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

I'm a Dapper Dan man!

Friends, you know what time it is. It’s time for yet another set of matchups in our second round of the Ultimate Walt Disney Company Performances bracket. (I could go more granular and note that we’re halfway through the first quarter of said round, but that would be too much, no?)

I hope you’ve strode into your Tuesday looking or feeling as flamboyantly alive as the woman above. If not…well, hopefully you get there by the end of the day. Either way, let’s vote!

(3) Cliff Edwards, Pinocchio vs. (35) Sterling Holloway, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Two legendary figures within the world of Disney voice acting, and I can’t deny that I’ll be OK with either of them winning. But if I had to vote (and while I don’t, the whole point of these sections is for me to tell you who I would vote for, of course), I’d vote for Cliff Edwards. Sterling Holloway was a remarkable, chameleonic voice actor in his own right, but there’s only one person who turned “When You Wish Upon a Star” into a true piece of musical iconography.

I go with the cricket. How about you?

(14) Tony Jay, The Hunchback of Notre Dame vs. (46) Danny Elfman, The Nightmare Before Christmas: I’m a realist. And as a realist, I figure that Danny Elfman’s winning this one, because people do love Jack Skellington something fierce. (I am…y’know, fine with the character and the film from which he originates. But I could use a little less of it in my Disney life.)

But I would not vote for Elfman in this round. No, I’d give it to the late Tony Jay, whose complex voice work as Judge Frollo in the underrated The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a pinnacle of Disney villains. “Hellfire” is a hell of a song, and as much as the animation brings it to life, so too does Jay with his rich and textured voice. I hope he wins, but I doubt it. It’s your call, of course, so weigh in.

(6) Tim Allen, Toy Story vs. (27) George Clooney, O Brother, Where Art Thou?: Has Tim Allen been in the news lately? Say, in the last couple of weeks? For reasons that are pretty gross, perhaps? Anyway, if I limit myself just to the performances…well, this one is a challenge. George Clooney’s work in his first Coen Brothers movie is still very funny even if it’s a little too over-the-top. Tim Allen, for all his [waves hand at recent news stories implied earlier] … stuff, is well cast in the first of the Toy Story films. (I don’t think Buzz is as interesting a character in the sequels, even the second film.) I will vote here for Allen, if only because his delivery of so many iconic lines from the original Toy Story are embedded in my psyche, but Clooney winning would not displease me.

What do you say?

(11) Peter O’Toole, Ratatouille vs. (43) Glenn Close, 101 Dalmatians: Two perennial Oscar losers going head to head here. (Fun fact: both O’Toole and Close have been nominated eight times at the Oscars. O’Toole only got an honorary Oscar.) One of them can move on, and for me, it’s a very easy choice. It’s got to be Peter O’Toole, whose masterful work in Ratatouille helps elevate it to the realm of perfection with his closing monologue. But of course, I’m a critic. Of course I would side with Anton Ego.

How about you?