#disney lore

Dire Crowley is the headmage of Night Raven College in the mobile game called Twisted Wonderland, based on Walt Disney's prolific Renaissance Villains and then some. Most believe that Dire Crowley is based on Diablo, Maleficent's raven familiar, but this is less likely, given what I've seen and know of the lore (particularly that Diablo is a raven, not a crow, and that birds don't have receptors for capsaicin (the stuff that makes spicy things spicy), but he notably hates spicy food). Dire Crowley has far more in common with the literal Walt Disney himself, and I heard someone say that he's meant to be the Phantom Blot, a more obscure villain from the comics and spin-off TV shows, like The House of Mouse. I'm inclined to believe he's based on the Horned King or Chernabog, given visual cues, particularly the coffins in the Mirror Chamber, and how he opens them to induct the students into the school, with a proper ceremony.

With the amount of mystery surrounding him, Dire Crowley just felt so Cornelius-coded. He also gives me Quetzalcoatl vibes, the god of Creation, Death, and Wisdom of the indigenous, Nahuatl-speaking people of pre-Columbian Mexico. This wouldn't be a stretch, because Disney has dabbled in that sort of thing before, like The Emperor's New Groove features Inca people and their culture, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, and DreamWorks, a company consisting of former Disney employees, made The Road to El Dorado, the latter two explicitly mention and feature Hernán Cortés (no words can adequately describe the amount of hate I bear for this real historical figure) respectively.

In short, I am a sucker for Walt Disney and a simp for liches and Aztec gods, so a lot of this is speculation and wish-fulfillment until Chapter 8 is released in the West (the game is headed creatively by Yana Toboso, a mangaka most famous for Black Butler, hence the anime aesthetic which was influenced by Disney in the first place) to confirm or deny.

Bonus:

This is early concept art of the Phantom Blot from Epic Mickey, which resembles a lich/The Horned King, which is another reason why my lich intuition was going haywire for Crowley!

Reference:

SO.... SINCE 2O22 WE HAVE THAT IDEA FOR A DISNEY TWIST ON PRINCESS AND THE PEA AND WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS SO.... I DECIDED TO EVENTUALLY, IF THE MOVIE WILL CAME OUT AND THE RUMORS WILL COME OUT TO BE TRUE, DESIGN MY OWN VERSION OF PENELOPE HERSELF AND THEORIZE WHAT WILL BE HER ROLE IN THE MOVIE AND OVERALL : HOW THE THEME OF BEING A PRINCESS WILL INCORPORATE THE PLOT????

Things we know :

That will be the movie directed by Jennifer Lee probably, or written by her, and it could be 2D according to the insiders, but I think 2D is dead now unfortunately, at least at Disney, so.... the movie will be 3D :CCCCC (and the fact that Jen directs it.... @frozen-snowflakesandsunflowers something for you as a Frozen fan and Jennifer Lee directed content!!! <333)

The movie was supposed to be released in 2023 and announced in 2022, but it was either fake, or scrapped in the favor of Wish :CCC

That was/is supposed to be a movie musical based on Princess and the Pea, and be the first Disney movie based on a fairytale since Frozen

That was announced first by the Skylar Schuler from DisInsider in summer 2022

So... we don't know much about the story, but we know as far as the direction goes to say - Jennifer Lee likes original stuff. And she reworks often known stories to show the diversity, feminism and the power of the underrated and underestimated people in the world, but as she said in the interview for The Guardian in 2023, only if they know the reception of the story will be good and... Disney has some tropes that they could incorporate into Penelope, and that agree with Jen doing representation and diversity in her latest projects (Wish, Frozen and Frozen II, three movies she directed and written) :

Quirky lead and her introvert/morally grey sister who hides who she is

Ambigious character who later became pure good (Flynn Rider, Kuzco, Maui, Namaari, Isabela Madrigal)

Character development

Family expectations of a character's family

Self-love (especially seen in Frozen and Frozen II)

So.... the theme of "The Princess and the Pea" is mainly.... what it means to be a princess? And what can you do to deserve a title of a princess? And considering Disney loves twists on classic stories, I think that, in the popularity of Flynn, Maui and Isabela, that are neither good, neither evil, at least at the beginning, we can say that....

DUM DUM DUM...

PENELOPE WILL BE THE FIRST AMBIGIOUS AND DRASTICALLY CHANGED (FOR BETTER!!!) DISNEY PRINCESS.

I doesn't count Meg from Hercules, because she is :

Unofficial Disney Princess

Love interest

But she counts too ^^

I also don't count Namaari, because she is considered an antagonist, and in the beginning of RATLD, rather not a part of the main cast.

So..... Penelope will be the first ambigious Disney Princess, but how it will affect the plot?

This is my take on it :

Penelope will be at first, typical spoiled Princess like in the think of the way some people think about the word "princess" - she will be snarky, awful, counting only on her money and beauty, even cold, but when something will happen, and she will lose anything that she was counting on, she must have embark on a journey of remorse and humbleness, to finally meet her happily ever after and discover what she really needs in life, not what she thought she needs.

I also think giving her a girlfriend, rather a boyfriend, would be a somekind controversial for the world, but that would also fight with stereotype of a Perfect Princess Penelope tries to be that hard, that she loses the sense of herself and what it means to be a Princess - for example, a cheerful and optimistic pirate (hehe, @pirate-of-the-southern-isles, this would be something for your aesthetic and fic ^^), who will change her world forever and she will show her the true meaning of life, not only what her parents wanted from her in her own life....

And here it's my art of Penelope, at least with her classic outfit from the beginning of the movie <3333 :

1934-The Warner Siblings then known as James, Theodore (Teddy) and Angelina are imprisoned in the Tower upon causing a fire at the Warner Lots that took out 15 acres, 2 million (34 Million) in property damage.

1946- Max Goof is Born to Marcy and Goofy Goof.

1948- Bugs in a similar way to Tex Avery loses his sight in his left eye after something is thrown with toon logic and permanently damages it has to relearn a majority of his Tricks majority.

1959- Bugs and Daffy get married in a non legal ceremony

1966-Walt Disney Dies

1973- Donald, Panchito and Jose are caught off guard when they find 2 eggs viable Camilo and Maria hatch a month later.

1980-Tex Avery Dies

1983 Marcy Goof wife of Goofy is killed when a barrel of Thinner falls on her as a result of Goofy tripping over it, Disney quickly hushes the incident up.

1992- The Warner Tower Collapses leading to the rediscovery of the Warner Siblings. This is also when they were adopted by Bugs and Daffy while they recovered from the injuries received, Wakko is diagnosed Diabetic at this time. Dot is left with a permanent disability of her left leg due to damage to her spinal cord, Yakko is left with lung damage as a result.

1996: The Warner Siblings Parents are identified as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Ortensia the Cat after Ortensia identifies them and shows evidence in the form of photos and memories.

2003: After numerous years of keeping an eye out and testing, Wakko is the first toon diagnosed with a previously thought to be Human only genetic disorder Prader Wili Syndrome.

2011- Mickey and Oswald get into a fight outside the Disney Studios fracturing their relationship

2016- Bugs involved in hit and run incident

2023-Kidnapping of several Disney Kids occurs, Marian Mouse, Mickey and Minnies Eldest Daughter is Born, Max and Yakkos Eldest daughters Lillian and Blair Warner-Goof are Born a month after Marian.

2027- Mickey involved in Car Accident, Walter Mouse is born a month after.

2039- a Holiday firework misfires while being loaded at Disneyland the noise mistaken for gunfire fire spooks the crowds leading to a Crowd Collapse in Disneylands Mainstreet USA. Minnie Donald Panchito Jose, Max and Yakko, along with several of the kids are involved. Marian the eldest Daughter of Mickey and Minnie looses her right leg Yakko is paralyzed from the chest down,