Madame Medusa

:"This article relates to the Disney character. For the Marvel Comics character introduced under the same name see Medusa (comics)Disney character
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name=Madame Medusa


age=Unknown
appears=The Rescuers
Mickey's House of Villains (slightly)
gender=Female
designer=Milt Kahl (Based on his wife, and the Diamond Dutchess)
performer=Geraldine Page

Madame Medusa is the fictional villainess from Disney's 1977 animated film, "The Rescuers".

Medusa is the proprietor of a sleazy pawnshop in New York. Prior to the starting point of the film, Medusa discovers the very probable location of the world's largest diamond, (known as the Devil's Eye). It resides somewhere deep within in a long-since abandoned pirate's cave, situated along a vacant and dreary set of low coastal cliffs. She sets up her base of operations nearby in a dilapidated and partially submerged riverboat amid an equally gloomy and desolate swamp known as Devil's Bayou. However, she is unable to begin searching the cave, as the entrance is very narrow; too narrow to accommodate her, her accomplice and partner Mr. Snoops, or for that matter, her pair of relatively capable pet crocodiles Brutus and Nero. As time wears on, she becomes more and more obsessed with the acquisition of the enormous diamond, ultimately deciding that a change of tactics is in order. Medusa pays a visit to the Morningside Orphanage and kidnaps a little orphan girl by the name of Penny. Medusa's intent is to travel back to the Devil's Bayou and to subsequently force the little girl down into the narrow cave to search for the diamond. Medusa does indeed return to the swamp with Penny, confining her to a small and miserable room aboard the decaying riverboat, where she is thereafter subject to varying degrees of neglect and ill-treatment. Medusa returns alone to the pawnshop in New York and approximately three months later finds that while Snoops has managed to force Penny down into the cave, he is unable to persuade the frightened little girl to search. Moreover, he has caught Penny sending out messages in bottles. Medusa, frustrated with Mr. Snoops’ inability to manage an orphan girl, takes the next flight back to Devil's Bayou to take over operations herself. She is known for abusing Mr. Snoops physically (and verbally). As she ostensibly has no reservations about endangering Penny's life, she ultimately decides to force Penny down into the cave, refusing to lift her back out until she has found and retrieved the diamond. Because the cave rather violently fills with water at each high tide, Penny is aware that Medusa's threat is a potentially lethal one. Despite Penny's pleas, Medusa remains steadfast, making it clear to Penny that she will either return to the surface with the diamond or not at all.

Origin

Madame Medusa was primarily the creation of master Disney animator Milt Kahl, however, it is possible he had based this character on several others to create her. It is said that Kahl based Madame's character and personality off of his ex-wife, whom he didn't really care for. It is now a well-known fact that for a small amount of time, the creators of The Rescuers had considered reusing Cruella de Vil from "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961) and having her as the villain of the newer film, however, that idea was soon scrapped and Madame Medusa's character developed almost nothing from her predecessor, except perhaps their reckless use of a red automobile.

Madame Medusa's predominant motive is the desire to locate and procure the Devil's Eye, the world's largest diamond. The whole diamond themed idea originated in Margery Sharp's very own 1959 novel, "Miss Bianca" and the concept of the Diamond Duchess was a clear inspiration for Madame Medusa. It should also be pointed out that Mr. Snoops is a retouched "Mandrake", a character of the same book, Brutus & Nero, the aligators were based on the two bloodhounds, "Tyrant and Torment" and finally, Penny was inspired by "Patience", the orphan in Sharp's novel.

Madame's hair, and especially her facial features, were inspired from the Greek mythology character, the monstruous Medusa, and she was voiced by legendary stage and screen actress Geraldine Page.

Brutus and Nero

Brutus and Nero are Madame Medusa's two pet crocodiles. While Madame is away at her New York pawn shop, Brutus and Nero stay at the Devil's Bayou swamp area, where they are left in charge of preventing Penny's escape, often being triumphant in keeping the girl within their reach but knowing that Penny isn't very afraid of either one of them.

Brutus and Nero are among the first characters to appear in the film, coming right before the opening song, "The Journey". At first, they show nothing but loyalty and obedience to Madame Medusa, but after they learn that Madame Medusa has no real respect for them, they turn their backs on her and attempt to eat her in the very end. In the case of Mr. Snoops, however, they show no loyalty nor respect towards the simplistic man, only disobedience. No matter how many times Mr. Snoops tries to make them his friend or compliment them, Brutus and Nero have an obvious dislike towards Mr. Snoops.

These two crocodiles play two important roles in the film. One of their roles is to add to the sense of gloom surrounding Devil's Bayou, and nothing better than two large, scary-looking reptiles to do the trick. They also play a comedic role in one of the film's comical highlights in which the two rescue mice, Bernard and Bianca, attempt to run away from their hungry jaws by hiding inside an old organ in the riverboat. Brutus and Nero then show their musical talent by using the organ's keys to blow the mice out of the pipes. They are also a dangerous obstacle in the rescuing of Penny, for Bernard, Bianca and the other rescuers will have to get past them more than once to even reach the girl.

Brutus and Nero are based on the two bloodhouds, Tyrant and Torment, from Margery Sharp's novel, "Miss Bianca."

They were animated primarily by Frank Thomas

Mr. Snoops

Mr. Snoops is Madame Medusa's partner and follower who often gets abused (physically and verbally). He, too is involved in the kidnapping of Penny and wants his fair share of the Devil's Eye, which he never even gets to touch. It is unclear what Mr. Snoops' profession is, but according to Rufus, the cat, Madame Medusa and Mr. Snoops work together in the old pawn shop in New York City, very close to Morningside Orphanage, where Penny's home is.

Mr. Snoops's personality is very different from that of Madame Medusa. Although he tries to be just as nasty, he can't be, and for this reason he has almost no authority over Penny, Brutus, Nero and especially not over Madame. Mr. Snoops can't be called a villain; he is there only for his part of the treasure and doesn't fully approve of using Penny for their scheme, but that does not mean he has any sympathy for Penny. In the end, Mr. Snoops gets nothing but seeing Madame Medusa in pure shame and despair, which apparently was a satisfying turn of events for him. One can note obvious similarities between Mr Snoops and Mr. Smee, who was Captain Hook's bumbling yes man in Peter Pan.

Joe Flynn voiced the want-to-be-evil Mr. Snoops and the character was animated mainly by Milt Kahl. His character is based on Mandrake in Margery Sharp's novel, "Miss Bianca" and his design is based on both Mandrake and animation historian John Culhane, who after having been seen "snooping" around the Disney studios, the storywriters of the "The Rescuers" named the character, Mr. Snoops.

Mr. Snoops made a brief cameo appearance in "Mickey's House of Villains" (2002).

References

External links

*Madame Medusa in the [http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/villains/medusa/medusa.html Disney Archives - Villains]
*Madame Medusa in the [http://www.ultimatedisney.com/countdown4/index2.html UltimateDisney.com Villains Countdown]