Disney's Top Ten Dragons

So, I had done this list quite a while ago for a different site where I rattled off the top ten greatest dragons of all time. Well, I really wanted to revisit that subject, but I sure as shit wasn't going to rehash a list I already did. So, to that end, I decided to do a list of Disney dragons, and I thought I'd do ten. Yeah, let me just tell you how tough that was to come up with. Who knew 10 would be such a nearly unattainable number? I mean ten really isn't that many! So, I buckled down, scoured the Disney archives, and finally, I found the elusive 'X', as it were. So, sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labor: The top 10 Disney Dragons. Oh, and I suppose you could argue that I use the term a bit loosely on a few of these. Meh.

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X- EPCOT Center, Disney World - Entrance To China - The Nine Dragons Restaurant

Yeah, I've been here, but I'd completely forgotten the name of the joint. Awesome Authentic Oriental dining that, surprisingly, isn't served buffet style.

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IX- Jake Long - American Dragon

Apparent synopsis: Young boy uses mystic Martial Arts to turn into dragon for some reason and travel back in time writing wrongs so he can leap home... wait, I've never seen this show.

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VIII- Evinrude (A Dragonfly) - The Rescuers

Um, he's the DRAGONFLY in The Rescuers... DRAGONfly. See where I'm going with this?

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VII- The Hydra - Hercules

A hydra is a type of dragon and I defy you to argue with that logic. DEFY!

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VI- Singe - Dragon's Lair (Animated by: Former Disney Artist, Don Bluth)

Man did I ever toss some coin into this machine! What an awesome video game concept this was. Who can forget the Heroics of Dirk the Daring as he dodged, jumped, and defended his way to his true love: Princess Daphne? Animated by Don Bluth (An American Tail, The Land Before Time), former Disney Animator (ah, therein lie the connection) this game was so far ahead of its time and even produced a sequel of sorts, Space ace.

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V- The Reluctant Dragon (Sir Giles {George} and the Dragon)

I remember watching this cartoon a whole ton when Disney Chanel first hit cable. It was aired as a package with three others: Goofy and some kind of nonsense, I believe Pecos Bill, and all of them revolving around a little kid trying to avoid Walt himself. Good stuff.

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IV- Mushu - Mulan

Voiced by the seemingly perpetually-animated Eddie Murphy (where once-funny comedians go to die, see: Robin Williams), Mulan's buddy was the embodied dragon spirit called Mushu (get it?). I've only seen bits and pieces of this movie, but it seemed pretty good and Murphy didn't make too much of an ass of himself (get that one, too?)

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III- Figment - EPCOT Center

Having been to EPCOT Center's Journey Into imagination, I have pretty vivid memories of Figment and his human, Dreamfinder. I think the story revolves around the wizard-guy teaching his little dragon how to use his imagination. Ah, memories.

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II- Maleficent - Sleeping Beauty

This dragoness, as I recall, used to scare the shit out of me when I was but a lad. She was the fourth faerie in the tale, the one not invited to Aurora's 'Christening', as the others, Flora, Fauna, and Meriweather, assumed she'd cause trouble. And, as it was she cursed the infant to "prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die" before the sun set on her sixteenth birthday. She is viewed as one of the most powerful and sinister of all the Disney villains.

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I- Elliott - Pete's Dragon

The oft invisible friend and guardian of Pete, Elliott wreaked all kinds of havoc in the unpronounceable town of Passamaquoddy. Also, and not-so coincidentally, animated by master Don Bluth, Elliott does a fine job of playing against his live-action friends. A wonderful movie with songs and lines that will stick with you for ever.