Top of the Crop: Twenty Best Animated Film Villians

We all cheer on the hero, the princess, or the group as the complete their quest in classic animated films from our past but what about the villain’s time to shine. Animated villains are some of the best creations to take the stage in their films, even animators gush over the fact they get to animate the villain. They are the driving point for the audience to despise along side the hero, to raise their pitchforks against, or even make the audience tremble in fear as they show off their full glory, sometimes even with a scene stealing music number. The villains in animation rule the very ground they stand on (or levitate on) and let’s the hero or heroes now they ain’t nothing to…well, you get the idea. Without further ado, let’s sip on some cauldron boiled grog and raise three cheers to the ones who deserve it the most…The Top Twenty Best Animated Films Villains!

20. Gaston, Beauty and the Beast (1991), Performed by Richard White

He’s handsome, rude, conceited, but he sings like a dream (See the self-titled song, “Gaston” for showtune perfection). Gaston is the subversion of the attractive male lead by becoming a vicious and vile waste of David-esque structure with a hideous and disgusting persona. He is only after one thing and one thing only and that’s Belle. How much does she want her? Oh, not that much, it’s not the fact that he urges the whole dang town to raid a castle to kill the Beast only so he can get Belle to marry him.

Vile Villainous Moment: As the Beast reaches out to Belle’s hand, he stabs him right in the back. Of course, he fell to his death, but he needed to leave one last imprint of douchbagery on the world before he went to meet his maker.

19. The Giant Magnet, The Brave Little Toaster (1987)

The Giant Magnet is every nightmare to old appliances and cars as it picks them up and carts them to a giant trash compactor turning them into cubes of metal. Not only that, when it is chasing our friends Toaster, Lampy, Blanky, and Kirby, it shuts its cartoon eyes shut to proceed to chase them around the dump as they attempt to flee to return their master. This silent destroyer is a menace, even if he is just doing his job.

Vile Villainous Moment: The aformentioned pursuit of our heroes and the dumping of the cars during the song “Worthless”.

18. Earl de Darkwood, Interstella 5555 (2003)

Earl de Darkwood might be a record company’s wet dream of a owner. He managed to steal the lives of the most rockin’ alien band in the Secret Star System, use them to create a rockin’ human band, mind controlled them, and took full control of Stella after the rest of the members got away thanks to Shep saving them. Earl de Darkwood even created the best musicians in the world (from Mozart to Jimmy Page) just to fulfill his dream of taking over the entire universe for his own. How is that not evil?

Vile Villanious Moment: Creating The Crescnedolls to perform ‘One More Time’ for the rest of their lives…and making them beat Daft Punk themselves.

17. Professor Ratigan, The Great Mouse Detective (1987), Performed By Vincent Price

He is the one behind the Big Ben Caper, the name who made headlines in every newspaper, he might just be the World’s Greatest Criminal Mind. Voiced by the magnificent Vicent Price, Ratigan oozes the very essence of villain with ease, poise, grace until you call him a rat and he feeds you to his cat Felicia. Ratigan is very intelligent and uses that to work to his advantage against Basil of Baker Street in a game of wits and mystery, making him a perfect foil to Basil.

Vile Villainous Moment: When he finally goes berserk and reveals his true self with pure hatred as he begins to claws away at Basil on the hands of Big Ben (yes, THAT Big Ben).

16. The Horned King, The Black Cauldron (1985), Performed by John Hurt

From the cult classicDisney feature, The Horned King must be one of the most creative villain ever designed by Disney which I mean crap in your pants terrifying. The Horned King seeks to rule the land of Prydain with the power of the Black Cauldron housing the spirit of Arwan to create an army of cauldron born and held captive a psychic pig (yes, you read that right) and her master, Taran, in order to seek out the location of the famed cauldron. No one can stand the sight of him or even have the bravery to serve under his rule, unless they really want to be dispersed land for eternity.

Vile Villainous Moment: Creating his first cauldron born to destroy the land, proving his powers of villainy.

15. Jafar, Aladdin (1992), Performed by Johnathan Freeman

Royal adviser to the Sultan and sorcerer on the side, Jafar is a bag of tricks as a villain with a calm and cool demeanor with a dark twisted mind that he uses to induce fear. Jafar stops at nothing to seek the hand of Jasmine, a la Gaston, and strips Aladdin of his new found alter ego and tossing him in the middle of nowhere…literally. To top it all off, he takes control of the Genie to make all his wishes come true.

Vile Villainous Moment: Wishing to be sultan, then wishing to be the most powerful sorcerer of all time, and then wishing to be an all powerful genie. Luckily, the third wish comes with an itty bitty living space.

14. Chernabog, Fantasia (1940)

Four Words: Night on Bald Mountain. When Chernabog (AKA The Devil himself) turns up in the film, you are their witnessing every moment, every gesture, and every smile he has on his face as he raises the dead, throws a party, kills some of them in fire surrounding him. Not only that, but Chernabog also pulled a number on poor little Sora in Kingdom Hearts during his journey, turning a fantastic playthrough into a virtual nightmare.

Vile Villainous Moment: Once again, ALL OF NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN!

13. Yubaba, Spirited Away (2001), Performed by Mari Natsuki (Original) Suzanne Pleshette (English Dub)

If the picture is any indication, you just either screamed in horror or you are happy this woman made it on this list. Yubaba practically torture Chihiro by changing her name to Sen, uses the bathhouse’s guest just for the money, and nearly has Sen’s parents killed after she leaves with No Face. Her sister, Zeniba, is the polar opposite for good reason.

Vile Villainous Moment: Not much of a moment, but the fact she transforms into a terrifying bird of prey is worthy of a mention.

12. Mother Gothel, Tangled (2010), Performed by Donna Murphy

Probably the most recent villain on the list, Mother Gothel takes over protection up to eleven and is crazy as hell doing so. She kept Rapunzel locked for eighteen years of her life just to keep herself young and immortal by brushing her long hair, then as soon as she escapes with Flynn, tracks her down by teaming up with the appropriately named Stabbington Brothers to find her in exchange for thee crown. Did I mention she is one heck of a songstress when convincing Rapunzel to stay with her?

Vile Villainous Moment: Stabbing Flynn right in the back after tricking him to come up the tower with Rapunzel. Yes, Mother Gothel managed to one up Gaston’s knife attack.

11. Rameses II, The Prince of Egypt (1998), Performed by Ralph Finnes

Even the Bible has it share of villains, including real life villains in the form of Rameses, but he is one of the more sympathetic villains unlike the others on the list. Being the adoptive brother Moses, Rameses hatred towards those lower than and desire to reign stemmed from being unaccepted and unjust as his brother Moses was more for sticking up for Rameses. As Rameses grew older, he didn’t want to free the Hebrews from their labor because of the powers of God brought on by Moses telling him to free them, making him angered and destructive. How destructive? See his moment of villainy.

Vile Villainous Moment: Refusing to free the Hebrews, thus causing aplague to befall all of Egypt which ranged from a blood red river, pestilence, locusts, darkness, and the death of all firstborns. Rameses’ power hungry ways caused pure apocalyptic chaos.

10. Other Mother, Coroline (2009), Performed by Teri Hatcher

This movie was terrifying for everyone, not just kids, and that reason is Other Mother. Other Mother starts out calm, nice, and being everything Coroline would want from her own mother, but soon turns into something only Neil Gaiman can come dream. Other Mother will find you, tempt you with the world of wonders and fantasy you’ve always wanted, hunt you down, and replace your eyes with button so you can be ruled by her power

Vile Villainous Moment: The reveal of her True Form (Hint: That picture above is a lie!)

9. Syndrome, The Incredibles (2004), Performed by Jason Lee

If this is the result that happen after ditching the concept of a sidekick, pray every other hero took some notes when Syndrome arrive on the scene. Vowing revenge on his former idols, including Mr. Incredible, he manipulated countless numbers of supers to his island to be put face to face with Omnidroids, creating a genocide of the heroes of the world. He does have a fair share of humorous moments, but he is a pure menace to society with his zero gravity powers and all because Mr. Incredible wouldn’t accept him as Incrediboy.

Vile Villainous Moment: Releasing an Omnidroid in Metroville to unleash destruction just so he can save the town and be hailed as a hero for stopping it.

8. Kent Mansley, The Iron Giant (1999), Performed by Christopher McDonald

Kent Mansleyis an paranoid idiot, but don’t let that fool you because this man uses that to his advantage. As a government agent tracking down the titular giant, Mansley stops at nothing to find information from hanging out with Hogarth to causing the Army to startle the Giant and cause his self-defense mode to be fully unleashed upon the small town of Rockwell, making it seem that he killed Hogarth in the crossfire. Luckily, Mansley gets the best of himself when he cowers after realizing what he had done when the Giant arrives back in town with Horgarth alive.

Vile Villainous Moment: When the Giant arrives back with Hogarth, he declares the Army launch a nuclear missile to defeat him and destroy the town, against the General’s wishes.

7. Hopper, A Bug’s Life (1998), Performed by Kevin Spacey

With the voice of the sarcastic and cool (thanks to Kevin Spacey), Hopper comes across as both a mob leader and a person you just accidentally rubbed the wrong way. Using his sure strength of voice and power, he rules he ants with an iron fist making them do his bidding by harvesting food solely for the legion of grasshoppers. Hopper doesn’t even care for young ants (as evident in the photo above) and commands like a vicious tyrant to everyone, especially his own brother.

Vile Villainous Moment: Coming back after a terrible harvest and finally taking control of the ants for once and for all.

6. Dr. Facilier, The Princess and the Frog (2009), Performed by Keith David

Dr. Falicier ushered in a new era of Disney Animated villains by unleashing his ‘shadow man’ ways on to everyone that surrounded him. From manipulating the now poor Prince Naveen into telling his fortune then turning him into a frog to torturing Tiana with dreams only her heart could want, Dr. Falicier brought his voodoo out to do a number on destroying their quest every step of the way. He even went as far as killing the comic relief character of the film, Ray the Firefly, to proves his power.

Vile Villainous Moment: ”Friends on the Other Side”, enough said.

5. Sid Phillips, Toy Story (1995), Performed by Erik von Detten
 

“He tortures toys, just for fun!” as Rex said so himself about the ruthless and despicable torturer Sid. Sid blows up toys, makes new creations out of this world, and when he grabbed double prizes in the form of our pals Buzz and Woody, he began to torture them by burning Woody’s forehead then proceeded to tape Buzz to the plot-device rocket so he can launch in the air and explode midair. Sid would go on to be torture by the toys after them having enough of his behavior, leaving him scared for the rest of his days. Sid, fortunately, grew up to be a happy garbage man in Toy Story 3 in a small but fun cameo.

Vile Villainous Moment: Stealing Hanna’s toy and using it to create something he can enjoy for himself.

4. Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty (1959), Performed by EleanorAudley

Beautiful, elegant, graceful, powerful, dynamic, a complete evil force of nature, Maleficent is either hated or loved by all. She cast a spell on Aurora for her to die after a prick on her finger from a spinning wheel on her 16th birthday (later averted when Merriweather changes it from death to sleep) and searched for years to find her after she hid for years. As she found her, she got her wish and enjoyed every moment by kidnapping Prince Phillip and torturing him with a story stating he would never live long enough to save Aurora. Why did she go through this trouble? She wasn’t invited to her birth ceremony 16 years ago. Now, that’s what we call holding a grudge.

Vile Villainous Moment: When Prince Phillip escapes, she creates a forest of thorns blocking the castle. Phillip gets through only to face Maleficent and all the powers of hell as she turns into a dragon.

3. Queen Grimhilde, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Performed by Lucy La Verne
 

Yes, she does have a name, but that doesn’t make Queen Grimhilde any less of a vicious villain. Simply know as The Queen, she hires a huntsman to take Snow White into the forest to murder her and bring back the heart due to her magic mirror now longer deeming The Queen the fairest, but Snow White instead. When she finds out that Snow White is still alive, she plans the ultimate revenge to go out and due the deed of killing her herself by using the powers of magic. The Queen succeeds by convincing her to eat an apple under a disguise and kills her, laughing after she completed her mission.

Vile Villainous Moment: The transformation into her disguise of an old beggar woman.

2. The Joker & The Phantasm, Batman: Mask of the Pantasm (1993), Performed by Mark Hamill (The Joker); Stacey Keach and Dana Delaney (The Phantasm)

Two villains for the price of one in the cult classic Batman animated film with The Joker and The Phantasm taking turns for the spotlight. The Joker plays an intregal role in the mystery surrounding The Phantasm as he was once an assassin for Sal Valestra of the mob in Gotham who tore apart the Beaumont family apart leading Andrea to lead a life of the serial killer in the form of The Phantasm. The Joker makes a deal with the mob leader to kill Batman all while The Phantasm attempts to complete its mission of killing mob members with The Joker at the end of the list. This finally leads Batman to take both of them down once and for all. Batman and The Joker is the classic ‘good vs. evil’ fisticuffs, but the story between Batman and The Phantasm ups the ante. Bruce had a relationship with Andrea nearly saving him to no longer need to be Batman anymore and focus on the more important things in life until she left him for good. The realization of Andrea as The Phantasm leaves him broken inside.

Vile Villainous Moment: For The Joker, killing Valestra after he hired him to kill Batman in cold blood. For The Phantasm, the brutal beatdown of The Joker to attempt to end him.

1. Judge Claude Frollo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Performed by Tony Jay

If the Devil himself could be any form, out of all the villains on this list, he would fit right at home with Judge Claude Frollo. Frollo managed to get a way with a wide variety of disgusting, devious, and cruel acts, ranging from killing a woman in cold blood, keeping the child she had locked in a bell tower for years deeming him a monster, and started burning down all of Paris for the wickedness he claimed the people of town had done. To add to his already dark persona, he lusts after the gypsy Esmeralda dreaming of her with pure sexual tendencies and wanted to see her die before him with one of the best damn songs ever written for an animated film, “Hellfire”. How Disney even brought him to life is a pure miracle (Tony Jay’s career all lead up to this crowning performance), creating not only the most vile and most hated villain they can muster up, but the best villain in an animated film.

Vile Villainous Moment: Everything listed, proving his true staying power as a villain.