Since everyone and their brother was doing a review of scary movies for Halloween, I decided to do something a little different and list my favorite villain songs. I’ve always been inordinately interested in the villains, even when I was a kid. I think I had picked my favorite villain in a Disney movie before I picked my favorite princess (it was Ursula, naturally). I’ve also been a huge fan of music, so villain songs are something I’ve thought about a lot. This list is a result of that thought, but also completely based on my own preferences and no real objective criteria.
So, without further ado, the list:
10. Madam Mim’s “Mad Madam Mim’s”
Madam Mim is volatile, arrogant, and has more than one screw loose. Her song encapsulates that personality as she feels compelled to show off all her awesome transformations even though she fully intends to eat poor Arthur in the end. I love this song because it makes me laugh and for Mim reveling in both her evilness and being “an ugly old witch.” Plus, I think this is the villain I would be if I were a Disney villain. She’s more silly than devious and she turns into a DRAGON. Done and done.
9. Rasputin’s “In the Dark of the Night”
Despite it’s historical inaccuracies, Anastasia is a wonderful movie on all counts, but Rasputin’s song is a stand out. The song style is appropriately creepy, building to an epic crescendo as Rasputin leaves purgatory to complete his curse on the Romanov family. As with other Don Bluth movies, there are elements that make this scene in a kid’s movie actually scary (what with the human skeletons forming the pillars of Rasputin’s cave and him summoning actual demons). Still, my favorite thing about this song are the little touches like the deep voiced beetle providing the “Find her” echoes toward the end and Rasputin putting on the Anastasia wig. Also, Jim Cummings is amazing as evidenced by the fact that he sang this song and also plays the voice of Tigger. Talk about versatile.
Problematic Pop 