As we prepare for our newest exhibition Leading Ladies and Femmes Fatales: The Art of Marc Davis, we asked a few friends: "Who's YOUR favorite leading lady or femme fatale?" This is what John Canemaker, Michael Labrie, and Alice Davis had to say.
"I really like Colleen, the sexy lady who emerges from a book in Duck Pimples, the 1945 Donald Duck film noir parody. Her sensual Freddy Moore design is highly animatable whipped cream, a sister to Slue Foot Sue and Jessica Rabbit. The animation is high caricature and lots of fun to watch, and was probably the work of Milt Kahl—I'm not sure, but would love to know who did animate her."
— John Canemaker, Mary Blair exhibition curator
"I would have to say Maleficent, hands down! She is by far the most elegant and evil of them all. Her name itself is a portmanteau of malevolent and magnificent as she demonstrates from the moment she appears on screen. Marc created Maleficent with a robe that flared like the fire from Hell, and the horns gave her a demonic appearance that scared the daylights out of me when I first saw her yellow eyes!
"Her voice was familiar to me. Eleanor Audley—an American actress who was a radio and television actress—previously performed Lady Tremaine, Cinderella’s evil stepmother. Ms. Audley performed this evil fairy character in Sleeping Beauty and her voice can also be heard in the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.
I still get startled when I hear her voice, and gaze at her green skin. The best and scariest part comes when she transforms into a frightening dragon that tries to destroy the prince and all of those that challenge her. She gets her just reward in the end!"
— Michael Labrie, Director of Collections & Exhibitions
"It's easy to say who my favorite Disney leading lady or femme fatelle is...I have two:
"The one I like best is Maleficent because she's evil but very beautiful -- even though she has yellow eyes! I think that Marc made her more evil and interesting from the standpoint that it's difficult to see someone talking to thin air, so Marc incorporated a raven for her to talk to which made the character and story more intriguing! She's the best in my book!
"I also like Cruella DeVil! I'm very proud of her because Marc was the only animator to completely animate a character throughout a feature film. It was the first time an animator accomplished this, so every aspect of Cruella's wickedly funny temperament that you see on the screen is Marc's work!"
— Alice Davis, Disney Legend and costumer