Who's voice made the character?

fmingo36

fmingo36

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It's seems like every animated movie ( Disney & non-Disney) these days has a "big" celebrity lending there voice to a character.
Sometime I like it and sometime I think it's a distraction.
But I was watching Hercules last night with my dd and realized how much I enjoyed the Hades character because of James Woods' voice and his personality.

So I started think what character is a better character because of the voice behind it?
It was a toss-up:
Jeremy Irons-Scar--could anyone else have that wonderfully dry chill to their voice?
or Mufusa -the Great Mufusa would be not so great without the voice of James Earl Jones.

What do you think?
 
krankenstein

krankenstein

Well-Known Member
I agree that the voice can really make the character.

One I would add to you list is Robin Williams as The Genie. His selection was a perfect fit for the character.
 
MaryMcMagic

MaryMcMagic

Active Member
Just about any character from Toy Story 1 & 2 does it for me. Buzz, Woody, Jesse, Mr. Potato Head, Mrs. Potato Head...They're all spot on in my book!
 
fmingo36

fmingo36

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
krankenstein said:
One I would add to you list is Robin Williams as The Genie. His selection was a perfect fit for the character.
Click to expand...

That's a good one.
He's done other character voices but they were unforgetable.
The Genie is the Genie because of Robin Williams.
 
fmingo36

fmingo36

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
maisco30 said:
Just about any character from Toy Story 1 & 2 does it for me. Buzz, Woody, Jesse, Mr. Potato Head, Mrs. Potato Head...They're all spot on in my book!
Click to expand...

Did you know that they offered Billy Crystal the character of Buzz first?
I'm glad he passed on it because I really love him as Mike Wazowski and love Tim Allen as Buzz (especially in Toy Story 2!)
 
FreedomWrangler

FreedomWrangler

Active Member
The only unassailable choice here is Robin Williams as The Genie.

Not only did he do the Genie's voice, but he did the voice's of the characters the Genie transformed into. Great performance! I like the William F. Buckley Genie character, "Ah, almost. There are a few provisos, a couple of quid pro quos". :lol:

Great stuff!
 
MKCP 1985

MKCP 1985

Well-Known Member
fmingo36 said:
It's seems like every animated movie ( Disney & non-Disney) these days has a "big" celebrity lending there voice to a character.
Sometime I like it and sometime I think it's a distraction.
But I was watching Hercules last night with my dd and realized how much I enjoyed the Hades character because of James Woods' voice and his personality.

So I started think what character is a better character because of the voice behind it?
It was a toss-up:
Jeremy Irons-Scar--could anyone else have that wonderfully dry chill to their voice?
or Mufusa -the Great Mufusa would be not so great without the voice of James Earl Jones.

What do you think?
Click to expand...

all of those are great examples. before I opened the thread, I was thinking Jimmy Woods as Hades, but you've given two great examples from the Lion King.

What about Robin Williams as Genie? Can you imagine anyone else as Genie now? Or Iago without the voice of Gilbert Gottfried?
 
krankenstein

krankenstein

Well-Known Member
MKCP 1985 said:
all of those are great examples. before I opened the thread, I was thinking Jimmy Woods as Hades, but you've given two great examples from the Lion King.

What about Robin Williams as Genie? Can you imagine anyone else as Genie now? Or Iago without the voice of Gilbert Gottfried?
Click to expand...

I mentioned the Genie earlier in the thread, but you are right about Iago too. Gilbert Gottfried nailed the character.

Also, Samuel Wright nailed Sebastian! Can you even think of someone else doing Sebastian voice?
 
Thiger

Thiger

New Member
discomouse131 said:
I was thinking more of the classics....one in particular would be Eleanor Audley - who voiced Maleficent in 'Sleeping Beauty' and who also provided the voice for Lady Tremaine in 'Cinderella'. She breathed life into those characters and made them seem much more sinister...
Click to expand...

Concur. Maleficent used to give me shivers everytime she spoke.

Walt voicing Mickey is up there if not #1 for me.
 
Keyblade Holder

Keyblade Holder

New Member
Mike Myers as Shrek was awesome (Oh no he DI-ENT!) <Snaps fingers left, right and left again> No seriously, I like James Baskette. I think He had a great radio voice to begin with, but bringing the southern dialect to Brer Fox was fantastic
 
NASAMan

NASAMan

Member
Baloo would not have been so cool without the help of Phil Harris.

But-

You all have some great examples. Best so far: James Woods, Robin Williams, Elanore Audley.
 
DDuckFan130

DDuckFan130

Well-Known Member
Oooh great thread!

I have a lot of favorites:

James Woods- Hades
Robin Williams- Genie
Gilbert Gottfried- Iago
James Earl Jones- Mufasa
Eleanor Audley- Maleficent, Lady Tremaine, AND Madame Leota
Danny Devito- Phil in Hercules
Tom Hanks (no one has mentioned him?!)- Woody
Basically all the Toy Story and Toy Story 2 characters (was gonna start listing, but that'd take too long).
Larry the Cable Guy- Mater
Billy Crystal and John Goodman- Mike and Sully
Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella- Timon and Pumba
Ellen Degeneres- Dory

There's so many more, but they do make such a difference :D
 
DDuckFan130

DDuckFan130

Well-Known Member
Ok, blonde moment here:

I had to look up Ernie Sabella's name because I forgot it, and I just read that Robert Guillaume and Rowan Atkinson were Rafiki and Zazu, respectively.

I didn't know that...

My bad :lookaroun
 

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