As adults, it can be fun to re-watch Disney movies. Partly for nostalgia, but also partly because there are lots of hidden meanings, funny jokes, and character developments that we may not have picked up on as children. One of those being pretty silly or naive decisions.
In this article, we throw seriousness aside and analyze the five dumbest Disney characters. How did they earn this title in our minds? They sided with the wrong alliance and failed to see their downfall that was just around the corner. Not to be mean, but what were they thinking?
1. Scar, The Lion King (1994)
Not only does Scar double-cross and kill his brother, Mufasa, but he then scares his nephew out of the kingdom, sides with the hyenas, and runs the kingdom into the ground.
He causes all of this pain and suffering because he let the green-eyed monster of jealousy control him. One of the biggest lessons adults can see in this movie is that being deceitful to get power and control is never the answer and it does not end well. If he could just be content being the brother of the King, Scar could have been sitting pretty at the top of the food chain. Instead, he becomes a hyena banquet.
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2. Snow White, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937)
C’mon Snow White, think before you take anything from strangers. This is one of the first things they teach you as a child: stranger danger. In our opinion, she was old enough to know something was off, especially when the witch had to sell her into it. And here’s the thing, how dumb do you have to be to believe it is a magic apple?
Clearly, they didn’t have stranger danger education in Snow White’s time. Perhaps the Disney remake starts with Snow White screaming “stranger” and the movie lasts around 10-minutes (probably not). She ranks #2 based on her gullible character in this movie.
3. Ariel, The Little Mermaid (1989)
Talk about a bad message in the modern era. This story about a young girl giving up what she loves for a man does not have a feminist undertone. It makes us all wonder what Ariel was thinking and how the remake coming out in 2o23 will tackle that message.
Based on Ariel’s life in the movie, she has a great life under the sea collecting trinkets and exploring. What makes her one of the dumbest characters is willingly risking everything she has and giving up her most important personality trait, her voice, to be with a man she’s never met. We’re not judging love or attraction or anything like that, but this story could have gone very differently if the Prince was not the man she made him out to be. Are there no mermen she can fan-girl over?
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4. Megara, Hercules (1997)
What is it with people selling their souls to the devil? In Hercules, Megara (often referred to as Meg) trades her soul to save her boyfriend at the time from Hell. Why does this make her one of the dumbest Disney characters? Because her boyfriend then leaves her for another woman. Ouch.
Actually, we should even include him as one of the dumbest Disney characters, too. Leaving someone who would trade their soul for you is definitely a big mistake. Regardless, Meg makes it onto this list because giving away your soul is the dumbest thing you can do. It’s a shame that her loving personality got herself into a bad situation in the first place.
5. Sultan, Aladdin (1992)
The Sultan in Aladdin has to be one the dumbest characters in all of Disney’s content. With all of his power and wealth, he still lets the evil-looking Jafar become his most loyal adviser. It is also clear that Jafar was interested in the Sultan’s daughter, so clearly his motives were not all honorable. While he may have been hypnotized by Jafar, he should have made sure he had trusted people around him that would prevent bad things from happening to his family.
We think this short-sightedness led to all of the drama that comes in Aladdin. It’s always important to know who your true friends are and this Disney film teaches us how to not be dummies in the same way.
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We hope you enjoyed our hilariously nostalgic ranking of the five dumbest Disney characters. We all know them and let’s face it, love to hate them. These movies are true classics, but as we get older it’s easy to question what exactly these characters were thinking. It’s a wonder they learn their lessons in the end.