Chernabog
Chernabog is a giant demon who appears as the only main antagonistic character in the "Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria" segment of the 1940 Disney animated feature film Fantasia.
Appearance in Film[]
Chernabog as seen in The Sorcerer's Apprentice
He made a cameo appearance in The Sorcerer's Apprentice film as a gargoyle in one of the building that Balthazar Blake passed when he discovered the changes on his Arcana Cabana shop.
Film's Original Script[]
In the original script of the film, however, Chernabog is featured as a demon similar to his Fantasia incarnation with his sized reduced to 15-foot tall, yet still larger than an full-grown man. Known as "Conjurer of Souls", he serves as a necromancer general of Morganian forces that masters the power to summon an army of wraiths to do his bidding. He was imprisoned inside the Grimhold until being freed by Maxim Horvath, and he later assisted Abigail Williams in kidnapping Becky Barnes.
Under Morgana's command, Chernabog then proceeded to summon hundreds of wraiths and rallied them as an army to destroy the city of Manhattan. The Conjurer of Soul would later be defeated through combined forces of Dave Stutler and Balthazar. In the end, he was sealed back inside the Grimhold.
Reasons why he was cut from the film's conclusion in the final script was because the director decided it would be better to save him for a sequel should they ever get the chance, as a villain of his magnitude deserves a stronger part.
In Sorcerer's Apprentice: Fiery Frenzy[]
Chernabog as a gargoyle-like Drill Automaton in Sorcerer's Apprentice: Fiery Frenzy.
Chernabog's gargoyle appears as one of the Drill Automatons which Balthazar has animated as part of Dave's training under the name of "Gargoyle". But unlike Chernabog that appeared in Night on Bald Mountain or in the Once Upon a Time TV series, the Gargoyle is animated as a quadrupedal creature.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- He is ranked #13 in the Top 30 Disney Villains.
- Contrary to popular belief, Chernabog is not Satan or the Devil; but rather an immensely powerful demon. Though the introduction to "Night on Bald Mountain" says that it is a "gathering place for Satan and his followers", Chernabog is one of the followers, not Satan; Satan makes no appearance in the segment (likely for religious or dramatic reasons). However, as he is the closest thing to the Devil in the Disney Universe (even referred to by Walt Disney as their Devil), he usually stands in as the devilish figure in Disney media and can be considered the unofficial "Devil" of said universe (along with Hades), despite not being Satan himself.
- It is believed that another reason for Chernabog not being the Devil himself was as a scare tactic; to show him as a horrible evil demon to make audiences question what the actual Devil must be like.
- Chernabog is actually a creature out of Baltic folklore, a devil-like demi-god, except rather than being lord of the netherworld per say, he ruled over the fragile vale between life and death, a sort of the supreme boogeyman or the Grim Reaper figure.
- Chernabog is mentioned in Kingdom Keepers II : Disney At Dawn. Naturally, Chernabog is the overarching villain in the series.
- In the Slavic language, his name means "Black God".
- Chernabog is the first protagonist villain of the Disney film, as there is no visible hero or heroine that is in the lead in this segment.
- Although Chernabog only appears in the Night on Bald Mountain, he is considered the Big Bad of the entire film.