Telling The Wrap, Stewart says:
Right now my feeling is that the greatest innovations in cinema are being made in the world of animation. There’s such a diversity of work that’s being done. So when there’s a chance to take part in this new wave of great filmmaking, I like to take part in it.
He gets a free pass on the whole “celebrity voice-actor” thing because he is, in fact, a great actor in the classical sense who can add just as much to a performance with his voice as his movements.
What a hypocrite. He’s praising animation for its innovation while working on yet another Oz movie. Empty, outside the envelope praise.
True. You can read the soundbytes from plenty of actors and actresses performing in animated films that take similar lines. The difference is that most of them are hacks. Patrick Stewart is a real actor with a much greater understanding of what it takes to give a performance.