9 Legendary Cartoon Voices

[Brian Damage]

1. Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Cartwright, AKA Bart Simpson, has also been the voice of Rufus on Kim Possible, Kip Kangaroo on Shirt Tales and, for a few episodes, Chuckie on Rugrats. Plus, extreme fans of Who Framed Roger Rabbit might recognize her as the voice of the “dipped” shoe. OK, probably not.

2. Billy West
No doubt you’ve heard Billy West but perhaps you’ve never heard OF him (or maybe it’s just me who is really oblivious). This guy is all over the place. For five shows, he gave Stimpy a voice on Nickelodeon’s Ren and Stimpy; he’s been Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Pepe Le Pew and Elmer Fudd on various projects since the 1996 movie Space Jam; and he was the voice of Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, Leo Wong and President Richard Nixon’s Head on Futurama. Howard Stern fans will remember West as the voice of the Jackie Puppet and various other characters from 1989-1995. And he’s also the current voice of Buzz, the Honey-Nut Cheerios Bee (Wikipedia claims Sterling Holloway was the original Honey-Nut Cheerios Bee, but we can’t find anything to back that up.)

3. Eleanor Audley
I have to mention Eleanor Audley because she is the voice of the psychic whose head is floating in the crystal ball at the Magic Kingdom’s Haunted Mansion. It’s my favorite ride ever. Paul and I had a goal of riding it 13 times while we were on vacation… alas, we only rode it nine times. I digress. In addition to being in my favorite attraction, Eleanor Audley was also Maleficent in Sleeping Beauty and Lady Tremaine, the wicked stepmother in Cinderella. I guess she just had a perfectly sinister voice.

4. Verna Felton
Verna Felton is another voice actress the Disney company frequently employed. She was one of the fairy godmothers in Sleeping Beauty (Flora), Aunt Sarah in Lady and the Tramp, the fairy godmother in Cinderella, and, my personal favorite, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.


5. Patrick Warburton
Seinfeld fans know Patrick Warburton as Elaine’s on-again-off-again boyfriend David Putty. His voice is so distinctive, though, that it’s easy to place it when you hear it coming through the screen. Kronk from The Emperor’s New Groove? That’s Patrick Warburton. Joe Swanson, the cop on Family Guy? Brock Samson from the Venture Brothers? Buzz Lightyear in Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, the TV show that followed Toy Story? Patrick Warburton. High five.



6. Mae Questel
Although voluptuous Betty Boop and skinny-as-a-broomstick Olive Oyl couldn’t get much different, they are actually the same person: Mae Questel. Interestingly, it looks like she didn’t do Betty’s voice from about 1939 until Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988.

7. Daws Butler
The Hanna Barbera world is just as entwined as Disney and Warner Brothers. Daws Butler is probably best known for being the voice of Yogi Bear, but he was also Elroy Jetson, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, Peter Potamus and Wally Gator. He also earned a lifetime of free breakfast cereal (at least I like to think that) when he provided the voices for both Cap’n Crunch and Snap of elf trio Snap, Crackle and Pop. For a time he held an actor’s studio out of his home, where one of his students was none other than Nancy Cartwright.

8. Scatman Crothers
My number one super guy used to be Hong Kong Phooey (sorry… bad joke, I know). His voice, Scatman Crothers, had a career that spanned many genres. One of his first voice-over jobs was with Disney as the appropriately-named Scat Cat in the Aristocats (not to be confused with The Aristocrats). He then jumped to Hanna-Barbera to provide the voice for Meadowlark Lemon of the Harlem Globetrotters, who appeared on the Harlem Globetrotters and Scooby Doo. And although this is decidedly not a cartoon, I love the fact that Hong Kong Phooey was creepy Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.


9. Tress MacNeille
Another favorite of mine was Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers. It came as quite a shock that Chip and Gadget were both voiced by the same person – Tress MacNeille. I looked her up and it turns out she voices about a million of the characters on The Simpsons. OK, so it’s more like 17 (plus some minor characters). Those include Mrs. Skinner, Dr. Hibbert’s wife, Apu’s wife, the crazy cat lady, Lunchlady Doris and Plopper, the pig from The Simpsons Movie. She also voices multiple characters on Futurama, was Babs the Bunny on Tiny Toon Adventures and Dot on Animaniacs.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/9947

[comedyfreak]

They're leaving out several more legends. IMO Mel Blanc should have been in the top 5 along with Jean Vanderpyle and Alan Reed, they supplied the voices to several Hanna/Barbera cartoons. And let's not forget June Foray who did Rocket J Squirel on Rocky and Bullwinkle.

[tv star collector]

My Top Ten list would include:

1. Daws Butler (Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, etc.)
2. Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Barney Rubble, etc.)
3. Paul Frees (Boris Badenov, Ludwig von Drake, Pillsbury Doughboy, etc.)
4. June Foray (Rocky, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Granny, Witch Hazel)
5. Don Messick (Scooby-Doo, Boo Boo, Major Minor, etc.)
6. Allen Swift (Odie Colognie, Phineas T. Bluster, Simon Bar Sinister, etc.)
7. Dayton Allen (Deputy Dawg, Flub-a-Dub, John J. Fedoozle, etc.)
8. Jean Vander Pyl (Wilma Flintstone, Rosie the Robot, Winsome Witch)
9. Howard Morris (Beetle Bailey, Jughead, Atom Ant, MushMouse, etc.)
10. Mae Questel (Betty Boop, Olive Oyl, Swee'Pea, Sea Hag, etc.)

Honorable mention (in alphabetical order):
Jackson Beck (Bluto/Brutus, Buzzy the Crow, King Leonardo, Biggy Rat)
Kenny Delmar (The Hunter, Commander McBragg, Colonel Kit Coyote)
Arnold Stang (Herman the mouse, Top Cat, Honey Nut Cheerios Bee)
Frank Welker (Jabberjaw, Dagwood Bumstead, Fred Jones, Goddard)
Paul Winchell (Tigger, Dick Dastardly, Goober, Gargamel, etc.)

[Mikado]

And lets not forget Jack Mercer, who while best known for one particular voice, that of Popeye, for more than 40 years, he also did several "guest character" voices in various Paramount cartoons over the years. (He wasnt the original voice, that was "Red Pepper" Sam Costello, but, he did it longest)

[tv star collector]

.

2. Billy West
No doubt you’ve heard Billy West but perhaps you’ve never heard OF him (or maybe it’s just me who is really oblivious). This guy is all over the place. For five shows, he gave Stimpy a voice on Nickelodeon’s Ren and Stimpy; he’s been Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Pepe Le Pew and Elmer Fudd on various projects since the 1996 movie Space Jam; and he was the voice of Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, Leo Wong and President Richard Nixon’s Head on Futurama. Howard Stern fans will remember West as the voice of the Jackie Puppet and various other characters from 1989-1995. And he’s also the current voice of Buzz, the Honey-Nut Cheerios Bee (Wikipedia claims Sterling Holloway was the original Honey-Nut Cheerios Bee, but we can’t find anything to back that up.)
[I'm pretty sure Arnold Stang was the first voice of the Honey-Nut Cheerios
Bee.]

8. Scatman Crothers
My number one super guy used to be Hong Kong Phooey (sorry… bad joke, I know). His voice, Scatman Crothers, had a career that spanned many genres. One of his first voice-over jobs was with Disney as the appropriately-named Scat Cat in the Aristocats (not to be confused with The Aristocrats). He then jumped to Hanna-Barbera to provide the voice for Meadowlark Lemon of the Harlem Globetrotters, who appeared on the Harlem Globetrotters and Scooby Doo. And although this is decidedly not a cartoon, I love the fact that Hong Kong Phooey was creepy Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.
[Scatman Crothers was also the voice of beatnik artist Go Man Van Gogh on
BEANY & CECIL way back in the early 1960s.]




http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/9947

[tv star collector]

And lets not forget Jack Mercer, who while best known for one particular voice, that of Popeye, for more than 40 years, he also did several "guest character" voices in various Paramount cartoons over the years. (He wasnt the original voice, that was "Red Pepper" Sam Costello, but, he did it longest)

Mercer also voiced Felix the Cat and was a prolific writer on many of the
Famous cartoons.

[Mikado]

Mercer also voiced Felix the Cat and was a prolific writer on many of the
Famous cartoons.
Right, Famous was a later name for Paramount, which started out as the old Fleisher studios, and ended its days as Havey's Famous Cartoons (or Harveytoons)

[comedyfreak]

Special props also goes to:

Henry Cordon-He was the second Fred Flintstone, Loudrock in the origninal series, Pa Rug on the Hillbilly Bears.
Peter Fernandez-Speed Racer, Marine Boy other early Japanese Anime.
Wally Cox-Underdog
Don Adams-Tennesse Tuxedo and Inspector Gadget.

[tv star collector]

Thanks for remembering Don Adams and Wally Cox, two more of my favorites.
I omitted several actors who basically used the same voice for different
characters. Others in that category would include: Jim Backus (Mr. Magoo,
Smokey the Genie, Thurston Howell III), Ted Cassidy (Ben Grimm, Frankenstein
Jr., Lurch), Hans Conreid (Captain Hook, Snidely Whiplash, Waldo Wigglesworth), Micky Dolenz (various teenagers on DEVLIN, THE FUNKY
PHANTOM, BUTCH CASSIDY, and The Tick's sidekick Arthur), Brad Garrett
(Hulk Hogan, Fatso of The Ghostly Trio, etc.), Sterling Holloway (Winnie the
Pooh, Kaa the snake, the stork in "Dumbo," etc., Paul Lynde (Mildew Wolf,
Sylvester Sneekly, Templeton in "Charlotte's Web," etc.), and Walter Tetley
(Andy Panda, Sherman). Obviously, these actors--while talented--were not
as versatile as Blanc, Butler or Frees. Still, they did manage to inject them
with some subtle, different inflections and speech patterns (e.g., Holloway's
hissing sound for Kaa and Backus' Magoo voice is different from the Genie and
Mr. Howell). The sad part is that today it seems the trend is toward casting
familiar face actors to do voices, instead of real voice actors. That, together
with the proliferation of CG animation over hand-drawn cartoons, makes me
yearn for the good old days. Just my opinion. Now, having said that, I just
realized that all the actors in my last paragraph were also celebrities, with
the exception of Walter Tetley (whose only non-cartoon work was voices
for such radio shows as THE GREAT GILDERSLEEVE). So, I guess hiring
famous actors for cartoons is really nothing new--although, at least, it
didn't used to be true for every new cartoon that came out!

[TJL]

They're leaving out several more legends. IMO Mel Blanc should have been in the top 5 along with Jean Vanderpyle and Alan Reed, they supplied the voices to several Hanna/Barbera cartoons. And let's not forget June Foray who did Rocket J Squirel on Rocky and Bullwinkle.


I agree. I can't believe Mel Blanc isn't on that list.

[MrCleveland]

Rob Paulsen-He's the next wave of voice actors. As well as Gregg Berger, Maurice LaMarche, Elizabeth Daily, Kath Souice, and Jim Cummings.

My influence of voices comes from Mel Blanc and Robin Williams. I really can do a lot of voices.

[Mikado]

I do voices too.....I can litterally get cheers with my Mickey/Goofy convos :lol: (And i do Elmer Fudd too....the Bryan Q Bryant version)

[TV DVD Fan]

My favorite of all time is probably Blanc. There's not many voices that he didn't try over the course of his prolific career. Also Daws Butler, Alan Reed, Jean Vander Pyl were all used ALOT for Hanna-Barbera. Not sure what else Bea Benaderet did in terms of cartoons besides Betty Rubble, anyone know? Arnold Stang was great as the Phil Silvers soundalike Top Cat, George O'Hanley was great as George Jetson. I can't really think of anybody who I haven't liked in the H-B world. Everyone was pretty damn good. Paul Frees also did alot of voices.

[tv star collector]

I had a chance to see George O'Hanlon (THE JETSONS) on a special episode
of MISTER ED, a promo for U.S. Savings Bonds. Earlier in his career, he
appeared in several movies. Bea Benadaret was a radio and TV performer
but, besides Betty Rubble, she also voiced Ma Bear of The Three Bears in
several Warner Bros. cartoons and miscellaneous Looney Tunes/Merrie
Melodies characters. Although June Foray was usually Granny's voice, Bea
supplied it in at least one Sylvester & Tweety cartoon. Trivia note: Bea
was Lucille Ball's original choice for the role of Ethel Mertz in I LOVE LUCY.
Of course, Bea's best-remembered roles are Blanche Morton on BURNS &
ALLEN, Cousin Pearl Bodine on PETTICOAT JUNCTION and Kate Bradley on
PETTICOAT JUNCTON.

[MrCleveland]

Rob Paulsen-He's the next wave of voice actors. As well as Gregg Berger, Maurice LaMarche, Elizabeth Daily, Kath Souice, and Jim Cummings.

My influence of voices comes from Mel Blanc and Robin Williams. I really can do a lot of voices.

Actually...Frank Welker was the first of the new wave since he came a cartoon voice actor in the 70's.

[tv star collector]

Actually...Frank Welker was the first of the new wave since he came a cartoon voice actor in the 70's.

Actually, Frank's career in voice-acting goes back a little bit further than that.
He was cast as Fred Jones in SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? when the show
debuted in 1969. The multi-talented Welker is also an actor/musician/stand-up comic. Besides cartoons, he has provided voice-overs for "Gremlins" (the
evil Spike), "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (the poisoned monkey), "Star Trek III:
The Search for Spock" (Spock's screams), and "Big Top Pee-Wee" (barnyard
animals). It was Welker's stand-up routine that started his voice-over career.
He has also worked on-camera for such shows as LOVE AMERICAN STYLE and
THE DON KNOTTS SHOW. As Tim Lawson sums it up (in the book "THE MAGIC
BEHIND THE VOICES"): "As time passed, many of the great voice-over actors
from the early days of cartoons, including Daws Butler, Don Messick, and Mel
Blanc, passed away, leaving Welker the new elder statesman of animation."

[Adamantium]

Any list without Mel Blanc, in my opinion, has no credability.

Although, I agree about Billy West. He deserves to be on there, as does Daws Butler, and Nancy Cartwright (though she shouldn't be #1).

[tv star collector]

Any list without Mel Blanc, in my opinion, has no credability.

Although, I agree about Billy West. He deserves to be on there, as does Daws Butler, and Nancy Cartwright (though she shouldn't be #1).

Every voice actor in the business owes a debt to Mel Blanc, if only because he was the first to get screen credit.

[Steve Carras]

SOme others
with distinct voices!!
Dick Beals (Gumby, Ralph Phillips in a few Charles Jones Looney Tunes,Speedy Alka Seltzer)

Janet Waldo (every HB teenage girl Judy Jetson to Penelope Pitsotp to Josie to vairous characters on the Flintstones, possibly Warners and Disney as well.)


Edward Everett Horton (Jay Ward's immortalFractured Fairy Tales and the odd live cartoonist One Got Fat)

Walter Tetley (also in Ward shows, as Sherman to Bill Scott's Mister Peabody.)

Don't know if those were mentioned.

For different voices,how about
Stan Freberg (half the dumb voices in Warner cartoons when Mel Blanc didn't do them, and the Three Little Bops and various celebrities, and also Disney and mayb e a few Hanna-Barbera)

Bill Thompson (Disney and Avery characters, even a few at WB originally according to one book I read, and later at H-B on Flinstones and the lead in Toucxhe Turtle, and some of HB's MGM supporting charatcers).

Also, don't be so hard on all celebrity voices,though I agree..I think the animated and live performaces of Amy Adams, the little-known Idina Menzel, and Susan Sarandon, James Mardsen (seen in "Hairspray" with my avatar star Amanda Bynes), and Tim Spall in Disney's "Enchanted" (with little newcomer Rachel Covey and "Grey's Anatomy" superstar Patrick Dempsy being the onlyexceptions to live characters doing animated counterparts), were distinctive and excellent. (Amy probaly anymore than Jason Lee though, could not save the conceptual dog of a Wally Cox property rived, last summer's"Underog,", though-she was saddled with Sweet Polly but what I heard showed a hint of a great...and royal performance.)

For some of us baby boomers voice direction in current shows, based mainly also on the conception of the animated characters (my avatar was "Piper", that sometimes overlooked teenage girl robot in "Robots") ("Tiny Tune Adventures","Animaniacds",),suffers from needless cockiness...a sad aspect of a lack of Yogi/Mickey/Looney Tunes warmth in the current characters (ironic that "Enchanted" started out very different, more like "The Emporer's New Groove", but that is now getting into character devlopment in today's anaimted franchises. I only stated that in regard to the awful lines and acting.
THe Simpsons movie had Ms.MacNeille in a GREAT series ofroles, unlike Tiny Toons, possibly becuase it was just a different franchise and it did not sound at all like the self-concious protrayls in most modern cartoons I often associate with modern voice acting.)

Also,
MIke Judge, Beavis and Butthead
and John Kricfalusi, the ORIGINAL REN and STIMPY!

And Robert C.Bruce's recognizable voice heard in Merrie Melodies & Looney Tunes many times, usually as narrator.