There's no denying that villain songs are always the high point of any musical, elevating the Awesomeness to unbelievable levels, and there have been many great villain songs to come out in the past few decades. So, today, I'm going to be counting down my Top 12 Favorite Villain Songs. For the list, I'm focusing specifically on songs from movies and TV specials sung either by or about the villain(s). Many of the songs featured I include based on their catchiness, popularity, my opinion, and/or how well they move the plot along, because, hey, that's what great villain songs are supposed to do.
It should be noted that I'm not limiting it to any one particular medium. The songs can be from Disney, not from Disney, animated, or even live action. And as I feel it's important to mention, these are based on my opinions and what I've seen so if you don't see one of your favorites here or if you think one of your favorites should've been higher up, then I'm sorry. Also, I apologize ahead of time for the quality of a few of the accompanying videos that feature the songs. Finally, there is potentially going to be some talk about the movie plots themselves so SPOILER ALERT if you haven't seen any of these movies. With that said, sit back and enjoy my Top 12 Favorite Villain Songs.
XII. You Gotta Love It from The Swan Princess: Escape From Castle Mountain
I know I'm probably not starting my list off on the best foot here and it's hard to say that anything that good came from any of these movies (which I only ever saw the first 2 of them). However, even with that said, this is a fun little gem that I feel deserves even more attention.
The evil wizard Clavius, who was once a partner of the villain from the previous movie named Rothbart (it sounds like the noise you'd make if you hiccuped and belched at the same time. Thank you, Nostalgia Critic, for ingraining that in my mind.), sets out to find a mystical orb that houses "The Forbidden Arts". After finding the orb and taking advantage of its power, he sings this song while displaying his new abilities.
To be completely honest, I had almost completely forgotten about this song. It was still in the farther recesses of my mind, but my memories of it were very vague. Then I saw WatchMojo.com's YouTube video of the Top 10 Animated Villain Songs (Excluding Disney), which is a terrible list by the way. Only 7 songs I think were actually deserving of being on the list, #8, #7, and #6 were just shit, I mean just totally bland and forgettable, and the "Honorable Mentions" list was a joke. P.S. Only 2 songs from that list make this list while 2 others make my Honorable Mentions category, but I digress.
What actually got me to include this song on the list was the fact that a YouTuber by the name of Sasuke Uchiha brought up this song, saying that it was far superior to WatchMojo's #7 choice, No More Mr. Nice Guy from the first Swan Princess movie. I got around to listening to it and much to my surprise... he was right. This song completely nukes that one out of the water. It just has a much cooler feel to it and is just tons of fun to listen to. So yeah. This is definitely one of my more selfish selections, but I find it well worth a listen.
XI. You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch from Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Now I'm gonna be perfectly honest with you guys. I never saw How The Grinch Stole Christmas until I was a teenager and even then it wasn't the first time that I had heard this song. I had actually heard it on the radio around Christmastime a few years prior to actually watching the special. Still, this is definitely a song not to be ignored.
Sung by Tony The Tiger himself, Thurl Ravenscroft, the song tells about all the ways the Grinch is a horrible being as he, you guessed it, "steals Christmas" from the jolly and cheerful Whos who live in the village below his lair atop Mt. Crumpit.
This song is just tons of fun to listen to. The lyrics by Dr. Seuss are deviously delicious and descriptive as they refer to the Grinch as being "cuddly as a cactus" or having the warmth and fuzziness of "a seasick crocodile" or (my personal favorite) even referring to him as a "3 decker sauerkraut and toadstool sandwich with arsenic sauce". How can you not just fall in love with this song and how extremely detailed it is? I've often spent many times just analyzing the lyrics, it's that enjoyable. It also goes without saying that the Grinch served as the introduction to villainy for many young kids and rightfully so. The perfect villainous song for the holidays, that's more than enough for me.
X. Secret Of Survival from The Wind In The Willows (AKA Mr. Toad's Wild Ride)
Now I've never even seen the movie that this came from because, in all honesty, it never looked that interesting to me and, from what I've heard other people say about it, I'm not really missing out on much. But, with all that said, when I first heard this song, it instantly became a favorite of mine. Apparently after Mole gets lost in the Wild Wood, he accidentally runs into the Weasels, who break out into this song to explain that all creatures are only looking out for themselves. "Survival of the fittest" if you will.
This song has such a great sound to it with the music sounding very similar to a racing heartbeat (in fact you could probably argue that it's Mole's heart that's racing during this tense scene). The background is very dark and dreary fitting the song's theme and imagery, creating a very surreal atmosphere in the process. But, at the same time, the movements and actions of some of the Weasels are soo laughably and enjoyably cartoony that it almost leaves you unsure of what to think about it, which I find interesting when certain forms of media can leave you with a mixture of different emotions.
The only downside that I can think of is that it's a very short song. Where most villain songs are at least 3 minutes long, this is closer to 1 1/2. But even then the song is too good to let go unnoticed. If you want to check this song out by itself, feel free to and listen to how great it truly is.
IX. Let's Have A Battle (Of The Bands) from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Rainbow Rocks
Now I've been a Brony for about a year and a half now and, as such, I've gotten very familiar with the songs featured in the show and movies. I've even gained a new favorite lyricist in Daniel Ingram, who I have yet to find a song that I hate from him (not that all of his songs are perfect, but even the "not as good" songs are still pretty decent, all things considered). If I was including the My Little Pony TV Show, I'd probably put This Day Aria from the 2-part, Season 2 Finale, A Canterlot Wedding, on the list as that one is also pretty damn Awesome to listen to. I often think to myself that the song is like one I might envision in The Little Mermaid during the scene where Prince Eric is about to marry Ursula in disguise and Ariel is trying to make her way to the ship to crash the wedding, but more on that movie later.
The Dazzlings themselves are a lot of fun to watch. I've heard many people point out similarities between them and the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus. I've never seen the movie, nor do I intend to as I've heard the movie itself is particularly mean-spirited and nasty towards virgins, so I'll just have to take their word for it. They also have 2 other songs that they sing throughout the movie, but I decided to put this one on the list as it's the song that actually sets the plot into motion. But that doesn't mean that the other songs they sing aren't as good. I still find myself singing many songs from the movie's soundtrack even to this day after first seeing it a little over 1/2 a year ago. If this song had come out earlier or if WatchMojo.com had put out their Non-Disney Animated Villain Songs list later on, I feel like this could've been a great entry on the list (although it still doesn't change the fact that there aren't enough good Non-Disney Animated Villain Songs to justify a Top 10 list, much less have an Honorable Mentions category). The perfect villain song for a triple threat of evil. What more can you ask for?
VIII. Gaston from Beauty And The Beast
Gaston is definitely one of the more interesting Disney villains in my opinion (and I'm sure in a lot of other people's opinions too) as he was one of the frontrunners for the "Handsome Villain" character type. He's definitely good looking and in many cases would be the guy who saves the day and gets the girl in the end. In fact, in the townspeople's eyes, he is the hero, which is where this song comes into play.
Feeling bummed out after Belle refused his marriage proposal and humiliated him in the process, he sits in the local pub wallowing in his own self-pity. In an attempt to cheer him up, Lefou leads the other patrons in a song praising Gaston, pointing out his many attributes from the impressive (his marksmanship and physique) to the mundane (the cleft in his chin).
The setting of the song itself is just soo warm and inviting in contrast to the cold blizzard winds howling outside. You want to be in that pub, having a nice tall beer with the sudsy foam crowning the mug, swinging from the chandeliers, and just joining in the merriment of the patrons.
What really strikes my attention though is how swiftly the song changes to a Dark Reprise of itself, a trope that I very much enjoy when it comes to musicals. After Maurice enters the pub to request help in rescuing Belle from the Beast, and is swiftly thrown out when no one believes him, Gaston continues the song. The music and tone feel the same, but the lyrics themselves are much more sinister as he concocts a plan to blackmail Belle into marrying him or else Maurice gets sent to the insane asylum.
He doesn't even try to hide his villainy in this reprise as he sings of his plotting to have poor harmless Maurice committed, but you almost wouldn't notice it as all the other pub attendees join in with him, still viewing him as the hero. That shows a lot of power for a villain song. Having the whole town on your side even with your evil scheming, this song takes the #8 spot.
VII. The World's Greatest Criminal Mind from The Great Mouse Detective
I could give you a lot of reasons why this song deserves to be on the list, but 2 little words would immediately convince you of its inclusion. Those words are "Vincent Price". The late great horror icon lends his speaking and singing voice to the villain, Professor Ratigan, in this criminally underrated Disney classic.
Here, the evil professor sings about his past successes as he prepares for his most diabolical scheme yet: to oust the Queen of the Mice and take her place as "Supreme Ruler of all Mousedom". This was one of the songs that made the "merry band of singing criminals" style of song popular as it would later on be used in such movies as Shrek, Tangled, and Ice Age: Continental Drift. Yes, I know that the 1950's Peter Pan was technically the first to actually do it, but I honestly feel like The Great Mouse Detective was the movie that did it a little bit better.
Vincent Price was beyond perfect for this song as he brilliantly captures the sinister, yet refined, personality of the character. The whole setting also has a very strong feeling of extravagance and opulence to it. It practically oozes of class and sophistication. There's even a moment where Ratigan stops in the middle of the song to perform a harp solo as he briefly reflects on his past failures at the paws of his sworn nemesis, Basil Of Baker Street. It's the perfect song for an underrated, but nonetheless still great, villain.
VI. A Little Priest from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
AND
Feed Me from Little Shop Of Horrors
I had a hard time trying to decide between which of these I wanted to put in this spot so I decided on both, which is actually kind of funny because, listening to both of these songs, I find them to be pretty damn similar. Both songs involve murder, both songs involve eating people, and both songs have the main characters setting their sights on getting back at the person who wronged them and/or someone close to them, not to mention both songs clock in at around the same length with runtimes of about 5 minutes.
So let's start with Sweeney Todd's number. After a failed attempt to murder the corrupt Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) who wrongfully convicted Sweeney Todd (AKA Benjamin Barker) in order to steal his now poisoned wife, Todd (Johnny Depp) sings with Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter) about killing those that no one would miss and baking them into meat pies, all the while his mind is still focused on slitting the throat of the aforementioned judge. This was the song that actually inspired me to create this list and with good reason.
The lyrics in this song are a lot of fun even with its dark subject matter. All throughout the song, Mrs. Lovett and Todd compare the different types of people as to how they might taste in pies from priests to lawyers to Royal Marines to friars. The descriptions of what meat might come from them are soo diabolically entertaining. Another interesting point to bring up is Todd's commentary of how the high men devour the lower men to maintain their high and mighty positions, which he uses to justify baking them into pies to be devoured by others or how, through these lofty people being murdered and baked into pies to be served to the public, "those above will serve those down below".
While that song is great (as are many of the other songs on the soundtrack), not a lot of people mention Feed Me from Little Shop Of Horrors, which I actually only saw for the first time a couple months ago. After discovering that an unusual plant, dubbed Audrey II after the object of his affection, can talk and is demanding to be fed more blood than he can give, Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis) is confronted by Audrey II who suggests that he murder someone to feed to the blood hungry plant. Though initially mortified by the idea, he sets his sights on murdering sadistic dentist, Orin Scrivello (Steve Martin) after seeing how he verbally and physically abuses his girlfriend, Audrey, who Seymour has feelings for.
This song has such a fun, soulful, rock type of feel to it that I really enjoyed. This comes mostly from the music and the vocal talents of Four Tops lead vocalist, Levi Stubbs, as the voice of Audrey II. This song was soo fun that I actually rewound it just to hear it again I loved it that much. Hell, I was even impressed by Rick Moranis' vocal work in the song. Interesting bit of trivia: Moranis actually went to elementary school with legendary frontman of Rush, Geddy Lee (makes me wonder if some of Lee's musical talent rubbed off on him).
Even though Moranis has somewhat retired from acting to spend time with his children after the death of his one and only wife (an honorable choice you can't deny), I would be interested in seeing him possibly taking on another musical in the near future. But, until then (if it ever happens), we've still got these 2 great songs for the price of one.
V. In The Dark Of The Night from Anastasia
Growing up, Anastasia was one of my favorite movies to watch. Even my younger sister enjoyed watching it with me. It was one of those animated, non-Disney movies that actually felt like a Disney movie to me and one of legendary animator Don Bluth's final films.
Stuck in Limbo after an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the entire Romanov family who banished him for treason, the sorcerer, Rasputin, reunited with the unholy reliquary he sold his soul for to ensure their destruction, plots his revenge against Anastasia, the girl who escaped the Romanov's curse.
Though the character of Rasputin is voiced by Christopher Lloyd (famous for such roles as Doc Brown from the Back To The Future Trilogy and Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), the singing voice is actually provided by legendary voice actor, Jim Cummings, whose voice matches up soo perfectly you'd probably never be able to tell the difference. The song itself has a very rock opera type of feel to it that's tons of fun, though I feel like having a bunch of cartoon bugs singing the chorus kind of ruins what would've been an otherwise dark and foreboding atmosphere. If they really wanted to keep that sinister feel, I think they should've gone with different characters portraying the background singers like demons, monsters, or skeletons.
But what am I doing bitching about this song? Maybe it wasn't their intentions for it to be too sinister and dark? It's still an impressive number all around and definitely deserving of the #5 spot.
IV. Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid has always been a favorite movie of mine ever since I was younger and with good reason. Not only did it kickstart what would become known as the Disney Renaissance, not only did it have a strong female lead, not only did it have a memorable villain (a list for another day), but the songs were all amazing and became instant classics.
Desperate to be with Prince Eric, young Mermaid Princess Ariel seeks the help of sea witch Ursula, who tells her the only way for her to get her prince is to become human herself. What follows is a song used to make her evil deeds look like acts of generosity and genuine kindness.
This song works great on soo many levels. First off is the tone. It starts very slow and peaceful almost like something one might dance a waltz to, but, as the song continues, it eventually gets faster, louder, and more insane, making the decisions Ariel must choose even more frantic. It also works well in the same way that many other songs on this list do in that it shows off the villain's vocal range and power while furthering the plot of the story.
This song was created by the musical team of Alan Menken and the late great Howard Ashman, who first became famous for their work on Little Shop Of Horrors. The two of them would go on to be frequent collaborators with Disney for movies such as The Little Mermaid (which Ashman served as co-producer on), Beauty And The Beast, and some of the songs on Aladdin before Ashman died of AIDS-related complications on March 14, 1991 and Tim Rice took over songwriting.
Menken still collaborates with Disney frequently (his most recent work being on the 2010 film, Tangled), but I often wonder what might've been if Ashman had lived longer? What alternate timeline might've been created had his songwriting genius been around for an extended period of time? It certainly might've helped in areas where we had such cinematic stinkers as Pocahontas, Brother Bear, Home On The Range, and Chicken Little, but, even then, had he been around for a longer period of time, I might not have gotten some of my favorite Disney movies like The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Princess And The Frog, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, or, yes, even Frozen.
In the end, I think it's best to just take the good and ignore the bad, because what is good is really good. Howard, I lovingly put this song at #4 in your memory.
III. Be Prepared from The Lion King
When I was a kid watching The Lion King, Scar was one of those villains who just freaked the shit out of me and this song was a good example of why. After his hyenas' first attempt at killing Simba failed when Mufasa showed up, Scar sings about his plans to off both Mufasa and Simba, taking over Pride Rock as the new king.
Jeremy Irons provides the voice of Scar as well as most of the lines in the song, but, once again, Jim Cummings provides part of Scar's vocals for the song and no one would ever be able to tell that 2 different people were singing one character's lines. That's pretty damn impressive if you ask me.
The setting is also a lot of fun to watch as it goes from sickly green to grainy yellow to hellish red and even the ground itself shifts, rising in some areas and falling in others. And, oh yeah, let's take a second to discuss the "hyenas from the Third Reich". As a kid who knew nothing about Nazi Germany or even Hitler, I didn't make the connection when I saw these hyenas goosestepping in rows in front of Scar. It was still scary nonetheless, I just didn't make that connection at a young age. But now that I'm older and have a better understanding of it, I'm just like "Holy Shit!!! That's totally a Nazi reference in a Disney film!"
As a kid, I was the one who was always trying to sing this song while everyone else around me was singing Hakuna Matata (not that I didn't join in at times, but I was very reluctant to do so). This song has been a favorite of mine for a long time and I'm sure it will continue to be a favorite of mine far into the future.
II. Friends On The Other Side from The Princess And The Frog
I know a lot of you might consider it blasphemy or sacrilege to put this song above something like Be Prepared, but I'm sorry. I just love this song that much. People seem to have mixed feelings over whether or not The Princess And The Frog is even a good Disney movie at all (I personally like the female lead, Tiana, enjoy the return to hand drawn animation, find some of the supporting characters enjoyable (particularly Tiana's best friend, Charlotte. She is such a riot, I've pissed my pants with laughter from how hilarious she is.), and I even like a few of the songs), but one thing that absolutely no one can deny is how kick-ass Awesome Dr. Facilier (AKA "The Shadowman") is as the villain and his song is the perfect means of displaying that.
When slacker Prince Naveen arrives in Louisiana looking for a good time, he's soon greeted by Facilier who smooth talks him and his valet, Lawrence, into stepping into his voodoo emporium, promising to give them what they desire most with assistance from his "friends on the other side".
Dr. Facilier is voiced by Keith David, who it's nice to see is getting work again after voicing Goliath in Gargoyles over a decade earlier, and he does a damn impressive job singing the song too. Facilier's (and his shadow's) movements throughout the song are just soo enjoyably slick and cartoony that it's fun to watch. Cartoony animation is either hit or miss for me as I've seen some uses of cartoony animation that just annoyed me to death while also seeing some great uses of it (I still stand by Hotel Transylvania as properly using fast and cartoony animation to match the comedic tone while also not shying away from the softer more dramatic moments where a character's turmoil needs to be addressed), but I digress.
The visuals during the song are just soo beautiful to look at that I'm amazed by their use of color, particularly close to the end where it almost seems to turn into the best acid trip ever!!! Seriously though, each frame in that song could be hung up as a work of art. Even taking the song out of the equation, you could just watch the visuals without sound and still enjoy it.
Speaking of the song, it's written by Randy Newman, who I'm not particularly fond of. I don't hate him necessarily, but it often seems like many of his songs are just "rinse and repeat" versions of songs he's already done before and therefore are overall forgettable. For instance, I watched James And The Giant Peach for the first time about a year ago, which Newman wrote all the songs for, and... I can't remember a single song from that movie it's that forgettable.
Most of the songs in this movie are pretty forgettable too, but I do have 3 songs from it that I genuinely like: Almost There, which is pretty decent enough, Dig A Little Deeper, which is sort of a guilty pleasure of mine as I really like the Southern Gospel Revival feel of it, and this song, which is tons of fun to listen to and sing along.
One of the other aspects of this song that I really like is the clever use of wordplay and foreshadowing by the Shadowman himself when talking to Naveen. He makes it sound like he's gonna be making Naveen really wealthy, but we the audience know what really lies ahead when he mentions "green" or "being free to hop from place to place". The song is soo great that it even makes an appearance at the end in the form of a Dark Reprise when Facilier is dragged by shadowy figures to hell (Ya know, for kids). Even with it being a more recent song, I have the feeling it's going to be around for quite a while.
Before I belt out my #1 choice, I'd like to take a moment to look at some Honorable Mentions. I'm not sure if this is going to be a regular thing with me and my Top 12 lists, but for now I really like this subject and I think it deserves it.
Honorable Mentions:
Savages from Pocahontas
Yeah yeah. Pocahontas is nowhere near my favorite Disney movie and it really screws up American history with its portrayal of tension between the Jamestown settlers and the Native Americans (although, let's be honest, the tension between them wasn't entirely absent from the original history), but this song has some really dark and hate-filled language from both sides that I feel gives it a nice edge and bite. Additionally, as much as I don't like this movie, I've gotta admit that the use of color throughout can be very pretty to look at. Also worth mentioning is the 2nd half of this song where you've got the 3-way competing vocals between the settlers, the Native Americans, and Pocahontas herself. It has almost a full on Broadway feel to it, like Phantom Of The Opera or Wicked, as it reaches a tense, nail-biting climax.
Playing With The Big Boys from The Prince Of Egypt
A pretty decent song from an underrated movie from Dreamworks' earlier years. The vocals from Steve Martin and Martin Short can be hit or miss, but the clever wordplay and references to various gods in the Egyptian pantheon is well worth pointing out. Plus watching one cobra go all Hannibal Lecter on the other two has gotta be worth something. :-)
Mother Knows Best and its Reprise from Tangled
Not necessarily setting any evil schemes or plot into motion so I didn't include it in the final cut, but it still deserves to be talked about for its tone alone. The first version has an upbeat feeling to it almost like a song a hero would sing all while Mother Gothel demeans Rapunzel, listing all the reasons she wouldn't survive in the outside world by herself. The Dark Reprise of the song, though, is particularly sinister with its cold blue and misty background as she completely rips apart the one connection Rapunzel has made in the outside world, not to mention the fact that the connection is someone she's grown to have feelings for. Dayum that's cold!!!
Prince Ali (Reprise) from Aladdin
Another Dark Reprise (I told you guys I love this trope in musicals) has Jafar revealing Aladdin's facade before banishing him to the ends of the Earth. Johnathan Freeman's vocals (which almost remind me of Vincent Price in some respects) are Awesome, particularly when he ends the song with that bone chilling cackle that terrified me as a kid, but, unfortunately, it was under a minute and a half and was therefore way too short to make the list.
The Mob Song from Beauty And The Beast
This is a song that I actually put on the same level as Savages because, just like with A Little Priest and Feed Me, the 2 sound a lot alike. That "power" I said Gaston had earlier is on full display here as he feeds the fears of the villagers through mob psychology, all the while smiling and nodding with pleasure as the coup to kill the Beast takes place before him. Definitely has a dark and sinister feel to it, but I personally find Gaston to be much more fun to sing in the end. Had this been on the list, I probably would've put it tied with Savages for whatever spot it ended up in.
Big And Loud (particularly the Reprise) from Cats Don't Dance
Another Randy Newman song (he can do good songs every now and then, people) from a relatively unknown, yet still pretty decent, movie that I saw when I was younger. As is typical of Randy Newman, don't remember a single song from this movie except for this one (maybe Randy Newman should just stick to writing villain songs, I'm just sayin'). Very interesting hearing this song sung by a Shirley Temple style villain particularly when it gets to, you guessed it, the Dark Reprise where she reveals her true intentions.
And finally...
Toxic Love from Ferngully: The Last Rainforest
Many of you are probably going to persecute me for leaving this song off the list, but in the end it's my list. I didn't grow up with Ferngully like most others did and therefore didn't know about this song til I was in my late teens. The song itself can get preachy with its heavy hinting at the whole "humans are evil, nature is good" bullshit that plagues soo many movies like it (and I want to make it perfectly clear that I'm not anti-environment as I have enjoyed the original Lorax cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and WALL-E, which I feel are among the rare few that properly handle the topic of environmentalism and I've even heard that the Anime classic Princess Mononoke did a good job with its message too), but the Awesome vocals of Tim Curry are enough for it to at least be mentioned. And you know what, Nostalgia Critic didn't put it on his villain songs list either so I'm not entirely alone in my way of thinking here.
O.K. You guys have waited long enough and this is the moment you've all been waiting for. So without any further ado my #1 favorite Villain Song is...
I. Hellfire from The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
Yeah yeah. Many of you probably saw this coming relatively quickly and it almost seems cliched for me to put it at the top of the heap like soo many before me have done, but I can't help it. There's just soo much to love about this song. Now you've probably noticed that, in the accompanying video, I included the preceding song, Heaven's Light, but that's because both songs go together perfectly in the way that they have such opposing views of the same subject.
Quasimodo first starts off singing about observing lovers from a distance and how they have a certain positive aura that he can only describe as "Heaven's Light", something that he's thought himself to be unworthy of on account of his hideousness... at least until he met the gypsy girl, Esmeralda, who was the first person to not be afraid of his outward appearance. He then fantasizes about her possibly caring for him as he rings the cathedral bells, leading us into our villain song.
Judge Claude Frollo, a man who views himself as righteous and holy (something he takes great pride in), sings about how he's falling victim to his lustful feelings for the same gypsy girl, all the while denying any fault of his own. Once he finds out that Esmeralda has escaped from Notre Dame Cathedral, where she had previously claimed Sanctuary from Frollo, he sets it in his mind that he'll find her even if he has to burn down all of Paris, coming to the conclusion that if he can't have her then the flames of hell will.
I only ever saw this movie when I was in college and it's quickly become one of my favorite Disney movies of all-time. This was certainly one of the ballsiest movies to ever come out of Disney as the original source material is anything but kid friendly and this movie certainly doesn't shy away from some of those darker elements, tackling such taboo topics as religion, lust, prejudice, and murder. Hell, Frollo himself wants to commit genocide against all the gypsies.
One of my favorite parts of this song are the moments where the Dramatic Choir (one of my favorite cliches for any movie) sings in Latin, adding a very dark and haunting atmosphere to it. Something that a lot of people who've seen this movie plenty of times before could probably point out quickly is the fact that the Latin Choir mostly shows up during moments of intense drama normally caused by Frollo himself. It just always accompanies any scene where Frollo is involved which I thought was pretty clever.
Something I was quick to notice with both Heaven's Light and Hellfire is how much the songs and the singers themselves are complete polar opposites of each other. Quasimodo sings with absolute humility about his longing for innocent love that he once thought himself unworthy of receiving until Esmeralda came into his life and treated him with kindness in spite of his appearance. Frollo, on the other hand, sings, prideful on account of his supposed piousness, about his struggles with sinful lust towards the same girl.
The mysterious red cloaked figures during Frollo's moment of denial are particularly chilling. I don't even know for certain what they're supposed to represent and I doubt many kids would be able to figure out what they mean either, which I think was kind of the purpose of their inclusion: leaving them open to audience interpretation. Personally, I like to think of them as the spirits of the past saints, there to condemn Frollo for his lustful desires. As Frollo sings about not being at fault for his sins, these mysterious figures sing in Latin what translates out to "Through my fault" and "Through my most grievous fault." I personally think it works.
Another interesting aspect of it is how the song itself serves as a callback to the movie's opening number, The Bells Of Notre Dame. I've even noticed that they used some of the same Latin phrases in both songs. The 2 songs also play well off each other as, in "Bells", it's sung that Frollo saw corruption everywhere except inside himself, which fits perfectly with Hellfire as he continues to deny that these lustful feelings towards Esmeralda were due to his own fault. Finally, this song sets itself apart from other villain songs in the sense that it doesn't have the villain singing about how evil he/she is but instead focuses on the villain's internal struggle with lust brought on by his sexual desires.
This song deserves soo much praise as it was willing to take risks regarding something that's targeted towards kids and, in my opinion, those risks payed off big time which is why this is my #1 Favorite Villain Song of all-time.
And that was my Top 12 Favorite Villain Songs list. I hope you enjoyed it and I'd like to know what your opinions are on my choices. Did you agree with them? Did you disagree with them? Do you feel like I failed to mention another song or that some songs should've been ranked differently? I can already feel the hate that's going to pour in for me not putting Toxic Love on the list. Anyways, I'll be sure to put out more of these lists as I come up with more ideas for them. So until then, I hope that you guys have a great day and I'll see you on the next blog post. Take care.
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