Listen. I know I am an adult now, and Disney movies are just for kids, right?
Wrong!
I know I'm not the only person who still loves basically everything about Disney. In fact, my decision to write this list was inspired by a good buddy of mine, Josh. He, his wife, and a whole slew of his friends, are so into Disney (not in the creepy, forever young kind of way) that they run and maintain a website, which includes blogs, podcasts, comics, and even an awesome store full of handmade items--all dedicated to everything Disney. The unique thing about this site is that it caters specifically to those who are between the ages of 18-35.
From his press release for the second season of the ModernMouseRadio podcast, Josh wants people to know that his site and all of the content within is about: "a way to see Disney’s touch on social issues and civil rights... about Disney’s connection with the LGBT community, the effect of Disney Princesses on young girls, and the racial troubles with Disney’s Song of the South film" among many other things.
So, because I know that there is an adult fan-base that appreciates hearing more about Disney, learning people's opinions, and discussing Disney themes. I have created my own Disney list of the top five worst Disney villains, ordered from bad to worse.
Here we go:
5: Lady Tremaine
Also known as the Wicked Stepmother, Lady Tremaine is the primary antagonist from the 1950 Disney film, Cinderella.
She may not have crazy magical powers as some other Disney villains do, but she still strikes anger into the hearts of viewers without it.
She married Cinderella's father, who was desperate for his daughter to have a proper maternal figure. When he dies, rather than stepping up to take care of her new stepdaughter, Tremaine, motivated by sheer jealousy over Cinderella's beauty--which massively trumps that of her own gross daughters--inflicts psychological warfare on Cinderella by essentially forcing her into slave labor, and putting her down at every opportunity.
All Tremaine cares about is wealth and prestige. And the funny part is, if she had just been the mother figure Cinderella needed, and had she allowed Cinderella to marry the prince without incident, chances are Cinderella's marriage would have brought her the prestige she wanted.
What an impatient, overzealous jerk.
4: Scar
If you've ever seen The Lion King, you know that Scar is just a huge d-bag.
Listen. I don't understand why monarchy rules dictate that the first born son of a royal family immediately takes over the throne. Fortunately, here in the states, we don't live under a King's rule and don't have to deal with that nonsense.
Nevertheless, Scar is stone cold. Jealous of his brother Mufasa's inheritance of the throne, he has no qualms with throwing his brother off a dang cliff. Even worse, he did this in front of Mufasa's son Simba, who had to watch his father die.
I hate Scar. I'm glad the hyenas turned on him.
3: Sid Phillips
What a sick, twisted little bastard this guy is.
Hear me out: Sid may seem like a normal bratty pre-teen, but he displays characteristics of a textbook sociopath. Taking his sister's toys is one thing, but using them for weird experiments which include amputation, head transplants, lighting them on fire and/or blowing them up...these are all traits of a future serial-killer.
It starts with toys, but will eventually turn to people. Mark my words.
Good thing he's fictional.
2: Cruella De Vil
I don't even need to go into detail on this psychopath.
She wants to skin innocent little puppies alive and wear their furs as a coat.
Go to hell, Cruella.
1: The Little Mermaid
You read that right. I realize Ursula is supposed to be seen as the villain in The Little Mermaid, but she isn't the worst part of the movie. The movie itself is a villain.
I remember watching it as a little girl, and asking my parents if boys even cared about what girls have to say, or if looks were more important.
This movie enforces that idea. Ariel wants to meet Prince Eric, but, with Ursula's "help" is told she can have legs to go on land and meet him, but would no longer have a voice to speak with.
While that may seem like Ursula's fault--taking Ariel's voice away--it actually works! So Ursula was only revealing an inherent problem women face--the problem of whether what they say matters, or if looks make the difference. And in this case, they do. Eric falls in love with Ariel's beauty exclusively.
That is a horrible message for little girls.
So that's it! Those are my top five worst Disney villains. Feel free to comment with yours, or if you strongly disagree with any of mine.
And definitely check out ModernMouseRadio!
One last message from my buddy Josh:
"We carry what we do from our website over to our Facebook page and our twitter and
Instagram accounts to create a community around the website and keep conversations
about topics discussed on the site going. We hope to create a more aware world
through the love of Disney. Disney doesn’t have to just be a fandom like
everything else, it can also be a place to see the world through a different
lens, creating an informed opinion on social issues, politics, civil rights,
tech, science, and more."