What Makes a Good Disney Villain?
Walt Disney Company recently celebrated its 100th anniversary with a brand image that has changed dramatically since its establishment in 1923. A scandal about race swapping and a focus on live-action remakes has characterized the company in the past decade, burying the legacy of Disney’s well-loved animated interpretations of fairy tale classics. But all of its movies have one thing in common: villains. Disney villains vary in many different ways: human and concept, comedic and horrific, male and female. With this diversity among Disney villains, how do we decide what makes them ‘good’ or ‘bad?’
What Makes Classic Disney Villains So Iconic?
So what makes a good Disney villain? Well, there’s no one correct answer. But in our opinion, they have to be iconic and leave you with a clear image or quote by the end of the movie. In some sense, they have to “steal the show” from the main characters. One clear example of an iconic villain is Mother Gothel from Tangled. As soon as you hear her name, you have clear imagery of her long, curly, dark hair. Her popular song “Mother Knows Best” is an example of an iconic theme, with a memorable hook and high villainous concept. A developed personality, humor, and just enough complexity to be unlikable-but-kind-of-memorable together make the perfect blend for a good Disney Villain. One of the “golden ages” of Disney villains was the ‘90s, with villains like Hades and Jafar: they were comedic, yet still invoked fear in the audience. This contrasts to recent years, where Disney has had difficulty hitting the mark on this level of complexity.
Beyond the general formula, Disney villains achieve their fame through a variety of aspects in the film. One such way is to have a comical sidekick, like Jafar’s parrot Iago, from Aladdin. Even though Iago isn’t the main villain, his interactions and relationship with Jafar add more to Jafar’s villain vibe as a whole, as well as make him more memorable. A second aspect is the villains’ songs, many of which become as famous as the characters themselves. Songs like “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” “Gaston,” “Mother Knows Best,” and “Be Prepared” have become essential components of Disney playlists, an important part of the company’s branding. Finally, a more hidden detail is the consistent imaging associated with these villains: the classic Disney villains have always been associated with shades of lime green.
Disney Villain “Eras”
Disney villains, like all of their movies, have gone through “eras.” In the past, villains were plainly evil, there was no backstory or complex motivation for their actions against the main characters. This left a primarily two-sided “good vs evil” plotline, with little diversity in perspective or insight into the complexities of relationships. And in instances when motivations were given, they were typically money or power. Some examples of this are the Evil Queen (Snow White) and Evil Stepmother (Cinderella), who both torment their respective “princesses” for the sake of having power over them. Other villains wanted power over an entire area or country, like Jafar and Scar. Most of Disney’s villains were of this format up to the ‘90s, except for Maleficent, Ursula, Hades, and partially, Dr. Facilier, who all sought revenge on the main characters.
In the late 2000s and 2010s, Disney started leaning into the concept of a “twist villain.” The primary example of this is Hans in Frozen, who is initially presented as a likable and kind character, but later revealed as the wrongdoer. This concept was also used in 2014’s Big Hero Six, as the villain, Yokai, is revealed to be the close friend of the main character. Meanwhile, The Princess and the Frog’s Dr. Facilier is initially given the “twist villain” plotline—he’s presented as a kind and misunderstood magician—but he still ends up as a “classic” Disney villain due to his simple motivations. Twist villains often encompass aspects of the “classic” villain, mainly because their motivations are still money and power; however, these motivations are more deeply explored in their own movies.
In recent years, Disney has swapped out personified villains for concepts like society as a whole. Examples of this are Merida from Brave, the eponymous Moana, and Mirabel from Encanto; their family and societal values are the key “villains” in the story. This recent concept loses the memorability classic Disney villains provide, instead presenting a more realistic and complex conflict.
In non-Disney TV shows and movies, villains are typically presented as real people, but with slightly more motivation disclosed. A good example is Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, a show popular with an elementary and middle school audience. The villain in this series is Hawk Moth, the father of one of the main characters. He is supernatural, like the main heroes, but uses his powers to attain the main characters’ powers and revive his dead wife. This motivation makes the villain feel more human and raw to the audience, but his actions are still evil and selfish. Another recent movie was Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, where the villain was Fear. Fear was represented as a wolf, but was clearly put to represent the concept of fear, and even implied to be entirely imagined. This trend is reflected in many TV shows and movies aimed at children today; villains are still personified or physically represented but have depth and clear motivation.
Rankings
Now, what we’ve finally been waiting for: our ranking of Disney Villains! We based our rankings on how iconic the characters are in pop culture, taking into consideration character design and main songs. Conceptual villains were ranked lower since they don’t satisfy these requirements well. With all that being said, here it is!
Mother Gothel (Tangled) - A classic Disney villain with clear motivations and a great villain song. She doesn’t have some deep backstory, she just wants to use Rapunzel’s powers to stay young. She has a great villain song and great character design!
Hades (Hercules) - Hades is funny, peppy, and hotheaded, which is often expressed in his interactions with Pain and Panic. He has his fair share of iconic one-line quips and a memorable character design unique to Disney’s rendition.
Ursula (The Little Mermaid) - Don’t tell me you don’t sing along when “Poor Unfortunate Souls” starts to play. This character is evil just because she wants power, and you can tell she’ll do what she needs to get it.
Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) - He had a great villain song, and a great villain sidekick, Le Fou.
Dr. Facilier (The Princess and the Frog) - He was just fun.
Jafar (Aladdin) - It was funny how obviously evil he was, and he was also joined by his hilarious sidekick parrot Iago. While he didn’t have a famous villain song, he made up for it with his cunningness and chilling personality.
Scar (The Lion King) - Scar was one of those comedically scary villains. Not only did he have a menacing song, but he was also obviously evil when joined by his multiple hyena sidekicks.
Hans (Frozen) - One of the more recent iconic villains, he was part of Disney’s twist villain’s era.
Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty) - This was one of the villains that became iconic because of how scary she was.
Te Kā (Moana) - The villain was somewhat confusing and had a small presence in the movie.
Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland) - An interesting character design and personality but she kills far too many people and she is more unmemorable.
Evil Queen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves) - The Evil Queen was just a bit boring. While iconic because of her historical significance as one of Disney’s first villains, she just doesn’t have that much personality. She also didn’t have a song.
Shan Yu (Mulan) - There wasn’t much backstory to this character.
Clayton (Tarzan) - Clayton was just greedy, with no real backstory or character.
Evil Stepmother (Cinderella) - A 1-D villain who had no real motives or purposeful integration in the plotline. Only later movies built upon her character.
Mor'du/Familial Disconnect (Brave) - A classic mother-daughter bonding story, but the villain was uninteresting and the main characters took all attention away from it.
Governor John Ratcliffe/Colonization (Pocahontas) - The character severely lacked screen time and colonization did not have nearly enough historical context to provide an accurate image. Their motivations were just gold and it didn’t make for an interesting plot.
Familial Disconnect (Encanto) - This was a realistic villain, but the message was difficult to understand for children and was not properly constructed throughout the movie.
*We have excluded the recently released movie Wish, in addition to Raya and the Last Dragon, Atlantis, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame since there was unfortunately no time to analyze them for the article.