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50 Scariest Disney Villains

Features
By Joshua Winning published 7 May 2014

House of horror...

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The Queen Of Hearts - Alice In Wonderland (1951)

The Movie: Young Alice trips into the world of Wonderland after chasing a little white rabbit. It's not long before she discovers that nothing in Wonderland is what it seems.

Most Evil Act: Forcing her subjects to repaint white roses red is pretty evil, but the Queen Of Hearts' obsession with decapitating people is surely her most evil inclination.

Why It's Good To Be Bad:
Considering that everything and everyone in Wonderland is totally bonkers, it's fitting that The Queen Of Hearts is the maddest of them all. We love how completely crackers she is.

Sykes - Oliver & Company (1988)

The Movie: A twist on, er, Oliver Twist, with orphaned kitten Oliver joining a gang of dogs who make a living ripping people off.

Most Evil Act: A loan shark with two Dobermans as his muscle, Sykes is nothing short of brutal when people fail to pay him back. That brutality includes kidnapping and ransoming innocents and - um, driving badly.

Plus he smokes. Eeeevil.

Why It's Good To Be Bad : Well, he drives a swish car, which has to count for something.

Lady Tremaine - Cinderella (1950)

The Movie: Based on Charles Perrault's timeless fairytale ( Cendrillon ), this Disney classic revolves around put-upon Cinderella, whose evil step-mother, Lady Tremaine, isn't exactly her biggest fan.

Most Evil Act: Mostly it's the little things, like favouring her own despicable daughters over Cinderella, and forcing Cinderella to do all the housework.

Surely her most evil act, though, is destroying Cinderella's gown moments before she's due to attend Prince Charming's ball.

Why It's Good To Be Bad: Let's put it this way - at least she's more appealing to the eye than her hideous daughters.

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Percival C. McLeach - The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

The Movie: Sequel to The Rescuers , set in Australia, where Bernard and Bianca set out to help save young Cody from hunter Percival M. McLeach, who's on the trail of an endangered eagle.

Most Evil Act: McLeach isn't above kidnapping children, and he's canny enough to cover his tracks - he throws Cody's backpack to the crocs in order to make it look like he's been eaten. Then he forces Cody to help ensnare the eagle.

Why It's Good To Be Bad: McLeach is a big, menacing brute who's just so conniving and evil that you sort of have to respect his determined meanness. Also, his sidekick - frill-necked lizard Frank - is hilarious.

Judge Claude Frollo - The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (1996)

The Movie: Based on Victor Hugo's same-named villain, Disney's 34th feature film stars the titular hunchback, Quasimodo, who just wants to be accepted into society.

Most Evil Act: The pious Judge Claude Frollo is Quasimodo's guardian - but only begrudgingly so. He's also a massive racist, seeking to wipe gypsies off the face of the planet, despite his clear crush on gypsy girl Esmeralda.

Why It's Good To Be Bad:
Frollo's only saving grace is that he dies at the end of the film. No, really.

The Coachman - Pinocchio (1940)

The Movie: Puppet boy Pinocchio dreams of becoming a real boy and sets out on a quest with his conscience (Jiminy Cricket) to make that dream a fleshy reality.

Most Evil Act: The Coachman appears when Pinocchio's down at (wooden) heel, convincing the little puppet boy to accompany him to Pleasure Island - where Pinocchio is transformed into a donkey. TERRIFYING.

Why It's Good To Be Bad:
He sort of looks like a beardless Santa Claus - except when his face glows red with eeeeeevil.

Chernabog - Fantasia (1940)

The Movie: A mostly dialogue-free carousel of gorgeous animated sequences, with fantastic music by Leopold Stokowski.

Most Evil Act:
The devil Chernabog only appears at night, but his black thoughts pollute the whole of Fantasia as he raises evil spirits from the ground and encourages them to terrorise the whole of Fantasia.

Why It's Good To Be Bad: He doesn't utter a single word and yet he's still absolutely terrifying. Which is exactly what makes him such a great villain.

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Stromboli - Pinocchio (1940)

The Movie: Wood-carver Geppetto has his wish for a son granted when puppet Pinocchio is brought to life. When Pinocchio goes on a journey of self-discovery, though, he soon encounters Italian businessman Stromboli…

Most Evil Act: Stromboli will do anything to earn a quick buck, which is why he turns Pinocchio into a sideshow attraction and locks him up in a cage when he's not performing. This is dark, dark, dark…

Why It's Good To Be Bad: Just look at that guy. His moustache alone demands our respect. And those mad, mad eyes…

Madame Medusa - The Rescuers (1977)

The Movie: Bernard (Bob Newhart) and his co-agent, the elegant Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor) set out to rescue a young girl who's been kidnapped by treasure hunter Madame Medusa (Geraldine Page).

Most Evil Act: Easily Medusa's most evil act is kidnapping orphan Penny as part of her plan to uncover the world's largest diamond.

Well, with a name like Madame Medusa, you didn't really expect her to rescue kittens from trees all day long, did you?

Why It's Good To Be Bad:
We love how insanely pantomime she is, flapping her hands about like nobody's business and wearing harlot-red lipstick just to make sure we know she really is a baddie.

Shere Khan - The Jungle Book (1967)

The Movie: The 19th feature released by Disney, based on Rudyard Kipling's book. Feral child Mowgli is raised by jungle creatures - and targeted by tiger Shere Khan.

Most Evil Act: Khan attempts to twist Mowgli to his own insidious agenda, which involves injuring Baloo the bear. Bad cat.

Why It's Good To Be Bad:
With an intelligence as sharp as his claws and a silky-smooth voice (courtesy George Sanders), Khan's one of the coolest Disney villains ever. Except when he's confronted with fire…

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Joshua Winning
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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.  

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