The Ultimate Walt Disney Company Performances Bracket -- Round One, Day Twenty-One

Hey, pidge.

Another Monday has arrived for us all, friends. That’s just how time works, what can I tell you? Anyway, this week marks the arrival of an exciting new streaming show with its roots in one of the great detective shows, Columbo, but I’ll hold that commentary for later in the week.

For now, it’s time to vote in a handful of matchups in our first round of the Ultimate Walt Disney Company Performances bracket. Ready? Let’s go!

(2) John Goodman, Monsters, Inc. vs. (63) Dave Foley, Sky High: Ignore the fact that John Goodman is doing promo work for the 2013 prequel in the photo above. (This is why I try to avoid having photos in the newsletter of voice actors, because there aren’t a ton of those photos available from a Google search or two.) And unfortunately, ignore the fact that Dave Foley is pretty funny in a side role in Sky High. He is! But John Goodman as Sulley is an incredible piece of work, especially in the 2001 original. An easy choice for me. How about you?

(31) Bruno Campos, The Princess and the Frog vs. (34) Larry Roberts, Lady and the Tramp: So tonally, I think that each of these performances is pretty equally matched. Here we have two actors who brought to life the male half of romances, and did so with a lot more brio than most of the male halves of female-driven Disney romances. It’s not like these are the only two men to have done so — Robby Benson has already moved onto the second round, and his work as the Beast is justly well-loved — but they each get to be raffish and funny and lively in ways that are arguably not very common. (And also, a weird fact — both Campos and Roberts kind of peaked with their respective roles as Prince Naveen and the Tramp. Roberts, in fact, appeared in one film in his short-lived career: his work here is it. Campos had been in a fair few TV shows prior to Princess and the Frog, but since became a lawyer.)

So who do I prefer? Well, I prefer The Princess and the Frog and so I will lean towards Campos. But I like Roberts’ work a lot too, much more so than the rest of the film in which he co-starred. So it could go either way. How do you vote?

(15) Robin Williams, Good Morning, Vietnam vs. (50) Tim Allen, The Santa Clause: I just want to say at this point how much I wish Substack did not have character limits on poll options. You’ll see below that I had to do a little Aussie-style shortening of the title of the film captured in our header photo today. (I imagine the late Robin Williams would’ve enjoyed doing a little Australian riff on the title, if he didn’t do it in some talk-show appearance in the late 1980s.)

Anyway, I would say that Williams as Adrian Cronauer ought to take this one. But is there some Christmas magic ahead? Well, that’s up to you. Vote!

(18) Brad Bird, The Incredibles vs. (47) Larry the Cable Guy, Cars: I have to imagine some of you are going to vote for Larry the Cable Guy as Mater in Cars, and I ask you to rethink your choices. (I will happily admit that Mr. the Cable Guy is the only person who could have possibly brought Mater to life — who else could play that role?) Brad Bird isn’t the first Pixar director to play a key character in a beloved film they helmed, but he is the best. Do what’s right.