Well, I didn't intend to reply with a whole thread, but you know... things happen...

So here's a little thread about the music of Disney villains (or lack thereof)!#DisneyMusicTheory https://t.co/bx8VBFaLsn

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

Before Little Mermaid (1989), no Disney villains sang their own solo. There were a few who sang bits and pieces, like Cinderella's stepsisters with their horrendous voices. Musical talent = purity / goodness, while lack of musical talent = evil. (cont...)

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

Menken sort of changed this, setting a trend that lasts to the present. The villains in Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Lion King, all the way up through Princess & the Frog and Tangled have very growly voices that blend the boundaries between singing and speaking. Shows they're evil.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

This is actually an anti-Semitic trope in opera, literature, art, for 100s of years: that Jews' poor musicianship shows how evil they are and Christians' musicality shows their purity. Few connect this with Jews today, but the musical=good/non-musical=bad idea is ALL over Disney.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

If you're interested in this sort of thing, there's an amazing book called "Music Libel Against the Jews" by Dr. Ruth HaCohen which details this anti-Semitic stereotype about "evil Jews" being fundamentally unmusical in contrast to "pure Christians." So fascinating.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

@jbohn_composer mentioned this a little in his book about early Disney music, but he didn't connect it with the old anti-Semitic trope.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

I've actually got a whole YouTube series planned about this, once I make the time for it...

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

In the case of Hercules & Little Mermaid, knowing this anti-Semitic history is particularly interesting, given that it's very possible to hear both Ursula and Hades as Jewish caricatures. I don't assume that the composers were even AWARE of the anti-Semitic history of this trope.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

In fact, it's REALLY interesting in the context of Little Mermaid, because there are actually people on the internet who think that Ursula is the devil, King Triton is Jesus, and Ariel is humanity: so Ursula (coded as Jewish) is like the devil tempting humanity away from Jesus.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

In that reading Ursula (coded as Jewish) is not just tempting Ariel (humanity). She's silencing Ariel's voice, b/c, according to this anti-Semitic trope, Jews hate music. It's like in the Canterbury Tales when Jews slit the throat of a Christian singer b/c they can't stand music.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018

That's probably not the answer you had in mind when you asked why Hades doesn't sing... it's so fascinating and surprising. But it explains so, so much about why Disney villains either don't sing at all or else sing with a "non-musical" voice.

— Disney Music Theory (@DisneyMusTheory) December 18, 2018