PLEASE NOTICE
Parental guidance suggested.
The contents of this Tribute are based on fact. Thus the Tribute does not include fan fiction fantasies nor "dirty" artwork. However, since the subject contains views from mature adult perspective, KenNetti recommends that young children and other faint-hearted guests should be accompanied by a responsible adult when getting acquainted to this Tribute and its image galleries. The views of this Tribute do not represent the official views of the Walt Disney Company and, presumably, are not supported by most Disney historians either.

INTRODUCTION

For a long time the true fairytales of Disney's animated classics have been bundled up with the "Disney Princess" trademark. In this huge business, aimed at young girls, the world of fairytales has been presented as pink, bright and shiny - and totally irritating. The true enchantment of original Disney Classics - such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty - has been reduced to make-up kits, cheaply produced dolls, pink dresses and highly questionable beauty boutiques. The thrilling fairytale quality of the original classics has been replaced with stories where Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora plan what they are going to wear in an upcoming grand ball.

And what about the Princes and other male heroes in these fairytales? These poor, badly misinterpreted and underrated guys have to go along with the silly "Princess" business to support the belief that they are just pretty faces without any significance or inner character whatsoever.

Another general misinterpretation places Disney movies in the category of kids' entertainment. However, this was not Walt Disney's original idea. Walt aimed his productions to the "child in every adult". Unfortunately he had to succumb to audiences' grand misinterpretation and make compromises on nearly every movie since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. More than 40 years after Walt's death, the company he initiated has dissolved into the grand misinterpretation by producing mainly inane entertainment. One culmination was the movie Enchanted (2007) which, despite of its warmth and some witty remarks, totally forgot that the man named Walt Disney had laughed at the expense of his own style already in his second animated motion picture Pinocchio (1940). The way Enchanted represented the Disney princes, however, was unforgivable.

Disney's Princes and heroes have been criticized and maligned for ages. No one has tried to give a second glance - and more closer look - to these guys. Many important details of them have been left unearthed even by professional critics and Disney historians alike. That is why KenNetti's Disney Hunks Database pays homage to the authentic original Princes and other male characters of Disney's animated classics - and sheds some light on the lesser-known tidbits, alternate lives, dark secrets and happily ever afters.

From Golden Girls sitcom
© Touchstone Television

Blanche:
"I like a fairytale with a nice prince in it.
A handsome prince, with big old codpiece and deep dark eyes. Powerful thighs and muscles rippling beneath his tunic."

Dorothy:
"Blanche, you could get aroused by Humpty Dumpty."

Blanche:
"Are you kidding? All the king's horses and all the king's men! Handsome men... with deep dark eyes... and powerful thighs... and muscles... and big old codpieces..."

Dorothy:
"Blanche, how do you make it through an omelet?"

Episode 154, "Henny Penny
-- Straight, No Chaser"
Written by Tom Whedon

The Definition of the
Disney Hunk Database

One of the most important aspirations of KenNetti's Disney Hunk Database is to prove that the Disney movies are definitely not only for kids. Adults can - and are allowed to - appreciate these movies on a completely different level than children. That's why you won't find much saccharine on this Database. What you will find is, hopefully, new views and perspectives on an underrated subject. And if the above quote (from the legendary Disney-produced television sitcom Golden Girls) does not amuse you, we recommend you to exit these pages now.

Political correctness started dictating the Disney product during the 1990s. After the change of millennium things got only worser. The Walt Disney Company became over-cautious by not wanting to offend anyone by producing "harmless" entertainment. Fine idea in theory, but a deathblow to dramatic storytelling. If you want to stir people's emotions - the way they did in the "good old days" of Disney animation - you simply can not be colourless, odourless and tasteless.

Sure, there will always be people who get offended. Then there are those who see the devil and dirt everywhere - even where there is none. Of course the corporation bearing Disney's name has a huge responsibility, but the people behind the magic should also remember that they can't fight against the eye of the beholder - which is unfortunately the most powerful instrument on earth.

Yet the eye - and especially the brain - of the beholder is surprisingly often muddled with the issue of double standard. Even though the first decade of the 21st century has ended, double standard prevails stronger than ever before. Humanity has been disappearing from humans, and movies and television reflect the same shallowness. Sex is everywhere, women have to be thin, big-breasted and eternally beautiful - and yet simultaneously the men of the 21st century have been virtually castrated by baggy pants and every possible trinket to hide their masculinity and sexuality. This particular double standard entered the Disney product during the late 1990s. Especially in Disney theme parks the Princesses and other heroines look usually beautiful and feminine, but the Princes and other male heroes are dressed in oversized, protruding clothes to hide every possible hint of their masculinity.

That's why KenNetti strikes back, by saluting the true men from Disney's stable. On the Disney Hunks Database you will find some of the most original hunks from the cinematic chronicles produced by Walt Disney. We will not hide the fact that almost all the hunks included here were originally designed and drawn to please the eye of the adult beholder - especially since there were no child artists in Disney's animation department, but only grown men and women who hid some of their deepest emotions into the artwork. We will not hide the fact that underneath the tunics and tights these fictional hunks have been found appealing and arousing. KenNetti emphasizes, however, that the Database does not focus to anything "dirty". All the content is based on the great efforts of the original Disney artists.

Another witty quote
from Golden Girls sitcom
© Touchstone Television

Dorothy:
"Ma, I can't believe this!
You rented a dirty movie."

Sophia:
"Dirty is in the eye of the beholder."

Episode 30, "Isn't It Romantic"
Written by Jeffrey Duteil

The Development of
Disney's Male Characters

Officially it all started with a mouse, but in this chronicle Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit (1927) is worth of mentioning. Oswald, who was robbed from Disney by the distributor, would have made an ironic hidden cameo in one of the abandoned concepts for the very first realistic Disney hero, the Prince of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Before this original and realistically convincing Prince Charming, Disney had experimented with various male characters, ranging from the 1920s care-free guys of "Laugh-O-Gram" cartoons to a bit more sophisticated ones: Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, two dogs, three pigs, several wolves, elves, trees, birds, toys, grasshoppers, ants, tortoises, hares, dwarfs, giants, ghosts, skeletons, mad doctors, biblical persons, mythical lords, musical instruments, gingerbread men and polo players (not forgetting some great caricatures of Hollywood legends such as Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers).

Snow White's Prince, however, was Disney's first attempt to capture a realistic male in cartoon form. Disney's second feature-length animated movie, Pinocchio (1940) featured a cast dominated by male characters, but not a single one of them was given as much realism as for the only human-like female in the movie (the breathtaking Blue Fairy). Presenting Disney's golden age of animation at its highest peak, Fantasia took the realistic male figure to true heights with Chernobog the devil, while the centaurs and centaurettes of "The Pastoral Symphony" segment offered a basis to 1940s trademark style of more cartoony human characters. The 1940s prototype of Disney's male character with a round, rubbery face and a muscular torso was probably designed to look believable with the "Freddy Moore Girls" (named after their creator, animator Fred Moore).

Bambi (1942) created another basis for Disney's male characters; even though only animals, the stags had very human facial features and convincingly emotional expressions. Over fifty years later, a same kind of startling humanizing was used on the character of Simba in The Lion King (1994) - whom many consider as the true "sexy beast" of Disney movies.

The 1940s (after the release of Bambi) have often been described as the low point in Disney's animation. The claim is mostly rubbish. It is true that the overall impression of Disney's 1940s movies may not have been as artistically ambitious as with the earlier masterpieces, but all the era's movies do feature extremely imaginative animated art, astonishing colour palettes and vibrant character animation with some of the best animated dancing ever to grace the Disney movies. These wonderful "package films" include Saludos Amigos (1943), The Three Caballeros (1945), Make Mine Music (1946), and Fun and Fancy Free (1947).

Especially with Melody Time (1948) and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad (1949) the Disney animators became masters of keeping a perfect balance between bouncy exaggeration and earthbound realism in the animated male characters. This great new formula became apparent in the character of Johnny Appleseed in Melody Time - Johnny is one of Disney's quintessential animated male characters, sympathetic, convincing and appealing. However, the true embodiment of the era's greatest achievements is "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" segment of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr Toad - which includes not one but three magnificent male characters with distinctive personalities: self-confident weirdo Ichabod Crane, the very jealous and very hunky Brom Bones and the powerful Headless Horseman with his handsome black stallion.

And while speaking of the 1940s we should definitely not forget Donald Duck who, despite of being just a plump cartoon duck, became a true dancing heartthrob in Mr Duck Steps Out (1940). Feature-length movies Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros shaped Donald's personality into a woman-crazy "wolf in duck's skin". The military cartoons - especially Donald Gets Drafted (1942), Sky Trooper (1942) and Fall Out, Fall In (1943) - underlined his sweetly desperate macho image, something that would have never worked with his biggest rival, Mickey Mouse. Outside animation, Donald has had a similarly illustrious career wider than Mickey's. In addition to the legendary adventures by Carl Barks, Donald has had even an Italian-based secret identity as a superhero - and probably more women troubles than any other Disney character.

While the title character of Disney's Cinderella (1950) may have been the last remnant of the "Freddy Moore Girls" of the 1940s, the character of Cinderella's Prince seemed total regression - taking the Disney animation back to the 1930s when the animators were completely afraid to animate a man. This Prince (called officially as Prince Charming) is the real dud of Disney Classics. However, vast improvement was on the way in the form of a flying boy with a strong personality. The title character of Disney's Peter Pan (1953) is definitely one of the studio's most liveliest and convincing male characters despite of his adolescence. Peter's bubbly personality was used also as the basis for Disney's third fairytale prince - even though the egotism and bustling state of mind were now changed into a more composed form in Sleeping Beauty's (1959) Prince Phillip. Although the movie was highly stylized in both look and character design, in Prince Phillip the Disney animators finally managed to create an adult hero with appealing charm and distinctive obstinate personality (although professional critics condemn Phillip only as a big cliché).

After an epic fairytale the Disney animators concentrated on realism, even though the character of Roger Radcliff in 101 Dalmatians (1961) returned to a more comic caricature style. A bit more literal magic was concocted in The Sword in the Stone (1963) but the character styling started changing into an increasingly bizarre direction. The Jungle Book (1967) was the last animated movie Walt supervised before his death in December 1966. By then the overall style and quality of Disney's animated movies had completely changed into a less ambitious direction, probably because Walt had been more interested to expand and improve his Disneyland theme park rather than concentrating on animated movies. The quality of Walt Disney Productions' animated products lay somewhat dormant until the new generation of animators replaced the old ones during the production of The Fox and the Hound (1981). The movie's Tod and Copper characters were the initiation of the big familiar eyes on such future hunks as Aladdin (1992) and The Little Mermaid's (1989) Prince Eric. However, nearly eight years earlier another fox character, Robin Hood (1973), had gained a loyal fanbase who still regard the cunning hairy figure in green tunic as one of the most "sexy" human-like animal figures in Disney Classics.

The Black Cauldron (1985) brought another dimension to Disney's animated movies and yet seemed to be too tied up with the studio's "cute" past with many of its characters. The character of pig-keeper Taran was, however, designed significantly more mature than the completely adolescent predecessors Arthur and Mowgli in The Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book. In the following movie The Great Mouse Detective (1986) the super sleuth Basil is surprisingly dashing and appealing for being only a mouse with caricature human qualities.

In 1989 a new era began for the Disney studio with The Little Mermaid, revitalizing both the female and male character standards in the long Disney tradition. Concurrently too many people started regarding the Disney product as something worser than the Devil. Worried parents and other adults started seeing sexual and other questionable innuendo in places where there were none. Several hunk favorites were born during this era.

The most ironical individual must be the Beast from Beauty and the Beast (1991) whose human form was a complete dud compared to his beastly form. Audiences everywhere have preferred the beast over his human form. The real bad guy in Beauty and the Beast was the hunky Gaston, a 1990s version of 1940s Brom Bones. Before this critically acclaimed musical fantasy, the Disney studio produced also its very first sequel to a feature-length animated movie. The Rescuers Down Under (1990) brought even more depth to the original mice characters of The Rescuers (1977) and developed the meek Bernard into a true hero instead of the more hunky Australian adventurer mouse by the name of Jake.

In the wake of Prince Eric some of the new Disney hunks threw away tunics and started roaming around in tights or reduced clothing (Aladdin, Hercules). The new fashion lead ultimately to Disney's animated version of Tarzan (1999) with an impossibly small loincloath for the very hunky title character. This resulted in serious troubles with the live actors in the politically-correct Disney theme parks.

In the highly-stylized Pocahontas (1995) the humans were designed in strikingly different style than in previous Disney movies. With emphasis on exaggerated realism, the character of John Smith was created with a square face and a manly figure - resulting in a character who may first seem disastrously wooden, but who opens up into one of the most likable and believable Disney hunks. Pocahontas did also feature two other hunks for different tastes: the meek Thomas and the unassuming Indian warrior Kocoum. The following animated movies The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997) and Mulan (1998) continued offering great male characters - both heroes and villains - for nearly every possible taste. Unfortunately, the sloppy Aladdin-plagiarism of The Emperor's New Groove (2000) brought Walt Disney Pictures into the 21st century. Their last somewhat daring movie was Fantasia 2000, which included the segment of "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" with beautiful character animation.

Atlantis - The Lost Empire (2001) did have a "nerd" hero, Treasure Planet (2002) had a heartthrob juvenile delinquent, while Lilo & Stitch (2002) and Brother Bear (2003) filled mainstream screens with seldom-seen cultures and people - but the movies ended up just repeating stories and characters from previous Disney hits, with terrifyingly increasing amount of computer animation. KenNetti does not claim that Disney has produced only rubbish during the last ten years, but as almost everyone else in Hollywood, also Walt Disney Pictures has traded the art of daring storytelling and intriguing characters for colourless and tasteless way of producing money-making movies. The only major exception was Meet the Robinsons (2007) which, despite of too many weird characters with minimal screen time, did manage to touch the adult audience with its bold way of handling a cliché story. Furthermore, in the character of wonderfully rubbery Wilbur Robinson the movie featured a surprisingly appealing adolescent hero in the great Peter Pan / Aladdin tradition, but with a significant troubled personality of his own. Not forgetting an outrageously funny villain with a totally believable human personality.

Princess and the Frog (2009) showed that there is still hope for new great Disney hunks. Let's hope that the up-coming Rapunzel doesn't get too "Tangled" up with desire of pleasing some hyper-active Avatards.

Text: Kenneth Sundberg

THE DISNEY HUNK DATABASE
I N D E X - L I S T I N G

KenNetti's
CHRONOLOGICAL LISTING
of significant Disney "hunks"

Detailed, individual profiles
can be reached through
these links!

Donald Duck (1934)
The Duck Heartthrob
and His Secret Lives

Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
The Original Prince Charming
"The Prince"

Fantasia (1940)
Centaurs & Gods
Chernobog

Melody Time (1948)
Johnny Appleseed
Pecos Bill

The Adventures of Ichabod
and Mr. Toad (1949)
The Headless Horseman
Ichabod Crane
Brom Bones

Cinderella (1950)
Prince Charming

Peter Pan (1953)
Peter Pan

Sleeping Beauty (1959)
Prince Phillip

101 Dalmatians (1961)
Roger Radcliff

Robin Hood (1973)
Robin Hood

The Black Cauldron (1985)
Taran

The Little Mermaid (1989)
Prince Eric

Beauty and the Beast (1991)
The Beast
Gaston

Aladdin (1992)
Aladdin

Toy Story (1995)
Buzz Lightyear
Woody

Pocahontas (1995)
John Smith
Kocoum
Thomas

The Hunchback of
Notre Dame (1996)
Phoebus
Clopin

Hercules (1997)
Hercules

Tarzan (1999)
Tarzan

Fantasia 2000 (2000)
The Steadfast Tin Soldier

The Little Mermaid II
Return to the Sea (2000)
Prince Eric

Atlantis
The Lost Empire (2001)
Milo

Treasure Planet (2002)
Jim Hawkins

Return to Never Land (2002)
Peter Pan

Cinderella III
A Twist in Time (2007)
Prince Charming

Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Wilbur Robinson

Princess and the Frog (2009)
Prince Naveem

Dark secrets about the Disney Hunks
NOT FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED

W A R N I N G :
PARENTAL GUIDANCE SUGGESTED
KenNetti strongly recommends that
young children and other faint-hearted guests
should be accompanied by a responsible adult
when getting acquainted to the
following pages:

Snow White and the Prince
The Epic Love Story & Triangle
Planned But Not Made
The Fairest... and the Scariest of Them All

including
"Disney Dungeons"
So you think Disney means only
sunshine and happiness? Take a look at
some of the most shocking scenes of
capture, bondage, abuse and torture
from the authentic Disney cartoons,
comics and movies.

KenNetti Presents
THE DISNEY HUNKS DATABASE
A Little Tribute to Disney's
Animated Male Characters

Research, analyse, text,
and image processing by
Kenneth Sundberg

Very special thanks to
Charles Routh

All original artwork © Disney

P r i n c i p a l
information & image sources
Walt Disney's Giant Book of Fairy Tales
(1972-1986, second edition published
in Finland by Sanoma Osakeyhtiö)
Die Filme von Walt Disney - Die Zauberwelt des
Zeichentricks (Cinema / Kino Verlag GmbH, 1987-88)
The "Aku Ankka" (Donald Duck) magazine
(published in Finland by Sanoma Osakeyhtiö
and Helsinki Media Company Oy)
The "Aku Ankan Taskukirja" pocketbooks
(published in Finland by Sanoma Osakeyhtiö)
Katherine & Richard Greene:
The Man Behind the Magic -
The Story of Walt Disney (1991,
Viking Penguin / Penguin Books USA Inc.)
Richard Holliss & Brian Sibley:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs & the
Making of the Classic Film (Hyperion, 1987/1994)
John Culhane: Walt Disney's Fantasia
(1983, 1987 Abradale Press / Harry N. Abrams,
Inc. New York, Times Mirror Books)
Ollie Johnston & Frank Thomas:
The Disney Villain (Hyperion, 1993)
Christopher Finch: The Art of Walt Disney
(Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York, 1983)
Neil Sinyard: The Best of Disney (Portland House,
Twin Books Corp, 1988)
David Tietyen: The Musical World of Walt Disney
(Hal Leonard Publishing Corp, 1990)
La Ronde des Héroines - Mes Histoires
Enchantées (Hachette, 2001)
David Koenig: Mouse Under Glass - Secrets
of Disney Animation and Theme Parks
(Bonaventure Press, 1997, 2001)
The StoryboarD magazine (various issues)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Walt Disney's
American Classics (1989, Twin Books /
The Mallard Press)
The Black Cauldron movie storybook
(1985, Hippo Books / Scholastic Publications Ltd)
Snow White: The Dwarfs' Grand Dance (2008,
published in Finland as "Suuret tanssiaiset"
by Sanoma Magazines Finland Oy)
Aladdin, movie novelization
(1992, Disney Press)
The "Golden Books" (published by Western
Publishing Company, Inc.)
"Tammen Kultaiset Kirjat" (published in Finland
by Kustannusosakeyhtiö Tammi)
"Lasten Satuaarteet" (Darlene Geis, editor)
(the first edition published in Finland
by Sanoma Osakeyhtiö)
The Disney "Read-Along" series
(published in Finland as "Musiikkisatu"
by Kirjalito Oy / Egmont Kustannus Oy)
How To Draw Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
(1992, Walter Foster Publishing, Inc. /
Joshua Morris Publishing, Inc.)
How To Draw The Little Mermaid
(1992, Walter Foster Publishing, Inc. /
Joshua Morris Publishing, Inc.)
The archives of Charles Routh
Kenneth Sundberg's extensive research on
countless comic books, storybooks and
magazines (not specified here individually)
Wikipedia.org

_______________________________________

KenNetti is a totally non-commercial website by Kenneth Sundberg to pay tribute and to honour the work of the talented people behind some of the most wonderful things found on this planet. All the material is gathered here only to inform, to promote things that need to be noticed, and to entertain people all over the world. KenNetti and Kenneth Sundberg are not affiliated to any of the companies, theme parks, movies, people, ghosts or other things appearing on this site. No rights of reproduction have been granted to KenNetti or Kenneth Sundberg, except where indicated. If You feel that some image or material whatsoever should not appear on this site, please CONTACT Kenneth Sundberg so that we can quickly resolve the problem.