The Ultimate Walt Disney Company Performances Bracket -- Round One, Day Nine
Who among us does not use antlers in all of our decorating?
Good morning, and welcome to…well, we’re still in the first round of the Ultimate Walt Disney Company Performances bracket, but we’re in the second group of four. That’s why you’ll see the seeds restart (kind of) today.
Ready? The first one’s going to be easy, so let’s go.
(1) Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins vs. (64) Michael Caine, Cars 2: You and I know that Michael Caine will have his moment later on in this round. Today is not the day. Don’t vote for him just to be playful. We all know it’s Dame Andrews.
(32) Will Smith, Enemy of the State vs. (33) Robby Benson, Beauty and the Beast: So, let’s talk about photos. Specifically, let’s talk about the photos I use in these posts. You may assume that I put Will Smith’s photo from Enemy of the State above this section as a clue to how I would vote if I had a vote. You would be wrong! In these posts, I primarily will be choosing pictures from live-action performances, but that’s not always a guarantee towards my preferences. (And here, for example, I don’t have a photo of Julie Andrews as the practically perfect nanny directly above the poll featuring her performance because…well, of the eight performances in today’s matches, hers kind of feels like a whole-newsletter photo, no?)
Anyway, long story short, Will Smith being the section header is not my way of saying I’m voting for him. I will instead lean with Robby Benson, as the gruff but tender Beast. A great performance, even if it was partially hardened and roughed-up in the production process to make the Beast even beastlier.
(16) Richard White, Beauty and the Beast vs. (49) Michael Keaton, Toy Story 3: You know what’s wild? That one of the great voice performances in Disney history — in relatively modern history, to boot — came courtesy of an actor whose IMDb page has five credits. Five! And they are mostly him playing the same character. Michael Keaton is a fabulous actor, and you know his name, but Richard White is the only Gaston I will recognize. His booming baritone is one of the most distinctive aspects of Gaston as a character, and his rich voice helps twist the notion of the good-looking hero on its ear. Great performance in a filmography…with few options. Vote White.
(17) Luke Wilson, The Royal Tenenbaums vs. (48) Sterling Holloway, Alice in Wonderland: On one hand, Sterling Holloway is one of the great and prolific voice actors in Disney history, and his work as the Cheshire Cat is deliciously sly. On the other hand, Luke Wilson’s quiet and heartbreaking performance in one of the best films ever made is a quiet and heartbreaking performance in one of the best films ever made. Sorry, Sterling. I vote for Richie Tenenbaum.
The Royal Tenenbaums *is* one of the best movies ever made (I'm so glad to not be alone in this) -- it's the best movie Wes Anderson has made -- and I so desperately wish Owen Wilson would write more screenplays with Anderson again, because he was so clearly the emotional core of that partnership. Richie is the heart of that film -- his resolute love for his family, even when he has none for himself, is what holds them together. Chas has the line in the film that makes me weep every time I watch it, but Richie is so quietly powerful -- and Luke Wilson is so damn good -- that the character lives forever in my soul. I know I shouldn't care this much about a bracket, esp one I'll lose to one of the greatest voice actors, but good gods Luke Wilson should be crushing this.
I seem to be one of the only people in the world who did not enjoy The Royal Tenenbaums. I like Wes Anderson well enough, loved Rushmore, Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs...but his view of humans as flawed and generally unlikable beings (not saying we aren't) makes most of his films a bit unappealing to me. So Sterling Holloway gets the vote, not for his performance as much as my feelings about the opposing film. Alice in Wonderland's chaotic and disjointed storytelling isn't my favorite either. Maybe I'm just too much a slave to the text.