Whether they are good or bad or not quite human, Disney witches have the magical ability to captivate our imagination and evoke a spark of wonder. We are here to provide you with the ultimate guide to all the Disney movies that feature witches. Some of the witches are human while others favor a more fantastical form.
17 Disney Witches from Disney Movies
We’ve compiled seventeen different Witches in Disney Movies with good witches, bad witches, and every which witch in between. From cartoons to live action, Disney classics to remakes, there is something here for everyone. Get your pointy hats ready and cauldrons bubbling for some magnificent magical movies!
| No. | Witch’s Name | Movie Title | Year of Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maleficent | Sleeping Beauty | 1959 |
| 2 | Madam Mim | The Sword in the Stone | 1963 |
| 3 | Ursula | The Little Mermaid | 1989 |
| 4 | The Enchantress | Beauty and the Beast | 1991 |
| 5 | The Sanderson Sisters (Winifred, Sarah, and Mary) | Hocus Pocus | 1993 |
| 6 | Marnie | Halloweentown | 1998 |
| 7 | Evil Queen | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | 1937 |
| 8 | The Witches of Morva (Orwen, Orddu, Orgoch) | The Black Cauldron | 1985 |
| 9 | Tia Dalma/Calypso | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest; At World’s End | 2006; 2007 |
| 10 | Yzma | The Emperor’s New Groove | 2000 |
| 11 | Mama Odie | The Princess and the Frog | 2009 |
| 12 | The Unnamed Witch | Into the Woods | 2014 |
| 13 | The Witch | Brave | 2012 |
| 14 | Mother Gothel | Tangled | 2010 |
| 15 | Xianniang | Mulan (Live Action) | 2020 |
| 16 | Queen Narissa | Enchanted | 2007 |
| 17 | The White Witch | The Chronicles of Narnia series (most prominently in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) | 2005 (for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) |
1. Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty)
Love her or hate her, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty has some pretty impressive magical powers. Her witchy wiles not only poison Princess Aurora but also build quite the fortress of thorns around the castle to stop Prince Philip from reaching his love and breaking the curse.
Perhaps the most stunning bit of magic Maleficent performs is transforming herself into an enormous fire-breathing dragon. You’ve got to admit she’s a very powerful witch with a stylish bit of flair. Only a prince set on a mission of true love and armed with the Sword of Truth could have stood a chance at taking her down.
2. Madam Mim (The Sword in the Stone)
While Merlin, the protagonist, is a wizard, his nemesis Madam Mim is a witch in the film The Sword in the Stone. With her cackly voice and crazy eyes, she portrays quite the magical mistress. She can fly using a broomstick, teleport on command, and most of all change her form to a variety of animals.
Ironically, she too ends up transforming into a dragon although her performance is less impressive. Even though her magical powers are arguably equal to that of the great Merlin himself, Madam Mim can be a little too overconfident in her abilities which tends to get her into trouble.
3. Ursula (The Little Mermaid)
Ursula the sea witch from The Little Mermaid is probably one of the most well-known of the Disney witches. With all of her magic potions and her creepy undersea cauldron, Ursula promises happiness to mermen and merwomen but when they can’t pay the price (which seems to be quite often), she adds them to her garden of decrepit souls.
Ursula proves that she is indeed extremely powerful when she acquires King Triton’s trident. With it, she becomes the most powerful being in the ocean until her arrogance gets her shish-kabobbed.
4. The Enchantress (Beauty and the Beast)
The enchantress in Beauty and the Beast is a minor character whose magic plays a major part in the movie. If it wasn’t for her spell, Belle and Prince Adam would have never met. In fact, the entire movie would not have happened. She must have possessed some pretty intense magical powers to sustain such an enormous enchantment for years.
Her magic changes the lives of those living in the castle as well as Belle and her father. The enchantress only makes her appearance at the beginning of the movie, but she holds true to her word and the spell is released when Belle confesses her love for the Beast.
5. The Sanderson Sisters (Hocus Pocus)
The Sanderson sisters are the talk of Salem, Massachusetts – even when they were burned at the stake during the witch trials. They vowed to return and placed a curse upon a very special candle. When Max lights the candle and brings the witches back, all of the children of Salem are at risk.
The Sanderson sisters reputedly received their powers from the Devil, and Winifred’s beloved spellbook provides all the recipes they need to perform their wicked deeds. Ultimately, their undoing is the rising sun and the hallowed ground of a cemetery.
6. Marnie (Halloweentown)
Halloweentown is yet another film on our ultimate list of movies with Disney witches. Marnie is a young witch who discovers her magical abilities. Her grandmother agrees to teach her but first needs to acquire ingredients for a potion to defeat an evil man. When introduced to Halloweentown, Marnie is in awe.
Eventually, Marnie has to step up to the plate when her grandmother becomes incapacitated. Thanks to her newfound magical abilities and confidence, Marnie defeats the enemy and Halloweentown is safe.
7. Evil Queen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
Snow White’s wicked stepmother the Evil Queen is not only a queen but quite a well-trained witch. She can brew a mean poison that is subtle enough to trick Snow White into eating the apple coated with it. She also has the ability to transform herself into an ugly old crone, although we’ll never know if she could change herself back.
Her ultimate undoing is her obsession with vanity and being the fairest in the land. Clearly, she doesn’t understand that being a bit kinder might make her more appealing rather than resorting to evil sorcery. A classic Disney witch from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
8. The Witches of Morva (The Black Cauldron)
The witches of Morva – Orwen, Orddu, and Orgoch – are minor yet very important characters in the film The Black Cauldron. They are the ones who possessed the coveted Black Cauldron, and they trade it to Taran for his magical sword. Once the Horned King has been defeated and a hero sacrificed to subdue the Cauldron’s powers, the witches make another appearance.
They make their powers known when challenged to manage the unthinkable – retrieve Gurgi from the Cauldron and restore him to life. The Morva witches not only accomplish this task but disappear with the Cauldron once it is done.
9. Tia Dalma (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest ; At World’s End)
The Pirates of the Caribbean sequels not only feature pirates and betrayals, but also quite a powerful witch who happens to be a sea goddess. Tia Dalma is Calypso trapped in human form. She has the power to resurrect the dead as evidenced by the return of Captain Barbosa. She can also perform other feats of magic as well.
The true measure of her ability is hinted at by the lengths to which the pirate lords took to lock her away. When her full power is revealed, she threatens to bring chaos and destruction to the seven seas.
10. Yzma (The Emperor’s New Groove)
Kuzco’s advisor Yzma dabbles in potions and homemade witchcraft in order to establish her dominance in the kingdom. Clearly not the most adept at her art – or picking her sidekicks, Yzma accidentally turns Kuzco into a llama instead of killing him. She uses her magical potions in vain to finish the job she started.
A comical ending to Yzma’s short reign of terror culminates with her ingesting one of her own mixtures. She thought it would make her powerful but instead, she changes into an adorable kitten. Not the brightest witch, but she still counts.
11. Mam Odie (The Princess and the Frog)
Dr. Facilier may be tapping into the dark side of voodoo magic, but Mama Odie is a witch of a different kind in The Princess and the Frog. She also uses voodoo but hers is light magic which she uses to help others like Naveen and Tiana. Her magic gumbo pot helps her discern the best way to solve their problems.
Just as Dr. Facilier gives his clientele what they think they want; Mama Odie gives hers what she knows they need. She ultimately shows Naveen and Tiana what is really important in life and it’s not materialistic or something you have to work hard to earn; it’s love.
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12. The Unnamed Witch (Into the Woods)
This musical turned movie has an unnamed witch as one of the main characters. Into the Woods takes various fairytales and melds them into one world. The witch in the story has classic fairytale witch powers of making magical deals with ordinary people and longing for a youth that has escaped her.
In the end, her meddling with others’ affairs towards the whole world upside down and the people point the finger of blame at her. This tale has a less than happy ending and the witch’s involvement leaves us less than satisfied with the helpfulness of magic.
13. The Witch (Brave)
The next movie on our list of Disney movies with witches is Brave. Young Merida comes across a mysterious hut in the woods and a tricky little old lady who tries to sell her some of her homemade artistic creations. Instead, Merida asks for a potion to help her mother be more understanding of her daughter.
Magic is never that straightforward and the witch’s magic carries the power of transformation as Merida’s mother is changed into a bear. As mother and daughter reconcile with each other, the mischievous little witch sees that her mission has been accomplished. She seems to have something in common with the enchantress from Beauty and the Beast.
14. Mother Gothel (Tangled)
Mother Gothel is the featured witch in Tangled. Like most witches who turn out to be antagonists, she desires youth and everlasting life only for herself. When the source of her longevity is used to save the life of Princess Rapunzel, she steals Rapunzel from her cradle and stashes her away for her own use.
Mother Gothel’s wiles keep Rapunzel locked in a tower and her magical song to activate the princess’s hair ensures the villain’s perpetual youth. As with any bad guy, she doesn’t win in the end and her selfish magic is put to a stop.
15. Xianniang (Mulan)
While the original cartoon version of Mulan does not feature any witches, the remake live action version does. In a new twist on the famous tale, the main antagonist has a witch in his employ. Xianniang can shapeshift and perform magic that takes out her enemies. She is not accepted because of who she is which is why she chooses the path of darkness.
In the end, she helps Mulan and hopes that she may find a place in society that she never had. In this film, witches and magic are seen as unnatural and easily used for evil. Although, like most other Disney movies, the witch has the opposite character of Mulan to balance her out.
16. Queen Narissa (Enchanted)
Of course you’d find a witch in the Disney movie that seems to jab at all of the other classic Disney movies. Enchanted features Queen Narissa who seems like a hybrid of the evil queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. She uses her magic to send Giselle to New York and away from Prince Edward.
In the end, when pursues our heroine to the Big Apple, she transforms herself into a dragon (sound familiar) to complete her endgame. Instead of a charming prince astride a steed, Giselle herself defeats the evil witch but decides to stay in New York instead of returning to Andalasia.
17. The White Witch (Chronicles of Narnia)
In the Chronicles of Narnia movies, one of the main antagonists who is most prominently featured in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is the White Witch. She is responsible for keeping the land of Narnia in eternal winter. Her evil infects the entire realm, and her powers are unmatched – until Aslan appears.
He is more than her equal and while she is defeated, she does return in the sequels. This speaks to her vast abilities to control magic and possess powers akin to immortality. Her evil is persistent, and the protagonists continuously find themselves facing the consequences of her magic time and time again.
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Disney Witches From the Movies
There are many Witches in Disney Movies and no two stories or witches are alike. From evil witches like Ursula and Maleficent to good witches like Marine and Mama Odie, there is plenty of room on either side of the playing field for some good old witchcraft.
Some of the Witches in Disney Movies do not identify with protagonists or antagonists but are simply there for the integrity of the plot like the enchantress from Beauty and the Beast or the little old witch from Brave. No matter which witch you prefer, there are plenty of Disney movies to satisfy your craving.
Pop your popcorn and get your binge-watching comfy pants on – it’s time for a movie marathon!
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