Disney Rankings Finals: Best Male Lead

Disney Rankings Finals: Best Male Lead

This is the second round of the Finals for my Disney Rankings series. If you would like to view earlier posts, you can find the links here: link. 

Alright, so last round (here), we covered the top 12 Disney Female Leads, so if you'd like to find out who the best Disney female character is, then go ahead and visit that link.

Today, we're going to be talking about the best 12 Disney Male Leads. Sometimes the men of Disney movies don't get the attention they deserve, what with all the princesses and all, but today I'm going to shine the spotlight on some of the male characters I feel like Disney did a fantastic job of writing and creating.

With school and other commitments being pretty hectic, I'm going to mostly rely on statements I made in previous posts when it comes to the descriptions. If there's anything else I want to add, then I'll make sure to do that. Beyond that though, I've included a bunch of really cool fanart for each character (with links to their art of course), so feel free enjoy to enjoy those!

12th Place: Winnie the Pooh (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh)

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Now, I'll be honest, I think Pooh edges out some of the other characters simply by his nostalgia factor. I really loved Pooh when I was younger, so watching him again brought back a lot of fond memories. 

What can I say about Pooh? He's kind of his own thing, there's not really anyone else like him. And to be honest, that's pretty impressive since he's such a simplistic character. Perhaps it's his sheer simplicity that makes him unique. He's just Pooh bear. He doesn't have any heroic agenda, he doesn't really have any glaring character flaws that he needs to overcome, and he doesn't have complicated goals or desires. He just wants to eat honey and be with Christopher Robin. I find it kind of funny, we've seen tons of Disney dogs and cats, yet Pooh is the character who's most like our beloved house pets. He's not off having adventures, he's just at home, eating, and trying to be with the human he loves most.

11th Place: Tramp (Lady & the Tramp)

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Aww, who's a good doggy? So, I was surprised by how good of a character the Tramp turned out to be. I expected him to follow the same old "bad boy turns good boy" trope that Disney movies seem to love writing. And, I'll admit that the Tramp certainly does seem like a "bad boy turned good boy" kind of character at first. However, unlike classic examples of this trope (such as Iron Man, Peter Pan, etc.) the Tramp follows more of a chaotic turned lawful character arc, rather than a selfish turned hero character arc.

He might be a little misguided at first, but he is never completely selfish. In fact, early on, he demonstrates quite a bit of selflessness. the Tramp legitimately believes that his way of life is the best way to live. And, as soon as he meets Lady and her friends, he tries to convince them to live what he sees as the best kind of life.  When Lady gets muzzled and almost torn apart by a group of stray dogs, the Tramp jumps in, risking his life against terrible odds to save her. He then tries to show her what he considers the beauty of the kind of life he lives. He doesn't ever force her to come along with him, and as soon as she shows him she wants to go back home, he makes very little argument to sway her. Then, after being rejected by Lady, when he could have been bitter, he risks himself again to save the baby she was trying to protect. 

10th Place: Pongo (101 Dalmatians)

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Yep, another dog. I swear I'm not biased (looks at picture of my adorable pet dog). So, Pongo shares many of the characteristics I found admirable in the Tramp. He's selfless, energetic, and loyal. The very first scene of the movie is Pongo trying to help Roger fall in love and get married, if that's not loyalty, then I don't know what is! 

However, unlike the Tramp, we get to see more of Pongo's father and husband life, and I feel like that's what really makes him shine. I absolutely loved how giddy and excited Pongo was about his puppies. It was a very good depiction of what I imagine being a new father is like. I also enjoyed how he treated Perdita. He was very loving and gentle with her, and never once was he condescending or patronizing towards her. When he found out where their puppies were being held, he didn't even hesitate to bring Perdita with him--he didn't tell her to say behind, he didn't tell her that she shouldn't come, because he knew that their puppies meant just as much to her as they did to him.

9th Place: Pinocchio (Pinocchio)

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The winner of the very first Best Male Lead award all the way back in Round 1, Pinocchio is quite the veteran! 

So, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the movie Pinocchio held up after all these years. I was especially surprised by how good of a character Pinocchio himself is. Throughout his story, we see him make a lot of character growth. At the beginning, he essentially starts off as an innocent little puppet who knows nothing about the world. As the movie progresses, we see him learn about what makes a person trustworthy or untrustworthy, we see him learn to take responsibility for his own actions, and eventually, we see him become courageous enough to risk his own life to save his father from the bowels of an unworldly malicious whale. And, this growth comes at a real cost. Throughout the movie, Pinocchio gets exploited by a greedy showman, kidnapped by street drifters, and nearly turned into a donkey and sold into child slavery. 

Through these harrowing experiences, we learn to truly feel for Pinocchio, and his character growth becomes believable. Pinocchio demonstrates that even children who have been through traumatic experiences can overcome them to become good and pure, as well as brave. And that's pretty deep for a movie character by today's standards.

8th Place: Tod (Fox & the Hound)

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Tod is a character who I think is severely underrrated. Yes, I’ll admit that he isn’t the most exciting of characters, but he still as a lot going for him. There’s a couple of things that I really love about Tod. The first thing is the sincerity and faith which he places in his friendship with Copper. The second thing is the emotionally powerful character arc that he has.

Tod’s friendship with Copper highlights everything I love about Tod as a character, and what I like about the movie’s message as a whole. Throughout the movie Tod’s faith in his friend is tested again and again. And every time, Tod is able to surmount the challenges that threaten to turn him against his friend. When he’s a young kit, and all the adults in his life are trying to tear him away from Copper, and telling him that their friendship is doomed to fail, he boldly says, “we’ll be best friends, forever”. As he gets older, Tod continues to have faith in Copper’s goodness. At the very end of the movie, Tod risks his own life to save Copper—even after Copper had been trying to kill him and Vixey. The love and faith that Tod has for his friend is the heart of the movie.

On top of that, the faith that Tod demonstrates isn’t just something he gets for free. It’s something that we see his character grow into. One of the things that I love about Tod is that we actually get to see him struggle and make mistakes a lot. We see him learn how to trust others and grow attached to them after the death of his mother. We see him make friends with Copper, and we see that friendship tested—by poor decisions he himself makes, and by poor decisions of others. We see him left in the woods all alone by his owner, and watch him go through the stages of the grieving process. Then, we get the movie’s climax, where he willingly sacrifices himself for the friend he never gave up on. His character arc proves that faith and loyalty can withstand enormous trials, and that they form the foundation of unbreakable companionship.

7th Place: James Pleiades Hawkins (Treasure Planet)

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I find Jim's character arc really cool and touching. On the surface, he looks like he's just a whiny, trouble-making teenager. At his heart though, Jim just wants to feel loved, and know that he's someone of worth. Yes, he's kind of irresponsible at the beginning, but he doesn't really go out of his way to cause trouble, and most of his problem behavior is ameliorated once he gains a sense of purpose.

Early on, Jim demonstrates that he's intelligent, good under pressure, and has a sincere desire to do the right thing. Unfortunately, with the abandonment of his father, and the disapproval and stress of his mother, he feels like nobody really cares about him, and worries about being able to measure up to his potential. He does his best though to be helpful to other people. When Billy Bones crash lands on Montresser, Jim rushes to help him out, and when he finds the map to Treasure Planet, he yearns to use the treasure to rebuild his mother's inn and make up for his mistakes.

Near the end of the movie, Jim grows as he starts to realize his worth, and gains the trust of others. He risks his life to save the lives of others, even when they were previously his enemy. His character arc shows that sometimes those who appear unmotivated or no good just need to feel loved and feel like someone believes in them.

6th Place: Tarzan (Tarzan)

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Tarzan is a lot more developed and fleshed out as a character than I remember him being. He isn't just some loin-cloth-wearing muscle man. He's a complex character who has to deal with a very interesting, and relatable conflict. Most Disney protagonists in the 90's struggle with a single conflit-- the crisis of finding acceptance from the world around them. They want the world to accept their identity. Tarzan, on the other hand struggles with two personal conflicts. On the one hand, he struggles to find acceptance in his world, just like other Disney protagonists do. He wants the gorillas to accept and love him, and his quest to earn Kerchak's acceptance is one of the major sub-plots of the movie. Like Mulan, he finds the acceptance he is looking for as he protects those he loves.

During the second act of the film, however, Tarzan is presented with a conflict that is rather unique among Disney protagonists. He must make the choice between two separate identities. He has to decide whether he wants to continue to live in the jungle with his family, or become part of a new world, with his own kind. What makes this so interesting is that there really isn't a "wrong" choice in his situation. Both choices have pros and cons. On the one hand, his gorilla family has come to respect and even rely on him. His mother, who has been the symbol of acceptance and love throughout his entire life, is also among those he would have to leave behind if he left the jungle. On the other hand, Jane, and the world she represents, has helped Tarzan discover more about himself than he ever knew. His whole life, he's felt a yearning to be with those who understand him, and with Jane, he would have that. The inner conflict that these competing choices create in Tarzan makes him a complex, and relatable character.

5th Place: Bolt (Bolt)

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Besides being an adorable dog (again, no bias...), Bolt is also the center of a very heartwarming story. Right off, we see that he is very devoted and caring to his owner, Penny. He wants to protect her and be there for her. Bolt's story isn't just about a dog being reunited with his family though. It's also a story about somebody learning how to find purpose in their life after learning that everything they ever knew was a lie.

Bolt spends half of the movie believing that the events of the TV show he stars in are true, and that he has superpowers. This leads to some really great humor, but also some touching emotional moments. The mishaps that Bolt has due to his delusional beliefs are entertaining to say the least. My favorite is when he tries to jump onto a moving train, carrying a hapless Mittens behind him. Eventually, however, he comes to the realization that he is not a super-dog, and that everything he believed about his life up until that point was wrong.

It's at this moment that he begins to doubt himself. He says to Rhino, "if I don't catch bad guys...then who am I?" It's a very powerful question. Up until that point, Bolt defined his life by the powers that he had, by his abilities. At this lowest point, he learns what truly defines him: his love and devotion for Penny. After he does this, he then becomes the hero he always thought he was, just in a different way. He rescues Mittens from the animal shelter, and in so doing rescues her from her despair. The purpose that he finds gives him the strength that he needs to help another struggling person to find that purpose in themselves.

I must admit that Bolt (along with Mittens) is by far one of the deepest animal characters that Disney's ever written.

4th Place: Hiro Hamada

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I really like Hiro. First of all, his a super-tech genius, which is something I'll always be a fan of. It's always cool to see the hero think their way past obstacles rather than just power through them. I also really like the interactions between him and his brother, Tadashi. It's kind of rare thing to see a Disney character with a sibling who's a good role model (or with a sibling in general). There's also the phenomenal character growth Hiro develops throughout the movie.

Hiro's character growth is centered on the relationship he has with Tadashi--in person and through his brother's surrogate, Baymax. At the beginning, Tadashi is the only one who actually sees Hiro's potential, and does all that he can to help Hiro achieve it. Even after his death, Baymax takes his place in helping Hiro achieve his true potential. Hiro takes awhile to truly understand this potential, but as the film progresses, we see him come to see it step by step.

First, we see him invent his micro-bots, using his technological brilliance in a constructive way, rather than selfishly keeping it in the shadows for his own gain. Then, he starts to use his gift to bring his friends together for a common cause, as he helps maximize each of their own projects to help them stop Dr. Callaghan. Hiro's final step is when he starts to use his gifts purely to serve others--as his brother Tadashi did. 

3rd Place: Adam (Beauty & the Beast)

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So, the Beast’s real name is actually Adam, so I’ve decided to call him that for the rest of this series (although I did call him “the Beast” in Belle’s section, oh well. Also, getting a little philosophical here, Adam’s character arc is defined by the growth of his “human” characteristics and the death of his “bestial” characteristics, thus, using his human name seems more appropriate to me.

I love the amount of conflict, and redemption that Adam goes through. He is the textbook case of how to write a good redemption arc. To start off, we see that he has a desire to change. In the scene where he firsts meets Belle, his facial expressions betray the fact that he conflicted feelings about holding Belle and her father prisoner and shows a softening to Belle’s pleas. I like this because it establishes that Adam is a three-dimensional character, right off the bat. He isn’t some one-dimensional monster who awkwardly transforms into a three-dimensional character. He’s a three-dimensional character who demonstrates that he already has the character traits needed for him to transform—he just needs to learn how to apply them.

The thing that I love the most about Adam is how applicable his story is to real life. There are so many people in this world who are labeled “beasts”, simply because of one personality flaw. The world claims that since some of these people never change, that means all of them never change. There are many people in this world who struggle with controlling their temper, or with being agreeable. Most of the time, we don’t comprehend just how hard they’re trying, and how hard they’ve been trying. Adam’s story shows that not only do many of these people sincerely try to be good people, but also that many of them can and do succeed in being good people.

2nd Place: Ralph (Wreck-it-Ralph)

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As I've said earlier, the journey that Ralph makes throughout this movie is very similar to that followed by Vanellope. However, I feel like Ralph's development is given more time and exploration by the movie, and is a little bit more emotional.

One key difference between Ralph and Vanellope is that Ralph seems to be more keenly aware of the gulf that separates him from the rest of society. He's not an outcast because his code was glitched up like Vanellope's--he's literally programmed to be the "bad guy". He's been told his whole life that he's only good for one thing--ruining things. It's easy to see why he envies Fix-it-Felix, the one who's been lauded his whole life for being the one who solves everyone's problems.

Then Ralph meets Vanellope, and for the first time in his life, he creates something for someone else, and they love him for it. The "medal" that Vanellope makes for him is a perfect symbol of the difference between the fake, cheap acceptance Ralph was originally looking for, and the genuine, true acceptance he finds. This new acceptance helps him learn how to accept the difference between who he's "programmed to be" and who he truly is. "Because if that little kid likes me, then how bad can I be?"

Winner: Quasimodo (Hunchback of Notre Dame)

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Quasimodo is an outstanding character. He’s truly unique among male Disney heroes. Whereas other male Disney heroes are strong, masculine, and need to learn responsibility, Quasimodo is vulnerable, emotional, passionate, and needs to learn how to love himself. He’s a role model that who I feel men can look up to, especially men who feel unsure of themselves, or feel like they don’t fit the “ideal man” stereotype. Quasimodo demonstrates that it is traits such as compassion, kindness, and moral bravery that make a hero, and not necessarily strength or power.

Quasimodo is also a perfect counter to his antagonist, Frollo. In particular, both characters symbolize opposing ideas of what it means to be a man. Quasimodo represents the character traits that make a man a hero: compassion, respect, virtue, and humility. Conversely, Frollo symbolizes the character traits that can turn a man into a villain: dominance, lust, pride, and amorality. It’s interesting to note that Frollo fits the “manly” stereotype more than Quasimodo does, which I think is done on purpose. In this sense, Quasimodo’s conflict with Frollo could be seen as a parallel to the conflict many men have with trying to conform to what society “expects” them to be. The world demands that a man stay locked away in a fortress of apathy, emotional distance, and masculinity, or else suffer the “calumny and consternation” of others. However, if a man steps outside of this “fortress”, he will find that being a man isn’t about locking oneself away, but rather opening oneself up. And he will also find that by opening himself up, by stepping outside of his comfort zone, he can help save others.

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Alright, well that concludes the Best Male Lead award! Next time, I'll be looking at the top 12 villains/antagonists. Since I'm almost done with school, it shouldn't take me as long to make that one.