-trick pony. They are very selfish. They only wanted the world to turn out for them.
And so working on Scar or Jafar, they had really strong personalities, in fact, more flamboyant than the heroes, right? And because we can be evil without actually being evil as an artist, we just get to pretend, [and] it was a lot of fun to make them be a bit silly in their pursuit of their goals.
Jim Cummings: I can say that bad guys always look like they're having a lot of fun. The heroes oftentimes are kind of like one note or what have you, but bad guys are devious, and they're thinking, and they're conniving, and they're fun to watch. And I was talking with Andreas Deja a while ago, and he likes villains too. He likes drawing villains because they're mysterious, and, like I said, I wouldn't want to play cards with them.
The full interviews can be seen below:
