Lady Tremaine

[Jay]

So how do you feel about Cinderella's wicked stepmom? She's the only thing I was terrified of when I was little. I couldn't watch the movie because of her.

[blackcauldron85]

Apparently she doesn't have a bad figure (thanks, Julian!)!

I wouldn't want her to be my mom or step-mom. She's just mean. I mean, she doesn't seem to physically harm Cinderella, which is good, but there's definitely some mental abuse. Was Cindy's dad rich? Is that why Lady Tremaine married him? She doesn't seem like she could fall in love. Does she hate Cindy more because she misses Cindy's dad/her ex-husband? I'm over-analyzing this, but I wonder why she has that hatred towards Cinderella. To me, she's not the scariest Disney villain by any means, but I would hate to live with her. Lucifer, though, is probably one of my favorite villains.

[Prudence]

Here's an interesting question. Do you think Lady Tremaine truly loves her own daughters or simply spoils them? Why or why not?

Indulging in her daughter's interests does not equate love.

[blackcauldron85]

I don't think that Lady Tremaine really loves her daughters. She wants what she thinks is best for them (such as taking music lessons and marrying royalty). I wonder what her childhood was like. That would explain a lot.

[Prudence]

I wonder what her childhood was like. That would explain a lot.

That's intriguing! I wonder that, as well.

I wonder what ALL the adult characters from Cinderella experienced as children.

[Mason_Ireton]

Lady Tremaine, flexible villainess, she doesn't retreat to magic or henchmen to do her work, though she doesn't have real motive towards the Prince himself, I'd say it would've been interesting if he fell victim to her too. Though Tremaine isn't too intimidating like Frollo, Shere Khan, Eloise (Evil Queen), she holds the plot fairly well. Ms.Tremaine wouldn't be allowed to work at a pre-school, sending chills down their spine.


ps: Jay think you could do a thread on Silly Symphonie villains?

[Prudence]

You know, Lady Tremaine is second only to Frollo on my List of Most Terrifying Disney Villains. She's a very realistic villain, which makes her all the more scary. There are people who are actually like her.

Frollo scares me for the same reasons, but more so.

[Mason_Ireton]

I always had a feeling that Lady Tremaine and Frollo would be a couple, some of the villains didn't frighten me except those *bleep*ing Pink Elephants and Helflump/Weasles. My fav. Villains are Foul Fellow/Gidon, Big Bad Wolf, Clayton, Frollo and Shere Khan. It would be to see a caricture of Walt Disney's father, Elias Disney, was modeled for a villain. Heck I wouldn't mind seeing a Disney herione designed after a 1920s/1930s star.

[Disney's Divinity]

Here's an interesting question. Do you think Lady Tremaine truly loves her own daughters or simply spoils them? Why or why not?

I think Lady Tremaine would be in the middle. After all, many parents DO spoil their child, but still love them. Spoiling a child doesn't mean there is no love involved, it's simply one of many parental mistakes.

I, personally, find Tremaine intriguing because I do believe she loves her daughters. Her hatred for Cinderella is entirely the result of this. She spends all her days trying to improve her daughters, mentor them, teach them grace and make them wise, when Cinderella has all those qualities without any help. It's obvious the stepmother is a very intelligent woman, but favoritism invokes her jealousy of Cinderella.

[cheshirecat]

personally Lady Tremain is not at all on my list of favorite villains. True you can tell she has a truly cold heart, but I cant get the feeling of her being truly evil wich to me Is an important aspect of a villian. Shure she is mean to Cinderella but not evil.

[Disney's Divinity]

I think that's what makes her one of the better Disney villains. Sure, pure evil's nice to watch, but it's totally unrealistic.

[Marce82]

Oh, I;ve always loved Lady Tremaine...very theatrical, but a not overly so. The kind of woman you can see down the street (who would bump into a woman like maleficent on the street??). And on that note...when I was a kid, my next door neighbor looked just like the evil stepmother, which didn't really scare me, but boy did it make an impression!
I have to say i dont like her that much for her overall character, but more for her design and animation. Very..."always on the verge of snapping"...which she often does.
Oh, and as for her reason for marrying Cinderella's dad...I don;t know when the movie is supposed to take place, but it's definetely before the 20th century. Which means it wouldn't be easy or well regarded for a woman to be unwed with two children.

[Prudence]

Which means it wouldn't be easy or well regarded for a woman to be unwed with two children.

I'm sure that Anastasia and Drizella had a late father.

[Simba3]

I like her, she is one of Disney's best villainess'. She is pretty scary too, she is very cold and extremely wicked looking.

[Chernabog_Rocks]

She's one of my fav. villains because she doesn't have to resort to brute force or special powers to help her get what she wants. Something I've wondered was if she poisoned Cinderella's father in order to get all the money? All the movie said was that he fell ill.....and Lady Treamine didn't really seem to show any remorse about it in the scene, but than again it was a still picture wasn't it?

[Prudence]

Something I've wondered was if she poisoned Cinderella's father in order to get all the money? All the movie said was that he fell ill.....and Lady Treamine didn't really seem to show any remorse about it in the scene, but than again it was a still picture wasn't it?

I have wondered the same thing, and it wasn't a still picture. Her face moved near the end. I think you're on the right track with this theory.

[Mason_Ireton]

Lady Tremaine does seem to represent Elias Disney (Walt's father) personality wise, both she/Elias ruled their houses with power, very stern discpline (Walt had to do a paper route when was flu sick) and deprived their childeren a normal childhood.

[lord-of-sith]

Lady Tremain is (or should I say "was") one of the most under-used Disney Villains around. Cinderella III gave her a great moment in the spot-light, but she still is underrated.

The main problem with marketing her is that she is very hard to picture standing around a cauldron or creating devious plans with Maleficent, Jafar, The Queen, etc.

Why is this? It's because Tremaine is a much more earthly villain. She doesn't have magic (in the original movie) and yet she still manages to have complete control over Cinderella. And when you think about being in Cinderella's position, Tremain truly becomes terrifying.

One of Disney's greatest villains.

[Disneyfreak1990]

she truly is one of the greater villian's. i think she was mean to Cindy because she was prettier than her daughters and wanted her to work so much that she waouldn't be pretty. if this was the 21st century she would be put in jail for child labor. and she must've had a part in killing Cindy's father since since she does her evil smile at the death scene. and who knows she might've had a horrible childhood or was a spoiled, repulsive, brat of a child which would explain why she wanted all that stuff for her daughters.

[kurtadisneyite]

Frank Thomas, the animator of Lady Tremaine, once recollected he was given introductions as such during his performances with the FIREHOUSE FIVE. He got a small amount of applause. Then Ward Kimball, animator of Lucifer and some of the mice, would be introduced, and he would get a LOT more applause.

Most reviews of Lady Tremaine in the 50's ranged from her being well done to being nothing more than a completely stock villainess. In fact, most Disney press materials of that time and for some time after never called her Lady Tremaine, but referred to her as "The Stepmother".

Possibly stimulated by a 1980's story in a small animation magazine (editor, John Cawley, writer, yours truly), the use of Lady Tremaines' real name has grown over recent years.

Yes, Ms. Tremaine is one of the more realistic Disney vilainesses (Elanor Audrey was her live action model), though for C-III Tremaine's been getting coaching from Maleficient (her designer/lead animator; Marc Davis).