DVDizzy Forum

Is Disney's Cheshire Cat a villain? Alice almost died becouse of him.
Well,i don't think he's evil or a villain,just crazy,but does Disney considre him a villain?.
Your opinions?.

I think he's a low key villain, like Clopin in "Hunchback". Both almost killed the main character through their actions, and in the case of the Cheshire Cta there is a definite sinister undertone about him that whilst not exactly evil is definitely far from good.

I think everyone in Wonderland, Cheshire Cat included, fall into the gray area between good and evil. All their motives are double-sided, so to speak, in that it can benefit some but harm others. Plus, in a world like Wonderland, good and evil might as well be switched around, thus confusing viewers as to what's really good and what's really evil.

I don't think Disney considers him a villain, they'll usually point to the Queen of Hearts first.

Scaps

The classic archetype for the Cheshire Cat is neither hero nor villain, but trickster.

Like a sphynx, coyote or mischevious God, Cheshire Cat is one who challenges and misdirects the hero on the journey.

I do consider the Cheshire Cat as a villain. He is clearly verbally playing with Alice, just as a normal cat plays with mice. He offers her hope of understanding or direction, and pulls it away. Just as a cat offers mice with a hope of escape before pouncing again on its prey. In fact, I consisider the Cheshire Cat to be a creepy and sinister villain. Like some people are scared by clowns, I find the cat's grin, smooth voice and outwardly friendly disposition makes him more of a villain than - say - the Queen of Hearts.

Escapay wrote:I think everyone in Wonderland, Cheshire Cat included, fall into the gray area between good and evil. All their motives are double-sided, so to speak, in that it can benefit some but harm others. Plus, in a world like Wonderland, good and evil might as well be switched around, thus confusing viewers as to what's really good and what's really evil.

I don't think Disney considers him a villain, they'll usually point to the Queen of Hearts first.

Scaps

Good point,maybe there is no good and evil in Wonderland.
I started to think about this whole thing when i saw a villains puzzle with Maleficent,Jafar and him and i might be worng but i think that Zazzle add him as a villain but thought,the Queen Of The Heart is considered to real villain.
I see your point,2099net,but i think that he's doing becouse he's crazy,not becouse he wants to play with Alice's hopes,althought becouse of him Alice almost lost her head.
I think he's cute but i"m scared by clowns .

I wouldn't say that he's a friend or foe but chances are that he's a somewhat of a trickster who cannot be blamed by his own mischief. So, that question is rather a good question.

I also consider him a trickster, as are a great many of the inhabitants of Wonderland.

You can never tell in Wonderland. That's all I gotta say.

He's one of my favorite characters, but really, almost every character in Wonderland is somewhat villain like. However, he does help Alice manage her way through Wonderland with his smart alec smooth talking dialogue. Still that doesn't excuse him as a good character conisdering he got Alice in trouble with the Queen of Hearts after the inevitable loss in the game of Croquet and during the trial. With that said, Cheshire Cat is definitely a foe.

My favorite scene in Alice in Wonderland is with Cheshire Cat.

Cheshire Cat: If you'd really like to know, he went that way
Alice: Who did?
Cheshire Cat: The White Rabbit.
Alice: He did!?
Cheshire Cat: He did what?
Alice: Went that way.
Cheshire Cat: Who did?
Alice: The White Rabbit!
Cheshire Cat: What Rabbit?
Alice: But didn't you just say... Oh Dear...
Cheshire Cat: Can you stand on your head?
Alice: *Scoff*

"Oh you can't help that, most everyones mad here. You may have noticed, that I'm not all there myself. Ah ha AH HA HA!"

He is a trickster.
About everyone being evil in Wonderland-the flowers for example were nice to Alice and sang with her and then they insulted her and made fun of her.

I certainly don't consider him as a villain, and above that, I don't believe he tried to kill her, since it was all a dream, anyway.

Trickster is the best description of Cheshire Cat, and 2099net's analogy is spot-on.

But I always thought of him more as a convenient plot device to help the story along in both the book and the animated film.

A frequent criticism of the film is the lack of a cohesive plot. It starts and stops like student driver in a standard, thus making it seem more like a series of vignettes or short films.

But then, what can you expect from a book that fits into a sub-genre of fiction known as "literary nonsense"?

I don't think Disney originally considered him a villain, but I've seen him grouped with other villains on a lot of villain merchandise! So today's modern, corporate, commercial Disney might consider him evil enough to sell as a villain.

Disney Duster wrote:I don't think Disney originally considered him a villain, but I've seen him grouped with other villains on a lot of villain merchandise! So today's modern, corporate, commercial Disney might consider him evil enough to sell as a villain.

I noticed that marchandise but i think that they should shows The Queen Of Hearts insted,also sometimes they show him as Alice's sidekick.
Zazzle also add him as a villain.

In the late 90's there was a print that had all the Disney villains up until that time on 1 image and both the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat are on it. I never considered him a villain but Disney seems to.

Ariel'sprince wrote:Is Disney's Cheshire Cat a villain? Alice almost died becouse of him.
Well,i don't think he's evil or a villain,just crazy,but does Disney considre him a villain?.
Your opinions?.

Well, I'd say he's neutral, if you get my drift.

Its always bothered me a bit to see Disney stick him in the villian category. Ive never considered him to be a 'villian' persay. Perhaps a trickster as many of you have already said, but certainly not a villian in my book.

I have never seen him as a villain just as people have said a trickster. However he is featured on the villain calendar which is kind of funny. You have really evil villains like Ursula, Scar and The Queen on the calendar and then the the CC. I would have put The Queen of Hearts on there before him(or better yet Lady Tremaine or Madame Medusa).

I group CC with Si and Am(who are also on the calendar) as tricksters rather than real villains.

I think he's a villain. But not all villains try to kill people. Some are just apathetic to the plight of the main characters / heroes / heroines.