Animators brought these Disney movies to life, but these actors gave them voices. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at the best performances by voice actors in classic Disney films.
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00:00 "You know it ain't easy learning to be like me."
00:02 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:06 for the top 10 voice acting performances in classic Disney movies.
00:09 "Why, it's like a dream. A wonderful dream come true."
00:15 For this list, we'll be looking at the best performances by voice actors
00:18 in classic Disney films. We're considering anything pre-Disney
00:22 Renaissance's classic here, so only movies made before 1989 are included.
00:26 "Now, sing." "Ahhhhhhhh."
00:33 Did this list activate your nostalgia? Let your voice be heard in the comments.
00:38 Number 10. Walt Disney as Mickey Mouse. Furious.
00:43 "Hurry up, little."
00:45 The Disney Company's prized icon, Mickey Mouse, was initially a mouse of few words.
00:53 When he did speak, his distinctive falsetto was provided by none other than Company founder
00:58 Walt Disney himself from the late 1920s to the mid-1940s.
01:02 "Yeah, it's me, I guess."
01:05 While he would later be succeeded by longtime Disney voice actors Jimmy McDonald and Wayne
01:10 Alwine, Walt also provided the voice for the original The Mickey Mouse Club series
01:14 that ran from 1955 to 1959. It's kind of surreal seeing the creator recording the character's lines,
01:21 but it's also endearingly fitting.
01:24 "Hey, hey, hey, you. Did you see a mutt and a little runt around here?"
01:28 "Yeah, it went, ahem, it went that way."
01:31 Number 9. Vincent Price as Professor Rattigan, the Great Mouse Detective.
01:36 "We are about to embark on the most odious, the most evil,
01:40 the most diabolical scheme of my illustrious career."
01:44 For many moviegoers, Vincent Price was a horror icon. After a long career in genre films,
01:50 he spent his last years in the business putting his incredibly distinctive and
01:54 refined voice to work in animated features.
01:57 "This time nothing, not even Basil, can stand in my way."
02:02 In the Disney rendition of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Price voices Professor Rattigan,
02:07 the world's greatest criminal mind, plotting to become the supreme ruler of all mousetum.
02:12 For an actor who played so many memorable villains in his long career,
02:15 it says a lot that he counted Professor Rattigan as one of his very favorite roles.
02:20 We couldn't imagine a better voice for the job.
02:23 "Oh, I love it when I'm nasty."
02:28 Number 8. Betty Lou Gerson as Cruella DeVille, 101 Dalmatians.
02:33 A longtime actress of radio soap operas, Betty Lou Gerson was no stranger to bringing the drama.
02:38 "Betty Lou Gerson gave you so much to work with, and she was absolutely marvelous."
02:46 When cast in Disney's 101 Dalmatians, she gave this devastatingly elegant dog-hater
02:51 a cruel streak that lived up to her name. It takes a truly special voice to bring to life
02:56 a character with the desire to make a coat out of Dalmatian puppies. Gerson infuses the role
03:01 with ferocious energy and even campier humor.
03:04 "Bloss this pen, bloss this wretched, wretched pen!"
03:09 She's so overstated, grand, and ridiculous that it's hard not to laugh at her.
03:16 That is, when she's not scaring you to death.
03:18 Cruella DeVille became one of the greatest baddies of all time thanks to Gerson's portrayal.
03:23 "I don't care how you kill the little beast, but do it! And do it now!"
03:27 Number 7. Adriana Caselotti as Snow White, Snow White in The Seven Dwarfs.
03:33 "I'm Snow White." "Snow White, the princess?"
03:35 Without Snow White, there would be no Disney princesses. There might not even be a Disney.
03:41 As the studio's first heroine, the innocence and fragile tones Adriana Caselotti brought
03:47 to the character set the tone for the pure, good-hearted animated ingenues to come.
03:51 Her angelic voice and quivering trill are almost impossibly sweet,
03:55 and it charmed audiences the world over.
03:58 "I'm wishing, I'm wishing, for the one I love to find me, to find me today."
04:08 Despite her contribution to Disney's success, Caselotti and her fellow actors were not credited
04:15 on the film, nor did she have much of a career in film afterward. Nevertheless,
04:19 we're lucky to have such an iconic role to remember her by.
04:22 "Don't worry, I'll be alright. See you tonight."
04:29 Number 6. Cliff Edwards as Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio. Long before his film career,
04:34 Cliff Edwards was known as Ukulele Ike, a renowned song and dance man with numerous hit recordings.
04:40 "An animator just kills for a voice like that, you know, you're dying to have someone with that
04:44 kind of variation and melody to the voice and project such a likable quality. He's as good
04:48 as you get." His most famous film role was Jiminy Cricket, the anthropomorphic cricket who acts as
04:54 the conscience of the little wooden boy brought to life. As the voice behind the paternal,
04:58 fussy, and gentle cricket assigned to look after little Pinocchio,
05:02 Edwards contributes so much to the movie's warmth.
05:05 "Take it easy, son. Come on. Whoa. Oh. Atta boy."
05:12 He also got to sing the movie's most popular song, "When You Wish Upon a Star," which would
05:17 later become the Walt Disney Company's signature theme.
05:19 "Your dreams come true."
05:30 Number 5. Lucille Laverne as Queen Grimhilda, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
05:35 "Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?"
05:41 Originally a stage actress, Lucille Laverne began her film career during the silent era,
05:46 but it was her voice that would ultimately earn her immortality among movie fans.
05:50 "Bring back her heart in this."
05:55 As the first Disney villain, she set the standard for family-friendly evilness.
06:00 Laverne proved to be a versatile voice actor by playing the dual role of the vain queen
06:05 and her alter ego, the hag-like witch, striking the balance of evil and elegance perfectly for both.
06:11 "Old granny knows a young girl's heart. Now take the apple, dearly, and make a wish."
06:18 While this was her last film role before she passed away in 1945,
06:23 it spares no shortage in showcasing her talents.
06:25 Number 4. Eileen Woods as Cinderella, Cinderella.
06:30 "I know Walt, he'd been listening to a lot of girls,
06:33 and he heard something in the voice that sounded to him like Cinderella."
06:37 Sad, abused, and neglected, Cinderella is a character plagued by tragedy.
06:42 It's a depressing story, but somehow it's made uplifting by its protagonist
06:46 and her genuine kindness. As voiced by Eileen Woods,
06:50 Cinderella is very sweet without being dull.
06:52 "Whatever you wish for, you keep."
06:57 In the story's saddest moments, such as the scene where Cinderella's
07:02 stepsisters rip her birth mother's dress right off her body,
07:06 Woods' performance makes it all the more heartbreaking.
07:08 Our ability to believe that Cinderella can still have hope when she's actually
07:12 got the worst life ever is a testament to the performance.
07:15 "Sing sweet nightingale, sing sweet nightingale."
07:27 Number 3. Eleanor Audley as Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty.
07:31 1959's Sleeping Beauty introduced one of Disney's pettiest villains.
07:36 "I really felt quite distressed at not receiving an invitation."
07:39 "You weren't wanted."
07:40 "Not wa- oh dear, what an awkward situation."
07:47 Maleficent's arched eyebrows, horned headpiece, and severe yellow-green eyes
07:51 are pure nightmare fuel, but Eleanor Audley's voice doubles down on the horror.
07:56 From her acidic cackling to her vicious line readings,
07:59 Audley's Maleficent is funny without ever skimping on the evil.
08:02 "I set my trap for a peasant, and lo, I catch a prince."
08:08 Her delight in being heinous is what makes her so disturbing and so unforgettable.
08:15 It's an amazing performance made all the more impressive by the fact that Audley
08:19 was still recovering from tuberculosis when she recorded her lines.
08:23 "Eleanor, for me, is the most interesting of the characters to watch in Sleeping Beauty.
08:28 Mainly because her voice is so powerful."
08:31 Angelina Jolie may be the bigger name, but Maleficent wouldn't have been
08:35 half as memorable or fascinating without Audley's original performance.
08:39 Number 2.
08:41 Phil Harris as Baloo, the Jungle Book.
08:44 "Now give me a big bear growl. Scare me."
08:46 "Oh boy."
08:52 Before he became the voice behind the slick and suave alley cat Thomas O'Malley,
08:56 Phil Harris was charming audiences as Baloo in The Jungle Book.
09:00 His character is a carefree sloth bear content with the bare necessities of life,
09:04 who comes to care for Mowgli, a little boy raised in the jungle.
09:08 "Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities.
09:13 But forget about your worries and your strife."
09:16 "Yeah, man."
09:17 Some of the animators were reportedly shocked that Walt Disney wanted Harris for the role.
09:22 His modern sensibility seemed an odd match for a movie based on a Rudyard Kipling story.
09:26 Quick with the zingers and effortlessly cool, Harris's resonant tones and zippy persona
09:31 turned out to be a perfect match for the movie's standout character.
09:35 "Hey, don't stop now, Baggy. You're doing great. There's more, lots more."
09:40 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
09:44 Catherine Beaumont as Alice, Alice in Wonderland.
09:48 Her elegant voice and crisp diction brought Alice to life.
09:51 "In a world of my own, all the flowers would have very extra special powers.
10:02 They would sit and talk to me for hours."
10:06 Eva Gabor as Duchess, the Aristocats.
10:09 Even in voiceover, the Hungarian-American actress oozed sophistication.
10:14 "You know, this is the low-rent district, remember?"
10:17 "No, no, no, I like it. Well, all it needs is a little tidying up and,
10:24 well, maybe a little feminine touch."
10:28 John Hurt as the Horned King, the Black Cauldron.
10:31 The famed actor voiced one of Disney's scariest villains.
10:34 "Arise, my messengers of death. Our time has arrived."
10:43 Ed Wynn as the Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland.
10:46 No Disney fan could mistake that infectious giggle.
10:49 "She doesn't know what a non-birthday is."
10:51 "How silly!"
10:52 "Ah, Charlie Luther Day."
11:01 Verna Felton as the Fairy Godmother, Cinderella.
11:04 The voice of Cinderella's whimsical fairy godmother.
11:07 "If you'd lost all your faith, I couldn't be here. And here I am.
11:12 Oh, come now, dry those tears.
11:16 You can't go to the ball looking like that."
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11:34 Number 1.
11:35 Sterling Holloway as Winnie the Pooh, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
11:39 Across a trilogy of short cartoons,
11:42 Sterling Holloway gave voice to the honey-loving teddy bear Winnie the Pooh.
11:45 "I'm just a little black rain cloud hovering under the honey tree."
11:53 Along with Paul Winchell as Tigger and John Fiedler as Piglet,
11:56 A.A. Milne's classic ensemble of animated creatures came to life beautifully.
12:01 Holloway had already voiced so many iconic Disney characters, including the Cheshire Cat,
12:05 but his performance as Pooh is the crown jewel of his career at the studio.
12:09 "Sterling Holloway was just, well, I was gonna say he was a teddy bear.
12:14 He was, he was, uh, he was like Pooh. He was the human version of Pooh."
12:18 His soft-spoken sweetness and wispy cadence were perfect for the mild-mannered character.
12:23 It's his indelible appearance here that embedded his distinctive voice in the ears
12:27 and hearts of children everywhere.
12:29 "I am short, fat, and proud of that. And so with all my might,
12:34 I up, down, up, down to my appetite's delight."
12:39 Do you agree with our picks?
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