In this weekend's Happy Feet Two, Robin Williams voices Ramón, a South American penguin lothario, and Lovelace, a deep-voiced love guru. So how did a self-described quiet child from Chicago transform himself into one of Hollywood's most energetic Academy Award winners and skilled impressionists, who pulls double duty in Warner Bros.'s latest animated feature?
You can always trace a direct line through a few important roles to illustrate what led to an actor's current success. As such, let's look at nine pivotal performances that track the evolution of Robin Williams.
Mork & Mindy (1978)
After graduating from Juilliard, Williams moved to Los Angeles where he honed his stand-up routine on the west coast comedy circuit and auditioned for television roles. One such guest part on Happy Days -- as Mork, an alien from the planet Ork who helps abduct the Fonz -- was such a hit with the show's creator Gary Marshall that Marshall created a sci-fi sitcom for Williams's character. Mork & Mindy proved to be the breakthrough project that made Robins a recognizable name and earned him a Golden Globe in 1979.
Popeye (1980)
Halfway through the four-season run of Mork & Mindy, Williams made his big screen debut as the titular character in Robert Altman's adaptation of Popeye. (Yes, a live-action musical adaptation of Popeye in which Robin Williams squints and sings "I am what I am" with inflated forearms exists.) Williams reportedly won the role after Dustin Hoffman dropped out. In spite of a respectable effort to bring life to a two-dimensional comic character with a lopsided smile and an obsession with spinach, Popeye earned mixed reviews.
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
Following one small success (The World According to Garp) and a trio of forgettable titles (The Best of Times, Club Paradise and Seize the Day), Williams established himself as a legitimate dramatic actor and a box office draw with Barry Levinson's Vietnam war comedy-drama. As Armed Forces Radio Service DJ Adrian Cronauer, Williams was able to use his trademark rapid-fire monologue style and improvise extensively. Thanks in part to Levinson's direction (which carefully pulled Williams out of his stand-up shell) and the well-formed script, Williams was able to shed his fast-talking persona for a fully-fleshed character by the end of the film. Good Morning, Vietnam earned Williams his first Academy Award nomination.
Aladdin (1992)
After solidifying himself as one of Hollywood's most underestimated dramatic actors in Dead Poets Society and The Fisher King, Williams established his talent as a voice actor in Aladdin. Animator Eric Goldberg was reportedly so determined to get the actor on board as the Genie that he animated the Genie doing some of Williams's stand-up routines. The actor was so impressed that he signed onto the project, even agreeing to participate for scale pay as long as his voice was not used for merchandising and his character took up less than 25% of the film's promotional materials. When the studio reneged on some contractual stipulations that Williams had tried to enforce, the actor stopped supporting the project and refused to work with Disney again -- until years later, after chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg had been fired.
In addition to being a milestone for the actor, Aladdin proved to be a landmark for animated films in general as it was the first title to be advertised on the strength of its voice actors.
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
It seems odd these days when an established movie star doesn't start producing his/her own pictures to siphon off as much profit as possible. Even though Williams has grossed nearly $3 billion at the box office over the course of his 30+ year career, the actor has only produced two of his feature products --- the first of which was Mrs. Doubtfire. As a divorced dad who dons full drag just to spend more time with his three estranged children, Williams again impressed critics and helped make Mrs. Doubtfire his most lucrative project yet (when ticket prices are adjusted for inflation). Although a Mrs. Doubtfire sequel was originally planned -- in which the titular character moves closer to her daughter's college to keep an eye on her -- it never got off the ground because Williams was reportedly unhappy with all scripts.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Williams followed Mrs. Doubtfire with a few critical flops (Nine Months, Jumanji, Jack and Flubber), a brilliant comedic turn playing a flamboyant club owner (The Birdcage) and a Woody Allen project (Deconstructing Harry) before reaching the pinnacle of his career thus far -- his role as a widower therapist who helps a South Boston genius janitor (Matt Damon) open up emotionally. The role marked Williams's dramatic rebound as an actor and is largely considered his finest work onscreen. For his role, Williams won his first (and only, so far) Academy Award.
One Hour Photo/Death to Smoochy/Insomnia (2002)
Five years later -- after playing a doctor who uses clown noses to cheer up patients (Patch Adams), a 1940s Jewish shop keeper (Jakob the Liar) and a robot with emotions (Bicentennial Man) to varying degrees of success -- Williams made a casting U-turn and took three back-to-back roles as big screen baddies. The first time Williams plays an antagonist was in the creepy One Hour Photo as a lonely photo lab operator who preys upon one family whose pictures he develops. In Danny Devito's box office bomb Death to Smoochy, Williams plays a corrupt children's television host and in Insomnia, the actor embodies a corrupt crime writer. Of the three films, One Hour Photo and Insomnia fared well with critics.
Old Dogs (2009)
Every Academy Award winner has a WTF moment in his/her career and signs onto a project that promises to produce nothing but shudders and dry heaves from the get-go. For Williams, this project was Old Dogs, which rests comfortably at 5 percent on the Rotten Tomatoes meter. In Old Dogs, Williams plays one of the titular old dogs who discovers he has twins, kicks children in the face with soccer balls and hits golf balls into the crotches of business peers. (It's called comedy, guys.) The film received scathing reviews which called it "stupifyingly dimwitted and singularly dreadful."
Happy Feet Two (2011)
Williams returned to voice acting in 2006 for the first Happy Feet film. Thanks in part to the strength of Williams's characters Ramon and Lovelace, the penguin feature won an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, grossed nearly $200 million domestically and spawned this weekend's sequel, in which Williams reprises both of his roles. Up next, Williams returns to comedy for 2012's The Wedding alongside fellow Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton and Susan Sarandon. After that though, Williams's IMDB page is blank. Hopefully the comedian and Oscar-winning actor will fill his future with more dramatic roles, quality comedic turns and milestones to extend his onscreen evolution.
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