Madame Medusa

Madame Medusa is the main fictional villainess from Walt Disney Productions' classic The Rescuers. She is the proprietor of a seedy pawnshop in New York, and was animated almost entirely by legendary Disney animator, Milt Kahl. It was rumoured that Milt Kahl based Medusa's mannerisms on his ex-wife, whom he presumably disliked. Kahl, reputedly a perfectionist, did not think his assistants' animation to be of an adequate standard and redrew much of it himself. Madame Medusa holds significance as Kahl's last animated character before the animator's retirement. In the film she is voiced by legendary stage and screen actress Geraldine Page. While a threatening enemy to all who confront her, Medusa has one known weakness: she is terrified of mice. She is considered by many to be one of the studio's greatest villainesses and one of animator Milt Kahl's greatest creations, but some consider her fear of mice and occasional bumbling actions to diminish her menace , considering these traits to prevent her from being as menacing as Cruella De Vil.

Story
Prior to the film, Medusa discovers that the world's largest diamond, the Devil's Eye, is buried deep underground in a pirate's cave in Devil's Bayou. Much to her disappointment, the cave entrance is much too narrow for her to fit through. Neither her incompetent henchman, Mr. Snoops, nor her two pet alligators, Brutus and Nero, can fit through. It is then that the witch decides to return to New York City, where her pawnshop is located, and abducts the poor orphan, Penny to fetch the diamond for her. Three months later (when the film The Rescuers introduces her) Medusa finds that although Snoops has managed to force Penny down into the cave, he is unable to persuade her to search. Moreover, he has caught the little girl sending out messages in bottles. Medusa, frustrated with Mr. Snoops’ inability to manage an orphan girl, takes the next flight back to Devil's Bayou to take charge. She ultimately decides to force Penny down into the cave, holding her teddy bear hostage, and refusing to lift her back out until she has found and retrieved the diamond. Because the cave fills with water at each high tide, Penny is aware that Medusa's threat is a potentially lethal one.

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 rather hideous appearance (of which she seemingly remains unaware), with some fiery red hair to suit her character. 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. 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 tendancy 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 two scaly green pets (Brutus and Nero for Medusa; the wolf 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 nonetheless 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.

Brutus and Nero
Brutus and Nero are Madame Medusa's two pet alligators whoin addition to giving Devil's Bayou a frightening feel, are assigned to guard the bayou, prevent Penny from escaping, and to prevent anyone who tries to rescue her from doing such, all the while knowing that Penny isn't very intimidated by them. They were animated primarily by Frank Thomas..

These two alligators play various roles in the film. One of their roles is to add to the sense of gloom surrounding Devil's Bayou, and the other is to be the comic relief. They are also an obstacle for Bernard and Bianca when they try to rescue the little girl.

Candy Candido's gravely voice was used for the gators' growling. They are likely based on the bloodhounds Tyrant and Torment, from Miss Bianca.

Brutus and Nero may have also inspired the pets of several other Disney villains:
 * Roscoe and Desoto - Bill Sykes's rottweilers in Oliver & Company
 * Flotsam and Jetsam - Ursula's Moray Eels in The Little Mermaid
 * Joanna - Percival C. McLeach's goanna in The Rescuers Down Under

Mr. Snoops
Mr. Snoops is Madame Medusa's business partner. He, too, is involved in the kidnapping of Penny and wants his fair share of the Devil's Eye. Mr. Snoops's personality is very different from that of Madame Medusa in that he has almost no authority over Penny, Brutus, Nero, and especially Madame. His primary goal is to have part of the treasure.

Joe Flynn voiced Mr. Snoops and the character was animated mainly by Milt Kahl. His design is based on both Mandrake and animation historian John Culhane, who after having been seen "snooping" around the Disney studios, the storywriters of the The Rescuers named the character, Mr. Snoops. Mr. Snoops made a brief cameo appearance in Mickey's House of Villains (2002).

Trivia

 * Madame Medusa is one of the ten villains featured in the tongue-in-cheek Disney Villains: The Top Secret Files. Medusa's section of the book includes a photo of Nero and Brutus as babies, and a catalogue of the world's greatest diamonds (most of which Medusa has scrawled 'too small!' over). Medusa is ranked as the ninth greatest Disney Villain at the end of the book.
 * It has been noted that Madame Medusa and Ursula share a similar facial structure.
 * Actress Geraldine Page who provided the voice of Madame Medusa was married to the actor Rip Torn. In 1997 10 years after Page's death of a heart attack Rip Torn provided the voice of Zeus' in Disney's Hercules.