Voice Actors

JediGal · May 17, 2009, 9:12pm

If there’s one thing I love in the animation world that’s other than the animation itself, it’s the voices who make the characters.

Voice actors. So many of them. List all your favorites and discuss their roles and such. And be sure to list some of their roles in case someone doesn’t know who this person is. They can be from Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon legends to Anime voice dubs. Anyone from anywhere. Here’s some of mine:

Tara Strong - Bubbles (Powerpuff Girls), Timmy Turner (Fairly OddParents), Ben (Ben 10), Truffles (Chowder)
Vic Mignogna - Edward Elric (FullMetal Alchemist), Dark (D.N. Angel), Tamaki (Ouran High School Host Club)
Tom Kenny - SpongeBob (SpongeBob SquarePants), Mayor/Narrator (PowerPuff Girls)
Grey DeLisle - Mandy (Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy), Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender) current voice of Daphne Blake (Scooby Doo)
Elizabeth Daily (E.G. Daily) - Tommy Pickles (Rugrats) Buttercup (Powerpuff Girls), Baby Mumble (Happy Feet)

I have so much more, but these guys are from the top of my head.

lizardgirl · May 17, 2009, 9:17pm

Steve Buscemi as Randall Boggs.

I do agree that a good voice actor can really bring a character to life, and sometimes without the voice actor the character just wouldn’t be the same. But at the same time, I’ll admit that I don’t really know much about many voice actors (outside of the ones that have done Pixar movies, of course). Their work can be really underrated.

Bryko614 · May 17, 2009, 9:19pm

I don’t know that many voice actors, but Mako is a good one (Iroh in Avatar, Splinter in TMNT 2007, Aku in Samurai Jack, off the top of my head)

LightningAndDoc · May 17, 2009, 9:22pm

You forgot one for Grey DeLisle. Sam Manson from Danny Phantom. I had to mention it because I was (and am, just not as much any more) a Danny Phantom phan.

Phileas · May 18, 2009, 11:00am

With kids animations I’m a fan of Thomas Sangster, Christy Romano & Tara Strong. That said, I don’t watch much kid animation (go figure), but every time I tune to a kid cable channel and see the cartoons which those voice talents appear I always comment on how talented they are at sounding like a kid. I sounded that obnoxious when I was a kid, and for me to say that they do a good job sounding like that, that’s a compliment.

In animated film I quite like Christian Bale & Jean Simmons in Howl’s Moving Castle, Page O’Hara in Beauty & The Beast, and, of course, the delectable, smooth sounding and very talented Sarah Vowell.

1986 · May 18, 2009, 11:25pm

I certainly like a lot of voice actors,but I especially love anyone who’s done something for Pixar! (Of course)

bright_dot-dasher · May 19, 2009, 3:17am

Jodie Benson, plays Ariel (The Little Mermaid)
Susan Egan, plays Meg (Hercules) and Lin (Spirited Away)
Teri Hatcher, did an awesome job playing Mother and Other Mother (Coraline), she can sound so different at some times, which is perfect for the roles
Ellen DeGeneres, plays Dory (Finding Nemo)
Miley Cyrus did a good job of playing Penny (Bolt)

But maybe that’s because I like the characters so much XD.

Let’s not forget John Ratzenberger is really cool; it’s fun to hear his familiar voice in all the Pixar films. He was also in Spirited Away!

Hannahmation · May 19, 2009, 3:32am

A few of my favorites:

James Earl Jones - Mufasa in Lion King
Ellen Degeneres - Dory in Finding Nemo
Paige O’Hara - Belle in Beauty and the Beast
John Ratzenberger and pretty much all the voice actors Pixar has used!

Witch_of_Night · May 19, 2009, 1:26pm

Clarence Nash and Tony Anselmo - Donald Duck
Bill Farmer - Goofy
Jodi Benson - Ariel
Chris Sarandon - Jack Skellington
Jim Cummings - several Disney characters
Andrea Bowen - Faline and Aerith (Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII)
Steve Burton - Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII - Advent Children, Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII)
Susanne Blakeslee - Lady Tremaine (Cinderella II and III) and Maleficent (both Kingdom Hearts)
Haley Joel Osment - Sora (KH)
Hayden Panettiere - Dot and Kairi (KH)
David Gallgher - Riku (KH)
Quinton Flynn - Axel (KH II) and Reno (FFVII - Advent Chilrdren and CC)
Christy Carlson Romano - Yuffie (FFVII AC and KH)
Mae Whitman - Yuffie (KH II)
David Boreanaz and Doug Erholtz - Squall Leonhart (KH and KH II respectively)
Tara Strong - Melody (The Little Mermaid II) and Rikku (FFX, X-2 and KH II)
Hedy Burress - Yuna (FFX, X-2 and KH II)
Gwendoline Yeo - Paine (FFX-2 and KH II)
James Arnold Taylor - Tidus (FFX and X-2), Shuyin (X-2), Timon (KH II) and Captain Jack Sparrow (KH II)
Ellen DeGeneres - Dory
Molly Marlette - Selphie Tilmitt (KH)
Chris Edgerly - Cid Highwind (KH II and FFVII - AC)
Brittany Snow - Naminé (KH II)
Linda Larkin - Jasmine
Joachim Kemmer - too many Disney characters to count (German versions)
Dorette Hugo - German Ariel in 1989 (until she was replaced by the talentless Anna Carlsson in 1998 -_____-)
Edgar Ott - many Disney characters in the German version
Beate Hasenau - many Disney characters in the German version
Jana Werner - German Belle and German Christine Daaé (Phantom of The Opera

Those are all I can think off right now.

Rare_Addict · May 20, 2009, 4:52am

Susie Essman as Mittens (Bolt) is my absolute favorite voiceover performance, and the character herself is definitely one of (if not overall) my all-time favorite film characters, animated or otherwise. Very seldom do I hear a voice performance and say to myself “I can’t imagine anybody doing a better job as the voice of him/her”, but Essman really brings a lot this already extremely memorable character.

Here are a few of my other favorites:

Keith David as the Arbiter (Halo series) and the Cat (Coraline)
Dakota Fanning as Coraline
Teri Hatcher as Mother/Other Mother (Coraline)
John Travolta as Bolt
Ellen DeGeneres as Dory (Finding Nemo)
Chris Sarandon as Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Ken Page as Oogie Boogie (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Levi Stubbs as Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors)
Tom Hanks as Woody (Toy Story)
Sarah Vowell as Violet (The Incredibles)
Mark Hamill as the Joker (Batman: The Animated Series)

pitbulllady · June 2, 2009, 4:36pm

To me, the voice actors are just as important as live-action acting, even though they themselves aren’t seen. Their emotion, and their own personal “take” on the animated character lends so much to “life” of the animated characters, much more than mere sound.

Here are my favorites, in no particular order:
Steve Buscemi(Randall Boggs, of course, although he’s done a lot more)
Phil LaMarr(Wilt, “Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends”, Jackie Khones, “Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends”, plus a lot more)
Grey DeLilse(Frankie Foster, “Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends”, plus she’s a darn good Country singer, too)
Tara Strong(Terrence, “Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends”-she does a great job of a dense, jerky teen boy, lol)
Charlie Adler(too many to name, but my favorite was Ickis from "Ahhh! Real Monsters!, if anyone remembers that Nicktoon)
Jeff Bennett(again, too many to name, but I really love the characters who have Jeff’s native TX drawl the best!)
Rob Paulson(Experiment 625, aka “Reuben”, “Lilo and Stitch: the Series”)

pitbulllady

DocKenobi · June 3, 2009, 2:47am

Scott McNeil (Duo Maxwell - Gundam Wing. I just think this guy has the coolest voice ever. If I ever become an animation director, I am going to put him in all my stuff.)

Will Friedle (Terry McGinis - Batman Beyond, Seifer - Kingdom Hearts 2, Doyle - The Secret Saturdays. Another guy with a cool sounding voice)

Jeff Bennet (Dexter’s Dad - Dexter’s Labratory, Peppermint Larry - Misadventures of Flapjack, and countless other roles.)

Rob Paulsen (Raphael - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(Original), countless other roles)

Johnny Young Bosch (Guy Cecil - Tales of the Abyss, a few other roles as well)

Yuri Lowenthall (Luke Fon Fabre - Tales of the Abyss, Ben 10 - Ben 10 Alien Force)

Scott Menivlle - (Lloyd Irivng - Tales of Symphonia, Robin - Teen Titans)

Haley Joel Osment (Sora - Kingdom Hearts, Mowgli - The Jungle Book 2)

David Gallagher (Riku - Kingdom Hearts)

Billy Zane (Ansem - Kingdom Hearts)

Mark Hamill (Joker - Batman:TAS, Ozai - Avatar)

James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan Kenobi - Star Wars The Clone Wars)

Matt Lanter - (Anakin Skywalker - Star Wars The Clone Wars)

Grey Delisle (Mandy - Billy and Mandy)

Tara Strong (Bubbles - Powerpuff Girls, bunch of other roles)

Steven Blum (Spike Spiegel - Cowboy Bebop, TOM - Toonami)

Tom Kenny (Mayor - The Powerpuff Girls)

Tom Kane (Prof. Unontium - Powerpuff Girls, Yoda - Star Wars The Clone Wars)

Bob Peterson (Dugg)

I’m too lazy to list the others. Maybe I’ll edit this later for the rest of them.

DocKenobi · June 3, 2009, 3:00am