I’ve spent the last decade watching children’s cartoons. Someone had to do it. And as I’ve watched, something has become very obvious. Where you’ve got a baddie, and no one else can help, there’s only one place to turn, and that’s to a posh English actor.

I’ve watched a lot of cartoons – from the old Disney classics to contemporary Hollywood blockbuster franchises and British kids’ cartoons, and across the board, the message to our young ones is clear: never trust anyone speaking in the Queen’s English.

Me? With my reputation?

I’ve traced it back to the likes George Sanders with his impeccably evil Shere Khan in the 1967 animation of The Jungle Book. But my research suggests that the Hollywood suspicion of a posh English accent might be even older than that. Certainly, they have now become typecast.

Consider Jeremy Irons’ Scar in 1994’s The Lion King and Gary Oldman’s Lord Shen in 2011’s Kung Fu Panda 2. Or Russell Brand’s Dr Nefario in the Despicable Me franchise and Richard Ayoade’s Professor Marmalade in The Bad Guys animation film.

Then there are the more obscure ones like Marc Silk’s Grandmaster Glitch in the British cartoon series, Go Jetters, who is constantly trying to take over the world a la Dr Evil. If a regional British accent crops up, it will never be evil, more likely funny or lovable, while the accent of the hero, especially heroic kids, is always American.

We’re quite safe now, honestly

This knee-jerk connection must presumably have begun in the American mind, perhaps as a throwback to a time when Americans felt put upon and condescended to by posh Brits. But it’s a connection that now filters down to every little kid on the planet who watches American movies.

The posh Englishman really isn’t much of a threat to anyone nowadays, least of all Americans. Yet this quick brain link between the poshest of English accents and low cunning, devious villainy and general moral bankruptcy appears to be as strong as ever.

Who is going to tell our American cousins that there’s no longer anything to be afraid of? Seriously, would I put a trapdoor right under the seat you’re sitting on? Would I? Who would possibly do a thing like that? Me?

It gets worse. Baddies don’t just have posh English accents, they also have a surprising amount of physical injuries. Find out more in How to tell the baddies