The Ultimate Walt Disney Company Performances Bracket -- Round Two, Day Nine

You sly dog...

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, everyone! Who’s ready for…the end of the game, which signifies the beginning of the more important time of year (baseball season)? I know I am.

I’m also ready to move into the back half of the second round of the Ultimate Walt Disney Company Performances bracket! I hope you are too, because it’s time to start voting in some more matchups. Let’s go!

(1) Tom Hanks, Toy Story vs. (32) Bill Campbell, The Rocketeer: As much as I adore The Rocketeer — and you know by now that I do — I also adore the first Toy Story. I think it’s one of the most economical screenplays of the last 50 years, and that Tom Hanks’ performance as Sheriff Woody is one of the all-time greats, and one of his very best. Hanks moves on, and there’s no doubt in my mind here.

(16) Lupita Nyong’o, Queen of Katwe vs. (17) Jason Lee, The Incredibles: On one hand, I am sad to bid adieu to the fine and carefully modulated work of the wonderful Lupita Nyong’o in the sadly underseen Queen of Katwe. (It is genuinely one of the best live-action films Disney has made in a very long time, and if you have not watched it, you should.) On the other hand, Jason Lee gets the distinction of giving voice to one of the…I don’t know, two or three great villain characters in Pixar’s history. (Funny thing about Pixar: they make many great films, and yet they very rarely have traditionally nasty villains.) Just for “You sly dog…you got me monologuing!”, Lee wins.

(8) Charles Grodin, The Great Muppet Caper vs. (40) Steve Martin, Father of the Bride: Now, if this was Grodin against Martin for the latter’s cameo in The Muppet Movie, this might be difficult for me. But it’s not, so…it’s not. (Difficult, that is.) While I don’t love The Great Muppet Caper the way some folks do, I do agree that Charles Grodin’s work in the film is enormously funny. He gets my vote.

(9) Phil Harris, The Jungle Book vs. (41) Dean Jones, The Love Bug: Another easy one. Dean Jones was an affable presence in many Disney movies of the 1960s and 1970s, but Phil Harris as Baloo is one of the most enjoyable, charming, and influential voice roles arguably of the entirety of Disney animation. (There weren’t a ton of even moderately famous actors doing voice work pre-Harris, so he served somewhat as a foundational figure in that way.) The bare necessities are enough to get to the third round for me.

How about you?