DVDizzy Forum

The third villains thread go on and discuss the character of Chernabog.

He's my favorite. The awesome-ist villian ever. A God.

Why he's not the main villian but Malificant is, I would never know. This guy is a god.

I have no idea who Chenarbog is.

But I do enjoy Chernabog from Fantasia.



Escapay

His segment in Fantasia is my fav. (followed closely by Pastoral Symphony). I love how he got a part in Mickey's House of Villains, even if it was a small one. He's def. one of my fav. villains as you can tell by my name

Well, I wouldn't say he is my fav, but he is definetely cool. The thing is, the design is amazing, and so is the lighting...but its not really a developed character. And sometimes the wings arent drawn properly...(they are supposed to be bat-styled wings)
I have to say tho, that the figurines from the Classics Collection of chernabog are amazing. They are painted to look like he is lit from underneath....

I'd say such a menacing figure should rather be left without much further analysis. An enigma and a masterpiece!

The sequence was inspired by a drawing by (inspirational sketch artist) Albert Hurter, which showed a huge demon tossing flailing bodies into a volcano. Hurter was in turn inspired by drawings of gigantic demons by artist/illustrator Heinrich Kley (one of the illustrators whose work Walt picked up on his trip to Europe, reccomended to him by Hurter and Joe Grant. Walt ended up with a large collection of Kley's work). After Hurter's concept drawing the idea was passed to Kay Nielsen, who established the look and atmosphere of Bald Mountain. I think Nielsen did most of the model sheets as well.

Night on Bald Mountain was also inspired by a sequence in F. W. Murnau's 'Faust', in which Mephisto (Emil Jannings) appears over Faust's village in the form of a huge demon, spreading his shadowy wings over the tiny buildings and sending plague into the city.

You could argue that Disney's early films, Chernabog was what got me into Murnau's films, which definitely influenced Snow White, Pinocchio and Fantasia in particular (though Tim Burton's films were what first introduced me to Murnau).

i was alway so scared of him!!! i don't think i ever saw his whole sequence

I love Chernabog, he is pure evil yet he does not speek wich is what makes his character so powerful."Night on Bald Mountain" is nothing short of spectacular,Definetly my favorite Fantasia segment.