It’s an animation staple: the half-wise, half-goofy character who plays the role of advisor in the hero’s journey. Disney wasn’t the first studio to prominently feature mentor characters: the trope is as old as storytelling itself. But given Disney’s near-monopoly on animation,particularly in the 90s, the Disney mentor became a character archetype all of its own.
Generally, the Disney mentor meets the protagonist near the start of the adventure, and helps them overcome their shortcomings over the course of the story. Often, they also play the role of trusty companion, sidekick and comic relief. Here are some of our favourites.
8Rafiki
The Lion King
The baobab tree-dwelling Rafiki is a wise, shamanistic and mildly dotty mandrill. He performs the presentation ceremony fornewborn lion cubs, while also appearing as an advisor to the reigning king. Mufasa was also a mentor to Simba, but died before he could fully teach him how to be a king.
Simba’s carefree time with Timon and Pumbaa leads him to shun responsibility: Rafiki is the one who brings him back with some wise words about learning from the past. Rafiki can also hold his own in hand-to-hand combat, so he’s the whole package.
7Phil
Hercules
Arguably the most famous Disney mentor, Phil - or Philoctetes, to use his proper name - plays the role of Disney mentor straight, despite his comedic characterization. Just like Hercules, Phil once had dreams of his own: to be known as the one who mentored the greatest hero.
By the time Herc shows up, Phil has given up after even his best and brightest students turned out to be failures. After the titular hero convinces him to come out of retirement, Phil puts Hercules through a grueling training regime that has hundreds of rules. He’s also great comic relief, and one of Danny DeVito’s most familiar roles among animation fans.
6Flora, Fauna And Merryweather
Sleeping Beauty
Without these three good fairies inSleeping Beauty, you wouldn’t have a movie. When Maleficent curses Princess Aurora to die, Merryweather is able to lessen the sentence to a long sleep. The fairies raise Princess Aurora as their own, giving up the luxuries of magic so they can take care of her without Maleficent finding them.
Under their guidance, Aurora grows up to be kind-hearted and humble, despite her royal lineage. Near the end of the movie, they help Prince Philip escape and enchant his sword so he can strike the final blow against Maleficent. Flora, Fauna and Merryweather are the true heroines of the movie.
5Kala
Tarzan
Tarzan signaled the end of an era: the Disney Renaissance was over, but it went out on a high note. Tarzan has a lot of great elements to it, and one of the most underappreciated ones is thebeautiful bondbetween the eponymous hero and Kala.
Having lost her own children to a leopard, Kala saves Tarzan from suffering the same fate. She takes him in and raises him as a son. Her motherly love helps Tarzan grow up as one of the apes, despite her mate Kerchak’s disapproval. Their bond culminates when a grown-up Tarzan finally manages to kill the leopard that disrupted their lives all those years ago.
4Mittens
Bolt
2000s animation wasdominated by Pixarand Dreamworks, while Walt Disney Animation Studios struggled to reinvent itself after the end of the Disney Renaissance. The studio’s second wind finally came with Bolt, the story of a dog who has lived his entire life on a set.
Due to his sheltered lifestyle and belief that he has superpowers, Bolt is naive and helpless once he’s lost in the big city. His mentor is Mittens, a grumpy cat who doesn’t believe humans can care about animals. She gives him a crash course in stray survival and helps him process the knowledge that he’s just a normal dog as the two become close friends.
3Mushu
Mulan
As far as computer-generated movies go, no sidekick is more lovable than Donkey fromthe Shrek series. Mushu was Donkey before Donkey: voiced by Eddie Murphy and sharing a similar nature that was nervous and loyal in equal measure. Mushu was an original character made for the 1998 adaptation of Hua Mulan’s legend and ended up being one of the most popular characters in the movie.
Mushu acts tough and self-assured until the chips are down, at which point he immediately succumbs to despair with hilarious dialogue to back it up. His strange decisions somehow always work out in Mulan’s favour: he is Disney’s most accidentally helpful mentor.
2Pacha
The Emperor’s New Groove
The Emperor’s New Groove might not have been the blockbuster Disney was hoping for, butthe years have been kind to it. It is now among the most popular movies in Disney’s hand-animated canon, with the humble Pacha being a beloved character as well as a meme.
Unlike the emperor Kuzco, Pacha is all too familiar with the hardships of life. He is flawed: when he serves as a mentor to Kuzco, he goes through personal growth of his own. If not for Pacha’s kindness in taking him in, the arrogant Kuzco wouldn’t have made it.
1Russell
Up
Russell is a surprising subversion of the Disney mentor role: he is not old or wise, but he has a heart of gold and ends up teaching life lessons to the aging protagonist. Years after Carl became a widower, he is still unable to let go of the past.
The naive Russell gets on Carl’s nerves often, but ends up giving him something to care about. One of the most crucial scenes in the film is when Carl throws away his belongings while rescuing Russell: it’s just stuff, and the little boy who taught Carl how to live again matters more.
