1 The Mickey Mindset: Michael Wermuth's Ten Favorite Disney Villains

Friday, November 22, 2013

Michael Wermuth's Ten Favorite Disney Villains

Michael Wermuth, Jr. - Many of the animated Disney and Pixar shows have great villains, and today I present my list of the top ten Disney villains. Oh, and I must warn you that most of these entries contain spoilers.

10. The Big Bad Wolf, from "The Three Little Pigs" shorts 
The Big Bad Wolf is, obviously, a big bad wolf wanting to eat the Three Little Pigs. He appeared in all of the shorts with the Three Little Pigs, eventually becoming the papa to Three Little Wolves. But even The Big Bad Wolf has standards--in "The Practical Pig," when he captures two of the pigs, he orders his sons to NOT eat them until he captures the last pig (though they disobey their father and attempt to eat the others anyway).


9. Randall, from Monsters, Inc.
Randall was one of two top scarers, second only to Sully. While Sully was quite humble over being top scarer and saw it as friendly competition, Randall was a bit more competitive. When he was discovered working late hours and was responsible for Boo being let lose in the monster world, it was assumed he did this just to make his score higher, when it turns out he was really trying to kidnap her to test out a scaring invention. I can identify with Randall a bit, wanting to be a bit competitive. Though I don't think he really looked scary enough to even be #2.



8. Ursula, from The Little Mermaid
Ursula is a sea witch, banished from King Triton's underwater kingdom. She manages to make a deal with Ariel, where she'll give her legs and let her live outside the water for three days, in exchange for her voice, and if Prince Eric doesn't kiss her in three days, Ariel will become a tulip. She does a good job at preventing this, and the sun sets just in time, only for Triton to agree to be turned into a tulip instead of Ariel. And it's cool when Ursula becomes a giant. And Ursula is probably one of the hammiest Disney villains.



7. Scar, from The Lion King
Scar was hoping to be king, but then his brother Mufasa had a son, Simba. Scar set out to kill Simba and Mufasa. Scar led Hyenas in a plan, killing Mufasa and thinking he killed Simba. Scar then became king, only to cause a great drought to the pride lands. When Simba came back to challenge Scar, he ordered Scar to leave and never come back, but had to fight Scar for the throne. Simba tossed Scar over a cliff, where Scar was attacked by the Hyenas, whom he had previously blamed for everything. I can identify with Scar being jealous of his brother and wanting to be in control. And his villain song "Be Prepared" is such a great song.



6. Syndrome, from The Incredibles
As a boy, Bucky, who would become Syndrome, wanted to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick. Mr. Incredible refused because he didn't want or need a sidekick. Eventually, after superheroes were forced to retire, Bucky became Syndrome and became a villain, setting out to invent the ability to become a superhero, because when everybody is super, nobody is. And after he was defeated, he ended up going so far as to kidnap Mr. Incredible's youngest son, Jack-Jack, unaware that he had gained superpowers.





5.  Jafar, from Aladdin
Jafar was the royal visier to the Sultan, and was able to hypnotize the Sultan with his magic scepter, causing the Sultan to allow Jafar to marry Princess Jasmine. Jafar was also interested in the magic lamp buried underground, sending Aladdin in and then attempting to kill him after getting the lamp. After eventually becoming the Genie's new master, Jafar was tricked by Aladdin into wishing to be an all-powerful genie... Not realizing this means being trapped in a lamp. Of course, Jafar was freed in the sequel, Return to Jafar, where he's an evil genie but ends up being destroyed at the end.


4.  Captain Hook, from Peter Pan
Perhaps one of the most iconic Disney villains, Captain Hook is the leader of the pirates in Neverland, and wants to kill Peter Pan, particularly due to Peter being responsible for getting Hook's hand eaten by a crocodile. While a ruthless pirate, he is also quite clumsy, constantly needing his first mate Mr. Smee to help him. Captain Hook bombs Peter Pan's hideout, nearly killing Peter and Tinker Bell, kidnaps Wendy, John, Michael, and the Lost Boys, and attempts to drown the Indian princess Tiger Lily. Although a buffoon at times, Captain Hook showed he can also be truly evil.



3. Gaston, from Beauty and the Beast
Gaston started out as just an egotistical jerk who wanted to marry Belle. But her rejection of him combined with her father Maurice telling the town that Belle was locked in a beast's dungeon led to Gaston paying the head of an asylum to have Maurice committed unless Belle agreed to marry him. When Belle was able to prove that the Beast was real, Gaston set out on a new mission to kill the Beast.. Gaston showed what a real jerk he is by stabbing Beast in the back (literally) right after the Beast decided not to kill Gaston, only for Gaston to fall to the death (but nobody falls to the death like Gaston). The townspeople never turn their back on Gaston, and they follow Gaston when he wants the Beast killed. I wonder how his funeral turned out.

2. Megavolt, from Darkwing Duck
My favorite villain from Darkwing Duck, Megavolt has electrical powers and a fondness for electrical puns. Originally a science nerd named Elmo Sputterspark, he got his powers after bullies sabotaged an experiment in static electricity, and he decided to use his powers for good... By getting revenge on the bullies and becoming a bad guy. I wouldn't call him the main villain of Darkwing Duck, but he is surely one of Darkwing's most important enemies. After all, he appeared in more episodes than any other villain (17, to be exact) and he was the first bad guy Darkwing fought (in fact they went to high school together).


1. Cruella de Vil, from 101 Dalmatians
A fashion designer who went to school with Anita Darling, Cruella has a desire for a dalmatian-skinned fur coat. When Roger and Anita's dogs had puppies, she wanted to buy them all, and when they wouldn't sell them, she had her henchmen Horace and Jasper steal them, and a lot more dogs, totaling 99 dalmatians.In the sequel, she starts out being good (after being on probation and prohibited from buying furs), but after gaining an interest in art she once again desired to kidnap the puppies. Cruella de Ville is such a cool villain, with her hair being two different colors, her desire for fur coats, and her reckless driving. The "Cruella de Ville" song is awesome as well. And she has such great lines, like "Poison them! Drown them! Bash them on the heads! I don't care how you kill the little beasts, but do it, and do it now!"

These are just some of Michael Wermuth's favorite Disney Villains. If you would like to contribute a list of your ten favorite Disney Villains, email us at mickeymindset@gmail.com!





The Mickey Mindset, mickeymindset@gmail.com

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