Often times, Disney villains are often the best part of any of their films. With such heavy hitters like Scar, Maleficent, Jafar, and Captain Hook, the studio has produced some of the greatest animated antagonists in all of fiction. That being said, not every one of their rogues gallery is 100% a winner.
For every Hades and Cruella, there’s an Iago or Governor Ratcliffe taking up valuable villain space. To put it bluntly, not every story needs a villain, but that doesn’t stop Disney from filling up its character roster. Love them or tolerate their presence, their usefulness might be up for debate.
Tamatoa (Moana)
Tamatoa gets a bit of a pass due to simply one major factor. He’s so shiny! Joking aside, the giant coconut crab has one of the most awesome and most underrated villain songs to ever grace a Disney film.
Then again, he only serves one main purpose in the plot. Keeping Maui from his enchanted fishhook is an admirable job for a giant crustacean such as himself, but was it really necessary to devote an entire character to it? The jury’s out on that one.
Iago (Aladdin)
When one thinks of wizards’ familiars, how often do they take the form of a parrot voiced by Gilbert Gottfried? Seriously, with Jafar’s dark and twisted countenance, does a squawking, wisecracking, colorful bird really fit his aesthetic?
Come to think of it, Iago would have worked much better as Aladdin’s sidekick rather than Jafar’s, perhaps working as a foil to convince him to steal? It makes much more sense than getting involved with Agrabah’s sinister sorcerer.
Governor Ratcliffe (Pocahontas)
Pocahontas was… problematic, to say the least. But if one were to look back with a more historical lens, would Governor Ratcliffe truly be as villainous as he was in Disney’s adaptation? In fact, if it wasn’t for Disney’s skewed vision of the legend of the Powhatan princess, would anyone even know the guy’s name?
The story didn’t necessarily need a full-bodied character as its villain and could have relied more on the clashing of two different cultures. It might have made for a better version of “Savages.”
Gaston (Beauty and the Beast)
No one’s slick as Gaston, no one’s quick as Gaston, but is he an intricate part of the plot? He might be a fan favorite, but was he really needed?
In the original versions of the Beauty and the Beast mythos, there really isn’t an incarnation of the character anywhere else. It may have even been more interesting to make the Beast an antagonistic character only to be redeemed by Belle’s love. No pompous, arrogant, muscle-bound meathead required.
Captain Gantu (Lilo and Stitch)
In retrospect, Captain Gantu really wasn’t a villain. He was only doing his job and acting as an authority of the Galactic High Council. With that in mind, why on earth was he turned into an antagonistic and vindictive force?
It just doesn’t sit well and feels like a role that was forced upon him to expand the realm of Lilo and Stitch. Honestly, many fans are wondering if he would have worked better as an ally.
Sid Philips (Toy Story)
Although Sid was an important asset to the plot of Toy Story, there are those out there in the Pixar fandom who aren’t so quick to call him an outright villain.
Rambunctious boys wreck their playthings all the time, so wouldn’t Sid’s behavior (aside from the firecrackers) be natural? There could be plenty of other obstacles for Buzz and Woody to overcome during their journey back to Andy’s, but Disney logic dictated a villain was needed.
Darla (Finding Nemo)
In the same vein as Sid, Darla really isn’t a villain so much as a force the fish in the dentist’s office have to overcome. She’s an eight-year-old girl with some seriously gnarly headgear.
She has no ill-will towards Nemo or his friends, no diabolical nature, no reason to have a fiendish plot, she just wouldn’t stop shaking the bag. Fish killer she might be, but it’s debatable just how much she really added to the story.
Prince Hans (Frozen)
As memorable as Hans’s “if only there was someone who loved you” line was, it did kinda feel he was shoehorned in at the last minute. Up until the last act of the film, he was just a royal side character and potential love interest for Anna. So what made him worthy of being villain material?
The conflict of the film was generally emotional and internal, dealing with Elsa’s ice powers and how to maintain her emotional health. Does that issue really call for an antagonist?
Chef Skinner (Ratatouille)
Redundancy is the name of the game with Ratatouille’s Chef Skinner. The film already had its big, evil force in the form of Anton Ego, who was absolutely perfect for a film about a struggling restaurant.
His motives were simple but deadly for someone in the food-service industry. The addition of Skinner’s tarnishment of Chef Gusteau’s image was honestly a tacked on problem to make the movie longer. How Ego wasn’t enough, fans will never know.
Mr. Wilkins (Mary Poppins Returns)
There was honestly no reason for there to be a villain in a Mary Poppins movie. But since Colin Firth is a treasure, the studio cast as the film’s unneeded antagonist.
If the original film didn’t warrant a need for a villain, why would a sequel? The short answer, money. Appropriate, given the fact that the character is a banker with a desire for the Banks family’s property. Still, they could have used Firth’s talent without resorting to a cheap stereotype.
