With Mean Girls and the highly-anticipated Wicked movie coming to theaters, the Broadway-to-movie pipeline is hotter than ever. Movie musicals are a great way to reach a wider audience beyond Broadway. Fans of Broadway musicals get a thrill from seeing their favorite characters and songs on the big screen. The classic musical formula usually includes a villain, someone or something that prevents the hero from trying to accomplish their goals.

There are villains, and then there are musical movie villains. Musical villains are on another level because they are evil, and they can sing about it. Sometimes, villains in musicals can be really cheesy (or too goofy), and this prevents them from being taken seriously. However, within the wide range of movie musicals, there are a few villains whose reputation exceeds the others. The best movie musical villains don't just sing about what they want to accomplish, they actually follow through on their evil plans. They want to personally watch the hero (or heroes) lose badly, and they don't care who they harm to get their way.

10 Gaston

'Beauty and the Beast' (1991)

Gaston (Richard White) is the village bad boy and all-around "lady's man" in Disney's Beauty and the Beast. His loyal sidekick is LeFou, who is always there to cheer Gaston on. When he isn't hunting or hanging out at the local pub, he is making moves on Belle, who doesn't want anything to do with him. Gaston doesn't want anyone else to fall in love with Belle. Gaston sees the Beast as a threat to Belle. He rallies the village to kill the Beast. However, Gaston doesn't succeed against the love between the Beast and Belle.

Gaston is one of the more terrifying Disney villains. He is driven by an obsession over Belle, which quickly escalates into violence and malice. He really wants Belle and will do anything to win her. As the movie goes on, Gaston goes to further extremes to force Belle into marrying him. He forces Belle's father, Maurice, into a mental asylum and rallies the village into a violent mob to go after the Beast.

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9 Scar

'The Lion King' (1994)

Scar (Jeremy Irons) is Mufasa's brother and Simba's uncle. He is kind of an outcast in the pride, and prefers to socialize with the hyenas. Scar was in line for the throne until Simba was born. Scar creates a plan to kill Mufasa and Simba during a staged stampede. After their deaths, Scar becomes king, but he is unaware that Simba is still alive. Simba believes he is responsible for the death of his father. Simba eventually returns to the Pride Lands and almost loses his life fighting Scar for the throne.

Scar is power-hungry, and has quite an ego. He is resentful towards his brother and desperately wants to replace him as King. Of the Disney villains who are animals, he is probably one of the most manipulative and cruel. His desire for power drives him to murder. He creates a plan to kill his own brother and nephew. Scar manipulates the hyenas into doing most of his dirty work for him.

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8 Wicked Witch of the West

'The Wizard of Oz' (1939)

The Wicked Witch of the West, played by Margaret Hamilton in the 1939 film starring Judy Garland, is one of the most recognizable witches in fiction. Dorothy's house lands on top of the Wicked Witch's sister, who is instantly killed by the impact. Glinda the Good Witch (Billie Burke) gifts Dorothy ruby slippers, which had been left behind by the Wicked Witch's sister, to protect her from the Wicked Witch's wrath. The Wicked Witch finds out Dorothy killed her sister and is determined to get revenge. As Dorothy travels with her friends to see the Wizard, the Wicked Witch uses her magic (and flying monkeys) to try to capture Dorothy.

The Wicked Witch is one of the most scary witches in a movie musical. She is a powerful witch and uses her magic to frighten the people living in Oz. Everyone fears her, and they avoid any confrontation with her. The Wicked Witch is relentless in her pursuit of Dorothy and her friends. She tries multiple times to kill them, but she is ultimately unsuccessful in her attempts as Dorothy is protected by the power of the ruby slippers and Glinda's good magic.

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7 Miss Trunchbull

'Matilda the Musical' (2022)

Miss Agatha Trunchbull (Emma Thompson) is the principal of Crunchem Hall Elementary School, even though she despises children. She is the aunt of Miss Honey. After the death of Miss Honey's father, Trunchbull became her guardian. She regularly abused Miss Honey as a child. As principal of Crunchem Hall, Trunchbull mistreats and harshly punishes the students. Miss Trunchbull eventually meets her match with Matilda, who helps Miss. Honey win back her childhood home and leads the other children in a revolt at the school.

Agatha Trunchbull is a child abuser. Her cruel punishments, such as putting "misbehaving" children in the Chokey and forcing a student to eat a whole cake, harm the children psychologically and physically. She gets away with her vicious behavior because the parents don't believe their children. She also turns her violent and aggressive behavior towards adults as well, especially if they have something that she wants. Trunchbull even goes as far as to murder Miss Honey's father so that she can inherit the house.

6 WATCH ON NetflixRasputin

'Anastasia' (1997)

Rasputin, voiced by Christopher Lloyd, is an evil sorcerer who served as an advisor to the Romanov family. Rasputin was exiled by Tsar Nicholas II for treason. To get revenge, Rasputin sells his soul and curses the Tsar and his family. The curse ignited the Russian Revolution. Anastasia (Meg Ryan) and her grandmother, the Dowager Empress (Angela Lansbury) manage to escape, but they are separated. But there are rumors that Anastasia survived.

Rasputin is a very frightening and creepy sorcerer. He uses dark magic to summon and control demons. With the help of his assistant, Bartok, Rasputin comes back from the dead. He wants nothing more than to see Anastasia die, and he is fixated on using the extent of his powers to murder her. Similar to the Wicked Witch of the West, Rasputin is desperate to get revenge.

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5 Joseph Pulitzer

'Newsies' (1992)

Joseph Pulitzer (Robert Duvall) is the owner of a newspaper business in New York City. His papers are sold by young boys and men, known as Newsies. Pulitzer decides to change the rules for selling papers, and this causes the Newsies to make less money. In response to the new rule, the Newsies, led by Jack "Cowboy" Kelly, decide to strike.

Out of a handful of business executive villains in musicals, Joseph Pulitzer from Newsies is the baddest of them all. He wants what is best for his business, and not his employees. He is greedy and wants his newspaper business to do better than his competitors like Hearst. He uses his power within the business and political world to get things to go his way. He calls on the police to violently break up a Newsie rally and tries to bribe Jack with money.

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4 Velma von Tussle

'Hairspray' (2007)

Velma Von Tussle, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, is the mother of Amber von Tussle. Velma is a former beauty pageant queen. She is the station manager, which makes it easy for her daughter, Amber, to be front and center on "The Corny Collins Show." Velma only allows Black dancers to have air time for one day. Von Tussle hates Tracy Turnblad (Nicole Blonsky) because Tracy supports integration and has a different body shape. Driven by vanity, she will do anything to get Amber to win the "Miss Teenage Hairspray" pageant.

Velma is racist because she doesn’t let the Black dancers have as much time as the white dancers on the show. She discriminates against people like Tracy who aren’t a certain body type. She lives vicariously through Amber and doesn’t think about what is best for her daughter. She isn’t afraid to cheat and manipulate people to get her way. Velma fires Tracy from the show, and she even rigs the results of the “Miss Teenage Hairspray” pageant in favor of Amber.

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3 Mrs. Meers

'Thoroughly Modern Millie' (1967)

In Thoroughly Modern Millie, Mrs. Meers, played by Beatrice Lillie, is the housemother of the Priscilla Hotel, and an unsuccessful actress. Her tenants at the Priscilla don't know that Meers and her henchmen are sex-trafficking women who are orphans from New York City to Beijing. A new tenant named Dorothy Brown (Mary Tyler Moore) arrives and moves in with Millie Dillmount (Julie Andrews). Mrs. Meers learns Dorothy is an orphan and takes advantage of Dorothy's situation.

Mrs. Meers is one of those villains who isn't obviously wicked at first. What makes her a great musical movie villain is that she is calculating. Mrs. Meers doesn't make moves without at least some type of plan. She lures women by getting them to let their guard down. She is also always looking out for number one: herself. Mrs. Meers doesn't care about other people, even her own henchmen.

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2 Orin Scrivello, DDS

'Little Shop of Horrors' (1986)

Orin, played by Steve Martin, is an aggressive and narcissistic dentist, and boyfriend to Aubrey. Aubrey works at a flower shop with Seymour, and they become friends. Seymour discovers a strange alien plant that consumes humans and their blood in order to live. The plant, eventually named Aubrey II, grows very large and gets the media's attention. Seymour witnesses Orin hurting Aubrey and decides he would be good plant food for Aubrey II.

While Aubrey II is a wickedly horrific plant, there is something much more sinister about Orin. He is driven by his desire for power and control. His aggressive behaviors started out when he was a child as he abused animals. As a dentist, he fuels himself with nitrous oxide and tortures his patients with his old-fashioned drills. He is abusive towards Aubrey and bullies Seymour.

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1 The Thénardiers

'Les Misérables' (2012)

The Thénardiers are an evil duo in Les Misérables. In the 2012 movie, Madame Thénardier is played by Helena Bonham Carter, and Thénardier is played by Sacha Baron Cohen. Monsieur and Madame Thénardier are innkeepers who take care Fantine's daughter, Cosette, along with their own two daughters. However, they don't watch Cosette for free, and force Fantine to pay them. Fantine passes away and Jean Valjean adopts Cosette after Fantine's passing.

Many people might think that Javert is the villain of Les Misérables, but that isn't truly the case. The Thénardiers are the most terrifying villains in Les Misérables. They abuse and take advantage of poor Cosette, and they extort money from Fantine. Ultimately, the Thénardiers' greed results in Fantine's death and significant trauma for Cosette. However, Monsieur and Madame Thénardier don't stop at hurting Cosette and Fantine; they are criminals who love to steal and find illegal ways to make money.

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