Top 10 Worst Disney Villain Plans
#10: Monstro “Pinocchio” (1940)
This fearsome whale is one of several less-than-pleasant characters in “Pinocchio,” but Monstro is certainly the least skilled in terms of scheming. That’s likely due to the fact that the whale isn’t targeting Pinocchio, Geppetto, and the others for any particular reason — he’s more so a generally malevolent force inclined to eat and destroy anything in his path. But it proved relatively simple for the swallowed characters to figure out how to escape from the monster's clutches. Monstro chases them down in a fit of rage, but ends up colliding head first with a huge rock — so, not quite an evil genius.
#9: Ursula “The Little Mermaid” (1989)
Everyone’s favorite sea witch had a few logistical issues with her evil plan. Her ultimate goal is to take down King Triton and to claim power under the sea for herself. To do this, she eventually uses Ariel’s pursuit of Prince Eric as a means to gain leverage over the King. But Ursula has no shortage of magical abilities, and it seems counterproductive for her to have meddled with Ariel’s love life at all. Plus, even without her voice, Eric could have still feasibly recognized Ariel on land. Ursula, keep it simple next time.
#8: Cruella de Vil “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” (1961)
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Even though she’s not topping this list of worst plans, she could take the number one spot for the most needlessly treacherous. Cruella’s big scheme was to purchase all of Pongo and Perdita’s puppies in order to make a coat from their fur. When she is denied them, she orders her henchmen to kidnap them instead. Aside from the fact that she put the fate of her plan in the hands of two fools, it’s obviously completely unnecessary for her to have set her sights on Anita and Roger’s pets. For such a wealthy fashion designer, Cruella could have easily found a less evil way to make a jacket.
#7: Mother Gothel “Tangled” (2010)
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Maybe she didn’t actually know best. In “Tangled,” our antagonist kidnapped Rapunzel in the hopes of forever maintaining her own youth. The princess’s hair contains the magic from a healing flower, so Gothel poses as her mother in order to keep her captive and exploit her powers. But as Rapunzel grows older, she yearns to leave her tower — particularly after noticing that lanterns are released each year on her birthday. Which begs the question: Why wouldn’t Mother Gothel lie about when Rapunzel’s birthday is? Or, more simply, she could have moved the both of them far, far away from the kingdom where she was taken.
#6: Jafar “Aladdin” (1992)
Power went right to his head — and it was his ultimate demise. Throughout “Aladdin,” Jafar goes to extraordinary lengths to gain as much influence as possible by any means necessary. He sends Aladdin to the Cave of Wonders to capture the magic lamp, which sets off the rest of the plot of the film. But why did Jafar need the lamp? He already had his magic staff that he was using to control the Sultan, and he could presumably have taken power that way. But instead, Jafar got greedy and demanded to be an all-powerful genie, becoming a prisoner to the lamp instead.
#5: Yzma “The Emperor's New Groove” (2000)
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Despite her failures, it’s pretty impressive that Yzma managed to have a secret lab right underneath Kuzco’s nose. However, she could never follow through with her sneaky plots to power without a ton of hiccups. Even if it had worked, her plan to turn the Emperor into a flea and mail the insect to herself, which she would then smash with a hammer was already needlessly overcomplicated. But leaving Kronk to finish the job pushed her scheme to the point of no return, as it resulted in Kuzco becoming a llama instead. We’ll give Yzma credit for having the funniest evil plan, though.
#4: Evil Queen “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937)
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Snow White’s antagonist takes the idea that beauty is pain to the next level. Upon realizing that she is no longer the fairest in the land, the Evil Queen sends the Huntsman to kill Snow White, eliminating her competition. When this fails, the Queen takes on the job herself. But she settles on poisoning her with an apple, which she knows can be reversed by true love’s kiss. Why choose a method that can be so easily undone? Not to mention, her whole plan was fueled by unreasonable levels of jealousy. Come on, Queen — we can’t all be the fairest.
#3: Edgar “The Aristocats” (1970)
This evil plan had a major oversight. The wealthy Madame Adelaide Bonfamille’s butler Edgar overhears her writing her will and is devastated to learn that her fortune will be given to her beloved cats. A tad unorthodox, sure, but the will really shouldn’t have raised as much alarm as it did. Who did Edgar think would be responsible for actually spending the money? They’re cats. Instead, he plots to get rid of the felines so he’d be the heir instead, with one plot involving him attempting to send the cats to Timbuktu. This obviously doesn’t work, and all of his scheming ends up getting himself cut out of the picture altogether.
#2: Michael "Goob" Yagoobian [aka Bowler Hat Guy] “Meet the Robinsons” (2007)
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He’s just misunderstood. Goob is completely stuck in the past, and desires payback against his former roommate Lewis out of jealousy for his success. And on his own, his only plan was childish revenge. Doris, the helping hat, is truly the mastermind that pushes Goob to steal the time machine and cause trouble. When left to his own devices, he tends to fumble and struggle to think things through. By the end of the film, he realizes he’s been manipulated by his own bowler hat and feels remorse for his actions. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Captain Hook, “Peter Pan” (1953) Hook Leaves Too Much Room for Error & All His Hostages Manage to Escape Prince John, “Robin Hood” (1973) Not Raising Taxes Probably Would’ve Limited Citizens Conspiring against You Scar, “The Lion King” (1994) Letting Simba Get Away Led to This Villainous Uncle’s Failure
#1: Queen of Hearts “Alice in Wonderland” (1951)
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Wait, what’s her goal again? Oh right, she doesn’t really have one. The only motivation the Queen of Hearts seems to possess is pure chaos. Her desires seem to change on a whim and she chops off heads just for the sake of doing so. She’s already recognized as the Queen, so she has no shortage of power or influence over Wonderland. It’s unusual for a villain to have such random spurts of evilness without a clear trajectory in the plot. But perhaps that’s what makes “Alice in Wonderland” such a wonderfully weird Disney film. If you were a Disney villain, how would you alter any of these failed plots? Let us know in the comments.
