In its 97-year history, the Academy Awards have gradually expanded and diversified enough to include many facets of filmmaking, including visual effects, costume design, and hair and makeup. The youngest Oscar category, Best Animated Feature Film, is 25 years old now, but it continues to leave movie buffs wanting another category that’s frequently related to it.

Voice actors have been snubbed by the Oscars for years, despite the first voice-acting role, featured in Steamboat Willie, being performed at the same time as the first Academy Awards ceremony. Many voice actors deserved to win Oscars for their performances, but this continues to be an unfulfilled dream even today, despite animated films winning Oscars for 25 years.

While many movie performances that deserved Oscar nominations have never been given their due by the Academy, voice acting remains criminally underappreciated. Voice acting performances deserve recognition alongside live-action performances, but the solution is to create a separate category that acknowledges voice actors, as non-animated performances will inevitably overshadow them due to the continued lack of appreciation for voice acting.

10

James Earl Jones As Darth Vader

Return Of The Jedi (1983)

It seems unbelievable that the same man voiced two of the most iconic characters who defined the childhoods of generations, and only one of those roles is in an animated movie. James Earl Jones, whose warm but authoritative voice makes Mufasa a fan-favorite character, both in animation and in live-action, also voiced the best sci-fi movie character of all time.

The immediately recognizable deep breathing, followed by the intimidating robot-like voice of Darth Vader, buoys the Dark Lord’s horrifying screen presence. Jones is the voice behind some of the best villain quotes in movie history, but his impᴀssioned performance before Vader takes off his mask in Return of the Jedi puts it above every other time Jones has voiced him.

9

Donna Murphy As Mother Gothel

Tangled (2010)

With an unconventional romantic arc at its center that challenges the typical damsel-in-distress rescued by a prince narrative that both Disney and Rapunzel are known for, Tangled revolutionized Disney animated princesses. While there have been bold characters that predate her, most notably Mulan, Tangled‘s Rapunzel arguably ushered in the modern era of Disney princesses by being resourceful without rejecting femininity.

However, the highlight is Donna Murphy’s performance as Mother Gothel, the evil woman who keeps Rapunzel trapped. Her menacing screen presence is perfectly complemented by the enunciations both in dialogue and in song. Irrespective of whether you believe Mother Gothel is Snow White‘s Evil Queen, Murphy’s performance does invoke Lucille La Verne, who voiced the Evil Queen, Disney’s first villain.

8

Jay Baruchel As Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III

How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

While he is great throughout the trilogy as the dragon-riding rebellious son of the Viking chieftain, Jay Baruchel’s performance as the scrawny Hiccup in the first How to Train Your Dragon stands out as one of the best teen character voice performances ever. Baruchel’s high-pitched, smooth, and slightly nasal tone is ideal for Hiccup’s nervous and somewhat clumsy body language.

How to Train Your Dragon is a movie that will make you fall in love with the fantasy genre, and that effect is in no small part due to Baruchel’s iconic voice that elevates Hiccup’s desperately rebellious and heroic streak. He was so perfect as Hiccup that, despite being too old, I’d have loved seeing him in the live-action adaptation.

7

Stephanie Beatriz As Mirabel

Encanto (2021)

Praised for its holistic portrayal of Hispanic culture and for its ending, which is revolutionary by Disney standards, Encanto became one of the biggest hits of 2021. Its exploration of generational trauma and its rejection of the traditional Disney princess arc make Mirabel and the other members of the Madrigal family more relatable than most Disney characters, especially the princesses.

While there are brilliant performances across the board, the spotlight rightfully belongs to Stephanie Beatriz’s voice acting as Mirabel. Not only does Diaz elevate the emotional impact of all the songs she performs, but her bubbly but self-doubting voice also perfectly complements Mirabel’s arc of discovering purpose and meaning in a place where she feels useless when the film begins.

6

Daniel Kaluuya As Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk

Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (2023)

As an animated movie way better than expected that revolutionized animation with its unique art style that brings storylines and themes to life in the form of visuals and scenery, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse rightfully won an Oscar for Best Animated Picture. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is also highly impressive for maintaining the high standard set by its predecessor.

While there is a host of compelling characters in the movie, all made more compelling by excellent voice acting, none of the characters stole the show like Hobie Brown aka Spider-Punk. His anti-establishment ideology, the comic-book-cutout visual style employed for his design, and Kaluuya’s unforgettably entertaining dialogue delivery made him an instant favorite despite his significantly limited screen time.

5

Lupita Nyong’o As Roz

The Wild Robot (2024)

The conversation about an acting nomination for voice work or a separate Academy Award category for voice acting performances recently reached a peak when The Wild Robot started gaining awards season traction in 2025. Lupita Nyong’o’s impᴀssioned performance as the robot who develops an unlikely bond with the animal inhabitants of an island is proof that voice actors deserve Oscars.

Known for her incredible emotional performances, Lupita Nyong’o proves she is an equally capable voice actor with her performance as Roz, the тιтular robot. It’s her second time doing voice acting after her role as Raksha in the live-action Jungle Book movie, and the balance she strikes between robotic and human as Roz cements her status as a voice actor.

4

Eddie Murphy As Mushu

Mulan (1998)

Of his two most popular voice acting roles, Donkey from Shrek is arguably Eddie Murphy’s best movie character in his entire career. However, the energy he brings to Mulan, especially because of his character’s status, makes it the more nuanced and memorable performance of the two. Mushu presents himself as an all-mighty dragon, but he’s the size of a lizard.

The paradoxical nature of the measly character, supposedly a legendary mythological being with an inflated ego who nearly gets Mulan killed, could only have been captured by Murphy’s eccentric voice work. There’s simply no other actor I can imagine bringing the chaotic, hilarious, and rarely self-aware lizard to life. His screen presence is further buoyed by providing unintentional comic relief.

3

Saara Chaudry As Parvana

The Breadwinner (2017)

A unique and aesthetically pleasing animated movie, Nora Twomey’s The Breadwinner is one of the most explicitly political animated movies of all time. Set in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, it follows Parvana, a 12-year-old girl who is forced to pretend to be a boy so she can buy food and look for her father, who has been taken away by the Taliban.

Beautifully blending a fantasy story, Parvana tells her infant brother and juxtaposing its horror with the real-life horrors she experiences, The Breadwinner leaves an impression that is only buoyed by Saara Chaudry’s unbelievably emotionally layered voice acting. Parvana’s optimism in the face of growing insurmountable odds is a powerful form of rebellion, rendered real and impactful by Saara Chaudry’s performance.

2

Robin Williams As Genie

Aladdin (1992)

While Aladdin is one of the better live-action remakes in Disney’s fortunately closed list of unnecessary live-action renditions of its animated classics, one point of contention shall be eternal. Despite Will Smith making the character his own and delivering a memorable performance, Robin Williams’ Genie from the ’92 film is rightfully immortalized, and we can’t fathom anyone else portraying him.

Robin Williams’ version of the Genie has given us some of the funniest animated Disney movie scenes to ever be made, and it proves that the late comedian’s talents could translate to any medium. The lofty, clumsy, hilarious, emotional, and powerful sides of the Genie wouldn’t have been so well-balanced if not for Williams’ incredible comic timing and acting skills.

1

Mark Hamill As The Joker

Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm (1993)

There is arguably no better case to be made for major awards recognizing voice acting as a legitimate performance than Mark Hamill’s turn as the animated Joker. Despite voicing the character for years in shows, games, and even a feature film, he’s never won a Golden Globe, Emmy, or Oscar for it. Yet, he’s possibly the best Joker actor ever.

The debate regarding who between Mark Hamill and Heath Ledger played the Joker better is unending. However, many of us will always hear the character in Hamill’s voice. The chaotic, nearly absent balance between terrifying and whimsical that characterizes Hamill’s performance earns him legendary status. His Joker has terrified and defined the lives of an entire generation of Batman fans.