Animated performances can be made one hundred times better by good voice acting. It adds personality and expression to a voice, and can especially be great depending on the genre - comedic timing and different voices are great for comedy, and dark, villainous voices and even evil laughs can be great for dark or action animations.
Eddie Murphy plays Donkey in Shrek, one of my favorite examples of comedic voice acting. Everything he says is extra exaggerated, with emphasis on certain words and, of course, the occasional bout of singing. Donkey's emotions are always plain in his voice - he isn't a character that hides what he is thinking or meaning, so he is an easy character to read, and it makes his performances much more genuine. His voice also sounds great in contrast to Shrek's softer Scottish voice; Shrek hides his emotions a little more, and is much more careful and guarded but as the film progresses he becomes more open and laughs a lot more with Donkey, showing how his character develops, and he stops trying to make himself sound so scary.
On the other side of the coin, Donna Murphy plays Mother Gothel, the sneaky, selfish antagonist of Tangled. She talks and sings in tones that just screams 'I'm better than you' and, of course, 'mother knows best'. She exaggerates the emotions that she doesn't really feel in the video above, to get sympathy from Rapunzel, and often over acts in situations to pretend that she isn't as devious as she actually is. This shows how emotionally manipulative she is, and how she isn't afraid to lie to get what she wants. To the audience, it is very obvious by both her tone and dialogue that she isn't a trustworthy or nice person.
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