The 16 Greatest Voice Performances in Animated Movies

Some of these actors vanish into the character; others are unmistakably themselves for ninety minutes. Both approaches produced classics.

1. 1
   Tom Hanks as Woody

   Toy Story's cowboy doll, played with a decency that keeps cracking under jealousy.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Robin Williams as the Genie

   Aladdin's improvised, shape-shifting performance that changed how studios cast animation.
   744pts
3. 3
   Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts

   Beauty and the Beast's teapot, who also sings the title song.
   663pts
4. 4
   Jeremy Irons as Scar

   The Lion King's velvet-voiced usurper, bored and murderous in equal measure.
   609pts
5. 5
   Phil Harris as Baloo

   The Jungle Book's bear, sung and spoken in the same easy swing.
   546pts
6. 6
   Kathleen Turner as Jessica Rabbit

   Who Framed Roger Rabbit's femme fatale, drawn bad but voiced worse.
   546pts
7. 7
   Eddie Murphy as Donkey

   Shrek's motormouth sidekick, and the engine of the film's comic timing.
   387pts
8. 8
   Jack Black as Po

   Kung Fu Panda's fanboy hero, whose enthusiasm carries four films.
   387pts
9. 9
   Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny

   The man of a thousand voices, and the template every voice actor since has worked from.
   387pts
10. 10
    Ellen DeGeneres as Dory

    Finding Nemo's short-term memory loss played for comedy and then for grief.
    284pts
11. 11
    James Earl Jones as Mufasa

    A voice that makes a cartoon lion sound like a head of state.
    284pts
12. 12
    Robby Benson as the Beast

    A performance that switches between a growl and a wounded boy mid-line.
    284pts
13. 13
    Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear

    A space ranger who does not know he is a toy, played completely straight.
    158pts
14. 14
    Ed Asner as Carl Fredricksen

    Up's widower, whose grief is carried almost entirely in the grain of the voice.
    158pts
15. 15
    Patton Oswalt as Remy

    Ratatouille's rat chef, who narrates his own obsession with taste.
    158pts
16. 16
    Amy Poehler as Joy

    Inside Out's relentless optimism, which the film slowly takes apart.
    158pts