Hey, It’s That Voice! What Voice Actors Bring To The Table

Written by: George Pierce

Like most 90’s kids, cartoons were a big part of my childhood. Weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings were spent parked in front of the television watching now-revered classics like Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Batman: The Animated Series and Kim Possible. If I happened to spend the night at a friend’s cable-television-endowed house, then the world could be destroyed without a second thought passing through my mind so long as I was tuned into Cartoon Network on Friday night. I thought I might out-grow cartoons as I became older, but no—I found that I related more to the animated characters than the ones of prime-time live-action television.

I also began paying attention to the voices of each character, and at some point, I noticed a pattern: many of my favorite shows featured the same voice actors in different roles. Sometimes it was obvious; it didn’t take but a second of watching Adventure Time to recognize the voice of Bender. Other times however, it came as a surprise, like when I found out that the voice of Timmy Turner from Fairly Odd Parents is provided by the same woman who voices Raven from the Teen Titans. She also did squeaky, high-pitched Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls. Seemingly impossible, yet undeniably true.

You have to respect that kind of talent. Whereas screen actors have the added benefit of being able to use their entire bodies and faces to portray a particular emotion, voice actors have only their mouths and throats and must put as much into the character as possible. It’s not an easy feat, but if done right, not only can it enhance the quality of a cartoon or video game, but it can define a character. The Joker that Mark Hamill brought to life in Batman: The Animated Series is still considered by many to be the definitive Joker portrayal across all mediums. Roger Jackson’s ludicrously fake Japanese accent is what made Mojo Jojo such a memorable character. Jay Baruchel so embodied the character of Hiccup in How To Train Your Dragon that even his mannerisms while speaking found their way into the film. The ways in which a voice actor can influence a fake character in a cartoon, movie or video game—with or without a script—is immeasurable.

Even more impressive is the fact that it’s not uncommon for voice actors to speak to themselves. Mel Blanc was famous for it—he was the voice of almost every major Looney Tunes character, from Bugs Bunny to Foghorn Leghorn to Tweety Bird to Yosemite Sam. Modern voice actors such as Rob Paulsen and Tom Kenny are well-known for having to take up multiple characters in a cartoon series to cut budget costs. And Frank Welker… well, the sheer amount of voice acting credits Frank Welker has due to his incomprehensible talent at mimicking animals (think Aladdin’s Abu and the titular creatures from both Gremlins and Curious George) made him the highest-grossing film actor until 2011, when Samuel L. Jackson took the title.

It’s gotten to the point for me that a cartoon I might otherwise have no interest in will pique my curiosity if I discover that a particular voice actor is in it. Tara Strong has been my favorite female voice actor for some time now, and anything she’s attached to will at least warrant a non-biased look from me. Whether it’s a video game about a chainsaw-toting cheerleader or a cartoon about candy-colored unicorns. Patrick Warburton’s voice is so amusing that his characters often times become favorites of mine for the mere fact that he voices them. H. Jon Benjamin always seems to deliver the funniest one-liners, whether he’s playing the Coach McGuirk from Home Movies or the titular character of Archer. And that’s just the tip of my personal iceberg (there’s a short list below of my favorites).

Voice actors are certainly gaining more prominence nowadays in that they’re becoming much more recognizable in real life, as opposed to only on screen. There’s even a documentary entitled “I Know That Voice” being released in late 2013 that features many of the more prominent voice actors and casting directors of the current age. The talent of these actors deserves to be recognized, absolutely, but my love and appreciation for them will always come from the characters of my childhood that they voiced and put themselves into. That’s because when all is said and done, the thing I remember most about those characters are the things they say and how they say them. After all, a pen can physically animate them, but it’s the voice actor that truly brings them to life.

Some of my favorite voice actors in recent years (and my favorites of their characters) include:

John DiMaggio
Dr. Drakken (Kim Possible); Bender (Futurama); General Julius Steel (Sym-Bionic Titan); Jake The Dog (Adventure Time); Marcus Fenix (Gears of War series).

Mark Hamill
The Joker (DC Animated Universe); Mr. Salacia, Senator Stampingston (Metalocalypse); Fire Lord Ozai (Avatar: The Last Airbender); every animated villain in existence.

Tom Kenny
Spongebob Squarepants (Spongebob Squarepants); The Narrator, The Mayor of Townsville (The Powerpuff Girls); Ice King (Adventure Time); Carl Chryniszzswics (Johnny Bravo); Heffer Wolfe (Rocko’s Modern Life).

Rob Paulsen
Yakko Warner/Dr. Otto Scratchansniff (Animaniacs), Pinky (Pinky and the Brain); The Mask (The Mask); PJ (Goof Troop); Carl Wheezer (Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius); Buck Tuddrussell (Time Squad).

Tara Strong
Raven (Teen Titans); Bubbles (The Powerpuff Girls); Twilight Sparkle (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic); Ilana (Sym-Bionic Titan); Barbara Gordon/Batgirl (The New Batman Adventures); Timmy Turner (Fairly Odd Parents); Omi (Xiaolin Showdown); some small part in every cartoon ever made.