9. Mad Madam Mim, The Sword in the Stone. (Voiced by Martha Wentworth in 1963 – the ancient age of pre-celebrity voice work.) Mim’s no slouch either when it comes to singing her own praises, vocalizing while transmogrifying from one form to another, from curvaceous charmer to pig-faced monster. In fact, her wizard’s duel with Merlin – with both of them shape-shifting for all they’re worth – is the film’s highlight.

8. Darla Dimple, Cats Don’t Dance. Like Bongo, a villain who at first glance doesn’t look like one. Don’t be fooled by this chubby-legged, big-eyed moppet’s sugary-sweet façade; she’s one bitchy diva, and no kitty-cat or doggie is going to drag her down. She quickly reprises her “Big and Loud” production number – extolling the virtues of give ‘em all you got show biz pizazz – into a piece of thirsting for revenge nastiness. (“They’ll never know what hit them/wait they’ll see what I have in store…”) And boy, when she goes nuts at the end of the movie… she goes nuts, big and loud.

The victim of studio politics, the top-notch CDD didn’t deserve its quick slide into obscurity, taking a slew of first-rate Randy Newman songs with it. (If there was any justice in the world, “Tell Me Lies” would’ve been a 1997 Best Song Oscar nominee.)

7. Gru, Despicable Me, voiced by Steve Carrell. We’re stretching the rules here a bit; Gru is the film’s villain and hero all at once. His villainy is more on the order of mega-pranks and never seems to actually put anyone in physical danger. Gru’s rival, the nerdy Vector is the film’s villainous villain; he might have great taste in decorating (his headquarters looks like it was designed by Apple – a veritable iLair), but he just isn’t top ten material. (Speaking of which, sorry Megamind; in last year’s battle of similarly themed animated features, Gru won easily thanks to his latent cuddliness, not to mention his goofball horde of mini-minions.)

 

6. Yzma, The Emperor’s New Groove. Eartha Kitt’s “scary beyond reason” villainess, out to usurp an entire kingdom is a hoot and a half. Stiletto-chinned and sporting a face wrinkled yet drum-tight, she sparkplugs a movie that’s hilarious to begin with, more a feature-length Looney Tune than your standard Disney fare. (Not many villains agree to an after-dinner cup of coffee before having the good guy done away with.)

I had the pleasure of meeting Eartha in 2005, a few years before her passing. When I told her I loved her performance in the film she burst out laughing; I was the first person to ever compliment her on her animation work. I just wish I had added “or, to save on postage” had become a family catch phrase.