Watch: Disney Villains Defend Themselves in Song

As “Maleficent,” the villain of Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty,” hits the box office and makes the case that she’s been misunderstood all these years, we’re left with the possibility that maybe all of the classic Disney villains deserve a little more respect. A musical video by AVbyte argues that point, and it’s gaining traction on YouTube.

The video is a rollicking Disney-style musical number featuring Maleficent, Cruella DeVille for “101 Dalmations,” Ursula from “The Little Mermaid” and the wicked queen from “Snow White.” The villainesses, all of them decked out in admirably Disneyfied makeup and costumes, diva their way around a set that looks either like a tacky Disney castle or a fancy New York apartment.

The song itself is a tongue-in-cheek bit of antihero rationalization, in which the evil women admit to making mistakes but insist that maybe they should be considered the heroes of their respective stories. In the end, though, they stay true to their evil roots, proclaiming that “a happy ever after is a dream that won’t come true.”

The video, as well as Disney’s own “Maleficent,” play into the trend of ignoring traditional heroes and glorifying antiheroes; in the original Disney stories and the fairytales on which they were based, the villains certainly had no redeeming qualities. A more interesting question provoked by the video and “Maleficent,” however, is why all of the most iconic Disney villains are women.