< Villain Song

Villain Song/Disney

  • "Be Prepared" from The Lion King. Just to drive the point home, the chorus of hyenas backing Scar through this song up march in formation at one point, in a manner based on footage of a real-world Nazi rally. Furthermore, most Villain Songs involve the villain's evil laughter at the end. This one trumps them all, with not just Scar and his Terrible Trio laughing, but about 200 OTHER hyenas joining in with them.
  • In the sequel, "My Lullaby" takes up this role.
  • The Broadway production of The Lion King adds "The Madness of King Scar", from his catastrophic reign over Pride Rock. He's lost it.
  • "Prince Ali (Reprise)" from Aladdin. In fact, there were 5 separate songs made for Jafar and all but one were cut. Humiliate the Boy where Jafar does what the title suggests (cut for being too caustic). My Time Has Come where Jafar recounts how hideous his life has been and how he is going to make everyone else miserable (cut for being too slow and introspective). Why Me was basically the same as My Time Has Come (cut because the directors felt it didn't advance the story enough, they also wanted something with a big chorus). And My Finest Hour where Jafar pulls the earth into a ball and bats it around with the Genie (cut because the directors decided it was too late in the movie for an extended showstopper for the villain). Instead, the "Prince Ali (Reprise)" is a trim ditty that makes dramatic sense with Jafar turning Aladdin's entrance song into a sweet revenge where the sorcerer revels in having the upper hand.
    • "You're Only Second-Rate" from the sequel. Same villain, too.
    • And the second sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves has two. "Welcome To The Forty Thieves", which has the Forty Thieves initiating Aladdin into their group (and threatening him with death if he doesn't follow their rules), and "Are You In Or Out?", in which the villain Saluk convinces the few remaining thieves to betray their former leader.
      • Bonus points awarded to "Are You In Or Out?" due to it being, in part, a Dark Reprise of "Welcome To The Forty Thieves."
    • Part of "A Party Here in Agrabah" is sung by the 40 thieves discussing their plan.
  • "Poor, Unfortunate Souls" from The Little Mermaid.
    • Ursula gets another song, Mess With Me in the animated series of The Little Mermaid.
      • Ursula wasn't the only villain to get a song in the animated series. When you cast Tim Curry as a recurring villain, you've gotta let him sing!
    • In the stage version, Ursula also gets "I Want the Good Times Back". There's also "Sweet Child" for her pet eels. "Poor Unfortunate Souls" gets a new reprise as well.
      • The workshop tapes for the stage version have TWO more songs for Ursula: "Wasting Away" (bemoaning her current dreary, thin and emaciated [she thinks] state), which was replaced by "I Want the Good Times Back", and "All Good Things Must End" (where she gloats over the frailty of happy endings).
    • "Les Poissons" is also from The Little Mermaid. Although Louis isn't a flat-out villain, he does try to kill Sebastian, and the song is certainly sadistic enough to qualify.
  • Headless Man from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is sung by Brom Bones about the Headless Horseman, but because some suspect him of being the Horseman...
  • Professor Ratigan's "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind" in The Great Mouse Detective.
    • Bonus point that we got Vincent Price voicing the "very large mouse" himself. And that he said himself that he really enjoyed the role.
    • Even more points because he personally said he was flattered; those songs were specifically written for him.
    • Ratigan also has "Goodbye So Soon", a "spritely little tune" he wrote specifically for Basil to hear before he is killed by his elaborate death trap.
  • The Jungle Book:
  • "Gaston", "Gaston (Reprise)", and "The Mob Song" in Beauty and the Beast
    • In the stage version, "Me" and "Maison des Lunes" (the latter comes when he plots to institutionalize Maurice) also qualify as these. "Me" is an example of the unconscious villain, as it's Gaston stating the facts of his little universe - which are that he's the best and he deserves his dreams to come true, because he's every woman's dream. "Maison des Lunes" is more straightforward, in that it involves wrongfully imprisoning a weak old man so Gaston can marry his willful daughter—and relishing every minute of it.
    • The musical version of "Gaston (Reprise)" includes a few new lines at the end, which involve Lefou and Gaston singing about how devious and evil he is, flat-out stating that he knows how terrible his actions are, but that he doesn't care so long as he gets his way.

Gaston: Yes I'm endlessly, wildly resourceful...
Lefou: As down to the depths you descend!
Gaston: I won't even be mildly remorseful...
Both: Just as long as I (you) get what I (you) want in the end!

    • It's also a bonus in the Australian version because he's played by Hugh Jackman (who played Wolverine in the X-Men movies).
      • The original version of The Gaston song has the additional part at the end where Lefou tries to spell Gaston's name but gives up.
  • "Hellfire" from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, where Knight Templar Complete Monster Frollo declares in relatively unsubtle terms that he lusts for Esmeralda, and that if she will not have sex with him, he will burn her alive. Because this is a kid's movie.
    • Comes complete with Ominous Latin Chanting! Order now and get free Getting Crap Past the Radar!
    • It was subtle enough that most kids didn't get it until they were older, though the image of Esmeralda in the fireplace and the monks in red cowls were ample Nightmare Fuel nonetheless.
    • "Hellfire/Dark fire/Now, gypsy, it's your turn/Choose me or/Your pyre/Be mine or you will burn". It's a Dark Reprise of the opening song, "Bells of Notre Dame", and it comes right after Quasimodo sings his own song about how he's fallen in love with Esmeralda (Heaven's Light).
      • Basically, Heaven's Light/Hellfire is Mood Whiplash done right.
      • Consider that Heaven's Light and Hellfire are actually one continuous piece, and that both are about how the singer have fallen for Esmerelda. Also consider that the two songs are bridged by priests singing the first few lines of the Confiteor, a Catholic prayer for confession of sins, and that excerpts of the Confiteor are used as Ominous Latin Chanting during Hellfire, whose main lyrics are Frollo's way of saying that he's above everyone else and that his lust isn't his own fault. There are a lot of things that make Hellfire work.
    • Behold, lo mortals! The German version!
    • Court of Miracles from the same film has lyrics and sinister visuals worthy of a Villain Song, so it deserves a honorary mention, even if it is not actually sung by a villain.
    • The first half of "Out There" may count...
  • "Friends On The Other Side" by voodoo villain Dr. Facilier in Princess and The Frog, which is a delicious slice of evil hammy charlatan showmanship courtesy of Keith David. The first part of the song is a straight-up Villain Song, where Facilier sings about who he is and what he does. The second part is more expositionary, dealing with the lives of the ones he's singing to. The last third is atmospheric, backing the transformation.
    • Whoa whoa whoa whoa...did you just call him a charlatan? Don't you disrespect him, little man!
    • Then there's the reprise at the end, when Facilier's talisman is broken and he is dragged into an open grave by his "friends on the other side".
    • Freunde im Schattenreich, the German version of this song. It deserves special mention for being completely awesome.
      • Also, the title (Friends in the Shadow Realm) is great.
    • The Image Song album based on the movie, Bayou Boogie, gives him two more: "The Shadow Man" and "Do What I Wanna Do."
  • "Mine, Mine, Mine" in Pocahontas, at least the parts that aren't sung by John Smith. "Savages" is a half-example, as part of the song is sung by the villain for his own selfish motives. It's got a very obvious Xenophobia Is Bad Aesop.
  • "It's Our House Now" in Mickey's House of Villains.
  • "Feel Like a Million", from The Emperor's New Groove 2: Kronk's New Groove, may not be that impressive, but given the movie is almost not a musical at all, it must mean something...
  • "Mad Madame Mim" from The Sword in the Stone.
  • "Temper Temper", in the new musical of Mary Poppins, which features the children's toys coming to life, growing larger than the children themselves, and holding the children trial for having lost their tempers—for, "children who lose their tempers lose everything else in the end!"
    • "Brimstone and Treacle", again from the new Mary Poppins, where the Banks' second nanny, Miss Andrews, explains her philosophy that brimstone and treacle with a good dose of tyranny is the best way to govern children. (Note that there is also a Dark Reprise in which Mary comes back, sets Miss Andrews' pet lark free from its cage and there is a showdown between two singing nannies which results in Miss Andrews having a taste of her very own brimstone and treacle as well as being forced into a giant birdcage and sent down below.)
    • As Disney's first take on Mary Poppins didn't have a clear villain, it would seem to be exempt from this rule, but "Fidelity Fiduciary Bank" gives it a try anyhow. Mr. Banks and his bosses at the bank are the closest thing Mary Poppins has to a villain until his Heel Face Turn; he is against Mary Poppins herself, fun, and compassion because they interfere with order.
  • The Siamese Cats' "We are Siamese" from Lady and the Tramp is a bit of a special case, as the song itself is the characters' only appearance in the film. It still ends up being one of the most memorable scenes.
  • The Rescuers Down Under has Evil Poacher McLeach singing his own version of Home on the Range while driving home. His lyrics are a little...different than the original's:

"Home, Home on the Range, where the critters are tied up in chains, I cut through their sides, and I tear off their hides, and the next day I do it again!"

"When ze bad guy iz zis happy, it can only mean one thing." *pulls out tuba* "BAD GUY SONG!!!"

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