He Really Can Act / Western Animation

• Doc Hammer of The Venture Brothers had this reaction to himself. In the DVD Commentary to The Invisible Hand Of Fate, he says that normally he and Jackson Publick are reading the lines for their many side characters, they're just reading the lines in a funny voice without even trying to act. In that particular episode, Doc discovered his acting chops, pointing out the scene where Billy Quizboy angrily confronts the people manipulating him.
• Jaleel White as Sonic the Hedgehog. White gave Sonic such a warmth and range of emotions that what would have otherwise been a prime example of Questionable Casting worked so well that he voiced Sonic in two concurrently running shows that couldn't possibly have less in common in terms of tone.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Andrea Libman has always been known for playing kiddie roles that doesn't exactly require too much acting. But her performance as Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy was great. The final two episodes of Season 1, "Party of One" and "The Best Night Ever", had the characters she voiced crack under pressure and it was outright unnerving.
  • This also applies for some of the other voice actresses on the show. As CR put it, their performances in the previous My Little Pony shows were probably only lackluster because they weren't given anything interesting to say.
  • Kazumi Evans is best known in the show as the Non-Singing Voice for Rarity and Princess Luna, and she had her first in-series speaking roles as the deliciously evil Adagio Dazzle and the cultured-to-a-fault Octavia Melody in Rainbow Rocks. But her heartwrenching outburst and emotional breakdown as Moondancer in Season 5's "Amending Fences" prove her talents go well beyond her incredible set of pipes.
  • While Kathleen Barr does a great Large Ham as Trixie and Chrysalis, the deeper characterization afforded to Trixie as a recurring character starting in "No Second Prances" allowed her to showcase a greater range as the character.
  • William Shatner proves he can do a fine performance not just in his live action appearances, but as a voice actor as well when "The Perfect Pear" aired in Season 7. Many viewers who were expecting a cop-out or parody from Shatner as he is infamous for doing in his later years were blown away by his complex performance as Grand Pear, Applejack's estranged grandfather and a damn near tragic character at that, showing a great deal of respect for the source material.
• Richard Steven Horvitz played against type in the Static Shock episode "Jimmy", and it's one of the few times he's shown to have been subtle in a voice role.
• Tom Kenny has generally played a lot of comedic roles, such as SpongeBob, the Mayor of Townsville, Dog, Heffer, etc. It comes off as a shock when he plays Doctor Octopus, who is a legitimately creepy and threatening character, as well as managing to make you feel a bit of pity for him in a hall of mirrors when he laments "I was handsome once." in "Me Time", as well as the fact that he's about to be fired if he doesn't get Spider-Man.
  • He also does a great job as the Anti-Monitor.
  • Don't forget his role as the Ice King, initially a comedic and relatively harmless villain... until we're shown his backstory and you're hit by just how emotional he can get...
  • In fact, one of his first roles, Shakes the Clown saw him in a legitimately intimidating turn as Binky.
  • When he plays Mr. Jelly Bean in Rick and Morty, he once again proves his chops. With just a few lines he manages to nail the role of a creepy pedophile rapist chillingly well.
  • In the SpongeBob episode "Bummer Vacation", Tom Kenny shows how scary SpongeBob can be when he's completely off his rocker, and all with just the delivery of his infamous line "I've been WAITING for you, Patrick!", where you realize that he has completely lost it and becomes Ax-Crazy, with the maniacal laughter being the ultimate proof that Tom Kenny is also able to nail the role of SpongeBob becoming a scary psychopath chillingly well.
  • Pretty much anytime SpongeBob gets emotional can count here. With a particular mention going to the movie, where you genuinely feel like he's not gonna make it.
  • While not as famous as his other roles, he voiced Yancy Fry, Jr., the older brother of main protagonist, Philip J. Fry, on Futurama. In the episode "The Luck of the Fryrish", the scene of Yancy naming his son after his missing little brother wouldn't be nearly as effective if not for Tom Kenny's touching, completely sincere delivery.
  "I love you, Phillip. I always will."
• SpongeBob SquarePants has Rodger Bumpass's crying breakdown in "Enchanted Tiki Dreams". Poor guy sounds like he is generally miserable in his life.
  • There's also Squidward's violent "The Reason You Suck" Speech from "Good Neighbors". Squidward actually sounds like he's had enough of SpongeBob and Patrick's antics, and it feels shocking to hear such a regularly agitated Jerk with a Heart of Gold legitimately get furious and screech his head off in a rage.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender:
  • Pretty much all the main cast members of the first series have fantastic emotional moments, especially considering most of them actually were kids or teens at the time of their casting. Zachary Taylor Eisen (Aang) in particular stands out for this.
  • Dante Basco, who's best known outside of Avatar for his role as Rufio in Hook, mostly just gets to be angry for the first season, but later on gives some absolutely brilliant performances as Zuko, perhaps his crowning moment being his reunion with Uncle Iroh in Sozin's Comet. The way is voice breaks as he tells him how very sorry he is just breaks your heart. Plus, in Season 3 we get to see more of his sweet, awkward, vulnerable side, which is always nice.
  • Grey Delisle has proved herself multiple times as a fantastic voice actress, but her performance as Azula in the last few episodes of the series shows off skills of a different kind. Her anguished wails of madness when Katara captures her make for one of the most heartbreaking and disturbing moments in the show despite her status as a villain.
  • Mae Whitman has always been excellent as Katara, but she really pulls out the emotional stops in Awakening.
• The Legend of Korra:
  • Before being cast as Korra, Janet Varney was mostly known for her work on various comedic projects (such as RiffTrax). After being cast, however, viewers got to see what she could do when given dramatic substance (in particular, many critics have praised her acting in Book 4 for her realistic, heartbreaking portrayal of Korra suffering from PTSD).
  • Seychelle Gabriel as Asami. Originally she played Princess Yue in the panned live-action movie. Then she got cast in The Legend of Korra and started off as The Scrappy before proceeding to win fans over to her through a combination of the writing and her often heartbreaking performance, making her one of the more sympathetic (and popular) characters in the series. Her final confrontation at the end of Book One with her father in particular, stands out.
  • Steve Blum has never been regarded as a bad actor per se, but was extremely pigeonholed as the go-to, over-the-top badass kind of character. In this series, he's terrifying as Amon as well as very charismatic (while still being badass to boot), commanding the screen in every scene he was in, and both he and Dee Bradley Baker had one of the most heartbreaking moments of the entire season at the end.
  • J. K. Simmons, typically the Largest of Large Hams, gives a subtler and extremely well-done performance as Tenzin.
  • Zelda Williams certainly has a lot to live up to, her dad being who he is and all. She proves well up to the task with her performance as Kuvira, giving the role plenty of both commanding gravitas and humanity.
• Jeremy Shada, the voice of Finn from Adventure Time has already proven himself to be quite the capable actor, considering his age. But his performance in "Finn the Human" is even better. When Finn was under control of the Ice King's crown, his performance was disturbing.
• Bill Farmer as Goofy. He's usually a clumsy, happy-go-lucky guy, but come A Goofy Movie and its sequel, Goofy shows a wide range of emotions, adding authenticity to the heartbreaking moment when Goofy finds out Max changed the map.
  • Goofy's original voice actor, Pinto Colvig, was likewise no slouch as Grumpy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Not only did he give Grumpy a voice that sounds almost nothing like Goofy's, but, during the big Tear Jerker scene of the dwarfs mourning for Snow White's Disney Death, we see Grumpy Trying Not to Cry and then dissolving into Manly Tears complete with audible sobs. You read that right, the original voice of Goofy, a character well-known the world over for his Signature Laugh, managed to weep convincingly!
• In An Extremely Goofy Movie, Pauly Shore earns some respect with Bobby's O.O.C. Is Serious Business Rousing Speech.
• Jim Cummings as Tigger in The Tigger Movie. Tigger is usually a bouncy, dim-witted nut, but when he's sad, it's hard not to pity the poor guy. His original actor, Paul Winchell, had some well played emotional moments as well (particularly in The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh episodes such as "Stripes").
• Walt Disney himself demonstrated his capacity to make mature animation with "Education for Death", a powerful and moving propaganda piece which tells how the Nazi war machine trains its expendable youth for the battlefield with, admittedly, a bit of exaggeration, but absolutely zero irony (apart, of course, from the fact that Adolf Hitler himself is the cartoon's only source of comedy). It's also the absolute most serious Disney animated short subject ever to be made.
• Mary Kay Bergman has had a long history of roles up until her death, comedic and serious. Many of her South Park voices were funny, but her role as Sheila in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut...never had such a silly-sounding character sounded threatening.
• Star Wars: The Clone Wars has so many examples that it has its own page on the topic.
• The LEGO Movie: Alison Brie as Unikitty. Special mention goes to the scene where Unikitty is crying over Cloud Cuckooland's destruction.
• You wouldn't think that Diedrich Bader would be any good at serious deadpan roles after The Drew Carey Show and Office Space. But his performance as Batman on Batman: The Brave and the Bold showed us all!
• Steven Universe:
  • Deedee Magno-Hall is always heartbreaking as Pearl, and gets some of the best moments in the show because of it. We truly first got a look at this in "Rose's Scabbard", where she talks to Steven about her feelings for Rose.
    Pearl: Everything I ever did, I did for her. Now she's gone, but I'm still here. Sometimes, I wonder if she can see me through your eyes. What would she think of me now?
    • The climax of "Sworn To the Sword" will tug at your heartstrings when she's so lost in her argument with Steven it's clear she's no longer talking about his relationship to Connie.
      Pearl: NO! In a real battle, Steven won't be there to save you.
      Steven: Yes, I will!
      Pearl: Steven, you don't know that!
      Steven: Yes, I do! If Connie is going to fight, we're going to fight together!
      Connie: That's right!
      Pearl: You shouldn't be anywhere near the fight! You're too important!
      Steven: I'm not!
      Pearl: Yes, you are!
      Steven: No!
      Pearl: WHY WON'T YOU JUST LET ME DO THIS FOR YOU, ROSE!? [breaks off in tears] I- I mean... let her... do this? Why won't you let Connie do this for you...?
    • "Mr Greg", where she sings an utterly stunning Tear Jerker of a love ballad, "It's Over, Isn't it?" Particularly the final high note of "And she loved you, and she's gone", something improvised by her actress in the recording studio.
  • Jennifer Paz is consistently haunting as Lapis Lazuli, from her melancholic scenes after she's released from her mirror, to her wrath when either trapped as Malachite or admitting how she took out her hatred on Jasper in "Alone At Sea".
  • That Kimberly Brooks can do a gravelly-voiced brute (this is the same lady who voiced Buena Girl and currently voices the main character's mom in Doc McStuffins) is impressive already, but Jasper's Villainous Breakdown accelerating her corruption in "Earthlings" is intense.
  • Matthew Moy really outdid himself when voicing Steven inside Lars's body. After that, there's also his confession of his self-loathing to Steven, when they're both being taken to Homeworld.
  • Zach Callison, the voice of Steven himself, has some incredible moments of pathos. His debate with Bismuth over the ethics of shattering, his obvious concern trying to heal Jasper in the moment mentioned above in her own entry, and his emotional breakdown with Connie, confessing how guilty he feels over not being able to save the above two and Eyeball Ruby, despite his best attempts to solve the conflicts peacefully. But, what really gives him kudos was in the episode "Change Your Mind" where after White Diamond rips his Gem out of him, said Gem becomes a Pink copy of Steven. Zach voices both him and regular Steven and you can really hear how much in pain regular Steven when he is trying to return to Pink Steven due to him slowly dying. But, that's nothing to the sheer power in his voice where after White asks where Steven's mother Pink Diamond is, Pink Steven replies: "She's GOOOOOOOOOONE!" with a voice so powerful that it breaks the floor underneath him.
    • Even more impressive in the movie and the Future miniseries, where Steven has aged up and Zach is no longer held back by using his little boy voice. It allows Steven to sing even better and get some more emotionally challenging acts shoed-in, specially as he is mentally unravelling from his untreated traumas and bottled-up emotions.
    • During the climax of "Growing Pains", Steven breaking down and finally discussing his trauma with his dad is hard-hitting; it's apparent that for how much Steven's grown up, he was, and still is for the time being, a kid who's been through the wringer with the responsibilities he's had to shoulder and only now realizing he was badly hurt by it all.
      Steven: My body, it's reacting like it's the end of the world. I think I've seen the world almost end so many times now, that everything else feels that— that extreme. I should be feeling so good these days. The universe is saved, it's Era 3, but... but I'm swelling up over these Third Era problems. What do I do?... [starts crying] How do I move on from all the horrible stuff that's happened? How do I live my life if it always feels like I'm about to die??
    • Likewise, the utter sadism in Steven's voice before he shatters Jasper in "Fragments", and he strengthens his mind control over White Diamond in "Homeworld Bound", is utterly chilling.
    • And, during Steven's mental breakdown in "Everything's Fine", many were chilled to the bone by Zach's performance, filled with raw madness and despair in a brutal yet realistic way.
• Nobody denies that Mel Blanc was as prolific a voice actor as they come, but there are times where he came off as just going through the motions. Then, once in a while, he'd have a moment that showed he was a damn fine actor. Notable examples:
  • Sylvester breaking down from bird deprivation toward the end of the Oscar-winning Birds Anonymous. Mel said that was his best work as a voice actor and producer Eddie Selzer bequeathed the Oscar he received for the short to Mel when he died, saying he deserved it for his performance (so, technically Blanc received his only Oscar for that short.)
  • Daffy's constant freak-outs in Duck Amuck.
  • Also, while not quite as much an acting triumph as it is just an insanely great performance, Daffy's frantically warning Little Red Riding Hood about the Big Bad Wolf — by scatting like Danny Kaye, no less! — in Bob Clampett's Book Revue.
  • Speaking of Looney Tunes: Arthur Q. Bryan's performance as Elmer in "What's Opera, Doc?". A perfect blend of silly and sincere (especially toward the end).
  • Back to Blanc: several shorts were so reliant on his voice-acting talents that some — the most famous example being The Scarlet Pumpernickel, though it can also be heard in a few other famous ones like Ali Baba Bunny and Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century — have him doing every voice. In the former's case, the only character not voiced by Blanc is Melissa, who's Bea Benaderet (he even voices Elmer Fudd, who's usually the aforementioned Arthur Q. Bryan). On some occasions, he even did the female roles if Sara Berner, Bea Benaderet, or June Foray weren't around (or just because it was funny — see Gorilla My Dreams).
• The Ren & Stimpy Show: How can you go wrong when the two leads are voiced by John Kricfalusi and Billy West? (And eventually just West?) While Kricfalusi isn't as well-known for his voice acting, he turns in a few genuinely terrifying performances as Ren, usually when he freaks out (see his threatening Stimpy and Sven in "Sven Hoek" and his almost Shakespearean monologue when he contemplates killing Stimpy in "Stimpy's Fan Club"). West also gets in a few great performances, particularly the insane yak in "The Royal Canadian Kilted Yaksmen." West never wanted to work with Kricfalusi again after the original Spumco episodes, but boy, did it work.
• Prior to his being cast as Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Mark Hamill was best known for the heroic Luke Skywalker from Star Wars, and many people had doubts that he'd be able to do justice to such a villainous character. Today, if you ask any stranger on the street to point to a definitive version of The Joker, they'll either cite Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning performance from The Dark Knight, or Hamill. And some will choose the latter over the former.
• Say what you will about Superfriends, but it was Growing the Beard during The Super Powers Team era and one of the reasons is the episode "The Fear", where Adam West gives one of his best performances in his most famous role as Batman is triggered by Scarecrow going to Crime Alley into reliving the night his parents died, and his feelings and fears about it.
• The great thing about South Park is that even when the plots are goofy, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have the characters play it dead serious. So, the more serious the parallel is, the better the performances. See Stan confronting Kyle's evasive behavior when Indiana Jones is raped in "The China Probrem" or Cartman's Freak Out when the boys are about to destroy his gadgets (as if he's getting murdered) in "Skank Hunt".
• The Powerpuff Girls (1998)
  • Tara Strong as Bubbles during "All Chalked Up" while the latter has a realistic sobbing fit. You have to wonder if Tara had a good cry before recording in the studio.
  • Tom Kane as Him. ANY scene he appears in is disturbing as hell, especially his creepy voice.
  • Tom Kane as Professor while he cries over his seemingly-dead Girls in "Knock It Off".
  • Jeff Bennett as Ace in "Aspirations", specifically near the end, after realizing he'd been manipulated by Sedusa. You'd probably be crying along with him.
  • Jeff Bennett also gets major props for his terrifying portrayal as the truly vile and monstrous one-shot villain Dick Hardley.
• BoJack Horseman:
  • Will Arnett, mostly a goofy comic actor, showing a serious amount of cred as the washed up 90s actor BoJack. Special mention to his plea to Diane to tell him he's still worth something, or his breakup with Wanda (also a SRCA moment for Lisa Kudrow).
  • Season 3 had Kristen Schaal show her acting chops as Sarah-Lynn, a Former Child Star with Hidden Depths, in the penultimate episode "That's Too Much, Man".
  • In Season 4, BoJack's mother Beatrice has more of her backstory explored, allowing Wendie Malick to show off her skills. She gives a heartbreaking performance as Beatrice, both as a little girl dealing with an uncaring father and lobotomized mother and as an old woman losing her mind to dementia.
• Rick and Morty:
  • In the episode Lawnmower Dog, Rob Paulsen voices Snuffles/Snowball. His performance of the character is most definitely noteworthy and tear jerking during the final act, where he's manipulated by Rick into being forced to choose between Morty's life or his kingdom.
  Accountant: Do you think they would've done any of this for us?
  Snowball: We are not them! (Beat) We are not them.
  • At the beginning of Season 7, the first season to premiere after Justin Roiland's Role-Ending Misdemeanor, new voice actors Ian Cardoni (Rick) and Harry Belden (Morty) clearly had the monumental task of living up to their predecessor in the fans' eyes (and while dubbing over already-finished animation, to boot). Then came episode five Unmortricken, which included scenes such as the Start of Darkness of recurring antagonist Evil Morty and Rick beating his Arch-Enemy, Rick Prime, to death with his bare fists. The general fan reaction is that this is the episode where Cardoni and Belden's performances won them over.
• DuckTales (2017):
  • For Donald Duck and for Tony Anselmo's mastery of the voice. Donald has never shown a greater emotional range than he has here, when Donald's previous characterization was largely just the angry guy.
  • Keith Ferguson is clearly having fun voicing Flintheart Glomgold, and gives him just the right amount of jerkishness that makes him a villain we Love to Hate. He also manages to do a flawless impersonation of the Darkwing Duck villain Megavolt sounding exactly like how Dan Castellenata voiced him in the original series.
  • Catherine Tate, best known for her comic roles and her heart-breaking role as Donna from Doctor Who, is surprisingly chilling as Magica De Spell.
  • The Beagle Boys in the original series were voiced by individual voice actors like Frank Welker, Peter Cullen, Will Ryan, and Chuck McCann, among others. Here, they're all voiced by one voice actor, Eric Bauza, and he manages to give each Beagle their own identity and voice.
  • Kimiko Glenn and Kate Micucci really make Lena and Webby stand out in the horror-oriented "The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck!", conveying the fear and grief of their characters during the Nightmare Sequence in a chillingly convincing way.
  • Bobby Moynihan as Louie is typically laid back and has some skewed priorities, but in "The Secrets Of Castle McDuck", we see more of his vulnerable side when he's just as shocked and hurt as Huey that Dewey kept a secret about their mother from them. Damn! That's fine acting there.
  • While Jim Cummings is usually great, he's especially so here as Jim Starling, the original Darkwing Duck. What clinches it, though, is his terrifying portrayal of Jim after he decides to become Negaduck, really selling the Face–Heel Turn.
  • Chris Diamantopoulos, best known for Mickey Mouse has earned praise for his performance as Storkules thanks to being a Large Ham and a Nice Guy. He also sounds almost exactly like Jim Cummings when voicing Drake Mallard, the new Darkwing Duck.
  • James Monroe Iglehart's previous work for Disney included the Genie in the original Broadway cast for Aladdin, Lance Strongbow in Tangled: the Series, and Bronzino in Elena of Avalor, all heavily comedic characters. So not only was casting him as Taurus Bulba a major case of Playing Against Type for him, but he gave a crazed, sinister, truly threatening performance to completely justify it.
• Sarah Silverman may not have been the most family-friendly performer with a Disney film (Wreck-It Ralph) on her resume, but the way her character Vanellope cries out when Ralph destroys the car they had built will break your heart.
  "You really are a bad guy."
• Jesse McCartney's performance as Robin/Nightwing in Young Justice (2010). DC fans were skeptical at first of a former teen pop star voicing the iconic protege to the Dark Knight. However, they later found out he does really well balancing Dick's snark and silliness right alongside his drive, determination, and the fact that he was trained by Batman.
• Gravity Falls:
  • In "Summerween" guest voice actor Jeff Bennett gives an otherwise ridiculous villain-A cryptid made of rejected candy called "The Summerween Trickster" a genuinely menacing and suspenseful performance, making it one of the series’s creepiest characters.
  • Jason Ritter gives a gut wrenching Anguished Declaration of Love in "Into The Bunker" when he finds an injured Wendy. The fact that it’s the Shapeshifter in disguise and the real Wendy is fine doesn’t take away how heartbreaking it is.
  • The climax of "Not What He Seems" is full of these from Jason Ritter, Kristen Schaal and Alex Hirsch.
    Stan: DON’T TOUCH THAT BUTTON!
    Dipper: And I should trust you why?! After you stole radioactive waste?! After you lied to us all summer?! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO YOU ARE!
    Mabel: Grunkle Stan... I trust you.
  • The Grand Finale’s epilogue has the saddest performance that J. K. Simmons has possibly done. When he breaks down as he hugs the mindwiped Stan, you can hear the grief and guilt in Ford’s voice.
    Ford: You're our hero, Stanley....
• Sammy Davis Jr. in Heidi's Song. While no one can deny Davis Jr.'s skill as a performer, he was usually known as a charismatic showman. Here, he plays a villain, and you can tell that he's really into it. The way Head Ratte's voice rasps in certain lines (most notably, "Unless your style / is so vile / you can cause a sensation) is just incredibly well done and very sinister. Despite that, Davis Jr. still brings a lot of charisma to the character, making the Head Ratte a very enjoyable antagonist.
• Big City Greens has Chris Houghton realistically burst into tears in the episode Phoenix Rises . He makes you feel that Cricket is overcome with guilt and sounds actually worried that his dog ran away for good. It is worth noting that Chris was actually in tears when recording that scene.
• Kath Soucie:
  • Her performance as Mera Nereus in Young Justice (2010) is possibly one of Soucie's most serious and amazing performances in animation. Mainly in some episodes of Young Justice Phantoms where you sometimes can't even recognize her voice at times.
  • Soucie delivers a very heartbreaking performance as Young Nick Wilde in Disney's 2016 film Zootopia. Especially when Young Nick starts breaking down after being forced to wear a muzzle after getting bullied by other animals.
  • The 1997 Christmas film Annabelle's Wish is considered to be one of Kath Soucie's most touching and heartfelt voice roles where she provided the voice of the titular character. She manages to perfectly capture Annabelle's innocence and sweet-nature as a calf until she becomes a reindeer by the end of the film.
• Amphibia:
  • If there is something many fans agree about, it's Haley Tju's great voice acting in True Colors as she manages to capture Marcy's desperate attempts to justify her actions, only to somberly admit that what she did was all in a vain and desperate attempt to not be alone.
    • Her acting is brought up again in Olivia and Yunan, in the Downer Ending scene where The Core possesses Marcy, where she manages to make Marcy's agonizing screams sound really haunting.
  • As mentioned above, Bill Farmer's voiced the same Goofy for so long that it's easy to forget that the man has some impressive acting chops...as seen in the episode After the Rain when he tells Anne about what happened to Sprig and Polly's parents. Many fans of the show consider it one of the series' best/saddest moments.
• Ed Asner in Up. The scenes of Emotional Torque that lead to the present day might be unvoiced, but it's Asner's performance that takes the character or Carl Fredricksen from a generic Grumpy Old Man by showing why he's grumpy, bitter, and antisocial. His subsequent heroics and warming up to Russell showed a range of emotions not often seen in animated characters, and it was used as yet another example in the movement to establish Oscars for voice acting.
• Moral Orel:
  • Throughout the entire series, Scott Adsit does an amazing job portraying Clay Puppington as the abusive, uncaring, hypocritical, and ultimately pathetic man that he is. The peak of his performance, however, is Clay's infamous drunken rant near the end of Part 1 of the two-part "Nature" episode. You will never look at Baymax the same way again.
  • Also worth highlighting from the "Nature" two-parter is Carolyn "Sandy Cheeks" Lawrence as Orel himself. In the episode, innocent Cheerful Child Orel is forced to accept that his father is an awful human being, and it clearly shakes him to his very core. Lawrence's delivery of this line in particular stands out:
    Orel: (to Clay) IT'S BECAUSE YOU BECOME A BAD PERSON WHEN YOU DRINK!!!!
• While like everyone else in Iron Man: The Animated Series, Robert Hays (best known as Ted Stryker) wasn't at his best as the titular Tony Stark in season 1, he vastly improved in season 2, which (barring the alcoholism) adapted every single one of Tony's character flaws from the comics at the time, including the hell Tony both went through and caused in the adaption of Armor Wars, even at times sounding like he's on the verge of cracking from the guilt.

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