50 Scariest Disney Villains

Scroop - Treasure Planet (2002)

The Movie: Space-y adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Young Jim Hawkins becomes a cabin boy aboard a ship where he befriends cook John Silver, a cyborg who turns out to be a villain.

Most Evil Act: While Silver is a villain with a conflicted conscience, his insectoid sidekick Scroopt has no such concerns, actively attempting to kill Jim. He also manipulates Silver and has a band of his own minions.

Why It's Good To Be Bad: We all love an underdog, right?

Madam Mim - The Sword In The Stone (1963)

The Movie: Inspired by the legend of King Arthur. Twelve-year-old Wart meets wizard Merlin and is introduced to a world of magic - which includes conniving witch Madam Mim.

Most Evil Act: Cheating! Mim's a big, fat cheater, as demonstrated when she has a wizard's duel with Merlin - within seconds she's broken the 'no disappearing' rule before eventually turning herself into a dragon, also not allowed.

Why It's Good To Be Bad:
Mim's a lunatic with a wickedly-funny laugh - and who doesn't wish they had her ability to transform into whatever she desires?

Mr Whiskers - Frankenweenie (2012)

The Movie: Stop-motion delight from Tim Burton based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Young Frankenweenie brings his dog back from the dead, inspiring his classmates to do the same.

Most Evil Act: The cat of Weird Girl, Mr Whiskers transforms into a monstrous version of himself when he's electrocuted holding a bat, turning into a bat-cat-thing. He nearly destroys Frankenweenie's town, which is pretty damn evil.

Why It's Good To Be Bad: Before his transformation, Mr Whiskers is one of the most adorable kitties we've ever seen. Even when he transforms, he's one hellacool movie monster.

Ursula - The Little Mermaid (1989)

The Movie: Inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale in which mermaid Ariel dreams of becoming human - and goes to sea witch Ursula for help turning human.

Most Evil Act: Aside from transforming merfolk into gross little sea urchins when they can't pay her price, Ursula is also guilty of playing dirty when it seems Ariel will succeed in making Prince Eric fall for her.

To derail Ariel's plans, Ursula transforms herself into a beautiful siren and puts Eric under her spell instead.

Why It's Good To Be Bad:
With her grey skin, generous bosom and deep voice, Ursula is basically an octopus version of a drag queen. Fabulous.

The Sheriff Of Nottingham - Robin Hood (1973)

The Movie: Based on the legend of Robin Hood. Fox Robin Hood falls for Maid Marion and attempts to unseat snivelling imposter Prince John from the throne.

Most Evil Act: Though he's a lacky for Prince John, the Sheriff is also responsible for a fair few acts of all-out nastiness. Most upsetting is his attack on Friar Tuck - he steals the good Friar's poor box, beats the crap out of him and slings him in jail.

Why It's Good To Be Bad: Swaggering and overweight, the Sheriff is just the kind of villain you love to hate. Also, his hat's ace.

Doctor Facilier - The Princess & The Frog (2009)

The Movie: Young waitress Tiana is turned into a frog when she kisses, er, a frog who mistakes her for a princess. See, he's been cursed by Doctor Facilier, a voodoo witch doctor.

Most Evil Act: Offering up the souls of the people who live in New Orleans as payment for his black deeds. Also, Doctor Facilier turns to voodoo spirits and transforming a prince into a frog - all because he wants to rule New Orleans.

Why It's Good To Be Bad:
Facilier's the best kind of witch doctor - he knows how to hold a tune and his dress sense is all kinds of natty. Plus, turning people into frogs? Adorable.

Clayton - Tarzan (1999)

The Movie: Based on one of Edgar Rice Burroughs' jungle-set stories. In 19th century Africa, Tarzan is raised by gorillas - and his quiet life is threatened by hunter Clayton.

Most Evil Act: He's a cold-hearted bad guy who treats animals despicably and allies himself with a band of pirates. His worst act is wounding Kerchak. Unforgivable.

Why It's Good To Be Bad: If you're going to be bad, you might as well have the booming voice of Brian Blessed, can we get an "amen" in here?

The Jabberwocky - Alice In Wonderland (2010)

The Movie : Live-action adaptation of Lewis Carroll's tale, following Alice (Mia Wasikowska) as she tumbles into 'Underland' and is forced to fight the fearsome Jabberwocky.

Most Evil Act: It's possible to argue that the dragon-esque Jabberwocky is merely acting on the orders of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter), but that doesn't stop it from attempting to kill Alice in battle.

Why It's Good To Be Bad:
Few dragon-type things can attest to having their voice provided by Christopher Lee, which makes the jabberwocky one special beast.

Maximilian - The Black Hole (1979)

The Movie: Classic sci-fi set aboard the Palomino spacecraft, which discovers a black hole - and the long-missing ship Cygnus hovering nearby.

Most Evil Act: Bad robot Maximilian takes matters into his robo-hands when he kills Durant, then decommissions other robot B.O.B.

Why It's Good To Be Bad: Even if he is evil, Maximilian is one of the coolest movie robots ever.

Davy Jones - Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

The Movie: First sequel to Gore Verbinski's ridiculously-successful original Pirates film. This time, Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) goes up against squid-like nemesis Davy Jones (Bill Nighy).

Most Evil Act: Jones demonstrates huge 'not playing fair' capabilities when he unleashes the Kraken in an attempt to take down Jack and the Black Pearl. So not fair.

Why It's Good To Be Bad: Want a different sort of pirate? You couldn't get more different than Jones, whose beard is a weirdly-mesmerising mass of writhing tentacles.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.