Villain Song
Located in 2 routes
The show-stopping number in which the antagonist declares their menace, scheme or seductive power, relishing wickedness with theatrical gusto. Musically these lean on minor keys, dramatic tango, cabaret, patter or dark waltz rhythms, chromatic harmony and ominous orchestration — pipe organ, low brass, sinister strings — behind a characterful, often booming vocal. Lyrics are gleeful, sardonic and self-aggrandising, frequently the wittiest writing in the film. The mood is delicious malevolence, camp grandeur and threat.
History
The Disney villain song reached its modern peak in the Renaissance with Ashman and Menken's 'Poor Unfortunate Souls' (1989) and 'Gaston' (1991), followed by Elton John and Tim Rice's Scar anthem 'Be Prepared' (1994) and Menken and Schwartz's darkly liturgical 'Hellfire' (1996). The tradition continued through 'Mother Knows Best' (Tangled, 2010) and Randy Newman-era animation, and Disney's live-action and later films kept it alive with numbers like 'Friends on the Other Side' and Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Shiny' (Moana, 2016). Delivered by actors from Pat Carroll to Jeremy Irons and Keith David, the villain song is a beloved, much-analysed pillar of the animated musical.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Thomas S. Hischak and Mark A. Robinson, The Disney Song Encyclopedia (2009)
- Thomas S. Hischak, The Oxford Companion to the American Musical (2008)
- Mervyn Cooke, A History of Film Music (2008)
- Thomas Hischak and Mark Robinson, The Disney Song Encyclopedia (2009)
- James Bohn, Music in Disney's Animated Features (2017)
- Amy M. Davis, Good Girls and Wicked Witches (2006)