The 10 Best Celebrity Voiceovers in Animated Films
Kung Fu Panda 2 is chock full of famous voices (Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan), which makes you wonder: Why? Why are celebrity voices an (apparent) essential of the genre? Truth is, recognizable voices are comforting, and animated movies are all about shelling the pacifying capabilities of cinema. Here are our 10 famous voices in animated classics, ranked for your clicking comfort.
10. Jerry Orbach as Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast
The Law and Order vet exhumed his musical brio as Lumiere, the enchanting candelabra who made Belle's transition into bestiality queen a safe, well-lit one. Orbach's Fantasticks cred is an essential part of the ensemble that qualified Beauty and the Beast for Best Picture consideration.
9. Peggy Lee as Darling, Peg, Si and Am in Lady and the Tramp
Disney's long-gone world of hand-drawn prettiness culminated (for me) with Lady and the Tramp, the 1955 romance between two of the most sophisticated canines ever to hit the big screen. Though Barbara Luddy played the lovely Lady, jazz great Peggy Lee provided the voices for Lhasa Apso Peg, human owner "Darling," and the Siamese cats Si and Am. The Siamese cats are so cheeky and -- for Disney -- fierce that their slinky savoir-faire remains unforgettable.
8. Bob Newhart as Bernard in The Rescuers
Drollery! Disney needs more drollery! As the worrying husband mouse in Disney's The Rescuers, Newhart added low-key charm to the role of Bernard, whose wife Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor) delivered a glamor and poise that served as a sweet counterpart to her husband's buttoned-down mind.
7. Eddie Murphy as Donkey in Shrek
Shrek has its detractors (and I'm one of them), but there's no denying Eddie Murphy's vigor as the punchy, braying Donkey is memorably impressive. His role as Mushu in Mulan is almost more deserving, but the towering dynasty that is the Shrek franchise cannot be denied a spot on this tally.
6. Holly Hunter as Helen Parr in The Incredibles
All members of the Parr family deserve recognition for their vocal gymnastics, but Holly Hunter is simply the perfect casting choice for Helen, the harried matriarch of the Parr clan. Her elastic powers are fitting of a suburban mother, and Hunter's hurried patois is a fine emblem of movie's familial, frantic pace.
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Jack who?
I am shocked by the omission of Kathleen Turner as Jessica Rabbit! Shocked, I say!
Also, for many of us Sterling Holloway IS the voice of Winnie-the-Pooh. Just sayin'.
SpongeBob's voice isn't recognizable?
Pixar really needs to ramp it up with the Bob Newhart casting, by the way.
He makes everything sound better.
I also love Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks in "Finding Nemo", Woody Allen in "Antz", Eartha Kitt in "The Emperor's New Groove", Bill Murray in "Fantastic Mr Fox" and Peter O'Toole in "Ratatouille". What the performances all have in common is that on top of being brilliantly played, our familiarity with the actors' established star personas also adds extra layers of humor and/or poignancy.
Ha! Yeah, yeah, fixed.
I am a Paul Winchell ZEALOT.
Ellen Degeneres in "Finding Nemo" was Oscar-worthy.
I will now share with you a Movieline secret: I do not get Finding Nemo. I think it's the obvious worst among the Pixar movies (though amazing-looking), and far too cloying and predictable. Admittedly, Ellen werqs it out.
While most of these selections are noteworthy, the list suffers from the flaw that all of these movies are mainstream and makes me think that whoever put the list together didn't put too much research into the project. Some of the snuffs from the lists include Patrick Stewart as Lord Yupa from Nausicaa, Anna Paquin as Sheeta from Castle in the Sky, Billy Crudup as Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke, Christian Bale as Howl from Howl's Moving Castle, Billy Crystal as Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle, Daveigh Chase as Chihiro from Spirited Away, Ed Asner as Mr. Fredricksen from Up, Elsie Fisher as Agnes from Despicable Me, Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel from Tangled, Mickey Rooney and Kurt Russell as Tod and Copper from The Fox and The Hound and I'll go ahead and agree with the Ellen DeGeneres as Dory and Kathleen Turner as Jessica Rabbit and if we are going to consider claymation under animation I'll say George Clooney as Mr. Fox.
What I'm saying is that the writers/voters pretty much only looked at the more well-known Disney/Pixar films and picked their favorite performances from those movies. The only ones I agree with on their list are Bob Newhart and Jeremy Irons, both great performances. Lansberry and Orbach from Beauty and the Beast are decent but I wouldn't put them in the top ten.
Don't forget Pat Carroll's amazingly droll, funny channeling of Divine as Ursula the Sea Witch in the Little Mermaid.
I'm sorry, but any anime movie dubbed with English speaking actors do not count. Not only does the dubbing 99% of the time suck--I don't care which Hollywood great you are--they aren't the originators of the roles. That honor goes to their ORIGINAL Japanese voice actors.
Jerry Orbach was Lumiere? Holy shit, I say. I often scoff at that "you learn something everyday" adage, but I really did learn something today. And it was vital. I always thought Angela Lansbury was the only person in the cast I was familiar with.
A dub voice can sometimes overshadow the original, even in the home country.
hence the 99%....thanks for making a redundant point.
Superb voiceovers. I like these animal voiceovers too.
http://funnyandspicy.com/extremely-hilarious-british-animal-voiceovers
None of these people are real voice actors. They are just famous actors using their natural voice. Real voice actors can do more than just one voice. Think Daws Butler or Billy West.
The difference between most of the films here and "Kung Fu Panda" is that the actors weren't really advertised in the film's marketing. You didn't go see "The Rescuers" because you were a fan of Bob Newhart. (By the way, Bianca and Bernard do not even get engaged until the end of "Rescuers Down Under," so you shouldn't refer to them as husband and wife.) Jerry Orbach was not really known beyond Broaday when he was cast as Lumiere, as his role in "Law & Order" had not started.
Tom Hanks and Tim Allen didn't event get any kind of marketing billing for Buzz and Woody until "Toy Story 2," and Robin Williams did his role in "Aladdin" without taking any screen credit. And for the record, I prefer Mushu to Donkey any day.
All that to say, I like most of your choices. But Disney's greatest success with voices tend to come from unusual, unsung choices. Not the "celebrity casting" of basically every Dreamworks film. Case in point: "The Little Mermaid" has some of the best voicework of any Disney film, almost every character memorable in their own way. But only Buddy Hackett, at this time nearly washed up in his career, was well-known. Jodi Benson (Ariel), Samuel E. Wright (Sebastian), Pat Caroll (Ursula)--nobody had even heard of them when "The Little Mermaid" opened in 1989.
The more a voice is promoted in an animated film's ads, the less likely I am to enjoy it.
Shout out for George Sanders as "Shere Khan" the tiger and Sterling Holloway as "Kaa" the snake in "The Jungle Book". Their individual voices are amazing but the scenes they play together are some of the best in animation! Also, Eleanor Audley as "Maleficent" in "Sleeping Beauty" and Christopher Plummer as "Charles Muntz" in "Up".
I'm late to this game, but I'd like to second Sunnydaze's Jungle Book suggestions, and add Louis Prima (I'm singing "I wanna be like you-woo-woo" as I type). I'd also like to add Paul Lynde as Templeton from Charlotte's Web (and there I go with "A fair is a veritable smorgasborg, orgasborg, orgasborg . . .") and second Kathleen Turner's Jessica Rabbit.
And on a final note, as much as I love both Eddie Murphy and Robin Williams and their inexhaustible talents, their voices are so singular to them that I could never forget I was listening to "Eddie Murphy as Donkey" or "Robin Williams as Genie". (I know a similar argument could be made for Paul Lynde, but I didn't know who he was when I was 4). The actors who can dissolve into the characters or who are otherwise unknown and bring to life a sketch are the ones who live on in my happy place.
Mel Blanc ?
voice for :
bugs bunny , elmer fudd , porky pig , daffy duck , sylvester the cat....many others.
almost anything Hanna Barbera.
Y U Omit James Woods as Hades?
He made Hades more appealing and funny 🙂
Typical Anime snobbery. "Oh, the original Japanese is SO MUCH BETTER." Puh-lease. I love Studio Ghibli movies to death (my kids constantly want to watch Ponyo and My Neighbor Totoro) but a successful English dub doesn't damage a successful Japanese dub. If my friends in France mentioned the French dub of Despicable Me as having some amazing work by French stars and is deserving of being on this list, I would put them down. I can't judge it myself, because I don't speak the language.
Where is the real best one... Ellen in Finding Nemo?
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