Tis sad. One of my favorite movies growing up, and Ratigan was a real *beep* I loved it.
I never liked cats. - Stannis Baratheon
Although I agree that Ratigan is one of the best, I'd say there are still some terrific modern Disney villains.
Basil of Baker Street
http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/basil/bakerst.html
Hades in Hercules was the last Disney villain whom I thought was comparable to Ratigan in terms of being fun to watch.
Supermodels...spoiled stupid little stick figures mit poofy lips who sink only about zemselves.
How could the OP say that there weren't any villains like Ratigan after him...hello: Ursula, Jafar, Scar, Frollo, etc. were all overall better/more wicked villains. I liked Ratigan a lot but he can't compete with those guys
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the truth hurts...sorry it's true
He's definitely my fave Diz villain
You killed Captain Clown, YOU KILLED CAPTAIN CLOWN-The Joker on Batman TAS
I respectfully disagree. Ratigan wasn't interesting until about a minute or two before his demise. His legs looked like lady's legs and he walked really awkwardly. It annoyed the heck out of me that he walked with his knees touching but his feet are really far apart. Try it in real life and you will realize how awkward it looks.
The main problem I had with Ratigan is the he was one dimensional and nothing interesting about him. He was your "cliche villain who wants power for no apparent reason". The movie never showed his motives, his past, his character development or anything. All we knew is that he is evil because he is evil. That's it. Besides he wasn't very threatening until the end when he went all Beast mode on Basil.
And honestly a lot of Disney villains after that movie were a lot better such as Hades, Jafar (though Jafar was a rip off of Zig-Zag), Scar, or Doctor Facilier. Doctor Facilier for example actually had motives. He was treated like scum and he was on the bottom of system. He wanted to be powerful because he was poor. Hades was interesting because he was funny and was evil and nice at the same time. His outside appearance seemed rather laid back and casual but deep inside he hates everyone. Ratigan on the other hand... well... he wants power. That's it.
I do not agree with you rickystickyman. I always found Ratigans motives for being a bad guy very understandable. he is a rat who tries to be like a mouse. he gets pissed when someone speaks to him as speaking to a 'rat'. one can imagine very easily how ratigan was bullied as a kid for being whom he was in the school of rats, thus he decided to 'become a mouse'. only problem was that he was no mouse; he was a rat. thus, in order to get respect from the other mice, he had to become a master criminal first. thus he gained respect in the empire of the mice. of course not every mouse appreciated his deeds; enter Basil 'Holemouse'. them being enemies must have started from the very beginning, and Ratigans methods where 'to obey or to be fed to the cat', that's like an offer you cannot refuse. but always dignified and always with respect. for this reason, I find Ratigan one of the Best as well as one of the most tragic of all Disney vilains.
free speech!!!
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005261/board/nest/153864713?d=153864713#153864713
I can understand where you are coming from but: the movie never tells us that. And that is my problem with Ratigan. If the movie wanted to show him being bullied then it should've done so. But it didn't. So while your idea is a very good "guess" the movie never really mentions his background, motives, or anything about him. So by definition he is a 1 Dimensional villain because absolutely nothing about his character is explained or even thought out. I understand that you can still like him but he is 1 dimensional either way. I wanted to like Ratigan but his evil scheme was pretty lame... within the first 10 minutes of the movie (no joke) I figured out what his plan was. The other problem I had is that movie is pretending to be a Sherlock Holmes movie but it doesn't play out like one. The rule of Moriarty is that we don't see him until the end, but revealing Ratigan's appearance at the very beginning ruins any suspense on the later conflicts.
shareAgree with you. He's a so so villain. What's the rule of Moriarty? I'm reading the books now. He's only active in two of the sixty stories. And in one he - SPOILER - "kills" Holmes and is mentioned throughout the eleven page story. They're great stories if you haven't read them.
shareIt annoyed the heck out of me that he walked with his knees touching but his feet are really far apart. Try it in real life and you will realize how awkward it looks.
He was your "cliche villain who wants power for no apparent reason".
I don't have anything wrong Vincent Price (I love the actor) but the movie is... about as shallow and obvious as a Disney film gets. The villain is one-dimensional, you have the kid side-kick, you have low-quality songs, the animation isn't on par with other Disney films, and the plot can be seen about a mile away.
Ratigan's concept sounds good on paper, but in execution it doesn't work quite well. He can't just be interesting because of the way he walks or talks, he needs to be interesting and fleshed-out. Ratigan isn't fleshed out. The only dimension to him is that he is a rat who acts proper.
He can't just be interesting because of the way he walks or talks,