10 Disney Characters Whose Fame Is Bigger Than Their Movies
Sometimes it's remarkable is how sometimes a character's popularity will far surpass that of their original movie.
When fans think of their favorite Disney character, it's not normally a hard question. Given the fact that the studio has made over 500 different movies since Walt's day, it's not like they don't have enough to pick from. What's remarkable is how sometimes a character's popularity will far surpass that of their original movie.
Any Disney fan worth their salt can identify Br'er Rabbit and the Splash Mountain crew, but only a certain group can identify the movie they come from. While Song of the South has been essentially swept away, its animated cast is still alive and well. It's enough to make some wonder who else has surpassed their own success.
While it would be very easy to put both Anna and Elsa at the forefront of the Frozen fever, the crown truly goes to Olaf. Because while the two royals from Arendelle have had two majorly successful feature films under their wings, Olaf has branched out farther than movies alone. Even if fans have never seen Frozen, they've seen Olaf and know him by reputation at the minimum.
Along with mountains of merchandise, Olaf has made appearances in short films, spinoffs, tons of promotional materials, and even his own prequel story. For a classic Disney sidekick, the giggling snowman with the love of warm hugs has already had quite the career.
Everyone loves a good villain, but Shego earns a special mention simply due to the outright cult following she's garnered since Kim Possible went off the air. It's not a secret that Shego was truly the most dangerous villain of Kim's collection of baddies, but she's also probably the most identifiable.
Since then, she's been a main antagonist for three spinoff movies, one of them even being live-action, as well as frequently cosplayed and recreated at conventions and on TikTok. Even Disney fans who didn't grow up watching the energy-wielding supervillain go toe-to-toe with Kim Possible recognize her green glow.
Putting aside the fact that Peter Pan was published ten years after Walt Disney was born, Tinker Bell has been in the public eye decades before she appeared on the movie screen. What makes Disney's adaptation of the character so special isn't just her multiple spinoffs and other books, but the fact that she could possibly stand on equal footing with Mickey Mouse himself.
Since Disney's adaptation premiered, so many Disney movies and specials have opened with Tink waving her wand or sprinkling her pixie dust before the show starts. Going a step further, her frequent presence in features and events outside of Neverland has easily made her arguably more popular than Peter Pan.
When fans think of the words "Disney Villain," it's a safe bet to think that Maleficent is the one that stands in the dead center. With her horns, black cape, and flame motif, it's so easy to classify her as the stereotypically evil character, but that's also what makes her the most definitive feature of Sleeping Beauty.
Maleficent has garnered such a tremendous fan following that she's not only become the face of her movie, the leader of the Disney Villains on multiple occasions, and even earning not one but two films that featured her as a central character. That's quite the jump in development for a Disney baddie.
Cruella DeVil is unarguably the reason anyone watches anything related to Disney's 101 Dalmatians. Whether it's the animated original, Glenn Close's eccentric live-action interpretation, or Emma Stone's cutthroat fashionista, Cruella is easily more recognizable and popular than any of the 101 adorable canines that she tries to turn into coats.
The fur-and-fashion-obsessed villainess first made her debut in 1956 in Dodie Smith's The Hundred-and-One Dalmatians, five years before Walt Disney released the original animated movie adaptation. Apart from that, Cruella has maintained her fiendish reputation and taste in black-and-white motifs alive and well. When someone sees a black-and-white hairdo like that, they typically only have one character in mind.
Comic fans and Marvel purists can talk about the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy all they like, but Rocket and Groot are definitely the faces of the franchise. Considering the avalanche of hatred Star-Lord earned after the events of Infinity War, someone had to stick around to represent the team in Endgame in a more positive light.
Rocket and Groot are the MCU's dynamic duo, one is simply incomplete without the other. Since their first adventures with the Guardians, they've appeared in their own spinoff series and have even made central appearances in Guardians: Mission Breakout in Disneyland. With a Disney World attraction and third movie on the horizon, it doesn't seem like their fanbase will be diminishing any time soon.
In terms of popularity, Stitch is even arguably on the same levels as Mickey, Donald, or Goofy, especially since he has maintained his status in the parks, products, and other media for the better part of twenty years now. Since his debut in 2002, Stitch has garnered one of the biggest fan followings compared to other Disney characters.
After Stitch crash-landed on Hawaii, he starred in both an animated series and an anime, was the focus of three theme park attractions, essentially becoming the mascot of Disney World's Tomorrowland, and had enough merch to rival that of Mickey Mouse himself. Of all the Disney characters to reach such a following, Stitch was definitely a surprise.
If fans know the name Disney, know the name Mickey Mouse. Mickey earns a special mention simply due to the fact that there are too many projects with his name on them to simply name one. While other characters can be attached to one major movie and maybe a sequel or two, Mickey is up to his ears in work, and he has been since 1928.
Fans can identify the Sorcerer's Apprentice, but not many casual viewers have probably seen or understood the complexities of Fantasia. Even the collection of Mickey Mouse shorts on Disney+ isn't the entirety of his filmography. If it's a numbers game, Mickey has the advantage every single time. That's why he's the face of the Disney brand.
As shocking as it might sound that a character could possibly outdo Mickey, a certain willy-nilly silly old bear predates the mouse's creation by a full two years. Not only that, but Pooh and the rest of his friends already had an audience before Walt Disney even thought about making him a cartoon character.
Some fans might forget that he originated not from Disney, but from the Winnie the Pooh books by English novelist and essayist, A.A. Milne. By the time Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree premiered in 1966, Pooh had already existed for nearly forty years and was more familiar to English audiences than viewers in the states. Walt Disney simply introduced him to a larger group of fans.