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Is Ratcliffe really the only 'uncool' 90's villain of Disney?

posted 10 years ago by idonnowho
20 replies | jump to latest

A TV Tropes entry claimed Ratcliffe is generally considered the ONLY "uncool" addition to Disney's otherwise "stellar line of Renaissance villains". Yeah, Ratcliffe wasn't particularly memorable... but nor was the rest of this film... Only it's hard to say which film, between this and "The Rescuers 2: Down Under" is the worst of the so-called "Renaissance". While this film was mostly boring and not worth remembering a lot, it did at least have some relatively memorable songs, like "Colors of the Wind" and even "Mine, Mine, Mine" (Mel Gibson did his OWN singing there, too). The second "Rescuers", however, may have had an interesting premise, but it pales to be anywhere NEAR as memorable as the original masterpiece, which was ignored altogether in its so-called sequel. Maybe the mice should've gone to AFRICA, hey! It was 4 years (at LEAST) before "The Lion King" and later "Tarzan"...

But back to Ratcliffe. What exactly makes him so "uncool"? His SECOND song, "SAVAGES!", is considered almost as serious a song as "Hellfire", from the film that would succeed "Pocahontas"... And yet Frollo is considered so much more epic than Ratcliffe. Sure Frollo's eviler than almost ANY other animated Disney baddie, but still, considering "Hellfire" and "Savages" are BOTH pretty epic music numbers, this surprises me.

Another interesting note regarding Frollo vs. Ratcliffe: In the Swedish dubs of "Pocahontas" and "Hunchback", both characters have THE SAME VOICE ACTOR...

Luckily, at least Wiggins the Valet was pretty funny (as were some of Ratcliffe's wisecracks about him, no less)...

[–] DoctorShemp 10 years ago

Probably because he's just some English guy and not a lion or greek god

[–] idonnowho 10 years ago

Well, yeah, he's pretty plain compared to many of the others. Scar and especially Hades are much more memorable... Ditto for much of the rest of the film, save it for the music, visuals and Pocahontas x John Smith romance...

[–] super-staff 10 years ago

Unmemorable 90s villains that I find are rarely ever discussed or praised in the Disney fandom: McLeach (though I do see some scattered comments about his being underrated), Ratcliffe, Shan Yu (Mulan as a heroine is quite popular but her villain, not so much), and Clayton.

[–] Tinny-Tinette 10 years ago

The thing with Ratcliffe is that he (at least in most of film) comes across as a buffoon than a real, menacing villain. Though he does display some of his evil sides, he still doesn't have the evil charisma that the best Disney villains have. Yes, there are Disney villains that are comical, but at least they have a certain charisma. Ratcliffe's is a character that you'll rather laugh of instead with, if you understand.

These are my observations. I certainly don't hate Ratcliffe, though he's not a particularly memorable villain. And Shan-Yu and Clayton are considered as inferior villains as well.

[–] Comrade_Lizard 10 years ago

Ratcliffe's characterization is kind of symbolic of all the problems Pocahontas has as a film. For Ratcliffe as a character to really work, he either needed to be a genuine threat, or the film could have gone the unconventional route and not have any one person be the villain. As he is, Ratcliffe's an uneasy compromise, like the rest of the movie.

Seid ihr das Essen? Nein, wir sind der JÃ¤ger!

[–] I_Love_Netflix 10 years ago

He's too cartoonish and hard to take seriously as a threatening villain.

[–] ZakkWyldeMyLittlePony 10 years ago

I suppose Ratcliffe is nothing special in my opinion.

"You break-a my heart Chris. You break-a my heart"-Stewie Griffin

[–] muppetlass87 10 years ago

Well, I saw this movie in the theater when I was 8, and I didn't even like it then, but I will say he was one of the things I did remember about it for a while after seeing it. Looking back on the film as an adult, I hardly think he was the worst thing about this movie (as far as the 90s Disney movie with the most forgettable villain, that dubious honor goes to "Mulan" (I love the movie, but the villain was LAME)).

The more people I meet, the more I get why Jane Goodall spends all of her time with chimps.....

[–] JJdaPK 10 years ago

Radcliffe is one of the most entertaining characters in the movie (along with Wiggins, Grandmother Willow, Nakoma, and Meeko) because he actually has a personality.

That being said, while I enjoyed his scenes, he was the wrong type of villain for this sort of movie. The threat of the Englishmen getting ready to attack the Indians and the themes of prejudice are sort of undermined when the villain is a comical bafoon, rather than an actual threat.

I think Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame is what Radcliffe should have been. He was extremely intimidating, but he was also a very believable character. His prejudice against the gypsies had much more weight to it than Radcliffe's prejudice against the Native American's because his hatred stemmed from cultural and religious differences, whereas Radcliffe was given a cliched "THEY ARE HIDING THE GOLD!!" motivation. They tried to give his hatred a bit more depth in "Savages", but it didn't feel well earned. Throughout Hunchback, the audience is convinced that Frollo's actions are disgusting and horrific, but in Pocahontas the audience may often find themselves laughing at Radcliffe's shenanigans.