Madame Medusa is the main antagonist of Disney's 1977 animated feature film, The Rescuers. She is the proprietor of a seedy pawn shop in New York City
Background[]
Origin[]
Ken Anderson drew many different designs for Medusa, including a Lauren Bacall-esque "grande dame" (with snake-like locks of hair, true to her name), a vain, sinister, slender lady and a portly woman with a facade of make-up, in an attempt to find the right personality. The design eventually settled on a hideous appearance (of which she seemingly remains unaware), with an excess of makeup, false eyelashes, sagging breasts, green eyes, and wild, fiery red hair to suit her fiery personality.
For a small amount of time early in the film's production, the Disney story team was heavily considering reusing Cruella De Vil from their 1961 classic, One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Drawings by Ken Anderson depicted her in alligator skins, suggesting that she would have visited, or had dealings with, Devil's Bayou. (John Canemaker, "Before the Animation Begins: The Life and Times of Disney inspirational Sketch Artists") This idea was abandoned, as the studio was not interested in producing sequels at the time, and Madame Medusa was created. Cruella and Medusa share certain characteristics, including fixation on a single goal, a fiery temper, vanity and a tendency to drive recklessly.
Medusa is loosely based on the Diamond Duchess, an elderly woman who served as the villain in Margery Sharp's original novel, Miss Bianca, and who similarly wanted to obtain a specific diamond and was using an orphan girl in her plan (named Patience in Sharp's novel). However, Medusa has a somewhat wilder, more eccentric personality than the Diamond Duchess.
In addition to inheriting some traits from Cruella, Medusa may well have passed on of her traits on to Ursula, including a similar appearance, and the possession of 2 scaly green pets (Brutus and Nero for Medusa; the Moray Eels, Flotsam and Jetsam for Ursula).
Medusa's name most likely comes from the Greek mythological monster of the same name. The monster had snakes for hair; the Disney character has normal red hair, which looks rather snaky. Whenever the Rescuers character stares at Penny, the girl freezes temporarily; whoever looked the Greek monster in the eye would turn to stone.