10 Surprisingly Rubbish Animated Movie Villains

Proof that being evil doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist to pull off.

The Lion King Scar
Disney

There is an inherent obviousness in the observation that evil characters in Disney have a certain tendency towards ineptitude. If the villains are too good at their job, then the heroes would lose, and you can't exactly have that in an animated film.

Disney isn't particularly well known for their shock downer endings (the plight of Bambi not withstanding). Yes, bad things can happen, but the endings can normally be depended on to have some note of positivity to wrap things up in a nice little bow.

But that doesn't let the incompetent villains off the hook entirely. There are plenty of examples of villains who put the hours in and execute their evil plans perfectly well, only to be foiled by extenuating circumstances or the bad luck of facing off against particularly intelligent and quick-thinking heroes. Those are not the people included on this list.

The villains that end up here are the type whose plans are so hopelessly misguided and shoddily executed that they are, quite frankly, a disgrace to antagonism everywhere.

10. Governor Ratcliffe - Pocahontas

The Lion King Scar
Disney

Governor Ratcliffe. Oh man, where to start. Well, first of all, he's a white leader who, at the end of the day, fails to successfully turn the white man against the Native American which is, historically speaking, one of the easiest things to do in early colonial America.

It's right up there with catching smallpox and mysteriously disappearing off the radar leaving only a cryptic message carved into a tree. Plus he has pigtails. Not threatening at all.

And come on, the guy is trying to get respect from his men and he brings a pampered little pug along with him. As someone as style-conscious as Ratcliffe is in the film, he should know that image matters, and the tiny little joke of a dog is not helping is reputation.

Most of all, he just fails to make an impression. He engages in some low level fear-mongering about the savage Indian but it's all pretty uninspired and obviously doomed to fail. 3/10, not an impressive villain.

Contributor
Contributor

Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.