Disney’s animated classics have without a doubt stood the test of time, for several reasons. The stories are universally relatable and told in an engaging and visually pleasing way, and the characters, while archetypical, are dynamic enough to see a plot through from start to finish without losing us along the way. Historically, perhaps Disney’s greatest triumph has been with its villains, who collectively are probably the most memorable, deplorable, and darkly lovable crew of baddies any single studio has ever produced.
101 Dalmatians’ Cruella De Vil just wanted to kill a bunch of innocent puppies, but she was aesthetically striking and enrapturing as a crazed character all the while. Aladdin‘s Jafar sought power through whatever ruthless means necessary, but we love his witty banter with his parrot sidekick Iago. Frozen‘s Hans was less conventional in that he wasn’t established as a villain from the beginning, but that allowed his outing as a ne’er-do-well to feel like that much more of a betraying figure.
These characters are creepy enough on film, but imagine how menacing they’d be if they were actual people who existed in our world.
That’s what artist Jirka Väätäinen did, and the results are beautifully unsettling (via BuzzFeed). Aside from the aforementioned antagonists, he also depicted Mother Gothel from Tangled, Judge Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and a bunch of others. Take a gander at the rest of his creations on Instagram, or take a look at the embed below, in which Väätäinen collected all of his works in this series so far.
Featured image: Disney
