John Hughes’s family movie Beethoven is about a lovable St. Bernard dog who wins the hearts of the Newton family. Though he initially turns their lives and beautiful suburban home upside-down, he winds up saving them from bullies, an unsecured swimming pool, and swindlers. Beethoven became an unexpected franchise with four Beethoven sequels, three standalone movies, and an animated TV series. The first movie grossed $147.2 million and though Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 31% rating, it is considered one of John Hughes’s best movies. Family-friendly animal movies were popular in the 90s, but for a classic family comedy, Beethoven‘s villain is incredibly disturbing.
Beethoven first escapes from the incompetent puppy thieves, Harvey and Vernon, who tried to steal him as a puppy and appear as antagonists throughout the movie. Still, at first, the bigger threat to the Newtons seems to be the married couple, Brad and Brie, who intend to steal the family business before Beethoven drags them down the street in the Newton family’s lawn chairs. As Beethoven is considered among the best family-friendly movies, this mild threat against Beethoven‘s cute suburban backdrop acts as a foil for when the true menace is revealed, making the real villain even more horrifying.
Beethoven Sets An Animal Lovers’ Horror Story Against A Cute Suburban Backdrop
Dr Varnick Is An Evil Vet, Who Wants To Test Weapons On Beethoven
In the Newton family’s suburban neighborhood, the worst thing to happen to the father, George, is the daily newspaper being thrown into his cup of coffee. When Beethoven arrives and disrupts his peace, the stakes seem low. Beethoven gets muddy and lies on the bed, eats a lot, sheds fur on the furniture, and gets into mischief just as most good dog movies show. George doesn’t like Beethoven, but he is not a villain. He takes care of Beethoven, including taking him for a vet checkup, and this is when viewers meet the evil vet, Dr Herman Varnick.
Varnick actor, Dean Jones, starred in 1976 comedy
The Shaggy D.A.
in which he plays a lawyer who is transformed into a dog.
While examining Beethoven, Varnick mentions to George that St Bernards could be both dangerous and unpredictable, encouraging George’s dislike of Beethoven. When George and Beethoven leave, Beethoven reveals its twist, which is incredibly dark for a 90s family movie. Varnick is being paid to test weapons on animals, and he wants to shoot Beethoven “to find out how messy it is.” Varnick then visits the Newton family, pours fake blood over his arm, and hits Beethoven, provoking him into defending himself, while the youngest daughter, Emily, sees it all. Varnick then recommends that for the family’s safety, Beethoven be surrendered.
Dr Varnick Is More Evil Than Cruella De Vil
Beethoven Has Its Heartbreaking Moments, But A Happy Ending Too
The 90s was a golden age for cute animal movies, and one of the most notorious villains was Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians, whose greatest ambition was to have a spotty coat made from stolen dalmatian puppies. Varnick, like Cruella, also stole puppies, as it is revealed that the thieves from Beethoven‘s beginning are working for Varnick, but while Cruella was vain, cruel, and utterly villainous, she was not a vet. Varnick is using his trustworthy job to manipulate families into giving up their beloved pets, making him even worse than Cruella De Vil.
Beethoven’s monstrous Dr Varnick appears more trustworthy than other children’s movie villains.
Beethoven has one of the most heartbreaking scenes in a John Hughes movie. The scene in which George prepares to surrender Beethoven might be too much for anyone who has had to say goodbye to a pet, but Beethoven does have a happy ending. The Newton family saves the day by finding Varnick’s warehouse (which is essentially a secret lair) and calling the police, before rescuing the dogs that had been trapped there. All three antagonists are arrested, but not before viewers see the work of another Beethoven villain, who appeared briefly at the very start of the movie.
We See Another Villain’s Work At The Beginning And End Of Beethoven
Varnick Resembles A Real-Life Monster, Giving Beethoven A Disturbing Undertone
Beethoven begins with the puppy Beethoven being rejected by a prospective buyer, who tells the sales assistant she has a junkyard and needs “a big, mean junkyard dog.” Initially, she says Beethoven looks “good and mean,” but when the assistant thinks he’s cute, the woman says “You can make any dog mean.” This implies she is likely to be cruel to her dogs. When Beethoven pees on her jacket, she rejects him, but that may not be the end of the junkyard owner. When Harvey and Vernon later flee into a junkyard, they are attacked by ferocious guard dogs.
There are some truly terrifying children’s movie villains, but while most children’s movies make their antagonists physically grotesque, literal monsters, or exaggerated caricatures, Beethoven‘s villain is disturbing for different reasons. Varnick has a sinister manner and cold stare, but he looks like a regular person and his job implies he should be an animal lover, and safe for a dog to be around. These characteristics make the monstrous Varnick appear more trustworthy than other children’s movie villains, making Beethoven‘s main antagonist into the kind of monster that exists in real-life, and arguably the darkest kids’ movie villain yet.
