Disney movies often introduce clear heroes and villains, who face off against each other in the amazing final battles. The best Disney villains command more power and flair than most of their heroic counterparts, who rise to the challenge in their movies’ final acts to combat the villain both physically and ideologically. Some of the best final battles in Disney movies are direct results of the most evil Disney villain plans, and are especially emotionally charged because of the heroes’ desire for revenge.

However, there are a rare few Disney movies where the lines between good and evil are not as clear, prompting questions about what motivates the characters as they head into the final battle. Regardless, how good these battle scenes are is dependent upon how clever either side’s attack plan is or how impressive the spectacle. The wisest Disney characters may not win through sheer strength but smart tricks, while the visual appeal of battle sequences varies throughout Disney’s repertoire.

10

Evil Queen Vs. The Seven Dwarfs

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)

The Evil Queen in her hag form is one of the most terrifying animated Disney villains, who inspires fear with creepy lines and cackling laughs. Like with some of the other scenes focusing on her, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ final confrontation between the villainess and the dwarves is an abrupt aesthetic departure from the rest of the movie. However, the animation and scoring are even more impressive here, with lightning strikes and discordant notes imparting a frightening tone.

The power balance during the chase goes back and forth: The dwarves seemingly have the hag trapped, before she is the apparent victor about to use a boulder to crush her opponents, and she then is knocked off the mountain by a lightning bolt and falls to her death. It’s a charged scene, despite maybe not being as climactic by today’s standards. Viewers likely prefer other battles that give the characters more chances to show off their combat skills and use more modern musical arrangements.

9

Aladdin Vs. Jafar

Aladdin (1992)

Aladdin also experiences a complete color palette change when Jafar takes over: The dominant red color, contrasting with Genie’s blues, Jasmine’s aqua, and the regular sandy and blue-sky colors of Agrabah, screams that evil is at large. Everyone makes some contribution to defeating Jafar, even if those attempts fail. Jasmine distracts him, while Abu, the Magic Carpet, and Rajah all attempt to strike at him. What becomes clear is that Jafar is too powerful to defeat, which Aladdin finds away around.

In a classic trickster hero moment, Aladdin uses Jafar’s desire for power against him. Jafar is prompted to wish to become a genie, and is then imprisoned in his own lamp. There are no impressive sword fights or explosions here — it is a battle of wits, where Aladdin, an unusually clever protagonist, leverages the villain’s biggest weakness to win the fight. All the while, Genie is breaking up the scene with more hilarious beats.

8

Basil Vs. Professor Ratigan

The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

Ratigan meets the same fate as the Evil Queen and Gaston, of falling to his death, so the hero does not have to look morally culpable for actually killing him. However, before this, the final fight between Ratigan and Basil is a masterpiece of animation by the standards of its time. The motion of the cogs and chains within Big Ben provides a setting that feels extra dangerous, before a seamless transition to a glowing yellow backdrop for the two characters to have it out in the rain.

Ratigan is also a very creepy villain, who is enhanced by the setting. The sequence is terrifying because Basil is outmatched; he gets lucky because the danger of where they are fighting catches up and Ratigan falls. Additionally, for a movie that is a spoof of Sherlock Holmes and wants to show off its London setting, Big Ben is the perfect landmark for the grand finale to take place.

7

Giselle Vs. Queen Narissa

Enchanted (2007)

The final (and only) battle in Enchanted loses some points because it is highly derivative of the final act of Sleeping Beauty. Enchanted‘s plot and aesthetics are a whimsical blend of nods to other Disney movies, so the final act works for what the movie is. There are a few beats that are derived from other Disney classics which compliment the Sleeping Beauty homage. For example, Giselle dropping her heel on the ballroom floor before charging off to fight the dragon is a slightly dissonant, but perfect callback to Cinderella.

After that, the fight itself is visually stunning, even if it requires the audience to suspend its disbelief in some of the physics involved. Additionally, the scene’s trope subversion of the “damsel in distress” character going to the rescue is interesting because there isn’t much set up for it. Giselle becomes more modern throughout the movie, but there is nothing to suggest that she is capable of fighting a dragon. However, Robert is in peril and her friends are unconscious, so she rips off her heels and does it herself.

6

Jack Skellington Vs. Oogie Boogie

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Jack Skellington is a protagonist who causes a lot of trouble for the people around him and almost (indirectly) gets Santa and Sally killed. However, Jack is the one character in the movie who is tricky enough to match Oogie Boogie and powerful enough to scare him. Jack and Oogie Boogie are both extremely charismatic characters, and seeing them on screen together (for their only mutual scene in the movie) is a thrill, featuring lots of cool stop-motion.

Despite presumably being more powerful than Oogie Boogie, Jack also uses another sleight of hand trick to defeat him. Oogie Boogie’s threads get tangled up in machinery, resulting in his canvas being ripped away for the perfectly creepy and funny ending of the bugs that make up his body scrambling. Santa also smashes one of the bugs defiantly before telling off Jack, showing how this universe’s version of Santa is tough enough to survive it.

5

Mulan & Her Friends Vs. Shan Yu

Mulan (1998)

It says a lot about the dynamics that formed during Mulan’s time in the army that once things go horribly wrong, most of the men drop what they are doing and follow Mulan’s lead. What follows is a final battle with a mix of serious and funny moments — the best of which, in the latter category, is Mushu’s “worst nightmare” moment. There is a great moment where Shan Yu realizes that he has effectively lost because the emperor has reached safety. All that is left to do is punish Mulan and Shang for it, while they must fight for survival.

After this, there are some very thematically powerful moments: Shan Yu is about to kill Shang when Mulan reveals that she is the one who took out most of his army in the mountains. He then turns all his desire for revenge on her, and the fight gets more precarious as they move to the rooftop. However, Mulan then has her moment to prove how confident she has become, which includes a clever callback when she uses her fan to disarm her opponent.

4

The Black Pearl Vs. The Flying Dutchman

Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)

It can be safely said that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is not the best Pirates of the Caribbean movie — but it does not fail as far as the theatrics, choreography, and dramatic character moments of the final battle are concerned. Motivations for joining together to take on the Flying Dutchman and the East India Trading Company are muddy. However, this kind of works when the overall conflict has a feeling of everyone throwing caution to the wind in the form of one last, desperate attack.

The maelstrom is the perfect, epic scenario for the two most threatening ships in the series to face off. There are a lot of well-choreographed, individual swordfights amid the chaos, and Barbossa is just laughing madly as he calls out orders and steers the ship. Will and Elizabeth’s wedding might as well happen in the middle of all this, when the sequence is completely crazy and half the characters seem like they are even enjoying it.

3

Simba Vs. Scar

The Lion King (1994)

Scar’s betrayal is one of the most gut-wrenching moments in Disney history, because Mufasa and Simba really did think of Scar as family. Scar is able to so easily manipulate a young Simba into thinking Mufasa’s death is his fault because Simba trusts his uncle; he then loses years with the rest of his family, and is crushed by guilt. All of this is reflected in Simba’s final fight with Scar, where the anger and horror of what he was led to believe and what has been revealed as the truth comes to the surface.

The backdrop for this is visually dramatic, with the clichéd but still stimulating touches of lightning strikes igniting flames and the rest of the pride taking on the hyenas. Simba spares Scar and knocks him off Pride Rock when his mercy proves to be a mistake. However, Scar then meets his end fittingly after betraying his allies, as the hyenas overheard him calling them “the enemy” and devour him.

2

Peter Leads The Narnians Against The White Witch

The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (2005)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the best Chronicles of Narnia movie because of how well it understands the tone of the original story, which shows how children can become heroes. The movie also claims some amazing special effects, production design, and veteran actors such as Tilda Swinton and Liam Neeson, which doubtlessly all help prop up the final battle. However, William Mosely also delivers a strong performance showing Peter’s genuine fear, while the score is one of the best parts of the scene.

There are plenty of good moments in the following conflict: Edmund redeems himself by personally taking on the White Witch, Aslan returns with reinforcements, and Lucy heals Edmund before the Pevensie siblings all have a moment of reconciliation. The sheer variety of creatures on both sides also creates a great spectacle. This battle has many strong components, focusing on themes of bravery but still showcasing good design and choreography choices.

1

Phillip Vs. Maleficent

Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Few action sequences can beat out the classic final battle between Prince Phillip and Maleficent, which is largely because of Maleficent’s status as a completely evil and dramatic villain. Her transformation into a dragon is still amazing; Phillip shows genuine shock and terror when he sees this, but the violent color palette and animation make the moment terrifying enough to be believable. The viewer then gets to see a standard fight between a hero facing an impossible threat — which he defeats, of course.

Before she even turns into a dragon, Maleficent is throwing everything she has at Phillip, which makes the moment where she decides to fight him head-on even better. Yet Maleficent as a dragon is still one of the coolest things in Disney, even when compared to the live-action sequence inspired by it in Maleficent. This sequence, which was animated more than half a century ago, is still strong competition for the best battle scenes Disney comes up with today.