Evil Queen | |
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Disney's Hollywood Studios' artwork Reflection of Evil showing the character in both of her forms from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
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First appearance | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) |
Created by |
Walt Disney and Joe Grant (design) Art Babbit (animation) Brothers Grimm (original fairy tale) |
Portrayed by |
Anne Francine (musical) Jane Curtin (50th anniversary TV special) Various (Disney's World on Ice) Olivia Wilde (Disney Dream Portraits photographs) Lana Parrilla (Once Upon a Time) Kathy Najimy (Descendants) |
Voiced by |
Lucille La Verne (original film) Eleanor Audley (1949–1953) June Foray (Disney on Parade) Janet Waldo (1974) Eda Reiss Merin (1990) Louise Chamis (1992–2001) Susanne Blakeslee (2001–present) |
Information | |
Aliases | Evil Queen, Wicked Queen, Queen Grimhilde, Witch, Wicked Witch, Old Witch, Witch Queen, Queen-witch, Queen of Darkness (Once Upon a Time), Old Hag, Snow White's stepmother |
Species | Human |
Gender | Female |
Occupation |
Sorceress/witch Queen dowager/regnant |
Spouse(s) | The King (deceased) |
Children |
Snow White (stepdaughter) Henry Mills (adopted son; in Once Upon a Time only) Evie (daughter; in Descendants only) |
The Evil Queen, also known as the Wicked Queen or just the Queen, and sometimes instead identified by her given name as Queen Grimhilde, is the primary antagonist in Disney's 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and a villain character in the extended Disney's Snow White franchise. She is based on the Evil Queen character from the European fairy tale "Snow White".
In the film, similar to the Brothers Grimm story, the Evil Queen is cold, cruel, and extremely vain, and obsessively desires to remain the "fairest in the land". She becomes madly envious over the beauty of her stepdaughter, Princess Snow White, as well as the attentions of the Prince from another land; such love triangle element is one of Disney's changes to the story. This leads her to plot the death of Snow White and ultimately on the path to her own demise, which in the film is indirectly caused by the Seven Dwarfs. The film's version of the Queen character uses her dark magic powers to actually transform herself into an old woman instead of just taking a disguise like in the Grimms' story; this appearance of hers is commonly referred to as the Wicked Witch or alternatively as the Old Hag or just the Witch. The Queen dies in the film, but lives on in a variety of noncanonical Disney works.
The film's version of the Queen was created by Walt Disney and Joe Grant, and originally animated by Art Babbit and voiced by Lucille La Verne. Inspiration for her design came from several sources, including the characters of Queen Hash-a-Motep from She and Princess Kriemhild from Die Nibelungen, as well as actors such as Joan Crawford and Gale Sondergaard. The Queen has since been voiced by Eleanor Audley, June Foray, Janet Waldo, Eda Reiss Merin, Louise Chamis and Susanne Blakeslee, and was portrayed live by Anne Francine (musical), Jane Curtin (50th anniversary TV special), and Olivia Wilde (Disney Dream Portraits), Kathy Najimy (Descendants), and in an alternative version, by Lana Parrilla (Once Upon a Time).