It looks like Alan Tudyk will voice characters in Disney Animation's next two films, Zootopia and Moana!
This isn't much of a shock, because Tudyk played prominent characters in the previous three Disney animated films.
Alan Tudyk, prior to voicing King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph, was known for his roles in Firefly and Dollhouse, along with various other live-action roles. He has been no stranger to animation, either. His earliest voice work was for various characters in Ice Age, and he has done voice work for many animated TV shows and films since, including DC cartoons like Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Young Justice...
Tudyk was fantastic as King Candy/Turbo, one of my favorite Disney villains of the revival era features and one my favorites, period. He completely nailed the goofy Ed Wynn/Mad Hatter-esque side of the character, and landed the more sinister side. I thought he did well as the Duke of Wesselton in Frozen, though I didn't find that character to be too memorable. He was also very good as the seemingly suspicious Alistair Krei in Big Hero 6. In an interview with Collider, he jokingly talked about voicing "red herring" characters...
Of course, some of us wondered if he'd be in the next film, or future films from Walt Disney Animation Studios. The answer is yes...
Perhaps Mr. Tudyk is now their John Ratzenberger, the "good luck charm" that'll appear in all of their films. Ratzenberger has voiced major Pixar characters (Hamm), supporting characters (P.T. Flea, Mustafa), and quite a few minor one-scene wonder faces (the Yeti, Moonfish, Underminer, etc.) as well... I reckon Tudyk will be no different. There is not one Pixar film that Ratzenberger isn't in, so I can imagine Tudyk being in all of the future Disney Animation films. Disney Animation has done this long before John Lasseter was even born, too. Sterling Holloway, Verna Felton, and J. Pat O'Malley for starters can be heard in several Disney animated films.
Who will he voice in Zootopia? That's really up in the air, because we only know the names of two characters in that film, leads Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps. With Moana, we know roughly five, and that opens after Zootopia! With Zootopia, I'd imagine Tudyk playing a fairly major character, if not one of the main characters. For me, I hope he doesn't play a character that's associated with the antagonist or another "red herring" character like Wesselton or Krei, if there is one in that film. I reckon there will be a bad guy in Zootopia, given that one of the main characters wants to be a cop and also because the story involves a missing mammal. Earlier synopses mentioned a giant conspiracy, too.
If there is a bad guy, I kind of hope that if Tudyk voices him, he won't be a "reveal" villain, because you'll know his character is the villain from the get-go, thus ruining whatever twist they had in store. What was great about his roles in Frozen and Big Hero 6 was that he didn't play baddies, but characters some audiences assumed would be the villains. I remember going into Big Hero 6 thinking, "Alan Tudyk. His character is a CEO. I wonder if they'll be predictable and make him the bad guy." Throughout the film they try to lead you to believe that he was behind the expo fire that kills Tadashi, though many guessed from the get-go that it was Callaghan. Given Disney's penchant for twists with their recent films, I had a feeling it wasn't going to be Krei, and was happy to see that it wasn't.
So... Bad guy? A supporting character? A henchman? Another red herring? Who knows. I'm sure they won't repeat themselves. It'll be refreshing to see him play a good guy who isn't suspicious at all.
Moana is a bit more interesting. Who could he possibly voice in a story that's set in Oceania, 2,000 years ago? I doubt he'll be voicing a human character. Why's that? I would like to think that Disney will only cast people of Oceanic backgrounds (whether they're Samoan, Tahitian, what have you) for the humans, so I can see Tudyk playing one of Moana's animal friends or the talking tiki head that was rumored a little while back. Maybe he'll voice one of the supernatural creatures that Moana, Maui and the two animals will encounter on their journey.
What kind of character do you think Tudyk will play in Zootopia? Or Moana? Sound off below!
(via Collider)