Alan Tudyk’s 10 Best Disney Characters, Ranked

Summary

• Alan Tudyk is a versatile voice actor, showcasing a wide range of characters in Disney animated films.
• His performances as Duke of Weselton, Heihei, and King Candy highlight his comedic and villainous vocal talents.
• Tudyk’s ability to bring depth and humor to seemingly straightforward characters in animated roles is exceptional.

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Alan Tudyk has been a consistent presence in Hollywood for over two decades, but he’s also increasingly become one of Disney Animation’s most consistent vocal talents. While the actor has remained fantastic on-screen in shows like Doom Patrol and Resident Alien, he’s also taken over several major voice-over roles in recent years, such as Optimus Prime in Transformers: EarthSpark. However, his most prevalent voice work has been with Disney Animation.

Since appearing in Wreck-It Ralph as King Candy — a performance that earned Tudyk an Annie Award for Voice Acting — Tudyk has appeared in every Disney animated film in some capacity. Whether playing a major villain, providing comic relief, or just getting a brief minor appearance, Tudyk has showcased a great deal of versatility as a performer through his animated appearances. He’s also appeared in several Disney Animated shows, highlighting the depth he can bring to seemingly straightforward characters. Here are the best ten Alan Tudyk roles from Disney Animation, ranked.

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10 The Duke of Weselton

The Duke Of Weselton Is A Secondary Antagonist In Frozen

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Alan Tudyk has proven to be one of the most adaptable voice talents modern Disney has embraced, with a wide range of roles highlighting his natural affinity for animation voice-over. While he’d appeared in Wreck-It Ralph before Frozen, the Duke of Weselton highlighted how adaptable Tudyk could be with his vocal performances. A snooty dignitary who attends the ball in Arendelle, the Duke proves to be a minor antagonist who turns against Elsa and leads an attempt on her life.

The Duke is a minor but memorable appearance from Tudyk, serving as the false villain of the film before Hans reveals his true intentions and role as Frozen‘s central antagonist. The performance works both as a gag character during the dance before transforming into something actually threatening in the film’s second half. While the Duke (and Tudyk) are largely absent from Frozen 2 outside of a brief cameo, the character could return for the upcoming sequel, Frozen 3.

9 Heihei

Heihei Is The Animal Sidekick In Moana & Moana 2

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Heihei underscores how much Tudyk can convey with little dialogue. Heihei is a chicken from the same island as Moana, and ends up accidently accompanying her on her oceanic adventure. Heihei is largely comic relief, with Tudyk’s dim-witted chicken serving as a consistent source of physical comedy throughout the film. Considered in-universe to be among the dumbest characters within the Disney Canon, Heihei’s antics serve as a cartoonish counter to the more emotional beats within the film.

Heihei adds a consistent sense of levity to Moana, and benefits from a deceptively varied number of vocal tics and beats. Tudyk is able to transform a potentially basic character into one with a constantly dumb but consistently entertaining series of clucks, clicks, and occasionally screams. Heihei could easily been a frustrating character who distracted from the plot, but Tudyk’s performance (coupled with solid comic character animation and direction) helped turn him into one of the film’s more memorable elements, and will likely do so again in the upcoming Moana 2.

8 Mad Hatter

Alan Tudyk Takes Over The Role Of The Mad Hatter In Once Upon A Studio

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Once Upon A Studio was a short tribute produced by Disney Animation to honor the studio’s one hundredth anniversary. The short features many of Disney’s iconic animated characters running around the Disney Animation Studio, preparing to take a picture together. While many performers returned to reprise their old Disney roles, Tudyk got to appear in the short playing the version of Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. Previously portrayed by Ed Wynn and then Corey Burton, Tudyk adjusts to the Mad Hatter well in his brief appearance.

Notably, the performance finds the happy medium between Tudyk’s typical vocal tone and the Mad Hatter’s specific tone of voice. It’s clearly Tudyk performing the character, but he retains the loopy and light elements of the former versions of the character. It’s a short but sweet performance by Tudyk, and allows one of modern Disney’s most consistent vocal talents the chance to appear in the anniversary special.

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7 Valentino

Valentino Is The Animal Sidekick In Wish

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Valentino is Asha’s pet goat in Wish, and at the time of this writing one of Tudyk’s most recent Disney roles. The character, initially presented as a regular goat and animal sidekick to Asha,. However, he develops a deep speaking voice after the pair find the wishing star, with Valentino being among the film’s early examples of speaking animals.

Tudyk plays the three-month old goat as a bombastic and goofy comic relief that benfits the character and provides some of the biggest laughs of the film. The role is perfectly suited for Tudyk, who brings a lot of unexpected energy to the character and delivers most of his lines with a verbose vocality. While Valentino may not be the best goofy animal sidekick in Disney history, Tudyk brings a lot to the character that improves the role.

6 House of Tomorrow

The House Of Tomorrow Is An Angtaonist In The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse

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“The House of Tomorrow” was a goofy throwback episode of The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, directly parodying the House of the Future attraction from Disneyland. Voiced by Tudyk, the House is initially presented as a friendly, if somewhat basic voice for the automated house. However, the House of Tomorrow steadily becomes more unsettling and possessive, eventually becoming a threat that Mickey, Donald, and Goofy have to escape from.

The House of Tomorrow is a solid comic villain for a short, but transcends that initial potential thanks to Tudyk. His performance shifts subtly from calm to creepy with ease, especially as his jealousy over Minnie Mouse’s place in Mickey’s heart becomes more pronounced. It’s a silly role that relies on Tudyk to be both silly and threatening, something he’s uniquely skilled at as a performer.

5 Duke Weaselton

Duke Weaselton Is A Minor Antagonist In Zootopia

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Duke Weaselton is a minor but important character in Zootpoia. A street-level criminal who runs afoul of Judy Hopps, Duke ends up being one of the keys to the young officer uncovering a conspiracy against predators within the animal city. While the film’s latter-half becomes increasingly dramatic, Duke ends up working well as a sneaky criminal and as a source of unexpected comic relief, especially once he’s captured by Judy and forced to share evidence on his past crimes.

Playing Duke with the right level of smarm and skeeviness, Tudyk turns what could have been a functionary role into something more memorably comedic. Duke is over-confident to a tee, but his bravado goes out the window the moment he’s actually challenged or threatened. It’s a minor but memorable role from Tudyk, one that benefits from strong writing and clear characterization on Tudyk’s part.

4 Alistair Krei

Alistair Is A Fake-Out Villain In Big Hero 6 & A Recurring Character In Big Hero 6: The Series

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Alistair Krei is initially presented as a likely antagonist in Big Hero 6. A major corporate power player in the world of San Fransokyo, Alistair is introduced as an overconfident mogul with little care for others. However, the film subverts expectations and reveals he’s actually the target of the film’s actual villain, Robert Callaghan. Tudyk plays Krei with a sense of amoral ambition that could lead to desperate outbursts, all the while hinting at a more complex take on the “corrupt corporate” archetype.

Krei would be a solid performance in Big Hero 6 alone, but Tudyk returned to the role for the subsequent TV sequel, Big Hero 6: The Series. Krei was a frequent figure in the show, often appearing as a complicated influence in the first season. The longer run of the show also gave Alistair room to grow as a character in surprising ways, steadily turning him into an unexpected ally to the superhero team and a boss to Hiro. This surprising depth improves the character, and gives Tudyk more room to refine the performance.

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3 River

River Butterfly Is A Major Supporting Character In Star Vs. The Forces of Evil

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River is the father of Star in Star Vs. The Forces of Evil. In contrast to his refined wife, Moon, River is secretly a far more boistrous and bombastic character. Tudyk plays River with a surprising amount of depth, especially considering how much the character just wants to be a straightforward fun-loving barbarian.

Throughout the show, Tudyk gets to flex more and more creative muscles with River, highlighting his surprising capabilities as a peacekeeper and king. It’s a largely likable role, especially compared to the more morally dubious characters Tudyk has gotten to play across modern Disney animation. However, it’s not one without complexity, especially as River’s divide with his wife and her allies on monsters became more pronounced in later seasons. River is a fun role for Tudyk and one that let the actor expand in surprising ways.

2 King Candy

King Candy Is The Primary Antagonist Of Wreck-It Ralph

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King Candy was Alan Tudyk’s first character with Disney Animation, and remains one of his most compelling performances. Initially presented as the wacky but demanding ruler of the racing game Sugar Rush, Tudyk is able to play the character for broad laughs, angry declarations, and surprising emotion — all delivered in an over-the-top voice befitting the character. However, one of the film’s big twists reveals he’s actually Turbo, an infamous game character who’s taken over the world of Sugar Rush.

Once revealed, Tudyk transforms King Candy into a genuinely fearsome villain. This only gets worse in the film’s final stretch when King Candy is absorbed and transformed by the CyBugs into a new monstrous form, with Tudyk delivering a performance that retains its distinctive vocal touches while still becoming something different. Tudyk’s King Candy is one of the best villains in modern Disney animation, and is elevated immensely by the performance.

1 Ludo

Ludo Is One Of The Antagonists Of Star Vs. The Forces of Evil

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Introduced as the initial main villain of Star Vs. The Forces of Evil, Ludo is set up as a dangerous if inept threat to the magical princess Star’s attempts to adjust to life on Earth. The wannabee despot is initially just a comedic problem for Star to contend with, something Tudyk proves very adept at playing with comedic gusto. However, as the show progresses, Ludo proves to be a far more compelling character.

Across the course of four seasons, Tudyk gets the chance to play Ludo as he quietly goes on his own Hero’s Journey. Along the way, he overcomes the trauma caused by his parents and resists the urge to resume villainy, becoming an unexpectedly friendly character by the end of the show. It wouldn’t work nearly as well without Tudyk, who mines the character for surprising pathos even while retaining a comedically pathetic vocal tenor for the character and his outbursts. Ludo may be the most complex animated Disney character Tudyk has yet played, and it’s a great showcase for the actor’s vocal range.

Alan Tudyk

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