Top 10 Most Underrated Disney Villain Songs

Top 10 Underrated Villain Songs

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Underrated Disney Villain Songs.

For this list, we’ll be looking at the villainous tunes from Disney films that are often overlooked or not as popular as they should be.

What is your favorite Disney villain song? Let us know in the comments!

#10: “The Elegant Captain Hook”
“Peter Pan” (1953)

Sometimes being on the bad guy’s side seems like a lot of fun. While the “A Pirate’s Life” song was a great intro, “The Elegant Captain Hook'' should get some love too. This number sees the pirates dance and sing to advertise the perks of piracy to some potential new swashbucklers. Yeah, we know Captain Hook is evil and all that. But we can’t help but tap a foot along to this tune and consider joining up. We could get free tattoos! The song is so fun and persuasive that it sends previously captured kids running to enlist. While the Captain isn’t so great, this song makes it clear that he and his cronies have a great time working together.

#9: “The Phony King of England”
“Robin Hood” (1973)

Whenever Little John takes out that lute, we know we’re in for a good time. “The Phony King of England” is no exception. The townspeople are down, out and absolutely miserable from being overtaxed by interim king Prince John. When Little John starts up a jaunty tune in full mockery of the ill-suited ruler, the townspeople join in the festivities and sing and dance along with him. This awesome hoe-down counts as a villain song because one of the good guys is singing about the antagonist. The fact that it wasn't sung by the big bad may be the main reason why it’s still an underrated gem. This brilliant tune showed that the spirit of the common folk can’t be diminished by a ridiculous royal.

#8: “Who’s Been Painting My Roses Red?”
“Alice in Wonderland” (1951)

Prior to this outburst of a song, Alice encounters card guards who are painting the palace roses red. They have to go through this absurd process because they planted white roses and the Queen of Hearts only wants red ones to adorn her garden. However, when the royal strolls through the garden, she quickly notices what’s happening and rages into a reprise of the painters’ song. But it’s far from a jovial tune this time around. Lyrics like “We’re painting the roses red” are replaced with the equally-syllabled “They’re going to lose their heads”. This short but sweet evil reprise reminds us not to get on the Queen’s bad side. It could definitely stand to get a little more attention.

#7: “Yodel-adle-eedle-idle-Oo”
“Home on the Range” (2004)

Since this film isn’t the most popular Disney outing, many audiences may have missed this musical number. But we can’t help but love a good pied-piper esque tune! Cattle-rustler Alameda Slim reveals how he’s been stealing cattle from farms with this song. After hypnotizing them with his enticing yodeling, the animals follow him anywhere. The scene that accompanies the tune is reminiscent of the good old days of psychedelic Disney musical numbers. The colors, banging tune and sparkly shirts also made us want to follow Alameda Slim for a little while.

#6: “Mine Mine Mine”
“Pocahontas” (1995)

In “Pocahontas”, Governor Ratcliffe is set on finding the hidden treasures that might be mined from the New World. He puts his obscenely large crew to work as he sings of all the gold and gems that will be “his, his, his!” While Ratcliffe is one of the most terrible Disney villains, we can’t deny that his tune is as catchy as it is extravagant. Maybe it isn’t as talked about because it came from such a villainous source. But if you skip this song, you’ll miss out on hopeful singing from John Smith and tons of ridiculous lyrics. The great elements of this tune certainly convinced us to make it ours, ours, ours for the next Disney villain playlist.

#5: “Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor’s Life for Me)”
“Pinocchio” (1940)

When the naive Pinocchio gets a little misguided during his film, he finds himself in the company of a couple of street folk. The Fox and his silent kitty friend appear to be seemingly classy gents to the childish wooden boy. But we can see through all their smug winks and sketchy getups. Although we know Pinocchio is headed to a bad place, the song they sing to get him there is pretty good. Unfortunately, its short length may have caused it to get lost in the shuffle of other Pinnochio songs. But the Fox’s upbeat tune needs more credit for motivating us to take the stage.

#4: “Prince Ali - Jafar’s Reprise”
“Aladdin” (1992)

After Aladdin’s massive celebratory number “Prince Ali”, the evil Jafar is understandably bitter about the new royal getting Jasmine’s attention. But he gets a lot happier after he realizes Ali is not who he seems. Jafar eventually gloats about the fact that Aladdin lied about his royal status with a reprise of the “Prince Ali” number. While the villain’s take of the song is more sinister than the celebratory original, it still keeps all the fun. Since the movie is packed with classics like “Friend Like Me” and “A Whole New World”, it’s easy to see how Jafar’s reprise got overshadowed. But we’re willing to bet he’d wish for more people to check out his tune if he had the chance.

#3: “Shiny”
“Moana” (2016)

Tamatoa is a gigantic and villainous lover of shiny things. But since he’s not content just showing off his fabulous hobby, he’s got to sing about it. Tamatoa steps into the spotlight to show off and threaten the heroes at the same time. It’s fantastic to watch him go from intimidating to obsessed with his shiny fashion with ease during this toe-tapping number. Although “Shiny” is sung by the great Jermaine Clement and was put together by Mark Mancina and the legendary Lin-Manuel Miranda, it isn’t talked about nearly as much as it should be. Maybe if Tamatoa looked a little bit more like Sebastian the crab, this musical number would be a lot more popular.

#2: “Hellfire”
“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1996)

While Judge Claude Frollo is a deeply unpleasant man, we have to say there’s a certain dark beauty in his “Hellfire” song that should be recognized. Although he presents himself as an enemy to Esmeralda, he finds himself overwhelmed with feelings of desire towards her. The movie builds up to the song about the war raging inside of him with the sounds of monks chanting. Their strong chorus of voices continue to be heard throughout Frollo’s big confession. As the tune continues, the feelings of self-pity give way to full-on rage. This impactful song is easily one of the best ballads on the movie’s soundtrack.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

“Headless Horseman”, “The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad” (1949)
Bing Crosby’s Song About the Headless Horseman Is Too Catchy to Skip

“Trust in Me”, “The Jungle Book” (1967)
We’re Surprised More People Haven’t Been Hypnotized By Kaa’s Tune

“Mad Madam Mim”, “The Sword in the Stone” (1963)
A Magical Madam Mim Melody May Have Gone Overlooked Due to a Mixed Movie Reception

#1: Mother Knows Best
“Tangled” (2010)

After learning Princess Rapunzel had magical hair, the twisted Mother Goethel kidnapped the royal and whisked her away to a tower. In order to keep the magical girl contained, the villain filled her head with the idea that the outside world was unbelievably dangerous. Goethel also used songs like “Mother Knows Best” to hammer in the point. The villain warns Rapunzel about everything from large insects to pointy-toothed men. At the same time, Mother Goethel demonstrates how manipulative she is by lifting herself up while taking digs at the princess. The way the song balances melodrama and the tragedy of Rapunzel’s situation is incredibly impressive. This dark yet catchy tune definitely deserves to be considered one of the greatest villain songs around.