7. Maleficent

Movies: Sleeping Beauty (1959)

First Appearance: Sleeping Beauty (1959)

Voiced by: Eleanor Audley



Hands down, no argument, the greatest animated villain ever. She's sexy, she's sensuous - in a Disney cartoon! - and she can TURN INTO A DRAGON. For added badassishness, she takes revenge on poor, defenceless infants in retaliation for perceived social snubs. Yes, if you fail to invite her to your next soiree, she'll probably curse your baby to a future as Sarah Palin or something. OK, so technically she's a fairy, which sounds neither scary nor powerful, but this lady is to normal fairies what Michael Phelps is to the Water Babies class at your local leisure centre. Her only flaw? Hiring cinema's least competent henchmen.

Stroke of genius

She turns into a frickin' dragon; what more do you need? Although we do also like her twisted scheme to imprison Prince Charming until he's decrepit and only then let him rescue Sleeping Beauty.

Fun fact

The sound of Maleficent's dragon fire was created properly, with the use of a flame-thrower, not any namby-pamby mixing desk. The sound of the dragon's teeth snapping, however, was recorded using castanets for a little Spanish flavour.

10/10