In Defense of Magnifico: The Mad King

Finally, someone who points out that he genuinely could have become an unforgettable character but disney just screwed up the whole movie.

Magnifico is the result of the Giving Tree that ends up corrupting because of everyone elses selfishness.

I hate that he has a sympathetic backstory, but they still want us to treat him like an unforgiveable classic Disney villain. They tried to have their cake and eat it too. Its clear that they've literally FORGOTTEN how to write non-sympathetic villains.

Ever think about how Amaya goes on about how all he cares about is his crown yet shes the only one of the two whos always wearing her crown

I wonder what was going on in Magnifico’s mind after he was trapped in the mirror. Hanging on the dungeon wall, Magnifico is scared and confused. He’s trying to piece together everything that happened. After opening the book, it’s all a bit hazy. He waits for someone to come down to him. But no one does. He’s scared what on earth he must have done in his possession to deserve this. But surely someone would understand, he’s their king after all. He’s always looked out for them, he’s built them a whole kingdom, he’s spent every waking moment trying to protect them. He hopes at least someone will hear him out. But no one does. The days go by. Magnifico cries for help. He cries for Amaya. He refuses to believe she would abandon him. After all they’ve been through together, after all those years, he refuses to believe she would drop him just like that. But Amaya never comes. The realisation that she has abandoned him seeps in only gradually. Magnifico is beside himself with grief. Alone in the dark, he is alternately consumed by guilt, sorrow, terror and rage. The months go by. He still calls for her, even though he’s lost hope. The silence is driving him mad – sometimes he can hardly remember who he is. He starts to think that it would have been more merciful to kill him. But in his quiet isolation, all he can do is wait. Eventually, his emotions fade to apathy. For the first time in his life, he no longer cares. Nothing matters anymore. The years go by. All that is left of him now is disappointment and lingering fury. He’s never forgotten the loss of Amaya, but his grief has finally turned to resentment. And so, when after a hundred years of unimaginable loneliness, a woman calls upon the ruined husk of Magnifico – “Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” – he thinks to himself: Oh yes. I’ll play into your vanity. I’ll play into your selfishness, your entitlement, your petty, stupid desires. And I’ll gladly watch you tear yourselves apart. So Magnifico replies: “You, o Queen, are the fairest of them all.”

And yeah, its really infuriating how this entire movie is one big "fvck you" to a man who literally did nothing wrong and they really expected nobody to notice

This movie honestly would've been brilliant and quite revolutionary for an animated Disney musical if Magnifico were the main character and the story intentionally played out as you describe. As is though, I think they were trying to go for a traditional Disney bad guy but failed miserably since they've become rusty at portraying charismatic, scene-chewing villains who we love to hate like Frollo, Scar, Jafar, Maleficent, Ursula, Cruella DeVille, etc.

I think its funny that "asha is too selfish" and "asha is too selfless" are both valid interpretations of her character

First Disney princess to become a villain... Now that's a twist!

The longer I'm on YouTube, the happier that I am that more and more people see Magnifico for who he really is: a tragic hero (or a Greek Tragedy,take your pick) Magnifico was never a bad guy, just having a mental breakdown and his only support system ditched him with next to no hesitation

This man got royally screwed over, I hate Disney for blowing wish into whatever we got now, I wish we had a different ending like damn the guy got trapped for eternity ( AND he didn't deserve it at all,+ he never killed anyone even if he got that stupid "haha go evil book lore") I feel so bad for magnifico 😭😭😭

Honestly he was the hero and Asha was the villain Side Note:This Video is great

Honestly this movie's characters and how they behaved, Especially Queen Amaya, makes me think that Disney has forgot how human psychology and nature works at this point

HE JUST NEEDS A HUG BRO 😭

Magnifico is a wonderful character who was wasted on a shitshow of a movie. I don't consider him a villian in the slightest. He was hurting, and scared and eventually had a breakdown as a result. But when he's possessed, people still think that's HIM. But it's not. At that point the magic is in control and Magnifico himself has taken a back seat. But his wife and his kingdom see him stumbling around on stage or screaming about being handsome WHILE HIS EYES ARE GLOWING, and are too short sighted to think, "Something is wrong, he never acts like this." And at the end? he's scared. He's hurt and he's sad and he's being thrown away and he's not possessed anymore so he doesn't really know what's happening. It's disgusting that he's punished like this. Finally, look at the messages this tells kids! It tells them that mental illness should be dismissed. That if someone has a mental break or a substance addiction that they're worthless. That loved ones don't deserve help because YOUR needs are more important. I hate this movie so much, even though it gave me a new favourite Disney character. A character that sadly, we will likely never see again.

King Magnifico is a hero, a great one too and by the way he's possessed by a curse, everything he does after opening the book is not himself at all that's why he laughs like that and crushes wishes

The biggest issue for me is the counter for "why not give everyone their wish back?" Is simply "why did you give your wish to him in the first place?". The grandpa is older than magnifico, meaning he had to have already been trying to get his wish done for YEARS, gave up, and sought a magical solution instead. Everyone that gave him their wish gave up on fulfilling them already.

I understood what the writers were going for but they failed to convey it. They were trying to show that Magnifico did not care for the ppl. He just kept their wishes giving them hope but in reality, that's how he kept them in control. His intentions were good at first but then it was just power. BUT the writing was so poor they did NOT give that impression. The first mistake was that giving your wish is OPTIONAL and they all knew they would forget the wish and it being granted was like the lottery. Second, they gave him a traumatic past. That makes him very cautious. And he overthinks a lot. Ppl with paranoia tend to be controlling because they think their way is the only safe way. Not to mention his system has been working for years. Three he showed empathy. He was going to hire Asha just because he had empathy and he even opened up his personal life with her. Four, Rosas is a utopia! Everyone is happy even though they are "missing a piece of themselves". No homeless, no starvation, no discrimination, no taxes. Supposedly the wishes they gave were the wishes that make you who you are but most of the wishes were shallow and vague. Asha wants ppl to have a chance to pursue their dreams on their own but she becomes a fairy godmother. They literally just created a new Magnifico and are contradicting the lesson. Asha is supposed to be the hero but she learned nothing in her hero journey. The writers just made Asha and the ppl spoiled and ungrateful. I thought they were going to save Magnifico from possession but apparently, the magic is SO powerful there is no going back. Yet they defeat him by SINGING! That was so lame. They were cruel. Lock up the guy with PTSD because he had ONE day of insanity. Forget about everything he has done. I did like songs and animation. My favorite song is "At All Costs" I also put that one on repeat. I rate this film 7/10.

Magnifico is not the blame. Asha is. Asha has 0 interests for saving Rosa. And 0 interests to learn magic. So not sure why she even bother to take this apprenticeship if she’s going to act like that — to her king, no less. She has the audacity to call her king selfish, even though she’s the most selfish one. Not only that, Asha left out one important fact about Magnifico that she didn’t tell her generic seven friends. The part where the king nearly lost his home to selfish greedy people that nearly destroyed his world. Apparently, that didn’t matter to her. And she got the queen to side with her. Wtaf. All she cares about is making Rosa gearing towards post apocalypse coz she is too naive and ignorant.

How this man went 20-30 years without breaking before this surprises me. It’s too bad asha just had to push the final button. He was such a great character