Thread:LucidPigeons/@comment-27586321-20151104034253/@comment-27560932-20151104053022

I don't believe I ever actually said that, but I will admit that Frollo is certainly a flawed villain in my eyes, in terms of how he's executed.

Frollo's certainly a more unique villain; certainly a lot more unique than the typical obviously evil, cackling villain that Disney usually offered (not that Disney hasn't pulled off some truly great antagonists before, although there been some... exceptions). He's got a better motivation that a lot of Disney villains. He's sort of a breach out of the typical "classic villain" Disney is fond of doing, and that's actually a fairly ambitious step for them, especially seeing how Frollo is the source of many of the movie's darker moments.

Unfortunately, Frollo's status as a Complete Monster is where, to me, the flaws come in. Pay close attention to Hellfire. Pay close attention to some of the lines ("God have mercy on her... God have mercy on me...") in the song. This isn't a song about Frollo's evil plan, it's about how he's falling into sin and he knows he's falling into sin, but cannot do anything to stop himself. Imagine if instead of a Complete Monster, Disney went the full route and made Frollo a genuinely sympathetic, three-dimensional character who was driven to villainy due to his own sins consuming him. Imagine the potential conflict that could have arose from that, and especially consider Frollo's depiction in the original Victor Hugo story (that is, a very good depiction of an anti-villain).

But, alas, Disney just went, stripped Frollo of any sympathetic traits that could have made him potentially interesting, and gave us a Knight Templar who, while still a very memorable villain, is far short of a character he could have been in my eyes. Even with all his claims of being a holy warrior, Disney still has to go and make Frollo do an evil laugh before his death; a move that conflicts with Frollo's already-established character (unless you debate this as him going insane by this point, and I contest that by he was already insane) and is a move I am generally very much opposed again. Frollo may be one of the most evil villains in the Disney Animated Canon and he's a lot more unique than a typical Disney villain, but I find him a lot more shallow than people praise him for. I'm not one to lambast characterization issues all the time (I still love Bryagh and King Sombra even in spite of their characterization issues) but the thing here is that those characters didn't really need a character aside from what they were presented with. Frollo had a lot of potential, but sadly, I'll say, being a Complete Monster doesn't usually allow for a lot of interesting characterization.

I'll give him this, though; Hellfire is awesome and Tony Jay is the best possible person they could have picked for the role.