Tope Ten Memorable Voice Productions

The Top Ten Most Memorable Voice Productions/Actors

Animation is an interesting industry. There have been changes on how it looks, how it’s made, and how it’s received. However, since a little black and white mouse whistled on a steamboat, there have been voices. Animations are colorful, wacky, violent, and funny; but if you want someone to describe a cartoon character, one of the first things they will describe is how they sound. I’ve put together a list of what I consider the top 10 iconic uses of English voice acting, whether it is a single voice actor, a single movie, or a single studio’s dedication to voice quality.

10. South Park

South Park is a show that is crass, rude, offensive, and thankfully hilarious. The kids from South Park are iconic in contemporary animation. Let’s face it, the animation is cruder than the jokes, but the writing is top-notch and the voice actors deliver every line well. There was a time I couldn’t go to school without hearing someone try a Cartman impersonation demanding for some cheesy poofs.

9. Pixar Animation Studios/John Ratzenberger

Pixar has consistently done the impossible with voice acting, meriting them a spot on my list. They use celebrity voices well. I’ve sadly learned that when any animation is boasting about famous people doing the voices they almost always are disappointing (Happy Feet), annoying (Shrek), and too typically sound like themselves (So many examples I won’t insult anyone’s intelligence by mentioning one). From its very full feature length movie Toy Story, Pixar took Tom Hanks and Tim Allen (Woody and Buzz), and created the icons of modern animation and the CGI generation of movies. They’ve done it with every movie since then and they’ve even created an in-joke game for fans by trying to pick out John Ratzenberger’s voice from the toons; they’ve even extended that game to when they dub over Miyazaki films from Japan.

8. Peter Cullen

Peter Cullen is on this list because no one knows him by name but millions of children know his voice. The ominously cool statement,“One shall stand, one shall fall;” or telling his Autobot allies to transform and roll out. Peter Cullen’s Optimus Prime prompted a huge animated robot craze in the 80’s. His voice was so iconic that when they went to reinvent the show into a mega-blockbuster movie last summer, they decided they needed Peter Cullen; his voice was just too iconic. Adding one last credit to his name, Peter Cullen has also voiced Eeyore the lovable gray donkey since 1989.

7. The Simpsons

The Simpsons have been a powerful animated force for the last two decades. It’s broken the idea that cartoons have to be for children and paved the way for any cartoon that didn’t belong on Saturday morning. If that wasn’t enough for them their voice acting is phenomenal. From Mr. Burns’ sinister excellent to Kwik-i-Mart cashier Apu’s thank you come again, the Simpsons voice have woven their way into American pop-culture.

6. James Earl Jones

While most people would be able to mach an iconic voice to a character, it is a rare few who can name the actor behind the cartoon. However, this is not the case with James Earl Jones. While Star Wars was certainly not a cartoon, James Earl Jones provided the iconic voice of Vader. Jones’ deep tones gives his characters a presence equal to Greek Gods, not easy to do when Mark Hamill screaming like a pre-pubescent monkey in front of you (unless Mr. Hamill is himself voice acting, more on that later). Let’s just face it there are few voices as iconic as Jones’.

5. Sterling Holloway/Phil Harris/Sebastion Cabot

It would be easy enough to fill a top ten list like this with only Disney productions and actors. Nathan Lane, Angela Lansbury, or any other Disney voice actor from any period in Disney history deserves recognition. However, these gentlemen represent the core group of voice actors who sustained Disney animation through their most difficult time, the death of Disney itself. It’s hard to look back and think films like the Jungle Book, Robin Hood, and especially Winnie the Pooh came out during the most risky and turbulent time in Disney animation, but these voice actors created the characters that have endured and still remain top voices in the halls of the house of mouse.

4. Frank Oz/Jim Henson/ and the rest of the Muppet performers

The Muppets aren’t technically animation, but there is certainly voice acting involved. Voices don’t come as varied or amazingly iconic than the Muppet crew. Kermit, Piggy, Yoda, Bert, Ernie, etc. Most voice actors are lucky to create one memorable voice, Frank Oz and Jim Henson could have dedicated lists of their 20 best memorable voices, and it wouldn’t be hard to fill the 20 spots for each one.

3. Bruce Tim’s Batman the Animated series

Some may question why Batman is up so high; those people have never seen the series. Batman took some of the oldest icons in entertainment (the only older on this list have close ties with a certain mouse) and brought them to life like no flesh and blood person ever could, the same could be said of Mark Hamill who found a new career in voice acting in the show. Despite the success of previous, current, and likely future successful versions of Batman, every single character portrayal in the Bruce Tim animated version will be the definitive version. Every voice is rich and memorable, from Mark Hamill’s cackle as the joker to Kevin Conroy’s dual voices as Batman/Bruce Wayne will keep the series a classic long after the animation itself is considered incredibly crude (hint: right now it’s not, it’s amazing, go watch it). Their reverence to the comic book and dazzling voice acting is still fueling the market’s desire for comic book adaptations even when they are lacking.

2. Mel Blanc

The “man of a thousand voices” took voice acting to spectacular new heights. Voicing nearly all the Looney Toons characters, one man proved that a single talented voice actor could rival the mighty house of mouse. What’s up doc, you’re despicable, and that’s all folks, will always live on in our culture, and the voice will always be Blancs.

1. Pinto Colvig, Clarence Nash, and Walt Disney himself

This list would seem nearly meaningless without these three at the top. An excrutiatingly small percentage could place Pinto Colvig, Clarence Nash, and Disney himself with their respective cartoon characters, that is until they opened their mouths. These three are respectively Goofy, Donald Duck, and Mickey Mouse. There may not have been variety in their voices and they may not have played a multitude of characters. But no person or group has been and never could be what the trio of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy have been to animation.