From Snow White to Zootopia,Disney movies have changed considerably throughout the years, still managing to create incredible animated features. Although very diverse, the catalog is filled with beloved characters, as well as feared villains that make each story unique. With twists, turns, tragedies and happy endings, Disney animations appeal to a wide array of audiences, always trying to bring new ways to tell a story.
Particularly, Disney’s villains have become iconic parts of their narratives, with Scar, Ursula, and many others being the face of their movies. Although there are some despicable antagonists, there seems to be a shift in the black and white villains that once dominated the industry. Featuring some antagonists that are not actually evil, Disney movies have presented some of the best villains, iconic, sympathetic yet on the wrong side of things.
10 Abuela Alma Madrigal (Encanto)
A Cold Grandmother Trying To Protect Her Family
The perfect example of an antagonist that is not an actual villain is the grandmother in Encanto, Alma Madrigal. Abuela seeks to protect her family, but ends up shunning her own granddaughter. Consumed by the magic that protected her and her family, Alma struggled with having a powerless granddaughter, treating her as useless.
From putting her family in boxes to running the house with a tight grip, this grandmother made many mistakes that pulled apart the family and put the magic at risk. Yet, at the end of the day, she was doing what she thought was best to keep the family and the village safe. She may have been cruel and detestable for most of the narrative, but she redeemed herself in a touching moment at the end.
9 Bowler Hat Guy (Meet The Robinsons)
A Lonely, Bitter Antagonist With A Sad Story
- Release: March 23, 2007
- Director: Stephen J. Anderson
- Runtime: 95 min
While the Bowler Hat Guy might seem like a villain for the greater part of Meet the Robinsons, the antagonist’s true motives become clear once his intentions and reasoning are revealed. As Lewis’ old roommate from the future, Goob explains how he gets screwed over by his roommates’ inventions. This leads to a life of loneliness and sadness, which the technological hat takes advantage of.
While the antagonist’s sob story might be sad, it still feels a bit dramatic to blame all of life’s misfortunes on one child’s shenanigans during one night. While he was a villain at points, it became clear that he had suffered a lot and blamed the wrong person for it.
8 Shere Kan (The Jungle Book)
The Battle Between Man and Nature
- Release: October 18, 1967
- Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
- Runtime: 78 minutes
With a scary voice, haunting presence, and threatening nature, Shere Kan is one of the most iconic Disney villains, preying on the young Mowgli. Yet, it is clear the tiger who rules the jungle does so because of a fear and hatred of humans — who, let’s be honest, destroy nature and kill animals every chance they get.
In the 2016 live-action remake, Shere Kan’s portrait was even more complex, showcasing that his villainy comes from a sensible dislike of humans. While that does not make him any less terrible to Mowgli, at the center of the antagonist is the representation of the battle between man and the wild.
7 Sid (Toy Story)
A Child Playing And Experimenting With Toys
- Release: November 20, 1995
- Director: John Lasseter
- Runtime: 81 minutes
From a toy perspective, Sid is a true sadist and a hated villain. But if viewers consider that the child did not know that his toys came to life whenever he wasn’t looking, they can understand that Sid was just a child.
It’s hard looking at the decapitated toys and weird experiments and not feeling sorry for them. However, Sid was just an inquisitive child, trying to experiment with toys which he believed to be inanimate. Qhile he did destroy a lot of them, he was just having fun. After all, who has not mistreated their toys at some point in their life?
6 Anton Ego (Ratatouille)
A Harsh Critic Who Lost His Love For Food
- Release: June 22, 2017
- Director: Brad Bird and Jan Pinkava
- Runtime: 111 minutes
Anton Ego might be easy to dislike thanks to his condescending attitude, harsh criticism, and determination to close Gusteau’s. However, he is a food critic who lost his love for food. His job requires him to be critical, imposing, and even ruthless at times.
Ego might set impossible standards and is a stubborn, flawed critic. However, the character leaves no trace of antagonism once he is reminded of his love for food. Losing sight of what mattered most to him made him bitter, which made him extra difficult to handle as a critic. His redemption arc made it obvious that he was never really cruel, just blinded.
5 Anxiety (Inside Out 2)
A Complex Emotion That Only Wants To Help Riley
- Release: June 12, 2024
- Director: Kelsey Mann
- Runtime: 96 minutes
While there is the concept of good and bad emotions, the purpose of the Inside Out movies revolve around making every emotion pivotal to the functioning of a person, going beyond that binary perspective. Anxiety is the perfect example of how an emotion perceived as bad can have its uses.
The emotion spent most of the movie as the main antagonist, getting rid of the other emotions and changing Riley’s sense of self. However, it also wanted to help her. Trying to protect Riley from all future disasters, Anxiety takes control of the teenager. The story normalizes feelings of inadequacy, showcasing that all life experiences, good and bad, are important.
4 Galactic Federation (Lilo and Stitch)
Trying To Keep Peace At All Costs
- Release: June 16, 2002
- Director: Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders
- Runtime: 85 minutes
From Lilo’s perspective, Captain Gantu and the Galactic Grand Council are pure evil, trying to take away her only friend in the world. Yet, knowing that Stitch was created as a weapon and considered a dangerous experiment, viewers can understand that they were not evil at all.
While picking on a child and destroying Earth might seem excessive and immoral, the Federation, and Gantu by extension, were just trying to make sure that the dangerous experiment would not cause havoc. The Federation was doing its job by trying to capture a threat. Their flaw was in failing to consider that Stitch could be more than the weapon it was created to be.
3 Kronk (The Emperor’s New Groove)
A Dim-Witted, Kind-Hearted Guy With A Devil On His Shoulder
- Released: Decmber 10, 2000
- Director: Mark Dindal
- Runtime: 78 minutes
When thinking of a villain or a villain’s sidekick, the last person that comes to mind is someone like Kronk. The antagonist is actually Yzma’s henchman, doing all the dirty work for her.
Although Yzma is one of the best and scariest Disney villains, Kronk is at his heart a nice guy with Yzma manipulating him. In his internal conflict of good versus evil, good he is not actually able to kill Kuzko. He shows how tenderhearted he actually is throughout the movie, bonding with kids, animals, and even his “enemies” at some point.
2 Te Ka (Moana)
The Wrath Of Nature And The Life Goddess
Moana won audience’s hearts, receiving an upcoming sequel and live-action to continue the adventures of Moana, who dreams of braving the sea. The antagonist, Te Ka, seems like a horrible and scary monster that kills anyone that comes close to ger island and that spreads a blight that is killing all flora and fauna.
However, this fire-breathing demon is actually the life-goddess Te Fiti without her heart. She showcases nature’s wrath if too much is taken, being blinded to anyone and anything. The moment Moana gives her heart back, the demon goes back to a beautiful and calm goddess. She’s not evil, just a manifestation of nature.
1 Denahi (Brother Bear)
A Broken-Hearted Brother Consumed By Anger
- Release: October 20, 2003
- Director: Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker
- Runtime: 85 minutes
Denahi’s story shows how losing loved ones can make one do despicable things. He becomes consumed by revenge, seeking to kill the bear responsible for taking his brothers. Little does he know that Kenai, his younger brother, has actually transformed into the bear he so desperately tries to kill.
Initially an annoying brother, yet a loving guy who wishes to leave the bear alone, Denahi is consumed by his grief, becoming a temporary antagonist. Yet as the narrator of the movie, he shows character growth and wisdom, understanding how wrong he was in his quest for revenge. At the end of the day, Denahi was a good person and brother. His emotions led him to become someone different, yet he never really stepped into an evil villain’s shoes.
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