Chernabog (Fantasia)
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Chernabog is a fictional character who appears in the "Night on Bald Mountain" scene of Walt Disney's Fantasia (1940). He is a nocturnal demon who holds power over various restless souls whom he summons from their graves, until he is driven away by the sound of a church bell. The name Chernabog is of Slavic origin, meaning "Black God", and is derived from Crnobog, a Slavic god or epithet of unknown importance.
He is considered among the most visually impressive characters appearing in Disney's films. Bela Lugosi served a bit, as a live action model for Chernabog. Lugosi spent several days at the Disney studios, where he was filmed doing evil, demon-like poses to use as a reference. Animator Vladimir Bill Tytla (October 25, 1904 - December 30, 1968) then discarded much of the footage and used a different idea of how a demon should look . Tytla's parents were from Ukraine and he probably sought inspiration from pagan myths and others.
Chernabog appeared in the Disney/Squaresoft crossover game Kingdom Hearts as a powerful boss who ruled over the "End Of The World", serving as the fight before Ansem. His role and motivations are unknown; he receives no dialogue, and is even neglected to be given a character bio in Jiminy's Journal. Still, he is one of the most impressive bosses in the game.
In Disney theme parks, he appears as one of the villains in both versions of the Fantasmic! nighttime spectacular at Disneyland in Anaheim, California and the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, and in SpectroMagic at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.
Chernabog is also seen as a guest in House of Mouse where he is voiced by Corey Burton. Here, he is more of a provider of comic relief than an actual villain. In one particular episode, he sheepishly admits to Clarabelle Cow that he's afraid of the dark.
It should also be noted that Chernabog might have originally been Satan, but it's unclear how, but when "Night on Bald Mountain" appeared on the original Wonderful World of Disney, Walt Disney referred to Chernabog as "Satan himself."
External links
- A more detailed profile of Chernabog: http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/villains/chernabog/chernabog.html
- An image gallery dedicated to Chernabog: http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/Shores/1622/Chernabog.html
- A site devoted to his creator Vladimir "Bill" Tytla: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/5308/
- His creator's profile in the Internet Movie Database: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Tytla,+Bill
- A text presenting Chernobog and other Slavic Gods: http://www.ibiblio.org/sergei/Dazhdbog.html
- A site devoted to Slavic Pagan beliefs that includes references to Chernabog though with alternate spellings: http://members.aol.com/HPSofSNERT/beli.html
- A list of Slavic gods with an explanation. Includes Chernobog: http://members.aol.com/purging/ptp2/slavic.htm
See also
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