The Disney villain is typically calculating and clever, plotting a big scheme to achieve what their heart desires, whether it's to rule all or simply make something new for their wardrobe. To carry out their dastardly schemes, villains often have a sidekick on hand to carry out the dirty work.
The sidekick almost never shows the same amount of intelligence as the Disney villain, but there are the odd moments when they show flashes of genius. It could be a case of observance that the villain overlooked, coming up with a meritable idea, or keeping up a lie for an extremely long time. Either way, these villainous sidekicks prove that being smarter than a Disney villain can be done.
Pain And Panic Kept A Big Secret From Hades For 18 Years
Pain and Panic are the bumbling henchmen of the hot-headed god of the Underworld, Hades. They are shown almost to be clumsy and a bit goofy, so it's fair to assume that they wouldn't be capable of being smarter than their fiery-tempered Lord. But by messing up their task, they proved their potential.
When they failed miserably to kill the baby Hercules, Panic freaks out until Pain points out that they don't have to tell Hades, thus holding a very big secret for 18 years. Hiding something so important from a villainous god is something of a remarkable feat. If it weren't for Meg, they might have kept the secret until the very end.
Wiggins Knew What Was Up
In Pocahontas, the villain is the avaricious Governor Ratcliffe, an often forgotten Disney villain. He wasn't very well-liked among his peers either. Perhaps the only person to show him any loyalty was the well-meaning Wiggins.
Wiggins was more concerned with keeping house and making gift baskets than searching for gold, but that didn't mean he wasn't observant. When Ratcliffe asks him why they were attacked by Pocahontas' tribe, Wiggins responds, "Because we invaded their land and cut up their trees and dug up their earth?" Unlike Ratcliffe, Wiggins wasn't blinded by greed. He even laments that the disgraced Ratcliffe "came so highly recommended."
Horace Spotted The Puppies First
The ghastly Cruella de Vil might be one of Disney's most popular villains, especially due to her live-action origin story. The antagonist of 101 Dalmatians, Cruella's villainous desire was to have a coat made of Dalmatian puppies, and to do that, she hires crooks Jasper and Horace to help with the deed.
In a moment of daring escape, the Dalmatians disguise themselves as black Labradors using soot. As they cross the road, Horace wonders aloud whether they could in fact be the Dalmatians in disguise, only to be dismissed by Jasper. It is fair to say Horace is the least intelligent of the three, but this is the one instance when he was right on the money.
Kronk Makes A Good Point About Yzma's Potion Labels
One of the most lovable Disney villain sidekicks is Kronk, the good-hearted henchman to the villainous Yzma in The Emperor's New Groove. Considerably handsome but lacking in intelligence, Kronk is well-known as a classic himbo. However, he proves himself to be very observant in some cases, even more so than Yzma.
One notable is example is when Yzma learns that Kuzco was given a llama potion rather than the intended poison. Kronk says, "In my defense, your potions all look alike. You might want to think about relabelling some of them." This moment is hilarious because the normally dim-witted Kronk is saying what the audience is thinking, expecting an intelligent scientist like Yzma to have a much clearer labeling system for her potions.
The Huntsman Fooled The Queen About The Heart
The Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the original Disney movie villain. Consumed with jealousy of Snow White, she sends the Huntsman to kill Snow White and bring back her heart. Unable to do the deed, the Huntsman makes Snow White run away and instead gives the EvilQueen a heart of a pig.
To be fair to the Queen, it would have been difficult to tell the difference between a human heart and a pig's heart without a closer inspection. Still, she took the Huntsman's word without questioning it, which was foolish. If it weren't for the Magic Mirror, the Queen would have been none the wiser that Snow White was alive and well.
Sir Hiss Wasn't Fooled By Robin Hood
The childish Prince John may be one of Disney's under-appreciated villains but there is no question that his loyal sidekick Sir Hiss is the smartest of all of the villains in Robin Hood. Throughout the movie, he is shown to be constantly competent and more observant. It's due only to the heroes' quick thinking and his boss' foolishness that he fails in his tasks.
This is most evident when Robin Hood and LIttle John disguise themselves, first as fortune tellers, then as a rich spectator and a competitor for the archery contest. Both times, Hiss was suspicious, but the Prince dismisses him. Hiss may also be the only sidekick to let the villain know he was smarter too: "I tried to warn you, but no, no, no, you didn't listen."
Jafar Marrying Jasmine Was Iago's Idea
Another beloved Disney villain is Jafar, the scheming royal vizier in Aladdin. Jafar is certainly very intelligent, perhaps the smartest character in the movie. For him to be outsmarted by anyone other than Aladdin seems unlikely. Yet there is a moment when this is the case.
Not far from Jafar's side is his boisterous parrot, Iago. Whilst Iago may be loud and obnoxious, he is competent and rather smart. In fact, it was Iago who came up with the idea that if Jafar married Jasmine and then dispatched of her and the Sultan, Jafar would claim the throne. Jafar very much liked the idea and attempted to go ahead with it, nearly succeeding.
Morph Had Everyone Fooled
An underrated gem among Disney's movies that deserves more attention is Treasure Planet, a galactic pirate adventure based on the classic Stevenson tale, Treasure Island. The villain of the story is the cyborg Long John Silver, and his sidekick, Morph, is an adorable piece of mischief who can shapeshift into anything at will.
In a climactic moment of the movie, protagonist Jim Hawkins takes the map just before Silver can reach it. Jim flees the ship as it's overtaken by pirates, only to find once they crashland that the map was Morph all along and the real map is still onboard the ship. Regardless of who would have taken the "map," Morph had everyone fooled.
The Hyenas Take Down Scar
The Lion King is one of Disney's most successful movies to this day. One reason is Scar, Simba's malicious uncle and one of Disney's most popular villains. It is hard to forget the heart-stopping moment when Scar sends his brother Mufasa plummeting to his death.
Scar is assisted in his crimes by hyenas. Yet despite their cunning and frequent competence, Scar thinks little of them and takes them for granted. This was a mistake, as highlighted by his biggest error: cowardly pinning the blame of Mufasa's death on them within their earshot. This moment is not only foolish but also fatal, as the angry hyenas easily overpower and murder Scar on the spot.
The Magic Mirror Knows All
While he is not called a sidekick directly, the imprisoned spirit of the Magic Mirror in Snow White could technically be considered one, because he must serve and obey the Evil Queen whether he wishes to or not.
The Magic Mirror knows all and will tell the Queen truth and knowledge when she commands it. As a result, the Mirror is smarter than the Queen regardless of what she does. With this in mind, it could be said that the Magic Mirror is easily the most intelligent of the Disney villain sidekicks, maybe even one of Disney's most intelligent characters in general.