Darla Dimple

"“Yea, as you walk through your valley of despair fear not, for I am your Lil Ark Angel and I will look after every little itty-bitty, teensy-weensy one of you„ - Darla Dimple"

Darla Dimple is a child actress and the main antagonist of Warner Bros./Turner Entertainment 1997 animated film, Cats Don't Dance. She also has a butler named Max, serving as her enforcer. In "Pinocchio and Friends", she is a supporting character, who starts off being a villain towards Pinocchio and his friends, but after she gets defeated, redeems herself and even becomes an angel. The idea of Darla being a good guy, was Michael's, because of him watching scenes from Cats Don't Dance, where Darla acts kind and cute and acting as if she cares for Danny, over and over.

Prologue:

There are so many theories about Darla's origins, but a theory from the creator of Michael Movies, Michael Klitorakis, goes like this: Darla was once, the sweetest and kindest angel in Heaven and she was responsible for saving the animals from the Flood (as suggested in one of her movies,"Lil Ark Angel", however with some help from Noah). She was kind and cute and had a golden heart. She also had a passion for children and animals (this gave her the title "America's Sweetheart, Lover of Children and Animals"). Darla was curious to see the world below her and asked Baruch, the wisest angel of them all (from Precious Moments), to let her visit Earth, something that she didn't do for many years. Darla descended to Earth (in human disguise) and she was getting to know everything around her.

Because of her reputation, Darla became famous and popular in the movie industry, but as time went on, her kindness and innocence disappeared (because of greed and power) and she became the evil and spoiled little brat everyone knows and hates. When Darla returned to Heaven to show the fame and fortune she got, Baruch saw that Darla has changed and she's no longer holds any kindness in her. For that reason, Baruch and the other angels expelled Darla from Heaven and Darla lost her angel form. Darla was now an evil shadow of her former self, showing a darker side of her innocent and charming personality, rather than the original happy and sweet side, she once had. She went on to get a butler and a large franchise, that will end with her downfall and later, her redemption and forgiveness.

In Cats Don't Dance:

A young orange tomcat by the name of Danny (the protagonist of the film), accidentally offends Darla by attempting to sing onstage during a production Darla is starring in. She becomes jealous and infuriated and throws a nasty temper tantrum in front of the entire film crew without any regret. She then calls in Max, who grabs Danny and intimidates him as a warning for what will happen the next time he crosses Darla's path. Later, Darla has seemingly forgotten her anger and even offers Danny advice on how to succeed in show business; this is meant to get him to drop his guard, as after this Danny is convinced that Darla wants to help all animals.

However, Darla's plan has unforeseen consequences, as her advice only results in him inspiring other animals to try to perform. Darla becomes worried that the animals will be successful, and hatches a plot: she has Max flood Mammoth Studios while the head of Mammoth Studios, L.B. Mammoth, and the film's director Flanigan are giving an interview, then frames the animals for the incident in the hopes of getting them all fired.

The animals get barred from acting at Mammoth Studios again, but end up putting on an impressive production anyway. During this show Darla goes backstage in an attempt at sabotage, but her meddling only enhances the show and makes it more impressive while injuring herself in various ways; this ends with her pulling a large switch, which causes a fabulous fireworks display to end the show. Now covered in wires, props, and bruises, she yells at Danny that she should have drowned him and the rest of the animals when she flooded the stage, unaware that a microphone has become attached to her head in the commotion and her confession has been broadcasted to the entire audience, as well as Flanigan and L.B. Mammoth. Darla tries to save face by hugging Danny like she did earlier in the film, but Danny's friend named Pudge pulls a trapdoor lever and Darla falls through the stage. She is later shown after the credits having lost her job and serving as a janitor, and is seen putting up posters for films with animals in the starring roles.

In Pinocchio and Friends:

It seems that Darla took over the spotlight again and this time, with brute force. In one episode of the series, Pinocchio and his cousin watch a TV ad, advertising Darla's latest movie "Lil Ark Angel". Pinocchio's little cousin becomes obsessed with Darla Dimple's franchise and buys a DVD of the movie and watches it at night, when his older cousin is gone. When a Darla Dimple event, occurs in Pinocchio's village, Darla gives to Pinocchio's cousin an invitation card. Finally, Darla Dimple invites Pinocchio and his cousin over to her mansion. At the mansion, Pinocchio seems a bit suspicious, but his young cousin is enjoying Darla's sweet words and mannerisms. However, Darla was tricked by "Welcome Back" Pinocchio to lure the two puppets into a trap (the former betrays and imprisons her). After Pinocchio defeats her butler, Max, Darla is released by Pinocchio and reveals that "Welcome Back" Pinocchio told her to capture Pinocchio and his cousin, in promise for her to return back to the spotlight. Darla, finally helps Pinocchio to drive off "Welcome Back" Pinocchio from her house and thanks the two puppets for their visit. In another episode, it's revealed that Darla is a leader of a gang of girls, similar to Billy's School Boys. Darla is an antagonist again and she tries to recruit Jenny into her gang, but Pinocchio, Candlewick, Billy and the rest of the School Boys, defeat Darla and save Jenny. Darla is arrested by the police, afterwards, but she is released after revealing that she has a secret identity and how she wants to change her views.

In later episodes, Darla's personalization is changed gradually, going from a villain to a supporting character. Also, Darla realizes that her hatred towards animals and her villainy got the best of her, so she tries to change her ways, in order to be respected and loved by everyone. In "Singin' and Dancin' Animals", Pinocchio, Candlewick and Danny are planning to make a band with animal actors and musicians,(including Baloo the Bear) after they find out that these musicians moved to America since they don't get major roles in movies, back in their home countries. The three ask help from Darla Dimple, after many failed attempts to persuade Disney and the other producers to help, who's now changed her opinion about animals and invites Pinocchio, Candlewick, Danny and the rest of the animals to perform for her. She even apologizes to Danny for her abusive behavior towards him and promises to help the animals succeed, as long as they don't mess with her spotlight. In "The End of an Adventure", Darla decides to help Pinocchio and his friends to defeat "Welcome Back" Pinocchio, after her mansion is closed down. She then hears about the bad guy's plan to abduct some animals from a forest and slaughter them, for a feast he's planning. Darla finds this as an opportunity to prove her innocence and goes to save the animals. Darla manages to save the animals but she promptly drops through a trapdoor (implying that she had died), pulled by a "Welcome Back" Pinocchio's minion, under the name of Lorraine; not before she's scared off by Max. Darla, finally becomes an angel once again, for her kind-hearted act of forgiving her enemies and she's welcomed to Heaven by Baruch and the other angels. Darla is given back her "Lil Ark Angel" title and given permission to visit Earth and take care of every animal she meets and see Pinocchio and his friends.

Darla Dimple is now the Lil Ark Angel and lives in a small cottage, in a forest, somewhere in America, far away from fame and fortune. Without any riches and butlers at her disposal, she stays with her new-found animal friends in the forest, but still retains her acting career. At times, Darla goes to Hollywood, during vacations, to see Danny and his friends or to work in a movie. She now has the ability to turn into her human form, when she is in public or when she wants to and she's able to communicate with the forest animals. At one point, she meets a guy under the name of Nefelius Stanley, a businessman and president of "Ali Baba Pictures". It is later revealed that Nefelius is the Devil as he lures some animal kids into his carnival and imprisons them to his lair. Darla is getting captured by the Devil but she's saved, after Danny and Sawyer investigate the carnival and face the Devil. Later, Darla, Danny and Sawyer arrive at the premiere of Stanley's movie "Everything is Money" and manage to perform a song they have written, infuriating Stanley and making him reveal his evil schemes. However, he discovers that he's trapped in his human form and that the things he said in front of the crowd, got the best of him and meets the same fate Darla met in Cats Don't Dance (falling through a trapdoor and becoming a janitor). After this, Darla is allowed to become the guardian angel of Danny and Sawyer and she's now making new friends with animals and children alike. She sometimes visits Pinocchio's Village, to see Pinocchio and his friends there.

Trivia:
 * Because there are no canon origins to Darla Dimple, Michael decided to make Darla Dimple an angel and create a story of how she turned into a villain. Also this is an AU, so anything is possible.


 * Given the fact that Darla is an angel, she remains a nine year old for the rest of her existence, meaning that she can't age, thus staying a child. This also means that Darla is immortal and so, she can't die or get killed by anyone or anything. However, Darla has no problem with it since she likes being a little girl and an angel.
 * Darla's change in personality in the series, is a reference to how Maleficent from “Sleeping Beauty” was turned from a villainess to a heroine, in her own titular movie.