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I know. It's not Halloween. But look at it this way. Here's a way to get you back into the spooky spirit for a few minutes before all the Christmas jingle bells start ringing.
Welcome back to part 2 of My Favorite Animated Villains list! I hope you enjoyed the last. Same disclaimers as last time. If you haven't read part 1 here is the link: http://filmfilosopher.blogspot.com/2015/10/my-top-20-favorite-animated-movie.html
And, of course, there may be spoilers. So, enter at you own risk. MUAHAHAHA!!!
#11
Rameses
(Prince of Egypt)
In the book of Exodus in the Bible, it tells a true story of a man named Moses who was saved from the Pharaoh of Egypt's purge of all the young baby boys. He is taken in by the princess and is raised by royalty. When he grows up, he learns of his origins as a Jew, and leaves only to come back and warn is "brother" Rameses, now Pharaoh, of the impeding plagues to come to the Egyptian people if Rameses does not let the Jewish people free. He proclaims a resounding "No," and the plagues do come. Only on the last plague, the one ending the life of his son, does he decide to let them go. They go off to the Red Sea, Moses uses God's power to split it, and even when the Pharaoh's soldiers are after them, they cross the sea to freedom. And the rest, you could say, is history.
This story is important to many people. It tells the story of God's astounding power, the independence of the Jews, and the story of two men. The one who followed God, and the one who did not. Rameses' story is a sad one. He is one of the many people who are falsely taught, and can't seem to change he mind. Even when he changes it, he changes back. What's great about The Prince of Egypt, is that they don't show Rameses as just another evil dictator, but as a person. A brother. A soul. He's a great example of real people. And that's why he is on this list.
#10
Scarlet Overkill
(Minions)
Minions is a prequel to Despicable Me. It's about the minions origins. their journey through time, and their meeting with the baddest villain of the 60s: Scarlett Overkill. They meet her at Villain Con, and Scarlett invites whoever wants to be her "minions" to try and defeat her. The Minions do, and become her henchmen. But, they don't turn out the way she thought they would...
I know it's strange for me to pick a villain from such a recent movie as the Minions, but Scarlet Overkill is one of the many things I enjoyed about this movie. She is kinda like Plankton or Rasputin, but with a bit more sarcastic nature. Actually, she kinda reminds me of Megamind. Kinda silly and quirky, but can actually get stuff accomplished when she puts her mind to it. She is played by Sandra Bullock, and she does a surprisingly good job. She is funny, unique, and follows that 60s cartoon villain style, but with a bit of a modern twist. And that's why she is on this list.
#9
Lord Business
(The Lego Movie)
Mr. Business is the leader of the Lego World. He has dangerous plans to use the Kragle everywhere. Emmet, a normal everyday figure, is the chosen one to save the world. Will he fulfill the prophecy, or will Lord Business stick to his evil plan?
When watching the Lego Movie, you may not think the villain would be all that threatening or sinister. But, surprisingly, Lord Business is both of those things. If you haven't guessed from my terrible pun, the Kragle is super glue. Lord Business wants order in the kingdom; for nothing to be out of place. So, he wants to super glue everything down, but not only that. He has been controlling the whole Lego world for who knows how long, has disconnected the different worlds from each other, and has been brainwashing all the people to think and do what he says. But on top of all that, he a very entertaining villain, and brings a compelling message to the movie. And that's why he is on this list.
#8
Chantal Dubois
(Madagascar 3)
Madagascar 3 follows the story of Marty, Melvin, Gloria, and Alex; zoo animals that somehow make it all the way to Madagascar, Africa, and Europe. They want to make their way back to New York, so they hitch a ride with some circus animals. But on their trail is Captain Chantal Dubois, an animal taxidermy collector who is looking for her most prized find; Alex the Lion's head.
First off, I know this may not be the most original motive for a villain (Cruella De Vil has the same basic plot line), but the way that they demonstrate it is just as perfect as you can get. Chantal is delightfully sinister. The way she moves around and is basically like the Terminator in that she never gets hurt. She smashes through walls and jumps off of buildings with ease. This makes her both entertaining and frightening. But what's really funny, is that she thinks she is doing her patriotic duty. Just watch how she motivates her crew:
And that's why she is on this list.
#7
Mrs. Tweedy
(Chicken Run)
Chicken farm owners Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy are fed up with the chicken raising business and decide to go into the chicken pie business.
Though the plot may be a bit small, the villains play much more of an important part in this film than you may think. I've done a full length review of this movie. Just go to the Dreamworks tab. Anyway, the baddest of the two has to be Mrs. Tweedy. She reminds me of the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz. Not only in looks, but also in personality. Her one and only goal is to make more money, and when raising chickens isn't sufficient, she goes to the new big thing. And she has no mercy. At the very end, when the chickens are escaping, she goes as far as to dangle off of their plane. Then, she just goes nuts. She's crazy and ruthless. And that's why she is on this list.
Monster House/Constance
(Monster House)
On Halloween night, Mr. Nebbercracker makes sure no trick or treaters come to the door. Because, long ago, he met the love of his life, Constance, at a circus where she was the "fat lady." She was being mocked and made fun of, so he took her away. He began to make a house for her, but when some kids threw rocks and made light of her, she gets too angry and falls down to the bottom of the unfinished house. She died, but she didn't leave the house. She is the house.
One of the main reasons the Monster House is on this list so high is the backstory of Constance. It's short, but very effective. We see where she comes from, what happened to her, and why she is mad at children. Kids mocked her, and hurt her, and she doesn't want it to happen again. Mr. Nebbercracker, who loves her dearly, couldn't take it anymore, and needed to end it by exploding the house. And when he does, her soul is set free. Another great reason is how stinkin' terrify the Monster House is! Especially toward the end when it not only comes to life, but quite literally stands up and chases the main characters. Not to mention when it gets torn apart and resembles itself! It's one of the legitimately scary villains on here. And that's why she is on this list.
#5
Hopper
(A Bug's Life)
The ants on Ant Island work day in and day out gathering food only to have to give it to the crew of vicious grasshoppers and their leader Hopper. One day, an underdog named Flik, sets out to find warrior bugs to fight the grasshoppers. That doesn't roll well with Hopper and almost succeeds with taking over the ants. But he is then eaten by a bird. The End.
Hopper is another one of those villains that come off as legitimately threatening. We feel that he can really do some harm to the ants, and don't even really know his fate till the very end of the movie. While he does have some funny lines here and there, most of them sarcastic, he is mostly the straight man; a type of personality you rarely see in animated movies for kids. He can actually get a bit sinister at times. Like when he almost feeds a child ant to a grasshopper with what seems like rabies. He's another great Pixar villain from Pixar's most underrated classic. And that's why he is on this list.
#4
Syndrome
(The Incredibles)
Robert Parr(a.k.a Mr. Incredible), a retire superhero, yearns for his glory days. When his is offered a job testing robots by using his super strength, he can't say no. Little does he know, the facility is really a superhero destroying facility ran by Bob's old biggest fan, Buddy, now called Syndrome. After Mr. Incredible turned Buddy away when he was young, he turned evil and vowed to seek revenge. He invented "super powers," planning to sell them so that everyone can be "super".
Syndrome, like many of the other villains on this list, has a great back story. What's very interesting is that the cause for Buddy turning into Syndrome is the hero himself: Mr. Incredible. Though there might have been a misunderstanding,(Mr. Incredible was trying to keep Buddy from being hurt) it still caused Buddy's hatred to grown into an obsession. Syndrome is also a very entertaining villain. He has many funny lines and is almost always sarcastic. He is everything you could ask for in a villain. And that's why he is on this list.
#3
Other Mother
(Coraline)
Coraline Jones moves into an out in the middle of nowhere apartment building called the Pink Palace. There, she finds a hidden door behind the wallpaper. She opens it only to find it bricked up. But, at night, the door opens to a brand new world where her parents are perfect. They cook for her, play with her, and make her feel loved. Which is something her real parents weren't doing very well. Her "other mother," has she calls herself, is almost perfect. I say almost because, well, she wants Coraline to sow button onto her eyes. Coraline finds out she is crazy and evil and will stop at nothing to "love" Coraline...to death!
The other mother is the only villain on this list that could be on here solely because of how extraordinarily scary she is! She is even more scary than the Monster House! Because we don't really know why she is doing this, or even what she truly is, it makes her all the more frightening. The character design I think is really what gets me on edge though. She looks like a regular person until (as you can see in the GIF above) morphs into this terrible-spider-woman-skeleton-thing. Her personality also attributes to her scariness. She loves to play games, and is very manipulative and sadistic. She is a terrifying villain from a terrifying movie. And that's why she is on this list.
#2
Darla
(Cats Don't Dance)
Danny, a cat, longs to be a Hollywood star. He gets there only to find out that the big directors want animals just for small parts, and would rather have humans. The biggest star is Darla Dimple, "lover of children and animals." Well, we find out rather quickly that Darla is not what she seems. She is actually a completely psycho spoiled brat. When the animals try to defy the Hollywood status, Darla decides she is just gonna go ahead and flood the sound stage. Later the animals do get their shot in an epic way( Nothing's Going to Stop Us Now ), and though she does try to stop them, her attempt fails. In the end she is found out, and indeed never works in that town again.
Out of all the movies on this list that I have said that are underrated, this is the underratedest. Cat's Don't Dance is thankfully a movie I grew up watching, and have enjoyed ever since. It has amazing animation, outstanding musical numbers, and a hilarious cast of characters. Darla takes up a very good chunk of what's memorable about this movie. I cannot say enough good things about her. She's funny, she's maniacal, she has some of the best songs in the movie, and by far has the best facial expressions ( I had to use at least two GIFs for this girl). She is just pure amazingness! And that's why she is on this list.
And now, before we come to the number one pick, let's look at some honorable mentions:
#1
Any of the Studio Ghibli Villains
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| The only reason they are not on the actual list is 1.There are so many great ones and 2. I really couldn't figure out if they were really villains or not. |
#2
Ivan Sakharine
(The Adventure of Tintin)
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| A very intermediating villain from an amazing animated movie |
Moundshroud
(The Halloween Tree)
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| Another weird case where I couldn't figure out if he was a villain or not. But he is still really great. Plus his is voice by Leonard Nimoy, so... |
And now....NUMBER 1!!
#1
Lotso
(Toy Story 3)
Toy Story 3 follows the stories from the first two. This time around, Andy is grown up, and is packing for college. Of course, he no longer plays with his toys, and keeps them hidden away. He plans to put them in the attic and bring Woody along with him to college, but Andy's mom mistakenly takes them to the garbage. Thinking they were abandoned, the toys jump into another box marked for Sunnyside: a daycare center. So, they donate themselves, and find that Sunnyside lives up to the name. They meet a lot of new toys including what seems to be their leader, Lotso Huggin' Bear. They are sent to the caterpillar room, where the younger children are. They soon find out that Sunnyside and Lotso are not what they seem to be...
You may be thinking, "Why is Lotso at number one?" And indeed, there are a lot of great ones I could have picked for this spot, and almost did. But I picked Lotso for a reason you no doubt know I like: Backstory. I love when a character has the proper motivation for their actions. Whether it be hero or villain, I love a good peak behind the curtain to see the vulnerabilities in a character. And this works incredibly in the character Lotso. We have seen the "abandoned" route before, but not in this much time and detail. We get a good bit of time invested into Lotso, and a few other characters' lives before their current state. Lotso, his sidekick Big Baby, and an escaped from Sunnyside Chuckles the Clown once belonged to the same owner. They were accidentally left behind, and had to find their way back home, only to find that Lotso had been replaced(as seen above). As previously mentioned, a toys' whole life is about being loved by a child. And that's not only taken away from Lotso, but he is no longer needed whatsoever. That turns into hate for all toys and humans alike. He uses he's traumatic experience as a excuse to rule over the other toys of Sunnyside. Not only does he have an amazing backstory, but he is just great at being a villain. He's conniving, sneaky, and pretends to be the nice guy, only to have his true self show in the end. And when he has a chance to redeem himself, he chooses to continue on the same path...which ultimately leads to his destruction. He is truly the personification of a true villain. And that's why he is #1 on this list.
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Well, that's the end. I hope you enjoyed this count down; I know I enjoyed making it. If you have any suggestions for the next countdown, please comment and tell me. It's much appreciated if you share, as well. Thank you all. Have a great day, and God Bless!
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