The Mistress of Evil was an unused character who would have appeared in the never built Museum of the Weird attraction
Description[]
Imagineer Rolly Crump's Concept Art for the Mistress of Evil depicts her as a demonic looking woman with large bird wings, bird talons and vampire fangs. She was shown to have long black hair with white streaks, blank eyes, and a large tattoo of the demon Baphomet on her chest. The Mistress would have worn a cloak with Ornate patterns, a serpentine dragon wrapping around her waist/leg, and a skull headdress with a large bat perched upon it.
Another design gave her a bat wing-like skirt, scaly skin on her arms, chest, and shins, a spaded tail, and spider web leggings. The bat she wore on her head would also be more directly perched on her head, with spider webbing coming down from its wings.
Despoina, her Seekers of the Weird counterpart, bears some similarity to both designs by the inclusion of bird-like feet and a monkey-like creature perched on her head. Other than that, she was redesigned to resemble an 18th century woman.
Appearances[]
Museum of the Weird[]
In Rolly Crump's original script notes the Museum of the Weird would have been shown flying above a doorway with flames coming off of her (planned to have been achieved similarly to the fire effects in the Pirates of the Caribbean Attractions) and she reportedly would have also spoke and laughed.
Rolly Crump would say in It's Kind of a Cute Story:
- “The Mistress of Evil was another character I came up with, and I was going to have her appear in an archway, up on a balcony. There was going to be flames around her, but made out of China Silk, and lit it just right, it looked like the real thing. She would be lifted up in the air, and she’d open her arms real wide and start screaming like Maleficent did. Just really creepy and weird stuff I had her doing”
Seekers of the Weird[]
Despoina as she appears in the comics
In the comic series Seekers of the Weird, the Mistress of Evil served as a villain named Despoina. Here she is the leader of the Shadow Society, a group which worships an entity called the Reaper King who is imprisoned in the Museum of the Weird. They all believe that the Reaper King would give them immortality in-return for his freedom.
Trivia[]
- She was compared in scripts to the Disney Villain, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (1959) who had the title of, "The Mistress of All Evil"
- Strangely enough in the final Haunted Mansion attraction, Maleficent's voice actress Eleanor Audley plays Madame Leota and her character animator Marc Davis designed the majority of the Attraction's characters and visual gags.
- Incidentally, Maleficent is likely one of the visual inspirations for the fiery demon seen in the 2003 Haunted Mansion film considering how it bears a strong resemblance to her dragon form.
- The Mistress of Evil bears a passing resemblance to another unused Haunted Mansion character conceived by Rolly Crump known as Velma Wingspan.
- The Mistress of Evil appears in a story sketch for the Unproduced Haunted Mansion Animated Special, seemingly in a failing relationship with the Beastman, with the mortal protagonist sitting in the Talking Chair playing the role of a couples counselor.
Gallery[]
