Top 10 Underappreciated DreamWorks Voice Acting Performances
These voice actors deserve a second look! For this list, we’ll be looking at the best but most underrated voice performances in DreamWorks movies.
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00:00 "Yes! This is gonna be sweet!"
00:03 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the top 10
00:07 underrated Dreamworks voice acting performances.
00:10 "That's the Easter Bunny?"
00:11 "Now somebody sees me. I mean, where were you about an hour ago, mate?"
00:16 For this list, we'll be looking at the best, but most underrated voice performances in
00:20 Dreamworks movies. Who is your favorite voice actor of all time? Let us know in the comments.
00:26 Number 10. Chloe Bennet as Yi, Abominable
00:30 "I know, I keep busy. I just, I don't know why. I mean, I, I, I, I miss him, and I don't
00:38 wanna miss him."
00:40 Chloe Bennet, who Marvel fans will recognize from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,
00:44 has this really nice quality to her voice. It's sort of hoarse,
00:47 but in this clear way that makes Bennet perfect for voice work.
00:50 "Are those...blueberries?"
00:53 "Animation takes a lot more imagination."
00:56 "Run!"
00:56 "Because you're literally not in front of anything."
01:00 "You can do magic?"
01:02 She becomes a very convincing teenager in Abominable as Yi, a girl who befriends a
01:07 yeti. Bennet gives a lot of heart to her character, but still manages to embody that awkward,
01:13 unsure phase that's teenagehood. There's a lot to love in her performance,
01:16 from the more grounded exchanges with her family, to the hectic escape scenes with Everest.
01:21 "You're right. It's not over."
01:25 "Thank you, Everest."
01:30 Abominable is a pretty underappreciated movie to begin with,
01:34 and the awesome performances featured in it don't get the hype they deserve.
01:38 Number 9. Clark Duke as Thunk Crood, the Croods franchise.
01:42 "Oh, let's do it again. I think I blinked."
01:44 With Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds being the main focus of these films,
01:50 Clark Duke's doltish but lovable Thunk is often overlooked. He provides a lot of
01:55 comedic relief, and the higher-pitched tone of his voice works super well for the role.
01:59 "Dad, dad, just to be clear, are we looking for, like, the exact same cave? Because, I mean,
02:04 if it was me, and I'm just throwing this out there, if it was me choosing the cave,
02:08 I would go with a smaller cave."
02:10 Fans of The Office will recognize him as Clark Green in later seasons,
02:14 but he might also look familiar from movies like Kick-Ass or Bad Moms.
02:18 If you're looking for more of Duke's unique voice in a role that allows him more range
02:22 and freedom to play, check out Netflix's Inside Job, where you'll hear him as the
02:26 excitable Bret Hand.
02:27 "We can't let a whole town get killed on our watch. We'll get fired.
02:31 We're promoted? I can never remember how evil we are."
02:33 Number 8. Larry King as Doris, the ugly stepsister.
02:37 Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third.
02:39 "I know he's a jerk and everything, but I gotta admit, that charming makes me hotter than July."
02:45 Dreamworks seem to have a knack for casting every possible Shrek role flawlessly,
02:50 including that of Doris the ugly stepsister.
02:52 We have to wonder how this partnership came to be.
02:55 We tend to picture one guy on the team just snickering to himself and asking
02:58 someone to get Larry King on the line.
03:00 King did an absolutely fantastic job with Doris.
03:04 His rough and deep voice is incredible for the character,
03:07 and our first time meeting her is so much better for it.
03:10 "Hey buddy, let me clue you in. There's only one fella
03:13 can handle a job like that and frankly, he don't like to be disturbed."
03:18 We always remembered King with a rather flat, unenthused voice,
03:22 but he left that at home for this performance.
03:24 If that singing clip isn't enough enthusiasm for you, we don't know what is.
03:28 "Some boys take a beautiful girl and hide her away from the rest of the world.
03:35 I wanna be the one to walk in the sun."
03:39 "Yeah, you go!"
03:41 Number 7. Snoop Dogg as Smooth Move, Turbo.
03:44 "The name is Smooth Move. I set the tone around here, you dig?
03:47 Now check this, right about now, I'm moving so fast, the whole world's going in slow motion, baby."
03:52 The Starlight Plaza Snail crew is comprised of so many stellar voices,
03:58 including Samuel L. Jackson as Whiplash,
04:01 Maya Rudolph as Byrne,
04:02 and Ben Schwartz as Skidmark, not to mention Ryan Reynolds in the title role.
04:06 "You know, Dan, everybody's got that one thing that makes them happy.
04:11 And for me, it's terrifying, terrifying blazing speed."
04:15 They all sound great, but the performance we're most surprised by and impressed with
04:22 has to be Snoop Dogg's Smooth Move.
04:24 He doesn't have a ton of lines, but he absolutely crushes the ones he does.
04:28 We're not sure exactly how the lines were written on paper,
04:31 but his personality definitely shines through.
04:34 Combined with the animation, it's impossible not to smile while Smooth Move is talking,
04:39 and it isn't long at all into the movie before you're trying to place his voice
04:42 because of just how recognizable it is.
04:45 "To the end, to the dizzy, to the whiz-eye, you dig?
04:49 He ain't slow no more. Easy to the peasy, baby."
04:55 Number 6. Kate Winslet as Rita Malone, Flushed Away
04:59 "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude, Mr. Captain Skipper Thingy."
05:02 "Hey, that's Miss Captain Skipper Thingy to you."
05:06 "Oops."
05:07 "What are you doing on my boat?"
05:09 DreamWorks truly has no shortage of celebrities for casting.
05:13 Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, and Andy Serkis all deliver fantastic performances in Flushed Away,
05:19 but it's Kate Winslet's Rita who we feel doesn't get the credit she deserves.
05:23 Flushed Away is one of DreamWorks' often forgotten fan favorites,
05:26 and every time we watch it, we're reminded just how good it is.
05:30 "We're over Kensington."
05:32 "Yeah, only a terrifying 900 foot drop between you and a nice comfortable bed.
05:36 Where's your house then?"
05:39 Winslet does a great job with her character,
05:41 from Rita's confident demeanor to the delivery of wry British humor,
05:44 to the tenser moments requiring more emotion.
05:47 We shouldn't be surprised, really.
05:49 Winslet knocks everything she does way out of the park.
05:52 "I'm tough, I'm adventurous, I'm exciting and incredibly interesting,
05:58 and uh, yeah you know, I try to be as strong as I can, absolutely,
06:02 and I think it's a very important quality for us girls to have."
06:05 Number 5.
06:06 Rihanna as Gratuity "Tip" Tucci - Home
06:10 For someone who's not a voice actress, or an actress at all,
06:13 Rihanna totally nails this role.
06:15 "Knock knock."
06:16 "Who is there?"
06:18 "The interrupting cow."
06:21 "The interrupting cow?"
06:23 "Moooo!"
06:25 Opposite the wonderfully eccentric Jim Parsons,
06:28 you might think it would be difficult to shine,
06:30 but this is an artist who sings about diamonds in the sky,
06:33 so really, we shouldn't have been worried.
06:36 "Well, if you shoot your eye lasers, then I'll have no choice but to explode your head."
06:42 "You humans cannot do explodes."
06:44 "We can too, we just don't much. It's considered rude."
06:48 The most interesting thing about this performance is how convincing Rihanna is.
06:52 We believe her as a teenager who's just teamed up with an alien,
06:55 and we believe every emotion her voice conveys.
06:59 It was also pretty rare at the time to hear someone who sounded and looked like her in
07:03 the lead role of an animated production, so this is certainly one of the more
07:06 meaningful and noteworthy performances on our list.
07:09 "My beautiful girl."
07:10 "I've been looking everywhere, Mom. I was so scared we'd never see each other again."
07:15 "Oh, Mom, I never would have stopped looking until I found you."
07:19 Number 4.
07:20 Hugh Jackman as E. Astor Bunnymund, the Easter Bunny, Rise of the Guardians.
07:25 "Hang on, hang on. You mean to say you summoned me here three days before Easter
07:29 because of your belly? Mate, if I did this to you three days before Christmas…"
07:32 "Easter Bunny, Easter is not Christmas."
07:35 "Here we go."
07:37 There are few actors out there who have delivery as natural-sounding as Hugh Jackman.
07:41 And while the actor himself is certainly not lacking any recognition,
07:45 his role in this movie is.
07:47 Rise of the Guardians is a phenomenal film. It's well-written,
07:50 beautifully animated, and wonderfully voiced, but it's talked about so little.
07:54 "If you're not a kangaroo, what are you?"
07:58 "I'm a bunny. The Easter Bunny. People believe in me."
08:03 The Easter Bunny is perhaps one of the movie's most pivotal characters,
08:08 as the one with possibly the most character development, aside from Jack Frost himself.
08:12 There's a moment where he takes a significant hit, and while he's obviously demoralized by it,
08:17 there's still a lot of hilarious lines amazingly delivered by Jackman.
08:21 "He used to be huge and cool, and now he's cute."
08:25 "Oh, oh, oh, he's good. Did you tell him to say that? That's it, let's go. Me and you. Come on."
08:33 Number 3. Rosie Perez as Chell, The Road to El Dorado
08:37 "Well, if you guys want the gold and you don't want to get caught, right?
08:41 You're going to need my help."
08:42 "Sure, what makes you think we need your help?"
08:45 "Are you serious?"
08:48 This movie is a bit of a boys' club until Chell's introduced.
08:51 Despite her flirtatious and crafty nature, she's also endearingly flawed.
08:56 We see her small moments of panic as she repeatedly tries to get herself,
09:00 Tulio, and Miguel out of sticky situations.
09:03 Rosie Perez manages to make Chell so human, despite how capable and cunning the character is.
09:08 "You're by yourself and you really get to use your imagination and express that
09:12 alter ego that, you know, you can't really go there in another form. And so I just, I love it."
09:19 It's difficult to keep up with the hysterical chaos that is Miguel and Tulio's dynamic,
09:23 not to mention the indisputable talent of their voice actors.
09:26 But Perez, as Chell, definitely holds her own without a hitch.
09:30 "Oh, that's what makes it interesting."
09:32 "You're right. What are we waiting for?"
09:36 "Let's follow that trail!"
09:38 "Yeah!"
09:38 "Kill ya, boy!"
09:42 Number 2. Ty Burrell as Mr. Peabody
09:45 Mr. Peabody in Sherman.
09:47 "But what I'm most proud of is my son, Sherman."
09:51 "Hi, Mr. Peabody. Oh, have you told them about the way back?"
09:57 "I was just getting to that."
09:58 This is the most Ty Burrell role you would never even stop to think is actually played by Ty Burrell.
10:04 If you're a modern family fan, it's hard to see Burrell as anyone other than Phil Dunphy,
10:08 which is why it's so impressive that he was able to pull off the role of a genius,
10:13 overachieving, time-traveling dog. Man, Phil Dunphy would think that was so cool.
10:17 "I vowed to be the best father I could be, to prepare him for all the wonders of the world,
10:22 present and past. And so Sherman inspired the greatest invention of my life, a time machine."
10:29 Burrell's voice works so great with an esteemed lilt to it,
10:32 and you can just tell he had a great time in the recording booth.
10:35 Once again, he plays an awesome father-of-the-year character, to absolutely no one's surprise.
10:41 "Your Honor, when I found Sherman, it reminded me of how I started out in life.
10:46 And now I want to give him the one thing I always wanted, a home."
10:52 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:56 David Schwimmer as Melman, Madagascar franchise
11:00 Somehow we feel like Ross and Melman have a lot in common.
11:03 "Gloria, I just want you to know, back at the zoo,
11:05 it was never the doctors or the prescriptions that kept me going."
11:09 Woody Allen as Z-Marion-4195-Z, ants
11:13 The stuttering adds so much to his rambling.
11:15 "I've never been able to lift more than ten times my own body weight.
11:19 And when you get down to it, handling dirt is, you know, is not my idea of a rewarding career."
11:26 Robert De Niro as Don Lino, Shark Tale
11:29 Why doesn't anyone talk about just how funny this performance is?
11:32 "You took Frankie away, and you turned Lenny into a dolphin!"
11:36 Ian McShane as Tai Lung, Kung Fu Panda
11:39 McShane's got the whole menacing thing down pat.
11:42 "So that is his name, Po."
11:45 "Finally, a worthy opponent. Our battle will be legendary."
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12:08 Number 1. Jay Baruchel as Hiccup Haddock III, How to Train Your Dragon Franchise
12:14 "Legend says that when the ground quakes, or lava spews from the earth,
12:19 it's the dragons, letting us know they're still here,
12:24 waiting for us to figure out how to get along."
12:26 So we've been trying to stay away from protagonists on this list,
12:30 because they feel like an obvious choice,
12:32 and their performances being underappreciated would probably be a tough sell.
12:36 With that said, Jay Baruchel's performance as Hiccup is something to be revered,
12:40 and we're not hearing enough reverence.
12:42 From the natural cadence of his voice to the impeccable delivery he gives on every single line,
12:47 Baruchel gives Hiccup all of his personality, and then some.
12:51 "Judas, what are you doing? We need her to like us!"
12:53 "And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."
13:03 Of course, some of the credit has to go to the writing crew,
13:05 but Baruchel manages to infuse even the most mundane lines with emotion,
13:10 even if that emotion is only deadpan attempts at humor.
13:13 "Oh, is that why you're pouting, big baby boo?
13:16 Unbelievable. You've been rescuing them."
13:21 "So, what should we name it? Yeah, itchy armpit it is."
13:24 This star cast definitely deserves their fair share of praise,
13:28 but a better Hiccup could not have been cast.
13:31 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo,
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13:40 [music]