To say that Disney’s live-action remakes and reboots have become one of film’s most saturated genres might be the cinematic understatement of the year. What started out as a magical way to revisit old classics with the gorgeous and humble Cinderella has become a never-ending trend that many moviegoers have long since tired of, with many entries being called soulless, and others obnoxious. While there have been a few gems along the way, the practice really began to be called out when The Lion King was released. While the picture was a financial success, it became obvious to many that Disney was not interested in creatively improving their classics but rather rehashing them (in some cases shot for shot) to make millions on concepts that had already proven successful. Yet, Disney has continued to greenlight these movies with a live-action remake of Moana well into production, despite the original hit being less than a decade old.
With the box office failure of Snow White, however, Disney did pause progress on other projects such as the Tangled remake. By and large, this is a good decision for the company, as it is a good time to re-evaluate its creative decisions when it comes to reboots. But, in doing so, audiences may miss out on one of the company’s most evil villains getting the big screen treatment: Fantasia’s Chernabog. Originally introduced during “Night on Bald Mountain,” the infamous demon was all set to get a solo film, one that could have found balance between “remake” and “originality.”
A Chernabog Movie Would Have Been Disney’s Most Creative Reboot

Image via RKO Radio Productions

It’s been nearly a decade since The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Disney was developing a Chernabog film with Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless attached to write. But given the recent developments at Disney, it seems the film may never see the light of day. After all, the character lends himself to incredible creativity, the likes of which we’ve rarely seen from Disney’s live-action remakes. The “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence is one of the most memorable from Fantasia, second only to “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Its dark portrayal of hellish creatures, intense music, and, of course, Chernabog remain impactful. However, the vague storyline of the segment would have allowed for endless creativity.

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While we, of course, would want to see the iconic segment play out, turning Chernabog as a character and concept into a full-fledged film would have made way for a wholly original story for the villain. Maleficent certainly attempted this, twisting its source material into an epic debut picture and a largely original sequel, which helps to give us an idea of how innovative Chernabog could have been. Cruella is another great example, as it really only references the upcoming events of 101 Dalmatians. However, both of those films still operate with a certain number of confines to their source material; a barrier (however light) Chernabog would be able to avoid. Additionally, he is among Disney’s most underrepresented villains.
Chernabog Deserves More Screen Time

Disney has several character canons, from the Fab Five, to the Disney Princesses. But for many, the greatest of all are the Disney Villains. As previously mentioned, both Maleficent and Cruella got their own films and proved that there are a lot of concepts that can be built around a traditional Disney baddie. And with the recent announcement that Disney will be adding a villains-themed area to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, it seems as though the Mouse House antagonists are getting more representation than ever. However, Chernabog has rarely been portrayed in the decades following Fantasia. In fact, the character was largely relegated to gag appearances on the Disney Channel series, House of Mouse.
With the film’s apparent cancelation, it’s truly a shame to see the character fall to the wayside. Sure, Maleficent and the Evil Queen are icons, but Chernabog is the literal incarnation of evil, and yet he’s hardly ever been expanded upon. Given the lineage of Disney villain films and the sheer power of the character, his film truly has the potential to be something special. What’s more, the character did get to see a live-action incarnation of sorts (and, no, we’re not talking about Bela Lugosi’s modeling for the character). The hit ABC series, Once Upon a Time, brought the character to Storybrooke in Season 4 for an all too brief cameo. Even with the show’s more limited CGI abilities, he was truly a marvel and worked as a powerful and, frankly, terrifying villain, qualities that would only be improved in a full feature. For now, it doesn’t seem a Chernabog movie will ever happen. But, thankfully, we’ll always have the incredible “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence in Fantasia. And maybe, just maybe, someday Disney’s most frightening character will rise from the mountain.

Fantasia

Release Date

November 13, 1940

Runtime

124 minutes

Director

Ben Sharpsteen, Bill Roberts, David Hand, Hamilton Luske, James Algar, Jim Handley, Norman Ferguson, Paul Satterfield, Samuel Armstrong, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson

Writers

James Algar

Producers

Walt Disney

Deems Taylor

Narrator – Narrative Introductions

Walt Disney

Mickey Mouse (segment ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’) (voice)