Walt Disney Animation Studios has created some of the most beloved animated films in movie history. With sixty-two titles currently to their credit, these films feature some of the most memorable characters ever put to film. However, the recent Disney films, while still giving us the memorable characters, memorable songs, and top-tier animation we've come to expect from them, have been sorely lacking in one area: the villains.
Where are the power-hungry schemers like Jafar and Scar? Or the comedic villains like Hades and Yzma? While characters like King Candy and Prince Hans fit their roles in Wreck-It-Ralph and Frozen, respectively, they have not had the same lasting impact as their predecessors. The release of Wish was a big deal for Disney, with one of the most notable being the studio was putting the character of King Magnifico (Chris Pine) front and center. It made everyone wonder, where have Disney's villains gone?
Update December 7, 2023: If you are a fan of villains in Disney movies, you will be happy to know this article has been updated by Samuel Cormier with more context including information about Disney's live-action remakes and the newest animated film, Wish.
Disney's Most Recent Memorable Villains
The two most recent Disney villains that have had any staying power come from films that came out in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The first is Dr. Facilier from The Princess and The Frog. The second is Mother Gothel from Tangled. What makes them both memorable? Let's start with Dr. Facilier. He has got voodoo powers, a great villain song, and he is voiced by Keith David. That last one alone gives him an enormous boost to his memorability. The animation of the film also helps make Facilier memorable, just with the way he moves and how he can manipulate shadows into doing his bidding. His magic has its limits, though. He cannot conjure anything for himself, which is why he has to manipulate others to get what he wants. Luckily, he is pretty good at doing just that.
Facilier is in debt to his "friends on the other side" throughout the entirety of the film, which makes him a desperate villain. If he fails, it is his head on the chopping block. Disney has done "deal with a devil" type villains before (Facilier joins notable names like Ursula and Hades in that particular club), but what sets Facilier apart is how all his deals seem to benefit him or are applied according to his interpretation. A unique villain with a unique style, Dr. Facilier has no issues carving out a place for himself in the pantheon of great Disney villains.
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Mother Gothel, like Dr. Facilier, is also very manipulative and has a great villain song. Hers is much more darkly comedic, as it is all about her deceiving Rapunzel and convincing her to never leave the tower she wants to escape from. Rapunzel's hair contains the same magic power that Gothel has been using for centuries to stay young, which is why Gothel does everything she can to make sure she always has easy access to a source of the magic. What makes Gothel so effective as a villain is how real she is.
For example, the scene where Rapunzel leaves the tower for the first time and alternates between joy at experiencing new things and terror at having gone against her "mother's" wishes really shows how much emotional trauma Gothel has inflicted on her, but it also makes Rapunzel's triumph that much more satisfying. We may not know anyone who has ever met someone who was cursed by an evil fairy when they were an infant, but we do know people who have had a Mother Gothel in their lives. This is why she i such an effective villain.
The "Twist" Villains
One of the most notable trends of recent Disney films has been giving their films a "twist" villain, trying to surprise the audience with the revelation that the villain was not who the audience expected. Pixar sort of kicked off the act with Toy Story 2 and has since been implemented in films like Coco and The Incredibles 2. The problem is that these villains spend too much time hiding their true nature, so when they finally reveal themselves, audiences do not get to revel in their naughtiness for very long. As a result, they do not really make any lasting impressions.
Of the villains in this group, the most memorable of the bunch is probably Hans from Frozen, but mostly because his reveal as the villain is debated for its effectiveness or lack thereof. If nothing else, these twist villains do give their films some value in re-watching them. Half of the fun in a twist is going back and watching it again, picking up on what you did not notice before, and wondering how you could have missed it. Of course, if the twist is unsatisfying or uninteresting, as is the case with some of these films, then there is a problem. Luckily, Disney seems to have moved away from this trend with their most recent movies.
No Villains
Instead of having a twist villain, Disney's most recent films just... do not have a main villain at all. This can be seen in films like Moana, Frozen II, and Encanto, which all have obstacles the protagonists must overcome; but no character in any of those films could really be called "the villain." That is not to say these films are worse off because they do not have a villain. They just did not need one to tell the stories they wanted to tell. Plenty of great movies do not have "villains" and the aforementioned films are still memorable in their own way, even without a major villain running around. Trends come and go, and the trend lately for Disney movies has been not to have one main "big bad" in them.
Disney Villains Find Redemption
Around the same time that Disney started moving away from villains in their animated films, they also looked to cash in one of their classic villains line-ups with live-action films. Both Maleficent and Cruella de Ville are two of Disney's most iconic villains and arguably more famous than the movies they are featured in, so Disney gave them the spotlight with feature films featuring A-list Academy Award-winning actress Angelia Jolie in Maleficent and Emma Stone in Cruella.
Notably, these films were origin stories for these iconic villains. They also positioned them more as anti-heroes and gave them a more sympathetic motivation than their cartoon counterparts, who were just evil. This transformed these characters, and while some argued it took away what fans loved about them, it also helped introduce them to an entirely new generation of fans who wanted more complexity from their characters. This will soon be followed by Mufasa: The Lion King, a prequel to 2019's The Lion King that will not only expand on the title character but delve more into the character of Scar, played in the 2019 film by Chiwetel Ejiofor and in the upcoming movie Kelvin Harrison Jr.
While none of the other Disney villains have gotten spin-off prequels, the company has cast major stars and looked to give them more expanded backstories. Cate Blanchett as Lady Tremaine in 2015's Cinderella, Idris Elba as Shere Khan in 2016's The Jungle Book, Luke Evans as Gaston in 2017's Beauty and the Beast, Jude Law as Captain Hook in 2023's Peter Pan & Wendy, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in 2023's The Little Mermaid, and soon Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen in 2025's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney wants the best actors to bring new depth to their iconic villain.
A New Proper Disney Villain: King Magnifico?
Disney's 100-anniversary movie, Wish, features a clear antagonist, unlike the studio's last few films: King Magnifico. He blends Disney's love of twist villains with a classic villain, as when he is first introduced, he seems like a kind, compassionate leader but is quickly revealed to be a selfish, ego-driven man who is driven by paranoia. While King Magnifico is not your typical wicked-grinned, crooked-teethed, green-faced villain, he truly shows evil intentions. He poses as a charismatic leader, but the facade quickly falls to reveal that he only uses his power for his own success.
He treats the protagonist, Asha, in a really cruel manner, pretending to train her as the next granter of wishes, but really, he just continually brings her down and tells her that her morals are useless. And, while magic is not a power only beheld by him, he tyrannically prohibits the use of magic in the whole kingdom.
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He also has a rather catchy villainous song in "This Is The Thanks I Get?!" which truly highlights just how out-of-touch the King is, genuinely thinking he still does well by his people. The last major Disney villain song was "Shinny" from Moana, and Tamatoa is not the main villain of the film but an obstacle for one moment of the film. Disney villain songs like "Be Prepared" in The Lion King, "Gaston" in Beauty and the Beast, and "Poor Unfortunately Soul" in The Little Mermaid are part of the reason Disney villains have stuck around in the public consciousness for so long, so Wish was on the right track.
Like Mother Gothel, King Magnifico is a relatable villain in that most people have met a narcissistic, power-imbued individual in their lives. It seems that modern audiences are requesting realistic villains who reflect the vices of the real world and whose motivations are not simply that they were born evil. However, due to his simple design and the lack of box-office success of Wish, it seems unlikely that King Magnifico could join the ranks of the great Disney villains. At the most, he will become a cult favorite like Professor Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective or Long John Silver from Treasure Planet, a fan-favorite villain from an overlooked Disney film but one who won't likely show up in the parks.
Will The Villains Come Back?
While it has been more than twelve years since the last truly memorable Disney villain, that does not mean that they have gone extinct. There is no doubt that Disney's animated films will give us a new vile villain to grace movie screens sometime in the future. All we need is the right film with the right story to come along.
Disney is currently working on a sequel to Zootopia and two sequels to Frozen, so one way to distinguish those sequels from their predecessor is to feature more iconic villains for the protagonist to be challenged. Hopefully, we will see a new villain sooner rather than later.
Watch our interview with Chris Pine regarding stepping into the role of a Disney villain for Wish.