Wickedpedia
Register
Advertisement
Not to be confused with Lucifer the Tough Cat from the Mickey Mouse shorts.

Rucifee not-a funny! Rucifee mean!
      —Jaq to Gus

Lucifer is the tertiary antagonist of Disney's 1950 animated film Cinderella. He has black fur, a toothy grin, and is portrayed as a sneaky, wicked, and cheating predator who loves nothing more than eating mice.

He was voiced by the late June Foray in the original film, and Frank Walker in the sequels.

Background[]

Development[]

Lucifer was largely created for comic relief. Ward Kimball, one of the animators, imagined and was responsible for the comedic subplot of the cat-and-mouse chase scenes between Lucifer, Jaq and Gus. His design was largely inspired by a pet cat belonging to Kimball himself.

Personality[]

Lucifer is an extremely spoiled, pompous, and gluttonous cat. His only loyalty lies with that of his mistress, Lady Tremaine, who treats him like royalty and acts as his mother figure. He is hostile towards Cinderella, constantly trying to sabotage her plans, and get her into trouble, with the only apparent motive for making her life harder and more miserable, showing he doesn't in the slightest appreciate Cinderella's kind and caring nature, and even seems to dislike Drizella and Anastasia, evidenced by his scowling and covering his ears when the two are bickering over trivial things. Lucifer is also very ambitious and ruthless, going to any lengths to kill the mice that are Cinderella's allies, and is sneaky enough to play the victim when he got Bruno in trouble and manipulated Cinderella into sending him outside.

Unlike many Disney villain henchmen, Lucifer is clever, cunning and not at all foolish, contrary to his mistress' daughters. Although he is somewhat clumsy due to his heftiness and can be tricked, he gets back on track extremely quickly. Lucifer can also detect someone's presence. In the original film, whilst trying to gather supplies for Cinderella's dress, Jaq and Gus made an attempt to quietly sneak past Lucifer, and nearly did so without troubles, until the cat almost immediately awakened once the duo passed his way. In the third film, Cinderella was attempting to sneak by Lady Tremaine, Drizella, and Anastasia. She did without a problem, but once it came to Lucifer, she was almost exposed until Lady Tremaine demanded him to come with her.

Physical appearance[]

Lucifer is a large fat cat with black fur covering most of his body. He has a black ruffled head, a white muzzle and a large pink nose, and green pupils with yellow sclerae. He has two long white whiskers on either side of his upper lip and his mouth is often turned up into a sinister smile. The fur on his belly, his paws, and the tip of his tail are cream-colored. Lucifer's sharp claws are almost always sticking out.

Appearances[]

Cinderella[]

Lucifer is the Tremaines' pet cat. He has black fur and is depicted as a sneaky, wolfishly-wicked, manipulative and cheating mouse consumer. In a particularly manipulatively conniving scene in the beginning of the original film, Lucifer tries to rid the château's pet dog Bruno outside of the kitchen by scratching him painfully and sneakily while Cinderella's back is turned. Bruno then growls loud and threateningly out of furious anger and pain, and Lucifer lets out a benign and exaggerated fake shriek of pain as if Bruno scratched him. Cinderella hears Lucifer's whining fake screech and blames Bruno, bitterly scolding him to go outside and stop causing trouble. Back inside the kitchen, Lucifer wears a wide grin of wicked satisfaction but is also scolded by Cinderella on not getting along better with Bruno. He then lazily drinks from the milk bowl Cinderella left him while frowning sourly, until Jaq causes a distraction to lure him away from the other mice, in order to create a path to getting their breakfast. While returning with the mice, Gus struggles with carrying his load and easily grabs Lucifer's attention. Fortunately, and unexpectedly, Cinderella enters the room and accidentally takes Gus away on her breakfast trays for Lady Tremaine and her daughters. Lucifer manages to grab him again, but Cinderella later forces him to let Gus go.

When Cinderella is later sent to her stepmother's bedroom after being accused of putting mice into the breakfast trays, Lucifer joins his mistress and takes great pleasure on hearing the punishments Lady Tremaine places on her stepdaughter. However, his pleasure turns to dismay when Lady Tremaine tells Cinderella to give him a bath, which suggests that he doesn't like baths or prefers to remain filthy.

Later, while Lady Tremaine and her daughters are practicing their music lesson, Lucifer cannot stand Drizella's off-key singing of "Sing, Sweet Nightingale" and rushes out of the room to see Cinderella singing along while scrubbing the floors of the château's entrance hall. He decides to torment Cinderella by jumping all around the freshly-scrubbed floor with his dust-covered paws, ruining Cinderella's hard work. Noticing the mess Lucifer made, Cinderella intends to 'teach him a lesson' with her broomstick, but is distracted by a knock on the door, which is the Herald delivering an invitation to the Ball at the Palace.

A while later, Jaq and Gus plan to grab a sash and a bead necklace from the laundry pile, since this is what the other mice needed in order to finish making Cinderella's dress for the ball. It was just their luck that Lucifer was also in the room, sleeping. Jaq and Gus try to quietly retrieve the sash without waking him up, but to no avail. Fortunately, Lucifer, now wide awake, couldn't get a good grip on the sash, and the mice manage to get away with it. Now Jaq and Gus plan to take the bead necklace. Unfortunately, Gus blows their cover by yelling excitedly about the beads. Lucifer immediately sits on them and waits for the mice to make their next move. Jaq formulates a plan and starts off for Lucifer. Lucifer readies his paws and accidentally lets Jaq sneak behind him. Jaq, now amidst the laundry pile at the other side of the room, creates a distraction in the hopes of luring Lucifer away from the beads, giving Gus time to grab them and escape. Lucifer figures this out and uses his tail to keep the beads close to him as he moves towards Jaq. Once he gets close enough, Lucifer pounces on Jaq and chases him into the heap of laundry, mainly into a light-blue nightgown.

When the coast is clear, Gus made his move to get the beads. Once Gus gets them, he heads back to the mouse hole he and Jaq came in from but unfortunately slips on a bead and slams into the far side wall, briefly getting Lucifer's attention. Jaq immediately intervenes and gets him to chase him into the dress again. This time, Jaq makes an escape out of a sleeve of the dress with Lucifer close behind. Lucifer could only manage to poke his head out of the sleeve. Enraged by the trap he has been put in, Lucifer slithers across the floor aiming for Gus, now picking up the beads with Jaq. Gus barely manages to grab the last bead before Lucifer attempted to bite on him and escapes, leaving Lucifer temporarily trapped in the dress.

That night, Lucifer makes another attempt to catch Gus by trapping him under a bowl, only for the Fairy Godmother to turn Gus into a horse. The newly transformed Gus then whinnies loudly at Lucifer, scaring the cat so much that he runs off.

The next day, Lucifer attempts to catch Jaq and Gus, who have arrived with a key they have stolen from Lady Tremaine, while they try to free Cinderella from her locked room. He succeeds in trapping Gus, who has the key, beneath a bowl and fights back at the mice and the birds who attack him. However, Cinderella's pet dog, Bruno, a friend of the mice and enemy to Lucifer, having been summoned by the birds on Cinderella's orders, intervenes and pounces on Lucifer, scaring him to the extent that he sails out of the tower's window and falls to the ground below, but survives as cats land on their feet.

Cinderella II: Dreams Come True[]

Lucifer later appeared in the two sequels. In the second movie, he only appears in the third and final segment, An Uncommon Romance, where he falls in love with the snobby palace cat, Pom-Pom, to the point that he makes a deal with the mice never to chase them again if they help him win over Pom-Pom. The plan works, but Pom-Pom goads Lucifer into helping her catch and eat the mice. His treachery backfires and Pom-Pom dumps him. The mice, who are upset with Lucifer breaking his promise, whack him over the head with a broom knocking the cat unconscious, with Jaq telling Lucifer that "The deal is off!"

Cinderella III: A Twist in Time[]

Lucifer, make absolutely certain they don't come back...alive.
      —Lady Tremaine's order to Lucifer before his human transformation

In the third film, Lucifer is first seen begging Anastasia and Drizella for some food, but they unknowingly throw his bowl in the sink. Later, when Anastasia brings the Fairy Godmother's wand to the house, the Godmother and she get into a fight, accidentally turning Lucifer into a goose in the process. After Lady Tremaine reverses time with the Fairy Godmother's wand, Lucifer resumes his role as adversary to both Cinderella and the mice. When the Jaq and Gus are stalking the key to saving the wand, they unknowingly put Lucifer's tail in the fireplace, putting the cat into a screaming fit. When it comes to Cinderella being chased by the palace guards, the mice use the wand on Lucifer, turning him into a jack in the box, but he still continues to chase them. Then they shrink the cat, but he chases the mice in a mouse hole, and when they run out, Jaq and Gus turn Lucifer back into his normal size and run for their lives, leaving him stuck in the hole.

Later, in his most notable scene, Lady Tremaine turns him into a human coachman to take Cinderella and the mice as far away from the palace as he can, preferably to their deaths. But during the chase, however, Cinderella manages to have Lucifer tumble off the coach and into a lake in the middle of the forest they were in during the scene. By the time he swam out to safety, the spell had wore off, and Lucifer was a cat once more, leaving him stranded in the woods. He was never seen again for the remainder of the film, leaving his fate unknown.

House of Mouse[]

Lucifer has made numerous cameos in the television series, House of Mouse. In the episode "Jiminy Cricket", Lucifer can be seen at a table with Drizella and Anastasia.

In "Goofy's Menu Magic", Lucifer is seen at a table imagining Jaq and Gus as cooked chickens after not receiving his evening meal.

In "Goofy's Valentine Date", Lucifer attacked Mortimer after he attempted to flirt with Anastasia and Drizella.

Lucifer also appeared dancing in the conga line with many other Disney Villains in Mickey's House of Villains.

Cameos[]

A brown fat cat resembling Lucifer makes a cameo at one scene of the one-shot featurette, Ben and Me, chasing Christopher Mouse. June Foray reprises her role as Lucifer in that cartoon.

Lucifer was briefly seen on Weebo the Robot's monitor in the live-action film Flubber via archive footage from the original film.

An emoticon version of Lucifer also appeared in the Cinderella entry of the As Told by Emoji short series. During the end credits, he chases Jaq and Gus through the phone screen. burbank's classic episodes bed it sleep lady tradneme

thriller when the stepmother revils

Live-action appearances[]

Cinderella (2015)[]

Lucifer appears in the live-action adaptation of the 1950 classic, reprising his role as Lady Tremaine's cat, though he plays a much smaller role in this film.

Lucifer was first seen during the Tremaines' arrival at Cinderella's home, upon his mistress' introduction. Throughout the film, he made brief appearances in cutaways, where his rivalry with the mice was shown to be consistent, and he made several attempts at their lives, only to be stopped by Cinderella and his own clumsiness. At the end of the film, Lucifer is last seen when the Royal family visits the home to find the girl who fit the Glass Slipper, in which the Captain of the Royal guards overhears singing, and openly, and sarcastically, contemplates on whether or not there is another maiden in the household, or if Lucifer suddenly learned to sing, after Lady Tremaine claimed Anastasia and Drizella (named Drisella in the film) were the only young women in the home.

Printed media[]

Comics[]

When Jaq and Gus moved into the castle with Cinderella in the comics, Lucifer followed them and attempted to continue tormenting them, but as a result, by royal decree, cats were banned from within the castle walls. After they come to live on Grandma Duck's farm, Lucifer eventually returns to antagonize Jaq and Gus again, as shown in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories 123 (1950). Here, Scrooge McDuck visits Grandma's farm to test how well his cat Lucifer is at catching mice. Unlike other appearances, Lucifer has orange fur (pictured in the comic strip here) instead of his usual black fur.

Lucifer also appears as a minor antagonist in the manga series, Kilala Princess. He appears during Kilala Reno's visit to the world of Cinderella, where he causes a mess alongside Anastasia and Drizella to further Cinderella's list of chores.

In My Fair Grand Duke, a story featured in the fourth issue of the Disney Princess series, Lucifer somehow found himself under Cinderella's supervision, and became subject in her quest to promote proper etiquette. Though visibly annoyed with serving Jaq and Gus as part of his teachings, Cinderella notes that he's come a long way since beginning.

Descendants: Isle of the Lost[]

Lucifer is one of the villains imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost. He has had numerous litters of kittens and one of them is owned by Carlos De Vil, whom he named Beelzebub. He is also the mascot of Dragon Hall.

Video game appearances[]

Disney Princess[]

Lucifer was an obstacle during Cinderella's stage. While Cinderella was in Lady Tremaine's home as a maid. To defeat Lucifer, Gus threw down plates while Cinderella caught most. The other plates would knock Lucifer unconscious.

Cinderella: Magical Dreams[]

Lucifer is one of the game's enemies often dealing with the mice when playable.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep[]

Lucifer is featured as a boss in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. In the game, Lucifer is on a self-assigned mission to keep Ventus and the mice from collecting materials for Cinderella's ball gown, just as he did in the classic film.

Lucifer is shown sleeping in the dressing room next to the last pearl (which he may or not be guarding) for Ventus to gather for Cinderella's gown. As Ventus takes it and creeps back for the mousehole, Lucifer wakes up and prepares to strike Ventus from behind, but Jaq warns Ventus at the last minute and throws balls of string at Lucifer to distract him, but Lucifer rams himself into the cabinet where Jaq was standing, causing Jaq to fall onto the floor. As Lucifer prepares to kill Jaq, Ventus intervenes and strikes Lucifer's paw. Angered, Lucifer engages Ventus in a battle, which Ventus wins. Lucifer subsequently runs off and isn't seen again.

Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure[]

Lucifer appears in the Cinderella stage as a secret boss battle, where the objective is to sneak through the mouse-accessible walls while avoiding the devious cat.

Disney Parks[]

Walt Disney World Resort[]

A statue of Lucifer can be seen attached to the Cinderella's Wishing Well statue in the Magic Kingdom.

Tokyo Disney Resort[]

In Tokyo Disneyland, Lucifer's likeness is seen in Cinderella's Fairy Tale Hall.

Lucifer also accompanies Lady Tremaine in the attraction Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour, also in Tokyo Disneyland.

Disney Cruise Line[]

Lucifer makes an appearance on Twice Charmed, a show aboard the Disney Magic. During the song, "Chasing a Dream" Lady Tremaine strolls through the town with her daughters while holding Lucifer.

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • The name "Lucifer" is one of the many names of Satan.
  • Lucifer appears to share some similar physical properties with the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland: they both are rather fat in appearance, they both have a rather large grin at most points, and both have rather sharp claws, and sometimes show opposable toes on each of their hind feet. However, while Lucifer is evil, doesn't talk, and has black fur, the Cheshire Cat is more neutral, sometimes good, has the ability to talk, and has pink-and-purple striped fur. This may be because the two films were produced a year next to each other (1950 and 1951).
  • In the earlier scripts, Lucifer was actually going to be Cinderella's cat, instead of being Lady Tremaine's, what is a reference to the original story, in which Fairy Godmother transforms him into a coachman, but in some versions, he is female.
    • Lucifer does become a human coachman via Lady Tremaine in A Twist in Time, although ironically he fights against Cinderella.
  • Lucifer's name, translated into Greek, is Αφροδίτη, which is also the name of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty.
  • In all of his appearances, Lucifer has four claws, but during the scene in which he protects the beads and is preparing to kill Jaq or Gus, he has five claws.
  • Despite his journal entry giving him the name "Lucifer", his name is never pronounced correctly in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, to the point that even Ventus refers to him as "Roosifee", due to the fact that this is how Jaq pronounces it.
  • As seen in a few roles, Lucifer's killing method consists of silently approaching the victim and then striking them with his claws once close enough.
  • His yowls were recycled from some of the Looney Tunes shorts from the late 1950's. This was when June Foray left Disney for Warner Bros. to voice some Looney Tunes characters. These yowls were also recycled in some later Disney films such as 101 Dalmatians and The Aristocats.

See also[]

Advertisement