History Franchise / DisneyAnimatedCanon

* MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness: The canon is all over the place with this. You have films like ''Three Caballeros'' and ''The Emperors New Groove'' with nothing but cartoony violence, and the canon rarely stays beyond that level of violence to keep the tone of the films family friendly. But on rare occasions, the films will dip into the 2 scale, such as the scene of Quasimodo's mother getting brutally killed onscreen in ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame''.

** Scar from ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' is easily the most limp-pawed feline ever to grace the big screen. This becomes a ParentalBonus for the Swedish Viewers where Scar is dubbed by the '''Very''' Gay and '''Very''' Out Actor/Singer Richard Wolff. How out is he? He penned a song describing his ComingOutStory titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J67JyB3PxVo "Beautiful Boys, Beautiful Men."]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rJODmZtvuI Don't worry, Scar is still awesome.]]

** Ratigan of ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'''. Until he drops the veneer and goes feral during the climactic ClockTower scene, anyway. (He was still rather imposing even before then, due to his enormous size and strength compared to the other characters. Well, as imposing as a [[IAmNotWeasel big mouse]] can get, at least.)

** Captain Hook of ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan''
** King Candy from ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' [[spoiler:up until the moment you find out it was an act to conceal his ''real'' identity, Turbo]]. Lives in a ''[[InsistentTerminology salmon]]''-coloured castle, has a lisp, hops around with various effeminate mannerisms. [[spoiler:The castle's actually a plot-point: it's girly because he stole it from a 10-year-old princess.]]

** Sequels are a rare sight in the animated canon. Walt Disney himself was extremely against making full follow ups to his features (however, he was OK with the odd follow up short cartoon) and almost all attempts to make feature length sequels never got beyond the planning stages -- the lone exception is debatably ''The Three Caballeros''. It wasn't until the early 90's that another sequel, ''The Rescuers Down Under'', would come out, but its box office failure put the kibosh on more official sequels for years -- ''Fantasia 2000'' was the lone exception, and the 2011 ''Winnie the Pooh'' film was more of a SoftReboot than a true sequel. Disney is showing signs of lightening up on this with [[WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet the]] [[WesternAnimation/FrozenII sequels]] to ''Wreck-It Ralph'' and ''Frozen'', with a follow up to ''Zootopia'' currently in the planning stages.

* SadlyMythtaken: Disney is not known for accuracy when it comes to adapting mythology. Their Hercules adaptation is infamous for this, to the point where it [[SadlyMythtaken/{{Hercules}} has its own subpage for it.]]

* BeautyIsBad: Specifically in [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs The Evil Queen]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Vanessa]], [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Gaston]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Mother Gothel]], [[spoiler:and [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 Hans']]]] case.

* BittersweetEnding: At least a few of the films are notable aversions of the franchises movies having happy endings:
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'': The main protagonist gets reunited with Geppetto and becomes a real boy, but [[spoiler:most of the villains, specially the Coachman, are never punished. And those hundreds of innocent children who were taken from their families, turned into donkeys, and sold into slavery? They're still donkeys and no one comes to save them.]]
** In ''WesternAnimation/MakeMineMusic'', In the final segment [[spoiler:Willie the Whale is harpooned, but now he's in heaven, free to sing to his heart's content.]]
** ''WesternAnimation/MelodyTime'': Happens in two segments. Johnny Appleseed [[spoiler: dies, but has left a huge legacy in his wake and is off to grow apple trees in heaven]]; while Pecos Bill [[spoiler:gives up being a cowboy after the death of his fiancée Slue-Foot Sue, but Texas is implied to be a much safer place because of him.]]
** ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound'': [[spoiler: Nobody dies in the movie except for the bear, and Tod and Copper go their separate ways, but they remember what good friends they used to be. And Tod lives happily with his mate Vixie.]]
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'': [[spoiler: Ratcliffe is defeated and is tied up by his own men to be taken back to England, but John Smith takes a gunshot from the former [[HeroicSacrifice to protect Chief Powhatan]], forcing him to also return to England to be nursed back to health, meaning he and Pocahontas don't get to stay together. But they and their people are better for the experience.]]
** ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': Quasimodo [[DidNotGetTheGirl didn't win Esmeralda's heart]]. But she survives, Frollo is defeated and the people of Paris finally accept Quasimodo as one of their own.
** ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'': [[spoiler: Ray is KilledOffForReal, but he is AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, as he's seen appearing as a new star next to his star lover Evangeline. And at least Tiana and Naveen get together.]]
* BlackAndWhiteMorality: In the bulk of the movies in the canon, the line between good and evil is ''very'' clearly drawn, hence why Disney frequently relies on ObviouslyEvil, hammy villains.

** Especially in ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' (The brainy lead character selfish and the brainy villain character is evil, the brawny lead character is warm and fatherly and the brawny villain sidekick who gets [[WesternAnimation/KronksNewGroove his own movie]] outside of the canon is not actually evil), ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' and [[spoiler: ''{{WesternAnimation/Frozen|2013}}'' (The brawny Kristoff is good and the calculating Hans is evil)]] but it might be apparent in other Disney movies too.
** Though it's averted or inverted in ''Atlantis'', ''Beauty and the Beast'' (The protagonist Belle is the brains, and the villain Gaston is the brawn), ''Meet the Robinsons'', ''The Great Mouse Detective'', and ''Big Hero 6''.

** Figaro to Dinah: Early versions of Dinah look much like Figaro down to the black and white tuxedo pattern and white face.

** [[WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} Jafar]] to [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Scar]].

** ''WesternAnimation/ChickenLittle'':
*** Neglecting your kids to resolve their own problems, won't make your life better. Talk to them, and help them moving on.
*** Even in your worst days, there's always a new day to make your life better.

** Disney Villains who avert it (KarmaHoudini examples are marked with an *):[[labelnote:Click here]]Honest John and Gideon*, Stromboli*, the Coachman*, Monstro, Chernabog*, Man*, The Wolf, Willie the Giant, Mr. Winky, The Headless Horseman*, Lady Tremaine* (she got her karma in ''Cinderella III'', though), Queen of Hearts*, Captain Hook, Si and Am*, Cruella, Madam Mim, Shere Khan (until the sequel came around), Edgar, Prince John, Jafar (again, until the sequel), Governor Ratcliffe, Hades, Yzma (is [[spoiler:[[BalefulPolymorph stuck as a cat]]]] at the end, and possibly gets ''more'' karmic backlash in the sequel), Gantu (who suffers even more karma in the sequel films and TV series before [[spoiler:[[HeelFaceTurn turning good]]]] in the final one), Alameda Slim, Bowler Hat Guy, The Backson, [[spoiler:Prince Hans]], The Duke of Weselton, [[spoiler:Yokai/Professor Callaghan]], [[spoiler:Dawn Bellwether]], Te Ka, Tamatoa, Double Dan, J.P. Spamley. [[/labelnote]]
** Some non-villainous Disney characters (heroic, neutral and villain sidekick alike) who ''really'' did bite the dust:[[labelnote:Click here]][[WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}} Bambi's mom]], [[WesternAnimation/MakeMineMusic Willie the Whale]], [[WesternAnimation/MelodyTime Slew Foot Sue]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Cinderella's dad]], [[WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound Tod's mother]], [[WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective Bartholomew the mouse and Felicia the cat]], [[WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany Roscoe and DeSoto]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Flotsam and Jetsam]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Mufasa]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}} Kocoum]], [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Quasimodo's mother]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} Kerchak]], [[WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet Mr. Arrow]], [[WesternAnimation/BrotherBear Sitka]], [[WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Tiana's father]], [[spoiler: [[WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Ray the Firefly]]]], [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 King Agdar and Queen Idun]], and [[spoiler:[[WesternAnimation/BigHero6 Tadashi Hamada]]]].[[/labelnote]]

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': Averted for his [[MuggleFosterParents mortal foster mother]], [[{{Justified}} justified]] for his immortal goddess birth mother.

* NeverASelfMadeWoman: Surprisingly often, the hero/heroine or heroes have a connection to a relative who is greatly revered (in most cases, a royal parent; but in other cases, [[WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}} a war hero dad]] or [[WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire a renowned scientist grandfather]] will do just as well.

** Disney Villains who play it straight: [[labelnote:click here]]The Evil Queen, Maleficent, possibly Madame Medusa, The Horned King, Ratigan, Sykes, Ursula, Percival [=McLeach=], Gaston, Scar, Frollo, Shan-Yu, Clayton, The Carnotaurs, [[spoiler:Rourke]], [[spoiler:Helga]], Scroop, Dr. Facilier, Mother Gothel, King Candy [[spoiler:a.k.a. Turbo]], the viral Ralph clone monster.[[/labelnote]]
** Disney Villains who avert it (KarmaHoudini examples marked with *): [[labelnote:click here]]Honest John and Gideon*, Stromboli*, the Coachman*, Monstro, Chernabog*, Man*, The Wolf, Willie the Giant, Mr. Winky, The Headless Horseman*, Lady Tremaine* (she got her karma in ''Cinderella III'', though), Queen of Hearts*, Captain Hook, Si and Am*, Cruella, Madam Mim, Shere Khan (until the sequel came around), Edgar, Prince John, Jafar (again, until the sequel), Governor Ratcliffe, Hades, Yzma (is [[spoiler:[[BalefulPolymorph stuck as a cat]]]] at the end, and possibly gets ''more'' karmic backlash in the sequel), Gantu (who suffers even more karma in the sequel films and TV series before [[spoiler: [[HeelFaceTurn turning good]]]] in the final one), Alameda Slim, Bowler Hat Guy, The Backson, [[spoiler:Prince Hans]], The Duke of Weselton, [[spoiler:Yokai/Professor Callaghan]], [[spoiler:Dawn Bellwether]], Te Ka, Tamatoa, Double Dan, J.P. Spamley. [[/labelnote]]
** Some non-villainous Disney characters (heroic, neutral and villain sidekick alike) who ''really'' did bite the dust: [[WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}} Bambi's mom]], [[WesternAnimation/MakeMineMusic Willie the Whale]], [[WesternAnimation/MelodyTime Slew Foot Sue]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Cinderella's dad]], [[WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound Tod's mother]], [[WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective Bartholomew the mouse and Felicia the cat]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Flotsam and Jetsam]], [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 Mufasa]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}} Kocoum]], [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame Quasimodo's mother]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} Kerchak]], [[WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet Mr. Arrow]], [[WesternAnimation/BrotherBear Sitka]], [[WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Tiana's father]], [[spoiler: [[WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Ray the Firefly]]]], [[WesternAnimation/Frozen2013 King Agdar and Queen Idun]], and [[spoiler:[[WesternAnimation/BigHero6 Tadashi Hamada]]]].

** [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Lucifer]] to The Cheshire Cat

** [[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Captain Hook]] to [[WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog Dr. Facilier]]. ([[WordOfGod Though this was intentional.]])
** [[WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians Cruella de Vil]] to Madame Medusa to [[WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove Yzma]].

**
[[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}]]to [[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfIchabodAndMrToad Katrina Van Tassel]].

** [[Disney/{{Cinderella}} Lucifer]] to The Cheshire Cat

** [[WesternAnimation/TheRescuers Orville to [[WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder Wilbur]] to [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Scuttle]].

** Neglecting your kids to resolve their own problems, won't make your life better. Talk to them, and help them moving on.
** Even in your worst days, there's always a new day to make your life better.

** Fagin of ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany''. In the original ''Literature/OliverTwist'' novel, Fagin was an abusive criminal leader who forced children to steal for him. In the Disney adaptation, he takes the same criminal leader role with the dog pack, but is a BenevolentBoss and a rather desperate character who only enforces criminal pursuits to avoid the wrath of loan shark, Sykes. He ends up pulling a HeelFaceTurn for Oliver's sake during the climax, even if he remains something of a LoveableRogue.

* AnimatedMusical: Most of the movies in the canon are this, though there are exceptions such as ''Tarzan'', ''Lilo & Stitch'', ''Wreck-It Ralph'', and ''Zootopia''. (''Tarzan'' does include several musical numbers, but only one of them is sung by the characters in-universe).

* MohsScaleOfViolenceHardness: The canon is all over the place with this. You have films like ''Three Caballeros'' and ''The Emperors New Groove'' with nothing but cartoony violence, and the canon rarely stays beyond that level of violence to keep the tone of the films family friendly. But on rare occasions, the films will dip into the 2 scale, such as the scene of Quasimodo's mother getting brutally killed on-screen in ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame''.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': Averted for his [[MuggleFosterParents mortal foster mother]], {{Justified}} for his immortal goddess birth mother.

** Only a handful Disney movies subvert or avert this trope. In some examples, [[WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}} John Smith]] (explorer), [[WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron Taran]] (pigkeeper/peasant) and the main characters of ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' (soldier, son of a gypsy, gypsy performer) are self made heroes.

** ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'' The movie has no villain [[spoiler:(though the closest things to villains are Arthur, the virus from the Dark Net and the clones of Ralph it creates)]], but rather a series of conflicts [[spoiler: caused mainly by Ralph himself, who acts out of concern that he and Vanellope might no longer be friends when she finds the Slaughter Race game more appealing and Vanellope looks up to Shank as a CoolBigSister figure.]]

* NoSmoking: Since July 2007, Disney has banned on-screen smoking from being depicted in any of their films. Even before they enforced the ban, they edited a couple (but not all) of their older films to remove instances of smoking, such as Goofy lighting up a joint in ''Saludos Amigos'' (the uncut version was eventually released as a bonus feature on the ''Walt and El Groupo'' documentary) and any instance of Pecos Bill with a cigarette in ''Melody Time''.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: A lot of the less sinister villains of the franchise are known for being very fanciful, hammy and at face value outright buffoonish and vain, though during the climax can prove just as calculating and deadly as the more serious ones:
** Prince John of ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'' is depicted as cowardly man child, and he and his forces most of the early half of the film suffering slapstick humiliation, to the point of ending up a laughing stock with the rest of Nottingham. He does ''not'' take this well however, and increases taxes and arrests to an extreme detriment and plans to have Friar Tuck executed simply to leave fear in the town. Robin intervenes, though still almost perishes after a far more fearsome battle from the equally buffoonish Sheriff of Nottingham.
** The hyenas of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' are at first set up as bungling {{Starter Villain}}s who are easily chased off by Mufasa. Then Scar utilises them in his plan to kill Mufasa and take his place as ruler of the Pride Lands. [[spoiler: They later make a meal of Scar after he double-crosses them, quickly abolishing any suggestions of them being mere grovelling lackeys.]]

*** ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' is ''very loosely'' tied to ''Literature/TheEmperorsNewClothes'', but not enough to be considered an adaptation. Instead, it's a DenserAndWackier "{{Buddy|Picture}} {{Road Trip|Plot}}" {{comedy}} in a {{Purely Aesthetic|Era}} {{Mayincatec}} {{setting}}. Since more closely resembles a traditional Disney flick than ''Dinosaur'', the fact that it bucks most of the Canon's staples stands out more.
*** ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' is an {{action|Genre}} SciFi epic, and the second film after ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'' to be rated PG (This being before Disney started to AvoidTheDreadedGRating).

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Several of the movies villains fall into this, such as the animal abusing, fur skinning Cruella De Vil, the misogynistic Gaston, the xenophobic John Ratcliffe and genocidal racist, religious zealot and would be rapist Judge Claude Frollo.

** Disney's human villains aren't immune either. Take ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' 's mincing, flouncing, bow-wearing villain Governor Ratcliffe, for one. Most of that facade was forced on him by his assistant, Wiggins, who was extremely effeminate. Ratcliffe had his boisterous and rowdy side on occasion, though it was often just an act as well, when his men stood up to him, he folded.

* SlidingScaleOfAdaptationModification: The films in the canon that adapt pre-existing stories are all over the place with this. Some, such as ''Snow White'' and ''101 Dalmatians'', fall into Near Identical Adaptation. ''The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad'' is a special case, as the ''Wind in the Willows'' segment is a Recognizable Adaptation, while the ''Sleepy Hollow'' section is close to being a Near Identical Adaptation with some PragmaticAdaptation elements sandwiched in. ''Alice in Wonderland'' falls onto the PragmaticAdaptation end. Some films like ''Pinocchio'', ''The Sword in the Stone'', ''The Little Mermaid'', ''Beauty and the Beast'' and ''Aladdin'' fall into the Recognizable Adaptation category. Several film adaptations, such as ''The Jungle Book'', ''The Fox and the Hound'', ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', ''Hercules'', ''Frozen'' and ''Big Hero 6'' fall squarely on the InNameOnly end of it.

** Films like ''Dinosaur'' and ''The Lion King'' have a cast of entirely African animals with no humans at all,

* TrainingMontage: Features in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'', ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}}''

[[folder:A-D]]

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The films are not really known for their accuracy when it comes to animal behaviour or anatomy, to say the least. ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'' in particular is notorious for this due to its numerous creative liberties spreading many misconceptions about wild deer behaviour in real life, to the extent that it [[ArtisticLicenseBiology/{{Bambi}} has its own subpage about it.]] ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', while nowhere as infamous for it, likewise takes just as many if not more liberties and also [[ArtisticLicenseBiology/TheLionKing has its own subpage on the subject]].

* DenserAndWackier: Several of the films tend to be much more wacky and comedic than the typical Disney movie. ''Saludos Amigos'', ''The Three Caballeros'', ''Alice in Wonderland'', ''Aladdin'', ''Hercules'', ''The Emperors New Groove'' and ''Home on the Range'' are most notable for this. The large majority of Disney's xerox-era films in the 60s and 70s were both cosmetically and thematically wackier, with more bumbling villains, a more nominal death count, slapstick emphasis, and jazzier upbeat soundtracks in place of the usual atmospheric orchestra.

** The Jungle Book was intended to be LighterAndSofter than the book it was based on. Baloo became a fun-loving character who has a [[{{Scatting}} scatting duel]] with an orangutan, rather than a serious law teacher. Most of the other characters underwent a similar evolution (with the possible exception of [[AdaptationalBadass Shere Khan]]).
** The Genie in WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} becomes a FunPersonified, cartoony character in contrast to the original story, where he was basically just a magical prop character for Aladdin to use.

** While ''The Black Cauldron'' features animate skeletons and self-sacrifice, it doesn't quite touch on the darkness that is ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'', since that film has a scene with an older man [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar lustfully sniff a young woman's hair and then singing about his uncontainable lust]].

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The franchise, despite its child-friendly reputation, has a healthy amount of entries on [[Radar/{{Disney}} this page]]. [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994 In some]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}} cases]] it's even pretty blatant!

** ''Pocahontas'' is one of the few without a complete resolution for the main characters. The villain has admittedly been defeated but John Smith's fate is left uncertain. The DirectToVideo sequel (not part of Disney Animated Canon) was created to elaborate on this, though even then isn't a perfectly blissful resolution.

** ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone'': The film tries to have a [[KnowledgeIsPower "Knowledge is the real power."]] message delivered by Merlin to Wart both throughout the film and in the ending, but almost nothing in the film supports it because Wart is a PinballProtagonist who has no control over anything that's going on around him, and his problems are almost always solved by Merlin's magic anyway [[{{Hypocrite}} despite Merlin saying magic can't solve all his problems]] (even if they do unwittingly tend to cause as many hardships as they solve, Merlin is basically doing the real work for Wart, even if he sincerely is trying to make a point to him) and he doesn't even get his happy ending by using anything he learned from Merlin -- in fact, Wart ends up doing the ''exact opposite'' of what Merlin wanted by willingly accepting a degrading position as Kay's squire instead of focusing on an education. It was by sheer luck that he ends up going to London and turns out to be the one worthy of pulling out the sword, making him King of England right then and there.

** ''WesternAnimation/MelodyTime'': Happens in two segments. Johnny Appleseed [[spoiler: dies, but has left a huge legacy in his wake and is off to grow apple trees in heaven]]; while Pecos Bill [[spoiler:gives up being a cowboy after the death of his fiancé Slue-Foot Sue, but Texas is implied to be a much safer place because of him.]]

* BittersweetEnding: At least a few of the films are notable aversions of the franchises movies having happy endings;

** ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone'': KnowledgeIsPower.

** ''Bambi'', despite being featured in a more down to earth setting, is very difficult if not impossible to pin down to a specific point in time. There is no indication of what time the film, its midquel or tie-ins take place or where beyond the general depiction of a eastern American forest. The stories do not feature any (on-screen) humans[[note]]the sequel comic [[LooseCanon of dubious canon]] ''Bambi's Children'' does feature them and they are depicted in a culture consistent with the 1940's, when the first film and comic were made.[[/note]], only animals in the wild who have basic, symbolic personalities, and there are zero pop culture references, so there's hardly anything within the setting that could ever become dated. Even the characters more humanized behaviour in the direct-to-video midquel is ''just'' detached enough from any specific human culture to remain rooted outside of any specific time or place.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}'': Chernabog in the Night on Bald Mountain sequence. While he was a black god, he wasn't evil; he was a pre-Christian [[UsefulNotes/SlavicMythology Slavic deity]]. Though we don't really know enough about Chernobog to say whether he was or wasn't evil, it's certain he wasn't a giant Satanic figure who called up the spirits of the damned. The film works around this by referring to him as Satan himself, but Disney prefers to call him Chernabog these days.