The top ten voice performances in movie history
3. James Earl Jones – STAR WARS – We’ve become so used to STAR WARS these days, whether it be complaining about the changes or speculating about the upcoming sequels that we sometimes forget how great the original trilogy is. One of the things that made it so great was the voice work of James Earl Jones as Darth Vader. Jones could voice anything and it would be great, but as the greatest villain of all time, he was truly iconic.
2. Scarlett Johansson – HER – You know you’ve done something amazing when people are disappointed you didn’t get nominated for an Oscar for your voice work. But Scarlett Johansson was unbelievably great as the operating system Samantha that falls in love with Joaquin Phoenix’s Theodore. Aside from making an out-there concept believable, she actually stole the show from Phoenix, who also gave an amazing performance. At times we forgot she wasn’t even on screen and we somehow managed to fall in love with her even though we couldn’t see her.
1. Robin Williams – ALADDIN – Up to this point, Disney had a number of hits, but traditionally, the voice work praise was centered on the musical performances. Either that, or they were instantly forgotten. But Robin Williams’ performance as Genie made the entire film. He was funny, sincere and loveable all at the same time, which is also what made Robin Williams such a beloved actor. It could be argued that any of these actors could have been replaced, but I would say no one could play Genie with the impact that Williams had.
Honorable mentions: George Sanders as Shere Khan in THE JUNGLE BOOK, Ellen DeGeneres as Dory in FINDING NEMO, Kevin Spacey as Gerty in MOON and Mel Gibson as Rocky in CHICKEN RUN.
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