If there is one thing Disney knows how to do really well, it’s create an incredible villain. Disney villains can be creepy, they can be violent, they can be funny. There are no bounds when it comes to how far the bad guy can go, and the results are incredible.
Not only are Disney villains fierce, fashionable, and fabulous, but some of them are given some truly great songs. In some instances, the song might even be more popular than the song sung by the princess or the hero! That is one of the reasons why villains are so beloved by Disney fans.
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Here are some of the best Disney villain songs that we just can’t get out of our heads.
“The Happiest Home in These Hills” – Pete’s Dragon
Pete’s Dragon was released by Walt Disney Productions in 1977 and is easily one of Disney’s most underrated films. The film combined animation with live-action and starred Broadway stars Helen Reddy and Shelley Winters. It also starred acting legend, Mickey Rooney (who even had his own song).
Pete’s Dragon starred Sean Marshall as Pete, a young orphan who runs away from the home and family he was sold to. Pete has a dragon friend, named Elliott, who helps him find shelter in Passamaquoddy, Maine. Little does Pete know that Elliott has led him to the place that will become home and the people — Nora (Reddy) and her father, Lampie (Rooney) — who will become his family.
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“The Happiest Home in These Hills” is sung by the Gogan family — the people Pete ran away from. The song has a fun beat and is a really memorable part of the film. But, when you really listen to it and think about the words, it is really dark. Disney has a way of singing about dark things in a way that doesn’t seem all that dark.
The Gogan’s sing about all the terrible things they will do to Pete when they find him. But they also don’t want Pete to know about their horrible plans, so they try to convince him to reveal himself by singing about the great things that will happen if he comes back.
“Mine, Mine, Mine” – Pocahontas
The gold of Cortez, the jewels of Pizarro, the gold he thought would be found in Virginia. These are all things that Governor Ratcliffe from Disney’s Pocahontas (1995) would literally kill for.
Pocahontas is the only Disney princess who is based on a real person, one who lived during the founding of America’s first colony — Jamestown in what is now Virginia.
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The classic Disney animated film is known for hit songs like “Just Around the Riverbend” and “Colors of the Wind”, which were composed and written by Disney icon, Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. It was Menken’s fourth Disney animated film — as he had previously worked on The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and Aladdin (1992).
The villain in Pocahontas is Governor Ratcliffe, a man obsessed with his place in English society and fully convinced that the land in Virginia is covered in gold. While ballads like “Colors of the Wind” are beautiful, it’s Ratcliffe’s song — “Mine, Mine, Mine” — that has the most lighthearted tone and can leave a smile on your face.
Governor Ratcliffe was voiced acting and Broadway legend, David Ogden Stiers. He is most well-known for his strong operatic timber, which is ever-present in the song. But what you may not know is that he also provided the voice for Wiggins, the high-pitched manservant of Governor Ratcliffe! It is those two voices that really make “Mine, Mine, Mine” fun and memorable.
And we can’t forget to mention Mel Gibson’s contribution to the song as explorer John Smith.
“Mother Knows Best” – Tangled
Yes, mother does know best. If by best, she means all the ways that her stolen daughter could die if she tries to leave the tower that she has been kept in for her entire life.
“Mother Knows Best” from Disney’s hit 2010 film, Tangled, starring Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Ron Perlman, and Brad Garrett. The villain in this fun film was Mother Gothel — voiced by Donna Murphy. Mother Gothel stole Rapunzel because the princess of the Kingdom of Corona had magical hair that could keep Mother Gothel young.
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Of course, Rapunzel sneaks out against her “mother’s” wishes, and Mother Gothel wants to terrify the girl she has raised into never leaving her tower again. She has no qualms about killing the man Rapunzel loves, and will threaten anyone and everyone to keep Rapunzel hidden.
Mother Gothel gets incredibly dark, but her villain song, “Mother Knows Best” is fun. And let’s be honest, she’s very creative when thinking of all the ways Rapunzel could meet her end.
“Evil Like Me”
In 2015, Disney released a brand-new TV movie that told the story of the children of some of our favorite Disney villains — Descendants. The film starred Dove Cameron as Mal, the daughter of Maleficent; Sofia Carson as Evie, the daughter of the Evil Queen; Booboo Stewart as Jay, the son of Jafar; and Cameron Boyce as Carlos, the son of Cruella De Vil.
The children of the villains have lived their entire lives on the Isle of the Lost. But the son of Belle and the Beast wants them to be given a fair chance, so he has them brought to the Kingdom of Auradon. There, they will learn how to be nice, how to live with children of heroes, and how to be productive members of society.
However, the real star of the movie is the incomparable Kristin Chenoweth, who plays Mal’s mother and Mistress of Evil, Maleficent. And her song, “Evil Like Me”, highlights her incredible talent. Not only is the song hilarious, but Chenoweth is hilarious as she sings it.
One of the amazing parts of the song is that it tells Mal how to be a villain. A lot of other villain songs talk about what the villains what or who they hate. But what if you don’t know exactly how to be a villain? What if you want “to be finger-lickin’ evil to the bone”? Well, then this song is perfect for you!
“This Is the Thanks I Get” – Wish
In honor of the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company, Disney released a brand-new animated film that honored Disney’s roots. That film was Wish (2023), starring Ariana DeBose, Chris Pine, and Alan Tudyk. The film did not perform as well at the box office as Disney had hoped, but it skyrocketed when it hit Disney+, becoming the third most-streamed Disney movie premiere.
Wish receives a lot of criticism from people who don’t like everything, from the animation to the characters and even the songs. However, there are plenty of people who come to the film’s defense, loving the classic style and Disney’s return to the types of movies that made the studio the powerhouse it is. They also love that it is an original Disney film, not a remake or a sequel.
In the film, Chris Pine voices King Magnifico, the leader of the Kingdom of Rosas. When Magnifico was a boy, his parents were killed by greedy thieves who wanted his land. Magnifico was forced to flee and promised to do anything to protect people from experiencing what he did. This led him to study to become a powerful sorcerer, one who could extract the wishes of the people who live in Rosas and grant those wishes as he saw fit.
They say that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and that is very true when it comes to King Magnifico. When the people begin to question why he holds onto their wishes, why they can’t get them back, and if they can change them, Magnifico loses his mind. He is enraged that his citizens are not just grateful for everything he has done for him.
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This leads to King Magnifico’s second song in the movie. Yes, he actually gets two songs! But the first is when he is still trying to convince Asha that he is the good guy. But “This Is the Thanks I Get” is his official move from annoyed and narcissistic to full-on power-hungry and willing to kill to keep it, including embracing dangerous dark magic.
“Friends on the Other Side” – The Princess and the Frog
Disney’s 2009 film, The Princess and the Frog, has everything you need to make a great animated princess film. There is a princess with a big dream, cute sidekicks, great songs, the bright, vibrant colors of New Orleans, and a fantastic villain. The Princess and the Frog is also when Disney introduced its first black princess — Tiana.
While many Disney movies contain magical elements, The Princess and the Frog combines them with a real-life religion, Voodoo, which originated on the continent of Africa, but is practiced all over the world.
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While Princess Tiana does not practice voodoo, the film’s villain, Dr. Facilier (voiced by Keith David), does. He uses his magical ability to contact his “friends on the other side” who help him connive and threaten to get what he wants. And this is very present in his great song, “Friends on the Other Side”, where he convinces Prince Naveen to make a deal so he can have the life of leisure and money he wants without having to work for any of it.
The song has great lyrics and a fantastic beat, and the animation is top-notch.
Are you ready? Because Dr. Facilier is. And his friends on the other side will be there every step of the way.
Poor Unfortunate Souls – The Little Mermaid
You didn’t think we could have a list of great villain songs and NOT include “Poor Unfortunate Souls” did you? Disney’s 1989 film, The Little Mermaid, is one of the most quintessential movies the studio ever made, with one heck of a soundtrack written by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken.
The Little Mermaid introduced one of Disney’s most beloved princesses — Ariel –, one of Disney’s most well-known songs — “Part of Your World” –, and one of its most popular villains, Ursula, voiced by Pat Carroll.
We do not know much about Ursula’s backstory, but we do know that she once lived in the palace where Ariel lives with her sisters and father, King Triton. That means that, at one point, Ursula must have had a royal title. We do not really know why she was banished from the castle, but it has left her bitter and out for revenge.
Ursula is able to get that revenge when a naive Ariel comes to her for help. Ariel is angry at her father and determined to become a part of the human world, no matter the cost. She signs a contract with Ursula, promising that she will get Prince Eric to fall in love with her in three days. If she does not, she will be Ursula’s prisoner for the rest of time.
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Of course, Ariel knows that Ursula is a sea witch, so Ursula must convince the princess that she is not as bad as everyone has painted her out to be. That is where Ursula’s song comes in. “Poor Unfortunate Souls” is all about how Ursula was once “nasty”, and sure, the term “witch” was an accurate description. But she promises that she has “mended all my ways”!
**Winner, Winner**
Be Prepared – The Lion King
You might have seen where this list was going and been able to figure out what we would rank as the top Disney villain song of all time. The winner is “Be Prepared” sung by Scar (Jeremy Irons) in Disney’s 1994 film, The Lion King. It has been thirty years since the film’s release, and no song has been able to come close to being as incredible as “Be Prepared”.
Scar might be one of Disney’s darkest villains, nearly killing his nephew so he can actually kill his brother, Mufasa. And he does this because he wants to be King and Mufasa — the actual king of the Pride Lands — is in the way. He has the opportunity to save Mufasa from being trampled to death by wildebeests, but instead, he lets Mufasa fall to his death in front of his young son.
If that isn’t bad enough, Scar then tells Simba, his nephew who just saw his dad die, that it is really Simba’s fault that Mufasa is dead. The only way Simba can make things better is to run away. Yes, he tells a young lion cub to run away to near-certain death.
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There is no depth to which Scar won’t go to get what he wants.
Scar can’t achieve what he wants without the help of his army of hyenas, and he needs to make them aware of what he plans to do. That’s where his dark and completely amazing song “Be Prepared” comes in. The song reveals Scar’s plans while, at the same time, calling the hyenas stupid. There’s no reason for them to help him, but they do.
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“Be Prepared” is the ultimate Disney villain song, which makes it even harder to accept that the song was cut from The Lion King 2019 live-action remake, where Scar was voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPUe7O3ODHQ
When it comes to Disney, it is incredibly hard to narrow down the best movies, characters, and songs. There are just so many great villains and great songs to go with them. But we have narrowed this down to what we think are some of the top songs sung by some of the top villains.
Who is your favorite Disney villain and what is your favorite villain song? Let us know in the comments!
