Disney has brought us many great things not only for our childhood, but for film as well. They gave us timeless songs; memorable leading characters and supporting characters; groundbreaking animation; and even some of the saddest moments to ever be put on film. However, one of the top 3 things that we continue to love from the Disney are the villains! While we had some good villains in movies and shows for kids; the Disney villains are the ones that take the cake when it comes to villains for kids! They were dark; scary; fun; and even did a few risque things that we can't believe that Disney got away with. To honor these villain's I'm going to do not a top 20, or a top 25, but a Top 35. These aren't just going to be the animated Disney villains, but they're also going to be Pixar and live action Disney villains as well. I won't be doing TV shows or short cartoons (unless they were part of one of the Disney package films in the 40s). This is all strictly film based. As for those who think I'm going to put villains like Loki, or Darth Vader on the list since Disney now owns "Marvel" and "Star Wars", I'm not! In my eyes, "Marvel" and "Star Wars" will always be a part of its creators, whether Disney owns it, or not. To also keep with the tradition of how I did "My Top 20 Favorite Movie Villain's" list, I will give each villain their own post. Another thing that I should mention is with the exception of a few, I will not talk about the villains in anything else outside of their film. I might talk about or mention a few of the sequels and spin-off they been in, but for the most part, I won't. Also, keep in mind that every post will have SPOILERS! So with all that out of the way, here are...
MY TOP 35 FAVORITE
n NUMBER 35
YZMA
FROM "THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE"
When it comes to being a scary or threatening type of Disney villain, she's neither! She's classy and can be a real hot head on a handful of occasions, but she's nowhere near on the dark and threatening side like all great Disney villains. She doesn't do anything that would be considered dark and disturbing; her motivation is as simple and basic as a villain’s scheme for a Saturday Morning Cartoon who hardly ever gets close to succeeding with her evil plan; her ruling as Emperor, is no different to when the lead was ruling the kingdom (He's planning on destroying a whole entire village, remember?); and she has only one henchman working for her, who of course changes sides at the end and messes things up just as much as she does. So as a dark and threatening villain she sucks, but as an over the top villain played for over the top comedy and only for over the top comedy, she's the funniest non-threatening Disney villain that Disney has ever created!
Yzma's evil is scheme as I said before is as simple as it gets. She plans to kill the Emperor, so she can take the throne. How does she plan on doing it, here's a direct quote of her explaining her plan!
"I'll turn him into a flea. A harmless little flea. And I'll put that flea in a box. And then I'll put that box in another box. Then I'll mail that box to myself, and when it arrives HAHAHA, I'll smash it with a hammer!"
It's a brilliant and creative plan, but she decides to save on postage and just plans to poison him instead. However, her assistant Kronk accidentally gets the wrong potion, which instead turns the Emperor into a Llama. Kronk is ordered to take him out of the palace and kill him, but fails to do so. Though Yzma gets control of the palace and the kingdom, she finds out that The Emperor is still alive, and goes on a journey to kill him, which of course leads to many failed attempts at finding him and killing him. Her plan maybe simple and nothing special or new, nor at all taking a grim and dark turn for that matter, but it does work within the films over the top comical look and feel by making this villain go through one comical situation, after another. I know people criticize the fact that Yzma says that only her, Kronk, and The Emperor know that she got fired as a Royal Adviser, when clearly there was a servant who wrote her the pink slip, thus making it four, instead of three as she said. However, I never found that to be a major or distracting flaw since the guards and servants don't seem to care if Yzma rules or not since we first see her sitting on the Emperor's throne sending peasants away that ask her for help, which is clearly something that she's not supposed to be doing, nor is it her first attempt at doing it. We never even hear or see the Pink Slip guy again, who like most of the Emperor's workers probably doesn't care or seem suspicious about Yzma's actions since all they do is serve whoever is the Emperor and only take action when told to do so. What I did find weird though is Yzma hardly labels her potions, which is pretty idiotic; and also the fact that when Kronk pretends to drink the supposed poison wine and lets the potion drip on him, I'm surprised that he didn't change into a Llama as well. But the idiocy from Yzma and Kronk and the illogical stuff that happens in the film works because of the over the top unrealistic cartoon element that the film has. It has its touching moments too, but even then there's still a bit of comedy going on so that it doesn't kill the overall mood and tone of the film. But I'm getting off track.
One of the many things I like about Yzma is her design. I
love that she's a frail old woman who tries very hard to look beautiful by
wearing different stylistic outfits (Which are also cool and fun designs as
well) and Make-Up, but is still butt ugly and "Scary beyond all
reason" (Though I don't think she's scary at all.), who everyone except
herself knows. I especially love how The Emperor looks at all the wrinkles on
her face, as well as noticing a piece of Spinach stuck inside her teeth
(Probably from Kronk's Spinach Puffs), which makes the Emperor wonders how long
that its been in there. I also just love how The Emperor introduces her as
"living proof that dinosaurs once roamed the Earth". She of course has one or two disgusting moments in the film regarding her ugliness and mishaps. One is her getting her
faced covered in mud; and the other scene is when Kronk see's her getting her
beauty sleep, and the animation, timing, and the characters reactions is done
so perfectly that they’re humorous, instead of being flat out disgusting. Yzma
doesn't always go through disgusting moments when it comes to slapstick and
crazy situations in the film. The two moments that I can think of off the top
of my head is when the peasant who's helping The Emperor arranges a surprise
birthday party at the restaurant as a diversion; and when the Peasant's kids
make her look like a Pinata. Those scenes crack me up every time I watch this
movie. Another thing I love about her design is she usually wears the color
purple, which is a color that's often associated with madness, and nothing says
fun and over the top madness than this Disney villain.
Another huge reason why I love Yzma so much is the voice
acting from the beautiful singer and actress Eartha Kitt. Originally Barbra
Streisand was going to voice her, and while that would sound like an
interesting choice since we know she can be such a diva, I honestly can't
imagine her being as funny and humorous as Eartha Kitt. She gives this character
so much personality that it's hard not to get invested into the fun she's
having. She's classy, while also being a major hot head; and her cackling old
lady voice that also has a purring cat like sound to it, fits the character
perfectly, as well as being one of the few foreshadow towards her fate. The best part about Eartha Kitt's performance is the energy she puts into the mood swings for this villain as she comically goes back and fourth
from calm and classy, to over the top villainous. It's so fun to listen too and watch that you can tell that Eartha Kitt
is having the time of her life voicing this villain. In fact, she loved playing
this villain so much, that she actually came back to voice her character for
the film's sequel and the Spin-Off TV show.
I think coolest thing that Yzma has is her "Secret Lab", that's not at all secret since the Emperor and the guards know about it. There's a hidden lever that's disguised as a large tooth that's part of a Gargoyle statue of the Emperor, and the person who pulls it will not only open the "Secret" entrance to Yzma's "Secret Lab", but will immediately put the person who pulled the lever on a wild and surreal Roller-coaster ride to the "Secret Lab". However, it doesn't stop there! Once the ride stops, the person riding it gets immediately ejected out of the seat and goes flying into the lab coat and goggles that are waiting for the person who enters! Screw the Bat-Poles that lead to the Batcave from the 60s TV show of Batman, this is a cooler and way more fun and exciting way of going into a Secret Lab. The only downside is they have another lever that opens a trap door to a pool of alligators which surprisingly isn't for the person that pulls it. Why do they have that lever, surprisingly none of the characters know, not even Yzma herself, and the idiocy of the idea and the characters reactions towards it, is what makes that concept so die-hard funny. As for the lab itself, it’s pretty cool with all those colorful chemicals and magic potions that are surreal to look at. I also got to hand it to Yzma, when it comes to redecorating the palace; she sure has a way with style by literally making it her own.
Yzma maybe funny, but in all honesty, she's nothing without her henchman Kronk (Voiced by Patrick Warburton); much like Kronk would be nothing without Yzma. These two are an inseparable duo; one wouldn't be funny without the other. Every scene with them together as they work off each other is priceless! Our two leads in the film are a fun duo too, but Yzma and Kronk are the ones that make the majority of us who've seen the film laugh the hardest. What makes this duo so funny is they're the complete opposite of each other. Yzma is a smart old and ugly cruel woman with an insane lust for power; while Kronk is a buff and handsome young man who's idiotic, but has an innocent childlike charm to him, who tries to be bad but simply can't because of his good nature. By the way, I love that when he tries to figure out what to do; he has a shoulder angel and devil that give him advice, which always kills me every time I watch this movie. What I really admire about Kronk is despite not being too bright, he still has his talents and skills, such as talking to Squirrels; loves to play and work with kids; and being a great cook, whose heart is more into the dinner that he's preparing for the Emperor, instead of the actual murder scheme. I even love how optimistic he is. He's in the jungle pulling Yzma in a tent, but keeps a smile on his face as he enjoys looking at the wild life. He sleeps in a very tiny tent, as Yzma sleeps in a huge tent, but he's happily and peacefully sound asleep with his little Teddy Bear wearing a little Kronk hat. Oh and did I mention that he has his own little spy theme song that he hums that the actor voicing him has improvised? What more can I say, I just freaking love Kronk!
Getting to the film's climax, Yzma and Kronk manage to get to the palace before our two leads do, which by the way begs the question of how they got there since a bolt of lighting has threw them completely off course? The funny thing is not only do our heroes question it, but neither does Yzma, which results with Kronk pulling out the chart that we saw as the characters race to the palace questioning the logic as well. This film has such wonderful fourth wall jokes. Anyway, Yzma tries to kill them anyway by pulling out a knife strapped to her leg (Which the build up to that surprise gag is both really suggestive and funny at the same time) and throws the knife to Kronk. Kronk of course refuses to do it, and after getting insulted by Yzma in a matter so hurtful that it breaks Kronk's optimistic attitude towards Yzma's abuse, he tries to crush her with a chandler, but sadly fails and Yzma opens a trap door sending Kronk away. Yzma then sends her guards to kill our two leads as our characters try to figure out which bottle will turn the Emperor human. After a funny chase sequence, our heroes are left with only two bottles. However, Yzma accidentally breaks one of the bottles and she's turned into this evil monstrous creature...
Holy crap! What did she turn into? A Wolf, a Tiger, a Monster?! Actually she turns into this...
Oh my god, she's actually really adorable as a kitten, especially with that chipmunk voice (Which I honestly love how Yzma questions the change in her voice). Changing her into a Kitten by the way is also an obvious nod to when she played Catwoman during the third and final season of the Batman TV show made in the 60s. However, while looking cute and innocent, she still tries to foil our heroes by scratching them and stealing the potion to make her human again, which she can't open up, and man is that unbearably cute to watch! I honestly love this twist. In the climax of most Disney films, the villains usually become more powerful, dangerous, and scary, and doing the complete opposite with this villain is both surprising and humorous. She doesn't even die like most Disney villains. At first we think she's doomed after foolishly jumping off the palace to get the potion, but she is saved by a giant trampoline which bounces her back up, and just as she has the potion in her claws, Kronk opens a window questioning the chances of how a trap door could lead him to where he is, and crushes Yzma, as the potion flies towards our leads. When you get down to it, Kronk is the film's hero, and that's one of the main reason's why the majority of us all love Kronk so much. In the end, he becomes a Squirrel scout leader, teaching kids how to speak Squirrel, as well as Yzma who's still in her kitten form.
Yzma may not be one of Disney's dark and twisted villains or one of the threatening ones for that matter (Hades and Captain Hook are way more threatening, along with having a few dark qualities compared to her), but she is for sure the funniest one of all, which for me is good enough to put her on my list.
"Well, he ain't getting any deader! Back to work."
-Yzma
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