Disney has created some of the greatest characters in movie history. The Disney Princesses are a brand unto themselves and Disney Villains include some of the most iconic characters ever conceived. However, there are also those other characters. Sometimes the characters you remember most coming out of the best animated Disney movies aren’t the heroes or the villains.
Sometimes the character that steals a scene, or even an entire movie, are the sidekicks. Sometimes it’s the characters that are barely in the movie at all, but are so memorable in their few moments of screen time that you want to see an entirely new movie based on them. Here are some of the best Disney side characters who have stolen scenes in our favorite films.
The Genie – Aladdin
There may be no Disney character who stole the show, who was designed to steal the show, like Aladdin‘s Genie. Voiced by the incomparable Robin Williams, the Genie owns every scene he’s in even though the movie is never really about him.
Sebastian – The Little Mermaid
There’s no better way to steal a scene in an animated Disney movie than with a great song, and Sebastian gets a great one in The Little Mermaid. “Under the Sea” won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1990 and it’s not hard to see why. Considering songwriter Howard Ashman specifically designed Sebastian with a Jamaican accent so that he could write a calypso song, clearly he knew this little crab would be one of the highlights of the film.
HeiHei – Moana
It takes a certain skill to steal a scene when you can’t actually speak, and yet Moana‘s chicken HeiHei is somehow able to do exactly that. Alan Tudyk‘s great voice acting (voice clucking?) combined with perfect animation make Heihei unforgettable. It’s a good thing Maui didn’t eat him or we would have been robbed of some hilarious moments.
Maximus -Tangled
From sword-fighting Flynn Rider to breaking him out of prison, few horses are quite as capable as Maximus. Not simply a mount for the captain of the guard, Maximus himself ultimately becomes the captain of the guard, which is only fitting considering his importance. This horse deserves all the apples.
Kronk – The Emperor’s New Groove
The Emperor’s New Groove is one of Disney’s funniest movies, and Kronk is absolutely the funniest part of it. The sidekick to villain Yzma, Kronk is big and dumb but it’s impossible not to love him. He’s just so earnest, and he tries so hard, how can you not love Kronk?
Lumiere – Beauty And The Beast
Even as a candelabra, there’s something irresistible about Lumiere. Nothing phases him and he can get an entire dining room dancing. He’s always sure that everything will work out in Beauty and the Beast, and he does eventually turn out to be right. Clearly, he knew something the rest of us did not.
Mr. Pleakly – Lilo & Stitch
Mr. Pleakly is the last alien who should be sent after experiment 626, but he certainly does give it his all in attempting to recapture the mischievous monster. From his numerous costume changes to his perpetual fear of basically everything, Pleakly is the perfect comic sidekick.
Rutt And Tuke – Brother Bear
Rutt and Tuke are minor characters in Brother Bear but of course, they steal every scene they’re in. Why? They’re voiced by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, and are basically just animated versions of The McKenzie Brothers, the hilariously Canadian duo of SCTV fame that the two played in live-action. Their appearance is almost more of an easter egg than anything else, but it’s a welcome one.
Louis – The Princess And The Frog
Louis is a friendly alligator who plays the trumpet in a movie where jazz music plays a pivotal role. Of course, he’s going to steal the show. He leads one of the best songs and gets some of the best jokes in The Princess and the Frog.
Vincenzo “Vinny” Santorini – Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Atlantis: The Lost Empire isn’t a movie that a lot of people remember, but it had an incredible voice cast including Michael J. Fox, James Garner, and Leonard Nimoy. However, the character you likely remember most is explosives expert Vinny Santorini, who was voiced by Don Novello, best known for his character Father Guido Sarducci who would appear on SNL from time to time. Vinny is a simple man who just wants to blow things up. Is that too much to ask?
Tigger – The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is made up of three different stories, one of which doesn’t even include the character of Tigger. And yet, today most people don’t even realize that there was a time when there was no Tigger in Disney’s Winnie the Pooh. He basically takes over the movie from the title bear from the moment he arrives and never gives it back.
Cheshire Cat – Alice In Wonderland
Wonderland is a strange place full of all sorts of strange characters, but the Cheshire Cat may be one of the weirdest of them all and one of the few who seems well aware of how strange he is. This makes him instantly memorable.
Scuttle – The Little Mermaid
Buddy Hackett was a great comic talent and he brings that incredible ability to the role of Scuttle in The Little Mermaid perfectly. The seagull’s cluelessness is quite endearing, making every moment the bird is on screen hilarious.
Valentino – Wish
Alan Tudyk has voiced numerous Disney characters over the last several years, but one of his best is also one of his most recent. Valentino, the goat who gains the ability to speak in Wish does not let his new gift go to waste. He embraces his new speech and every line he speaks is another scene-stealing moment.
Rhino – Bolt
Disney movies teach us that we can do anything and one has to assume that Rhino, the hamster stuck in a ball from Bolt has seen more than his share of Disney movies. Rhino never lets his small stature stand in the way of whatever he believes he can accomplish, and while what he believes he can do is a great deal more than what’s actually possible, you have to love the enthusiasm.
Archimedes – The Sword In The Stone
Sometimes in the middle of a bright and happy Disney movie, what you need is an angry curmudgeon who has no patience for any of it. That’s the owl Archimedes in The Sword in the Stone. He doesn’t like anybody or anything, and honestly, we’ve all been there.
Iago – Alddin
Voiced by the great Gilbert Gottfried it’s literally impossible for Iago not to steal any scene he’s in. How could you possibly ignore that voice? Still, Iago is hilariously fun with his endlessly sarcastic quips.
Sgt. Calhoun – Wreck-It Ralph
Most of Wreck-It Ralph takes place inside bright and colorful video games where the characters are all pretty laid back and fun. And then there’s Sgt. Calhoun, the no-nonsense hardcore leader of Hero’s Duty. She’s so different than everything else in the movie that she instantly draws your attention whenever she’s on screen.
Meg – Hercules
Oh all Disney heroines, Megara is one of the most overlooked. While she does eventually need rescuing from the hero, she never asks for help and spends a not insignificant amount of her time making fun of Hercules. She’s such a shift from what we’re used to it that you can’t help but want more.
Allan-a-Dale – Robin Hood
Robin Hood isn’t one of Disney’s musicals, but it still has some great music thanks to Alan-A-Dale, the rooster minstrel voiced by the late great Roger Miller. He’s the narrator of our story, but more than once his music becomes the story.
Boun – Raya And The Last Dragon
Raya and the Last Dragon is not lacking for memorable side characters, they’re all quite impressive, but restaurant owner Boun, a kid pretending to be a businessman is the best of them. He commands the screen when he’s being hilarious as much as when he’s being vulnerable.
Olaf – Frozen
Olaf is one of those great Disney sidekicks that could have gone terribly wrong, but great writing and solid work from Josh Gad have continued to make Olaf incredible. There’s a reason the little snowman has received his own holiday specials and animated short. The Frozen movies alone can’t contain him.
Duke Weaselton – Zootopia
Duke Weaselton only appears in a couple of scenes in Zootopia but they’re both quite memorable, with the first being one of the movie’s great action sequences, and the second being one of the funniest parts of the film, where Weaselton is selling bootleg DVDs of animal-influenced Disney films.
Bruno – Encanto
They don’t talk about Bruno, but after seeing Encanto Bruno was all most people could talk about. He may have gone slightly bonkers living in the walls of his house but the love he has for his family is palpable, making his brief appearance key to the story and the movie’s emotional core.
Rafiki – The Lion King
Timon and Pumbaa often get all the credit for being scene-stealing sidekicks in The Lion King but Rafiki is the one who ultimately teaches Simba the lesson that he needs to understand, and he does it in a way that is equal parts magical and ridiculous. He has less screen time than almost any other voiced character in the film, but Rafiki makes it count.
Flora, Fauna And Merriweather – Sleeping Beauty
The master plan of the three fairies to keep Aurora safe for 16 years in Sleeping Beauty doesn’t exactly work, but you certainly can’t say that Flora, Fauna, and Meriweather don’t give it their all. Even if they can’t make a decent cake or decide what color to make a dress, these three are the aunts we all would be lucky if we had.
Jock And Trusty – Lady And The Tramp
Many Disney movies deal with incredible friendships but one of the best is happening on the sidelines of Lady and the Tramp. Trusty is an old bloodhound who has lost his ability to smell and Jock is his dear friend who will never tell him that he can’t smell anything because Jock knows how heartbreaking that would be for his friend.
Jasper And Horace – 101 Dalmatians
Yes, Jasper and Horace are technically bad guys, but they’re hilariously incompetent bad guys, and that makes them a great deal more fun and easier to love. If Cruela deVil had been able to hire anybody smarter she might have actually been dangerous.
Jaq And Gus – Cinderella
Cinderella’s little mice friends are small but they are actually a big part of her movie. Jaq is (allegedly) the brains of the operation, but Gus is too cute to ignore. They are able to get the better of Lucifer the cat in a pair of sequences that are among the best in Cinderella.
Baymax – Big Hero 6
In a movie full of superheroes, the real hero is the one who would rather heal than hurt. Baymax is just so innocent and kind that it’s impossible not to love him. Eventually, it’s the robot who shows the biggest heart.
Scat Cat – The Aristocats
The Aristocats is not one of Walt Disney Animation’s best movies, but it does have its moments. Or at least its moment. “Everybody Wants To Be A Cat” is a classic Disney song, even if it’s in a largely forgotten movie. Scatman Cruthers is the voice of his namesake kitty, and he rocks the song and steals the show.
Dodger – Oliver And Company
How do you not steal the scene when you’re literally Billy Joel? Dodger in Oliver and Company is the cool dog that everybody else wants to be, and he’s got the best song in the movie. If you’ve ever seen this movie you probably don’t remember anything else.
