There’s no shortage of zany characters in the House of Mouse’s catalog, but as the entertainment empire persistently markets its line-up of princesses, there’s little to no love for the non-humans that bring a certain je ne sais quoi to the whacky world of Disney. Sometimes, these anthropomorphic animals are stars of the show, but they’re too often reduced to sidekicks with minimal screen time, even though they provide the comic relief and oftentimes drive the plot. Thankfully, we have timeless classics like The Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Bolt, and even the more recent Zootopia providing us with memorable non-human main characters.
But here at We Got This Covered, we believe in equality for all, especially when it comes to arguably some of the best model design and voice acting to come from Disney, which will this year be celebrating its 100-year anniversary to mark the occasion of Walt Disney and his brother Roy founding the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in Hollywood back in 1923. In honor of Disney’s long-running history as one of the highest-earning production companies around the globe, let’s get reacquainted with some of the franchise’s most unforgettable non-humans.
10. Phil (Hercules)
Unfortunately, Hercules ins’t one of Disney’s most talked-about projects, possibly because it released in 1997, long before any of the company’s modern target audience were even out of diapers. That doesn’t mean it isn’t one of the greats, boasting infinite rewatch value and a heartwarming story that’s certain to leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside. Speaking of fuzzy, if Philoctetes (shortened to Phil) weren’t an absolute delight by himself, add in the fact that he’s voiced by the legendary Danny DeVito (who actually resembles him somewhat) and you’ve got yourself one of animation’s most lovable jerks. Phil isn’t too enthralled by the prospect of training Hercules, especially after tarnishing his reputation by wasting time on other would-be heroes, but his patience and persistent pays off.
9. Ursula the Sea Witch (The Little Mermaid)
One would think that we’d be saving this spot for Ariel, no? Well, that would be far too predictable of us. Besides, every fairytale needs a good old-fashioned villain, and Ursula ticks all the boxes for a frightening ocean-dweller. We owe our gratitude to Pat Carroll — who sadly passed away in 2022 at age 95 — for embodying Ursula the Sea Witch and somehow making her more entertaining than the titular character. They weren’t kidding when they called her, well.. a witch. We have to give full props to Disney’s artists for making Ursula’s character model so distinctly unique and the animators for adding another layer to her personality only enhanced by Carroll’s performance. She is — and always has been — one of Disney’s ‘token’ antagonists and it isn’t difficult to understand why. And we for one can’t wait to see what Melissa McCarthy brings to the role.
8. WALL-E (WALL-E)
Grab the tissues, we’re moving on to WALL-E, which was actually a Disney Pixar effort. We can’t imagine that WALL-E and Eve’s timeless romance is 15 years old, but it still tugs at our heartstrings to this day. In the movie, millions of WALL-E robots (which are essentially miniature compactors as well as waste disposals) are left behind on an uninhabited, desolate Earth to clean up garbage. However, after all this time, the WALL-E robots were destroyed all but one, who blissfully continues his daily duties whilst collecting trinkets from Earth’s unwanted items. He meets EVE, a robot designed to detect signs of active photosynthesis on the Earth’s surface to determine if life is sustainable again. From there, we see a love story blossom that’s just as tear-jerking as if it were two humans.
7. Dory (Finding Nemo)
We’re all divided on our thoughts about Ellen DeGeneres, but let’s all set aside our judgement to agree upon the fact that Finding Nemo‘s Dory is one of Disney’s greatest triumphs as far as instantly recognizable characters. Not just that, but she’s effortlessly funny and extremely relatable; Dory can be scatterbrained at times, suffering from “short-term memory loss” — in other words: frequent forgetfulness. Despite being older than Nemo, she shares in his childlike wonder, completely amazed by the vast ocean around her and all the things she’s never seen before. Dory might get on Marlin’s last nerve, but the grumpy clownfish would be lying if he said she wasn’t a breath of fresh air. We should have someone as carefree and optimistic as Dory in our lives.
6. Olaf (Frozen)
When Disney’s Frozen released in 2013, it didn’t take long before every single child below the age of 12 owned an Olaf plushie and incessantly sang “Let It Go” at the top of their lungs at any given moment. It’s no secret that Elsa and Anna’s adventure took the entire world by storm, becoming the third highest-grossing animated movie of all time, only bested by its own sequel, 2019’s Frozen II, and The Lion King remake. Frozen managed to gross a whopping $1,290,000,000 at the worldwide box office, so if there was ever any doubt as to its popularity, the proof is in the pudding. It was Josh Gad’s portrayal of Olaf that won the day, however, as the lovable snowman melted the hearts of many, especially for his comedic outbursts and goofy solo songs.
5. Judy Hopps (Zootopia)
Another hit for Disney, Zootopia currently sits at the 10th spot for highest-grossing animated movies, understandably losing the chance at a higher spot to the likes of Finding Dory, Toy Story 3 and 4, and Incredibles 2. When you’ve got the dynamic duo of Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin at the forefront of the cast, it’s bound to be a successful movie. It didn’t take long before Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps became Disney’s ‘it’ couple, inspiring countless pieces of fanart, fan-fiction and even insanely accurate cosplays. Realistically, since Zootopia‘s whole premise revolves around a society of anthropomorphic animals, we could have picked any number of characters to make the list, but none were as beloved as Judy Hopps, the underdog protagonist who went from a down-and-out nobody to the first-ever bunny cop and Zootopia‘s most respected member of the force.
4. Simba (The Lion King)
He just can’t wait to be king, but he’s got some growing up to do first. We’ll just go ahead and say it: young Simba beats old Simba by a long shot. We don’t tend to discriminate, but there’s nothing more uplifting than two smash hits of “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” and “Hakuna Matata” one after the other, both featuring the voice of ’90s heartthrob Jonathan Taylor Thomas, also known as Randy Taylor in Home Improvement.Although JTT fell off the face of the Earth in recent years, we’ll never forget his run as Simba in the OG Lion King, nor his lion cub character, whose popularity withstood the test of time as 2019’s The Lion King remake remains the highest-grossing animated movie ever made. Those statistics speak for themselves, but even though Simba’s story was a commercial success, there’s still better characters yet.
3. Mushu (Mulan)
Is there anything that Eddie Murphy can’t do? It isn’t a coincidence that he’s voiced not only one of Disney’s best characters in Mulan’s Mushu, but also one of Dreamworks’ as Shrek’s pea-brained companion, Donkey. We’ll go ahead and admit that Mushu wouldn’t be nearly as popular if it weren’t for Eddie Murphy, but even without one of Hollywood’s greatest comedians helping him along, Mushu is undoubtedly superior in his own right. If it isn’t the bickering back and forth with Mulan or the love-hate relationship with Cricket, we can’t help but love Mushu for being the Jiminy Cricket to Mulan’s Pinocchio, guiding her through trials and tribulations as she faces the era of sexism in Imperial China. It only acts as a testament to Mushu’s popularity when 2020’s Mulan remake faced notorious backlash for cutting the guardian dragon out entirely.
2. Stitch (Lilo & Stitch)
Was there ever any doubt? We couldn’t mention non-humans without Stitch, the deuteragonist of 2002’s Lilo & Stitch. Although he could never replace Mickey Mouse, there was a moment in time where Stitch was closer to being Disney’s honorary mascot than any other character had ever been. He must have kept the audiences coming back for more because 2003, 2005 and 2006 saw three new installments in the Lilo & Stitch universe, and there’s even a live-action remake in the works. We can’t truly pinpoint the reason behind the fascination with Stitch, but we’ll assume it’s the way that Disney managed to give an extraterrestrial who can only speak in broken English more of a personality than some of its other characters. There’s so much emotion to Stitch that he conveys without words, which always seems to be a winner for Disney. Just look at Moana‘s Hei-Hei.
1. Genie (Aladdin)
We’re not biased because of the late, great Robin Williams. Of course not. Fine, you got us. But Robin Williams — although the biggest reason — isn’t the only reason we picked Genie as the best non-human in Disney history. We’ll give credit where it’s due and say that Williams poured his heart and soul into Genie, delivering musical number after witty pun to make us fall head over heels for a cosmic being. It isn’t just the fact that Aladdin is one of Disney’s most underrated and beloved movies, but without Genie, it just wouldn’t be the same. Although it didn’t hold a candle to Robin Williams’ version, just look at Will Smith’s portrayal in the 2019 remake — easily the saving grace of a metaphorical dumpster fire. There’s just something about Genie that’s captivating, plus he’s such a huge personality that it’s hard to not gravitate towards him.
