My brother and I have just gone through each Disney villain, looking for the 'best' (judged mostly on efficiently of their plans, cruelty of their actions, and likeability by the audience).
Our conclusion was that Scar is the best villain.
He uses his wit to deal out his acts of cruelty. Each of these cruel acts ultimately serve some purpose in fulfilling his dream of becoming King. He finally succeeds, through his most cruel of actions seen by the audience (Murder of his brother, and attempt of assassinating his young nephew). He maintains his dreams for years, and the fact that he ruins the kingdom might even be seen as Scar succeeding in another one of his ambitions: Doing "Whatever he wants" because he's king. Scar is defeated only after he has succeeded in his dreams, and maintained them for longer than any other villain who actually succeeded (Not that many actually).
Let's not forget how much we love to hate him ,admire his wit, laugh at his dry humour, and enjoy his theatrical side. Many of us can even empathise with his feeling of inferiority at being stuck in the shadow of his elder brother's success.
I love how the hyenas unwittingly keep pointing out his self-perceived failures, and generally just push all of his buttons in this scene.
