Cartoons are simply one of the best things about growing up. Even when you're finally an adult, they still seem to represent a good portion of the television shows on offer. Does anyone really grow out of The Simpsons? We most certainly haven't, and we hope that we never do!
The funny thing about all of your favorite cartoon characters is that they're often voiced by super famous actors. Much-loved cartoon characters almost become real people in the minds of viewers, which is why it's sometimes easy to forget that they're voiced by actual real people. It happens to the best of us!
The world of voice acting is pretty diverse and some roles are so unexpected. The great thing about it is that it doesn't matter what the actor behind the screen looks like. You'll be surprised at how many celebrities voice our favorite characters and you'll be stunned when you see #49, wow!
We couldn't think of anybody more appropriate to voice Emily The Corpse Bride than Helena Bonham Carter. One of the lead characters in Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, Emily is a young zombie who loves to sing and dance. Given her apparent preference for playing dark, moody, yet often misunderstood women, this one suited Bonham Carter to a tee.
While we know her best as Marla Singer in Fight Club and Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter film series, others may recognize her from Hamlet, Mighty Aphrodite, Terminator Salvation, Great Expectations, Les Misérables, Cinderella, Planet of the Apes, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Alice Through the Looking Glass. A surprising fact about Bonham Carter is that she had no formal acting training - it's all just pure, raw talent and energy that we see on the screen.
Who could forget the iconic animated 90s Batman series? The legendary Mark Hamill, also known for his role as Luke Skywalker, voiced everyone's favorite villain: The Joker. Here's a fun fact for you: the role of The Joker was initially supposed to go to Tim Curry, but producers thought his performance was a little too unhinged, which is why Mark Hamill was chosen instead.
Though he appeared on screen as an actor and also did a lot of voice work projects, too, he eventually ended up doing more voice work as his career went on. This was mostly due to being involved in a major car accident. Hamill had to undergo dramatic plastic surgery on his face after the accident and got significantly fewer film roles afterwards. His voice talent really saved him in the end.
A well known '80s and '90s actress, Kathleen Wilhoite is probably best remembered for her work on movies such as Road House and Murphy's Law, as well as TV shows including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Will and Grace, and Ally McBeal. What most people don't know is that she voiced the character Pepper Ann in the cartoon of the same name.
Pepper Ann was a '90s TV show about a middle school girl, which was based on a comic strip. The show was popular and followed a formula of Pepper making a wrong decision and then learning a powerful lesson in the end. Pepper Ann's moral dilemmas actually contained a lot of mature themes, including gender equality and grief, which you don't tend to notice as a kid. Hopefully the lessons within rubbed off on us all.
Peter Griffin is one of the biggest characters on television today, both literally and figuratively. Nobody could mistake his distinctive voice for someone else. Played by Seth Macfarlane, you'd think the job of doing Peter's voice would be enough. Not for Macfarlane, though. He also does the voice work for Brian and Stewie on Family Guy, as well as Stan and Roger on American Dad.
Macfarlane first started out as an enthusiastic nine-year-old who had one of his comics published in his local newspaper. He then went on to become a writer and animator for some of our favorite '90s cartoons, including Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, and Dexter's Laboratory. He was a consistent worker, but it wasn't until Family Guy that he really started to shine, and we're so glad he did - we love that show!
Finding Nemo would never have succeeded if Ellen DeGeneres didn't voice Marlin's forgetful and slightly annoying friend, Dory. Let's be real, she was the star of the whole film and had us in stitches the entire time. Who could for get her classic tune, "just keep swimming, just keep swimming"? It's no wonder they decided to give Dory her very own sequel - Ellen was a major hit.
DeGeneres is another one with seemingly endless talents. She's a comedian, actress, producer, writer, and talk show host. In addition to this, she does very important work as an LGBT activist. Most people know her from her talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which has been running successfully since 2003. In fact, she's so successful that she has won a whopping thirty Emmy Awards and twenty People's Choice Awards.
This one always surprises people when they find out. Who would have thought that Bart Simpson, one of the most iconic cartoon boys in history, was played by a grown woman? We thought we had heard incorrectly, but it's all true. Bart Simpson is played by accomplished voice actor, Nancy Cartwright. In addition to Bart, she does the voice work for Nelson, Ralph, and several other characters on The Simpsons, too.
Cartwright originally thought she would audition for the role of Lisa Simpson but changed her mind and went for Bart instead, as she thought his character was more interesting. She got the job straight away. What a relief, we can't imagine Bart Simpson with any other voice! Kids of the '90s may also recall her work as another famous cartoon boy, Chuckie from Rugrats.
Let's stick with the grown women playing young boys theme and introduce Pamela Adlon. Though she's an actress in her own right, Adlon is best known as the voice of Bobby Hill from King of The Hill (for which she won an Emmy Award). Adlon is one of those rare Hollywood oddities: someone who started as a child actor, worked consistently, and has enjoyed success without becoming paparazzi fodder. There's so many ways it could have gone wrong, but Adlon has remained on top through hard work and talent.
You may also recognize her as the voice of Ashley Spinelli on Recess. Her other work includes playing Otto Osworth on the series Time Squad and also starring in the series Better Things. Adlon is a woman of many talents, not just an actor. She's also a screenwriter, producer, and director.
Here we have another surprise just as big as Mila Kunis playing Meg Griffin. Nobody would have thought that Recess's dorky Gretchen Grundler was voiced by the stunning Ashley Johnson. Those massive glasses and buck teeth would throw everyone off. Like so many in Hollywood, Johnson got her start early. As a six-year-old, she landed the role of Chrissy Seaver on Growing Pains.
Thankfully, she didn't fall prey to a life of drugs and partying and has had consistent success throughout her steady career. She currently stars as an FBI forensic specialist in the NBC drama Blindspot, and has also appeared in The Last of Us, What Women Want, Teen Titans, and Critical Role. She has won two BAFTA awards for her roles in The Last of Us and The Last of Us: Left Behind.
If there was one film that really captured the imaginations of children all over the world, it had to be Toy Story. Nothing was more exciting than thinking your toys might really be walking and talking while your back is turned. We think every kid probably started trying to spy on their toys after seeing Toy Story for the first time. The film was so successful, it spawned multiple sequels, Toy Story 2, 3, and 4.
Who better to play the leading man than everybody's favorite, Tom Hanks? Best-known for his work onscreen in films such as Turner & Hooch, Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, You've Got Mail, The Green Mile, Castaway, and so many more, Hanks is one of those actors that everybody just loves. He has won two Oscars, four Golden Globes, seven Emmys, and two SAG Awards.
Well, this guy certainly looks nothing like Arnold of popular cartoon show, Hey Arnold! We never would have picked it. And now it has us wondering how much more in love Helga would have been if Arnold actually looked like Lane Toran. His other voice work includes portraying King Bob on Recess, but it was Hey Arnold! where his talent really shone.
You may also recognize Toran as Rod from 7th Heaven. Besides acting work, Toran is also a singer and musician and has appeared on stage in Oliver, Peter Pan, the Wiz, and Cinderella. He is the front man for the band DieRadioDie, which is based in Los Angeles. If you're after more Hey Arnold! material, Toran also starred in the 2017 movie, Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie, which was aired on TV, not in cinemas.
So many children of the '90s will fondly remember sitting down to watch Rugrats after school. Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and Lil and Phil were everybody's favorite baby gang and we could never wait to see what they'd get up to in each episode. At the time, we probably never considered that there were real adult people behind the voices of the kids. One such person was Elizabeth Daily, who portrayed leader of the pack, Tommy Pickles.
Tommy Pickles isn't Daily's only well-known work. She voiced Buttercup of The Powerpuff Girls, and she's also an onscreen actress, too. You might know her from '80s films Better Off Dead with John Cusack and Valley Girl with Nicolas Cage. In addition to this, she starred alongside Cameron Diaz as Nurse Susan in My Sister's Keeper, a 2009 blockbuster film.
Not many people could do such a good job of playing television's most cynical and jaded cartoon horse. Will Arnett is perfection as Bojack Horseman, a character we manage to like, despite all of his extremely unlikeable characteristics. If that's not great acting, we don't know what is. Of course, Arnett is actually more famous for his onscreen roles, but he has done a fair bit of voice work, too.
He has also lent his voice to animated films Ratatouille, Monsters Vs. Aliens, Despicable Me, and The Batman Lego Movie. Those who aren't much into cartoons or animated films of any kind will know his television work as Gob Bluth from Arrested Development or Devon Banks on 30 Rock. As for film, he has starred in Blades of Glory, Hot Rod, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Cartman is truly one of television's icons. Without him, South Park would never have succeeded. Portrayed by co-creator Trey Parker, Cartman's voice is one of the most distinctive on TV - we would bet that even people who never watched the show would recognize it. For us, Cartman was almost the sole reason for tuning in. This is obviously not Trey Parker's only accomplishment, but it's certainly his most well-known.
Parker and his South Park co-creator, Matt Stone, wrote and produced the controversial comedy film Team America: World Police. They also co-wrote Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon, which has enjoyed long-term success all over the world. Though also controversial (really, which Parker and Stone work isn't?), the musical received highly prestigious awards, including nine Tony Awards and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
Something hardly anyone knows is that the late Brittany Murphy, famous onscreen and voice actress, portrayed King of The Hill's Luanne Platter for years. Murphy's other well-known voice work includes the animated film about penguins, Happy Feet. Unfortunately, we lost this super talent too soon when she was found dead in her home, due to pneumonia.
Brittany Murphy's body of work is extensive - there's no way you haven't seen at least one film she has starred in. Her most famous roles include Tai Frasier in Clueless, Daisy Randone in Girl, Interrupted, Lisa Swenson in Drop Dead Gorgeous, Elisabeth Burrows in Don't Say a Word, Alex Latourno in 8 Mile, Fay Forrester in Riding in Cars with Boys, and Shellie in Sin City. Her final film, Something Wicked, was released in 2014, five years after her death.
Best known for her role as Claudia Salinger in hit '90s television series, Party of Five, Lacey Chabert has one of those voices that is instantly recognizable. High-pitched and very girly, despite being a fully-grown adult, it's no wonder she has been able to use her voice to portray young girls in various cartoons throughout her career. One of her most notable pieces of work was as Eliza Thornberry of The Wild Thornberrys.
She was also the voice of Meg Griffin on Family Guy for season one, before Mila Kunis took over the role in season two. Chabert has appeared onscreen several times, too. She played Penny in Lost in Space, and she played the inimitable Gretchen Weiners in Mean Girls. Who could forget her amazing performance as one of the most popular girls in school?
Famous for his iconic role as Steve Urkel on hit '90s sitcom, Family Matters, most people don't know that Jaleel White also voiced Sonic the Hedgehog in the original animated series, as well as the Sonic Underground animated series. Though White is not exactly a household name anymore, he continued his acting career and has enjoyed steady success.
He starred in the 2006 film, Dreamgirls, and he has appeared on television shows including Boston Legal, House, and Psych. He was even a contestant on the 2012 series of Dancing with The Stars, but was unfortunately voted off earlier on in the show, leaving him finishing in seventh place. White began his career at the age of three and almost scored a role on The Cosby Show, before the character he auditioned for was removed from the series.
When we think of Orson Welles, we usually remember his outstanding work as a director, writer, and producer, as opposed to his actual acting and voice work. But he really was a jack of all Hollywood trades, so to speak - he could do it all. Though he's probably best known for his 1941 film, Citizen Kane, Welles's last major role before his death in 1985 was as the voice of Unicron in Transformers: The Movie.
Famous for films including The Magnificent Ambersons, Touch of Evil, Chimes at Midnight, The Lady from Shanghai, and F for Fake, Welles was highly regarded throughout his entire career. In 2002, he was even voted the greatest director of all time in two British Film Institute polls by his peers. It's hard to imagine him as a transformer, but you can't deny he was diverse!
What a blast from the past. Anyone else remember Dinosaurs, the half-animated, half-puppet show from the early '90s? Jessica Walter, now best known for her role as Lucille Bluth on comedy sitcom Arrested Development, voiced the show's matriarch, Fran Sinclair. Want to know another fun fact? Baby Sinclair from Dinosaurs was played by Kevin Clash, who is famous for his work as Elmo on Sesame Street.
We couldn't think of two more different family matriarchs than Fran Sinclair and Lucille Bluth. Fran was sensible, loved doing housework, and just wanted her family to spend more quality time together. Lucille Bluth is a selfish and greedy alcoholic who regards most of her family with disdain (despite this, she's somehow still an immensely loveable character). We guess the contrast truly shows off Walter's acting range and talent.
Here we have another hilarious and talented member of the Arrested Development cast. Exactly a year before Michael Cera hit the big time with his role as George Michael Bluth, he voiced Brother Bear on The Berenstain Bears, a super popular children's show on PBS Kids. Cera actually continued voicing Brother Bear while also working on Arrested Development. What a worker!
Since Brother Bear and Arrested Development, Cera's acting career has taken off and he's now one of the most well-known comedy actors around. He's best known for his acting work in films such as Superbad, Juno, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and This is The End. Most people don't realize that Cera is also a musician. His debut album, True That, was released back in 2014. We think we prefer him as the loveable dork in all of our favorite films, though.
One of the greats of Saturday Night Live, you'd never expect that Phil Hartman started out doing voice work for the '80s animated series, Dennis the Menace. He played Dennis's father, as well as grumpy neighbor, Mr. Wilson, at around the same time he started appearing on Saturday Night Live. He eventually left Dennis the Menace after one season, as he wanted to focus on SNL full time.
His career as a voice actor continued and he's responsible for some of our favorite characters from '90s cartoons. He worked on DuckTales, Captain Planet, and Darkwing Duck (we're not sure what was with all of the duck themes!). Some of his best work, however, was as down and out actor, Troy McClure in The Simpsons. Who doesn't love watching an episode that features good old Troy?
Normally, you find out the voice behind your favorite cartoon characters and think 'wow, that's nothing like what I imagined!' But, looking at Meg Ryan, she probably could play Dr. Blight in a live action version of Captain Planet and The Planeteers. All she would have to do is dye that front strand of hair white and she'd be ready to go.
Ryan started work on Captain Planet and The Planeteers after starring in major Hollywood classic, When Harry Met Sally. For someone with such a famously sweet personality, it was an interesting role for her, playing a villain. But she helped educate kids of the '90s about environmental issues, so maybe she was still being sweet after all. Ryan obviously went on to become one of Hollywood's most loved actresses - good on her, we say!
Who doesn't remember James Avery as the strict yet loveable Uncle Phil on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air? It feels like so many afternoons went by watching Avery and Will Smith clash on screen in the most hilarious ways. Though you might be familiar with Avery as Uncle Phil, not many people know him as The Shredder from the animated series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. From the late '80s through to early '90s, Avery voiced the famous villain we all came to fear.
Avery began his career as a poet and script writer, and worked for PBS, where he won an Emmy for production. His other voice acting work includes James Rhodes in Iron Man, Junkyard Dog in Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling, Turbo in Rambo and The Forces of Freedom, and Haroud Hazi Bin in Aladdin.
If you didn't watch Clifford the Big Red Dog, are you even a child of the Millennium? This PBS Kids hit was aired from 2000 to 2003 and starred the late John Ritter as Clifford, before his untimely death in September 2003. The show and Ritter were so well regarded that Ritter was nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program.
Ritter himself was not only known for his role as Clifford. Throughout his career he appeared in more than one hundred films and television shows. Some films you might know him from include It, Problem Child and Problem Child 2, and Bad Santa. However, probably his best-known role was as Jack Tripper on ABC's Three's Company. At the time of his death he was starring in the ABC sitcom, 8 Simple Rules.
Who knew that Vin Diesel was an accomplished voice actor? Okay, maybe we're going a bit too far there, but hey, he successfully starred in The Iron Giant as the iron giant, which is pretty cool. Though he only says a few words throughout the whole film, it's still a nice little piece of work for Diesel's portfolio. Most people know Vin Diesel from his high-profile appearances on screen, rather than his voice work.
Probably his best-known work is as Dominic Toretto in the Fast and the Furious film series. We're sure they're up to about number seventeen by now? Just kidding, there have actually only been eight Fast and the Furious films released, which is still quite a lot! Diesel is also known for his leading roles in The Pacifier and Find Me Guilty.
The late and great Earle Hyman is most famous for his role as Russell Huxtable or "grandpa" on The Cosby Show. However, what most people don't know is that he was the voice of Panthro on ThunderCats. Hyman's career goes way back to when he started on Broadway in the 1943 production of Run, Little Chillun. His stage career remained strong and steady all the way through to the early '80s, where he then turned his talents to television.
He voiced Panthro of the ThunderCats for five years, from 1985 to 1990 and also played Russell Huxtable at the same time. He even received an Emmy nomination for his role as Bill Cosby's character's father. He played this role so believably, even though he was only eleven years older than Bill Cosby at the time.
After making its debut on The Dana Carvey Show in 1996, The Ambiguously Gay Duo, an animated sketch show, was an instant comedy hit. It soon relocated to Saturday Night Live, where it became even more popular. Voicing the lead crime-fighting characters were Stephen Colbert as Ace and Steve Carell as Gary.
Both Colbert and Carell also starred in a live action version of The Ambiguously Gay Duo on SNL in 2011. Though it was Jon Hamm and Jimmy Fallon playing Ace and Gary, while Colbert and Carell played villains, Dr. Brainio and Bighead. These two clearly became a lot more famous as time went by, especially Carell, whose film career soared after starring in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy in 2004 and The 40-Year-Old-Virgin in 2005. We have so many laughs to thank him for!
We're still surprised that suave Jeff Goldblum played one of the most disgusting eco-villains on Captain Planet and the Planeteers. Does anyone else remember being physically repulsed by Verminous Skumm, the giant part-human, part-rat creature? We do! Though Verminous Skumm was a long running character in everyone's favorite environmental awareness cartoon, Goldblum only voiced the character for five episodes before leaving for other roles.
Goldblum wasn't leaving Captain Planet and the Planeteers for just any old roles. He went on to star in some of the highest grossing films of all time, including Jurassic Park in 1993 and Independence Day in 1996. And let's not forget the sequels of these blockbusters, too. His more recent film work includes The Grand Budapest Hotel and Thor: Ragnarok. He also starred in seasons eight and nine of TV series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
We never would have expected Flea (real name Michael Peter Bazalry), bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to be the voice of feral child, Donnie Thornberry. We wouldn't have expected him to be a voice actor at all if we're being honest! Flea is known for getting wild on stage, so we suppose the character of Donnie isn't totally bizarre. But we still wouldn't have picked it!
Flea voiced Donnie in The Wild Thornberrys, The Wild Thornberrys: The Origin of Donnie, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, and Rugrats Go Wild, which was a crossover with Nickelodeon's other highly popular animated show. Donnie is a jungle child that the Thornberrys end up adopting because his parents were killed by orangutan poachers. We have to hand it to him, Flea always knows how to keep an audience guessing.
Here we have yet another star from Captain Planet and the Planeteers. You've got to remember Kwame, the Planeteer from Ghana with the power of Earth. All you have to do is think of the theme song: "Earth, fire, wind, water, heart...go planet!" and the memories will all start flooding back. Like much of the Captain Planet cast, LeVar Burton went on to become much more famous for other things, particularly his onscreen work.
He used to host the PBS series, Reading Rainbow and he also starred in ABC's miniseries, Roots. His most well-known work was portraying Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Most people don't know that LeVar Burton is also an author and director - he even directed multiple television episodes for the Star Trek franchise. What a man!
After the runaway success of the blockbuster Ghostbusters film, ABC decided an animated series based on the original would be a good idea - and it was! Arsenio Hall lent his voice to the character Winston Zeddemore in The Real Ghostbusters series for a full three seasons. We'll even share a fun fact about the show. Actor Ernie Hudson, who played Winston Zeddemore in the live action film, also auditioned for the animated show, but he lost out to Hall.
Hall's stint on The Real Ghosbusters lasted from 1986 to 1987 and in 1988 he starred alongside Eddie Murphy in the comedy film, Coming to America. After dabbling in acting for most of the late '80s, Hall finally settled down for a while and hosted The Arsenio Hall Show from 1989 to 1994. The show was briefly revived again from 2013 to 2014.
We bet you didn't think the yellow M&M was voiced by an actual famous actor. To be honest, we never even thought about it! We would have thought they'd just hire an unknown voice actor for the job, since it's just TV commercials. But that's probably why M&Ms do so well - they don't compromise on quality and they treat everything as a production. Well done guys, you certainly had us fooled!
The voice of the yellow M&M is actor J.K. Simmons, who is best known for his role as J. Jonah Jameson in the Spiderman trilogy. He is also known for playing Dr. Emil Skoda on crime series, Law & Order, as well as Vernon Schillinger in prison drama, Oz. Simmons won an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor in the film Whiplash.
If you've watched even just one episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, you'll instantly recognize Brad Garrett as Ray's TV brother, Robert Barone. If you haven't watched any episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond, maybe you should get to it! Garrett and the rest of the cast are simply brilliant. Anyway, enough about that, we're supposed to be talking about his voice work, not his onscreen roles.
One of the roles that really got Garrett noticed was voicing wrestling legend Hulk Hogan on the animated series Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling. This was all the way back in 1986 and Garrett's career continued to progress steadily from there. He has also lent his voice to characters on Finding Nemo and Garfield. A man of many talents, Garrett is a stand-up comedian, as well as a professional poker player.
When it comes to talent, Keith David has it in spades. He's a comedian, singer, drummer, composer, and producer, as well as an accomplished onscreen and voice actor. One of his biggest voice roles was playing Goliath in Disney's Gargoyles. The show only lasted for three seasons, but it developed a huge following of fans.
David is mostly known for his onscreen work on films, including Platoon, The Thing, Barbershop, There's Something About Mary, Crash, and Men at Work. He also starred as General Kimsey in Armageddon and Big Tim in Requiem for a Dream. He hasn't left television out in the cold either. David starred in the sixth season of comedy series, Community, as well as drama series, Greenleaf. He's so accomplished as a voice actor that he has even won an Emmy Award.
Tim Curry is one of Hollywood's living legends - he has been around forever and has starred in basically everything. We were honestly pretty surprised to learn that he was the voice of Nigel Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys. It really was an all-star cast, with Lacey Chabert and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers also in the mix. Who would have thought you would get all of those high-profile people in one kid's cartoon series?
Our man Tim Curry is no stranger to voice acting - he has probably voiced some of your favorite characters and you don't even know it. He appeared on Darkwing Dark, Peter Pan and the Pirates (for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award for his portrayal of Captain Hook), The Little Mermaid television series, Over the Garden Wall, Captain Planet and the Planeteers (another one! Curry played MAL), Gargoyles, and so much more.
We were probably thinking the exact same thing as you: how the hell did George Clooney come to appear on South Park? It seems like such an odd fit, and if anything, the show's creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone make fun of people in Hollywood like Clooney. As it turns out, Clooney was an early adopter of South Park and spread the word about the show, helping it to become popular back in its beginning.
He first appeared on the show as Sparky, a gay dog who takes refuge at Big Gay Al's Big Gay Animal Sanctuary. A year after his debut role as Sparky, Clooney was back. This time as Dr. Doctor in the South Park film, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut. We wonder if he'll make another appearance in one of Parker and Stone's projects in the future.
We talked about The Wild Thornberrys having an all-star cast. We haven't even gotten to the Rugrats Go Wild film, which is a crossover movie featuring both the Thornberrys and the Rugrats. They even managed to get Bruce Willis to play Spike the dog! Nancy Cartwright, Lacey, Chabert, Tim Curry, Flea, Elizabeth Daily, and Tara Strong all appear in the film, along with more esteemed voice actors that we don't have the space to mention.
Knowing Willis from such blockbuster classics as the Die Hard film series, Death Becomes Her, Pulp Fiction, The Fifth Element, Armageddon, The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Sin City, it's hard to imagine exactly how the producers of Rugrats Go Wild would have approached him about the role of Spike, a cartoon dog with a very small speaking role. It's fun to try, though!
First up, you may need us to refresh your memories about who exactly Reptar is. You might remember that Tommy Pickles and the rest of the Rugrats kids loved him and always had Reptar merchandise in the show. He was a t-rex, kind of Godzilla looking, and it seemed like the kids always had Reptar-branded everything, including cereal. Knowing this, it may surprise you that Busta Rhymes was the voice of Reptar in one Rugrats episode.
Not only that, he went back for more and played Reptar again in The Rugrats Movie. The reason this is surprising is because Busta Rhymes is a massively famous hip-hop artist that you wouldn't expect to be working on Rugrats. We love that he did it, though, and we're sure we're not the only ones who feel this way.
The best part about Jay Leno voicing the Crimson Chin from Fairly Odd Parents is that they both have huge chins. We're not sure if that was intentional, but either way, it's kind of hilarious. We're sure Leno has had plenty of laughs about it in the past. The Crimson Chin isn't exactly one of the most loved characters from childhood cartoons, but Leno really made the character his own, and people tend to remember it.
When he's not voicing cartoon superheroes with large chins, Leno is pretty much a full time talk show host, even though he's also an actor, comedian, writer, and producer. After getting his star as a stand-up comedian, Leno eventually became the host of NBC's Tonight Show. He also briefly hosted his own talk show, The Jay Leno Show, from 2009 to 2010.
This is another children's film that has a surprisingly star-studded cast. First up, we have Michael J. Fox as Stuart Little, but the film also stars Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie, Jonathan Lipnicki, and Nathan Lane. Stuart Little ended up being quite a success. Not only did it get nominated for an Academy Award, but it also spawned two sequels, as well as an animated TV series.
Michael J. Fox did a great job as the voice of Stuart Little, but most of us are more familiar with his onscreen work, including Marty McFly in the Back to the Future trilogy, Mike Flaherty in Spin City, and Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties. Fox has won five Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He's clearly a guy with a lot of talent!
It's amazing how some things just seem to pass you by. Apparently, the fact that Mel Gibson voiced Captain John Smith in Disney's Pocahontas is pretty common knowledge. But not for us, we had no idea! We do have a little fun fact to share about the filming, though. Did you know Gibson actually sang for the film, too? Most other characters had a speaking actor and a singing actor, but Gibson wanted to tackle both jobs.
Though the Disney Classic was a favorite with kids all over the world, the Native American community were upset with the historical inaccuracies, as Pocahontas was based on a true story. Gibson was not very understanding about the issue and believed that a few errors in the history didn't really matter as the film featured a talking racoon.
The release of The Prince of Egypt was such an exciting time. Remember the feature song on the soundtrack by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston? An absolute classic. We were probably more caught up in the song than we were in paying attention to the actors in the film. Val Kilmer was the star of the show, Moses, but there were so many other famous names in the cast, such as Sandra Bullock, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, and Steve Martin. Wow.
Many people don't recognize Kilmer for his work on The Prince of Egypt, but they are very well aware of some of his other achievements. Kilmer has starred onscreen in numerous films, including Top Secret, Real Genius, Top Gun, Willow, Tombstone, The Doors, True Romance, Heat, Batman Forever, The Saint, Red Planet, The Salton Sea, Déjà Vu, MacGruber, and many others.
The Lion King is truly the Disney movie of all Disney movies. We challenge you to find a 90's kid who wasn't extremely affected by this film. Whether they identified with Simba's struggle to succeed the throne, were simply traumatized by Mufasa's death, or got kind of annoyed that Nala had to pull everything together in the end with none of the credit, everyone has an opinion.
The Lion King wouldn't have been the same without the amazing Whoopi Goldberg voicing Shenzi the hyena. While it wasn't exactly a leading role, it was just the right touch for Scar's gang of loyal yet very stupid followers. Goldberg, of course, has stolen our hearts before in plenty of other films, such as the Sister Act series, The Color Purple, Ghost, Made in America, and many, many more.
For a moment there we thought we had finished listing all of the big-name actors that have appeared on Captain Planet and the Planeteers. But no, we forgot all about Sting until now. He lent his voice to the character Zarm, a villain known as the Spirit of War and Destruction. Zarm's aim was always to destroy Gaia, as well as that pesky Captain Planet.
Zarm appears in five seasons of the show, but Sting didn't do the voice work for all of them. He shared the role with two other actors, David Warner and Malcolm McDowell. For us, this was the first time we had even heard that Sting was an actor - we thought he was just a musician and singer-songwriter. As it turns out, he has way more talent than we originally thought!
Speaking of singers doing acting jobs, here's another one for you. We bet you didn't know that Johnny Cash made a cameo in The Simpsons. Fans will remember the episode where Homer hallucinates after eating a ridiculously hot chili at a chili fair. Whilst hallucinating he meets his spirit guide in the desert, also known as the Space Coyote. Homer refers to him as Wolfy.
Like Sting, Johnny Cash wasn't just a singer-songwriter either. He was a guitarist, actor, and author, too. Though most of us already knew about his acting career after seeing him onscreen in Five Minutes to Live, The Road to Nashville, A Gunfight, and The Hunted. At the end of the day, we probably do prefer him as a singer, but we will never forget him as The Space Coyote, or 'Wolfy'.
Please name a Disney character more funny or full of life than Aladdin's Genie. Played by the late Robin Williams, this role will go down in history as one of the best Disney has ever seen. Here's a little something you might not know about the film. Williams only made the deal to play the Genie if Disney promised to not use his Genie voice in advertising or merchandise. He was taking a significant pay cut for the film, about a tenth of his going rate at the time.
Williams is also famous for his work in films such as Mrs. Doubtfire, Good Will Hunting, Good Morning Vietnam, One Hour Photo, Dead Poet's Society, and Jumanji. Throughout his career he won an Oscar, seven Golden Globes, two Emmys, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Grammy Awards.
Another star from The Lion King that truly made the film great is Rowan Atkinson. Known for his more comedic roles, it was unusual to see him play Zazu the red-billed hornbill, Simba's uptight babysitter and Mufasa's most trusted assistant and confidante. He does certainly remain the butt of many jokes in the film, which we suppose is very much the way things go in some other Atkinson classics.
Atkinson is best-known for British television classics, Blackadder and Mr. Bean. He was also a scene stealer in one of the best films of the '90s, Four Weddings and a Funeral, where he plays a clumsy vicar. Johnny English and Love Actually are two of his other blockbuster roles. Constantly listed as one of the funniest British actors of all time, Atkinson genuinely deserves the praise.
Wow, we couldn't think of any two people less alike than Mila Kunis and Meg Griffin. Meg Griffin is consistently poked fun at throughout the entire Family Guy series. Whether it's because of her weight, hair, glasses, or nerdiness, she is always being made fun of in some way. In short, she is presented as an unattractive loser, and Mila Kunis is anything but that.
Meg was originally voiced by actress Lacey Chabert, but Mila Kunis ended up winning over Seth Macfarlane with her audition. He has even been quoted as saying how great it was to have a teenager (which Kunis was at the time) playing the role. Now that you know it's Kunis behind the voice of Meg Griffin, we bet you won't stop thinking about it next time you see an episode.
Who would have thought that the lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas once voiced Sally Brown from the television show Peanuts? Known for being one of the shows more prudish characters, Sally Brown is nothing like the outspoken and sassy Fergie we know today, so it's hard to imagine that it's really her voice. To be fair, this was way back in the day when Fergie was a child and still known as Stacy Ferguson. She definitely didn't have that highly distinguishable husky voice we've all come to love.
Fergie was the voice of Charlie Brown's younger sister on several Peanuts television specials in the '80s, making her around ten years old at the time. Unfortunately, the pressure of child acting eventually led Fergie to an adolescence of drug addiction. We're so glad she managed to recover and become so successful as a musician.
You may not have heard of her, but you will certainly be familiar with her large body of work. Tara Strong is a prolific voice actress and well known for her work as Bubbles of The Powerpuff Girls, as well as a number of other roles. She has done voice work on Rugrats, Ben 10, Teen Titans, and My Little Pony, amongst many others. She's also the singing voice of Meg Griffin on Family Guy and has played other characters on the show, too.
It's not just the TV and film industries that Strong works in - she also does voice work for video games, including the Metal Gear Solid franchise, Final Fantasy X, Batman, and Ratchet and Clank. There's basically no type of voice work Tara Strong hasn't done! We can't believe we had never heard of her.
Just like Tom Hanks, Bill Murray is another actor seemingly adored by all. With good reason, too! He adds a flair to his films that is just so uniquely him - that Bill Murray factor simply can't be replicated. Some might think that Garfield was a weird choice for Murray, particularly straight after winning a Golden Globe for the film Lost in Translation. But there is a little story behind it.
As it turns out, Murray thought the director of Garfield was Joel Coen of the Coen Brothers, who has written and directed many critically acclaimed films. In reality, it was Joel Cohen, best known for light and family friendly comedies, such as Cheaper by the Dozen. In the end, Murray made the role his own, but there was certainly a lot of confusion when he realized his mistake!
