Yesterday begat another of the Team Experience Top 10 lists over at The Film Experience, in which we shared our favorite vocal performances in the movies. And oh, the political gamesmanship I indulged in in writing my list. Rule #1 – no celebrity voice-overs, because that is a toxic crime that’s ruining American animation. Rule #2 – only one role per actor, so the top 2 weren’t both Eleanor Audley. Rule #3 that was foisted upon me, no short cartoons starring characters who had been voiced multiple times by the same artist.
With all that in place, here was my ballot, which found me as off-consensus as I’ve ever been:
1. Eleanor Audley, “Lady Tremaine”, Cinderella (1950)
2. Paul Winchell, “Tigger”, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
3. Douglas Rain, “HAL 9000”, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) [on the TFE list]
4. Sterling Holloway, “Winnie the Pooh”, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
5. Pat Carroll, “Ursula”, The Little Mermaid (1989) [on the TFE list]
6. Bob Peterson, “Dug / Alpha” Up (2009)
7. Brad Dourif, “Chuckie”, Child’s Play (1988) and sequels
8. Robby Benson, “The Beast”, Beauty and the Beast (1991)
9. Christine Cavanaugh, “Babe”, Babe (1995)
10. Lucille La Verne, “The Queen / The Witch”, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
And the runners-up, alphabetically:
Hans Conried, “Captain Hook / Mr. Darling”, Peter Pan (1953)
Paige O’Hara, “Belle”, Beauty and the Beast (1991)
George Sanders, “Shere Khan”, The Jungle Book (1967)*
Kathleen Turner, “Jessica Rabbit”, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) [on the TFE list]**
Patrick Warburton, “Kronk”, The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
*A celebrity, but how in the hell can you deny that performance?
**A celebrity, but not in an as-such animated feature, so I felt I could count it
And the honorable mentions, nuked from eligibility:
Eleanor Audley, “Maleficent”, Sleeping Beauty (1959) [on the TFE list]
Mel Blanc, “Bugs Bunny / Daffy Duck”, Rabbit Seasoning (1952)
Pinto Colvig, “Goofy”, multiple Disney cartoons & features (1932-’67)