Top Disney Villain Deaths

Quick: What's Disney's favorite way of killing off an animated villain?

Of course, not all Disney villains die. Some are imprisoned and some (mainly in the comedies) are merely humiliated. Then there's Pinocchio, a very dark film in which FIVE major villains get off with no punishment at all. Because the message of Pinocchio is, "Watch Out!" Most people think the message has something to do with wishing on stars. No. It's "Watch Out!"

But, when Disney storytellers do kill off a creep, they've definitely got one preferred method. Let's take a look at a list of the most famous Disney death scenes:

Snow White's Evil Queen - Plummets to her death.
Cinderella's Lucifer the Cat - Plummets to his death.
Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent - Stabbed through heart.
Great Mouse Detective's Ratigan - Plummets to his death.
Oliver and Co's Bill Sykes - Struck by train.
Little Mermaid's Ursula - Stabbed through heart...by a ship!
Rescuers Down Under's McLeech - Plummets to his death.
Beauty and the Beast's Gaston - Plummets to his death.
The Lion King's Scar - Plummets, survives, eaten by henchmen.
Hunchback's Frolo - Plummets to his death.
Tarzan's Clayton - Plummets to his (hanging) death.
Mulan's Shan Yu - Blown Up

Yes, Disney's favorite way of killing a bad guy is the "Death Plummet."

I don't know about you, but it seems to me that Scar got the most grisly villain demise: EATEN ALIVE BY HIS OWN HENCHMEN!



Sure, he deserved it, but...yikes!

Don't you love folks who think Disney's too sugary?

Alice In Wonderland's New Safety Railings Rock!

Just kidding. Disneyland's Alice in Wonderland dark ride has been in operation since 1958 (with an extended closure for remodeling in the early '80s) and--as far as I know--no one's ever fallen off the outdoor section of track. But recently, as most fans know by now, a visiting OSHA inspector mentioned in passing that the elevated track could pose a problem, and Disney voluntarily shut the ride for a quick safety fix.

A few days ago, the constructions tarps came down, and...good grief.



Okay, that image used to link to a very funny video of various reactions to the new look. It has since been removed by the auteur.

My favorite comment came from the Hatter: "You have lice. Alice spells A-LICE, so we're fumigating your ride!"

Awesome.

Alice in Wonderland is one of my all time favorite Disneyland rides. And a lot of that was due to how incredibly cool and whimsical the outside of the ride used to look. And, as a child, I loved the thrill of the way the caterpillars used to go a bit over the edge of the leaf path just before they turned, giving the illusion of danger. Now...well...


Video by Hydrotrippin

I love that the background music in the above video is Dee and Dum's How'd Ye Do song.

Okay, in all fairness, it could have been much, much worse. So I'd like to point out a few things I actually like about the safety rails:

1) They're temporary. The plan, apparently, is to close the ride in the near future for a much more involved permanent solution which will, hopefully, look a lot better.

2) They tried. Really, at least they made an effort to add some appropriately themed decor to the thing.

3) The darker loading area adds a bit of mystery.

4) As seen in the second video, I do like the darker exit from the ride building. That works. That bit of the ride has always been a sort of dead area. It's not until the vehicles reach the new safety flooring that things start to look gross.

5) It doesn't hurt the ride's interior one tiny bit.

6) It's temporary.

7) At least the ride's open.

8) It's temporary.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that the permanent solution will be creative, surprising, and...just maybe...be an opportunity to improve the ride's outdoor descent.

I vote for a big drop and a loop.

Confessions of a Kindle Newbie

I've wanted an E-book reader for a while, now, and when Amazon's Kindle dropped to $189, I began to give the device some serious consideration. The display at Target sealed the deal: I fell in love with the Kindle's screen and the look of the text. So easy on the eyes! So lightweight! So perfect to read a book on! Sold!

I couldn't be happier with Kindle, and I'm not even peeved that Amazon announced an upcoming improved version--with a cheaper non-3G model as an option) a week after I bought it. The current model fits perfectly in my hands, and the screen gives me exactly the right level of contrast for my tired ol' eyes. The free books and free internet access make it worth the purchase, but--of course--I bought a few reasonably-priced newer novels to get me started. Like others before me have said: the reading experience is so smooth that you forget you're holding a device and pressing buttons to turn pages. You're reading a book, and it feels exactly right.

Wonder of wonders, Amazon just started offering two great games for Kindle and--as of this writing--they cost exactly zero! SHUFFLED ROW and EVERY WORD provide some very well-designed scrambled letter fun. I highly recommend both, but Shuffled Row is my favorite of the two: It's crazily addictive and the best electronic word game I've played since Bookworm.

New to the Kindle community, I've already found two favorite sources of information. A Kindle World Blog is the best site for up-to-date Kindle news, commentary and tutorials on the web, and Free Kindle Books is an inexpensive Amazon blog subscription that points you to new free titles and promotional offers as they become available on Amazon.

So...for any readers wondering if the Kindle is worth a purchase: Yeah. Definitely. The iPad's a great device for doing a lot of tasks, but Amazon's little beauty is perfectly designed to provide the smoothest, most comfortable electronic reading experience possible. Be warned, though: It's also designed to make impulse book-buying frighteningly quick n' easy! :)