Mel Blanc, "father" of the voices of Bugs Bunny, Sylvester the cat, Tweety Bird, Pepe Le Pew, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, and countless others, struck a revolutionary deal with Warner Bros. executives.
The studio agreed to give him screen credit for his many vocal contributions to their cartoons. No other voice person had been granted such a publicity device. Blanc had been fairly successful in radio primarily on "The Jack Benny Show," but he became internationally famous once his name was emblazoned in a Looney Tunes cartoon short's opening credits. While animation's countless other voice people have not all shared in his good fortune, the times are changing.
For film or TV actors, the stigma once associated with providing animation voices has pretty much evaporated. Successful film stars and comedians are now vying for the chance to portray lead characters in animated films. Tim Allen's Buzz Lightyear and Tom Hanks's Woody of Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999) have been a boon to the animated film and toy industries. Film's A-list actress Drew Barrymore lent her voice to Titan A.E. (2000), as did Demi Moore for The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). Nathan Lane's Timon in the film The Lion King (1994) catapulted his previously lackluster movie career. It's now chic to be a cartoon character.
Here's a brief list of 30-plus actors who have lent their voices to pen-and-ink characters - there are many more.
| Jennifer Aniston | Annie in The Iron Giant (1999). |
| Kevin Bacon | Balto in Balto (1995). |
| Ed Begley, Jr. | Alan Tyler in The Pagemaster (1994). |
| LeVar Burton | Kwame in the 1990s TV series Captain Planet and the Planeteers. |
| John Candy | Wilber the Albatross in The Rescuers Down Under (1990). |
| Carol Channing | Muddy in Happily Ever After (1990); Ms. Fieldmouse in Thumbelina (1994). |
| Wally Cox | Underdog in the 1960s TV series of the same title. |
| Walter Cronkite | Captain Neweyes in We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993). |
| Macauley Culkin | Richard Tyler in The Pagemaster (1994) |
| Tim Curry | Sir Gawain in the 1990s TV series Prince Valiant; Hexxus in FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992); Kaleem in the 1990s TV series Aladdin; Melek in the video game Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (1994); Finagle in made-for TV Daisy-Head Mayzie (1995); Drake in The Pebble and the Penguin (1995); Trader Slick in 1990s TV series Jumanji; Nostros in made-for-TV The Story of Santa Claus (1996); Rex Pester in The Rugrats Movie (1998) and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000); The Skull in the video Bartok the Magnificent (1999). |
| Jane Curtin | Muffy in Antz (1998). |
| Celíne Dion | Singing voice of Lady Juliana in Quest for Camelot (1998). |
| Richard Dreyfuss | Centipede in James and the Giant Peach (1996). |
| Samantha Eggar | Queen Guinevere in the 1990s TV series Prince Valiant. |
| Mel Gibson | Captain John Smith in Pocahontas (1995); Rocky in Chicken Run (2000). |
| Sir John Gielgud | Merlin in Quest for Camelot (1998). |
| Jeff Goldblum | Aaron in The Prince of Egypt (1998). |
| Phil Harris | Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book (1967); Thomas O’Malley in The Aristocats (1970); Little John in Robin Hood (1973). |
| Linda Hunt | Grandmother Willow in Pocahontas (1995) and the video Pochantas II: Journey to a New World (1998). |
| Billy Joel | Dodger in Oliver & Company (1988). |
| Don Knotts | Vice Principal Bone in 1990-2000s TV series Doug. |
| Jay Leno | Vorb in We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993). |
| Jon Lovitz | The radio in The Brave Little Toaster (1987). |
| Cheech Marin | Tito the chihuahua in Oliver & Company (1988); Stump in FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992); Banzai in The Lion King (1994). |
| Helen Mirren | Queen in The Prince of Egypt (1998). |
| Bebe Neuwirth | Annabelle in All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 (1996). |
| Della Reese | Eema in Dinosaur (2000). |
| Debbie Reynolds | Charlotte the spider in Charlotte's Web (1973). |
| Jane Seymour | Speaking voice of Lady Juliana in Quest for Camelot (1998). |
| Martin Short | Stubbs the clown in We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993); Hubie in The Pebble and the Penguin (1995); Huy in The Prince of Egypt (1998). |
| Kevin Spacey | Hopper in A Bug's Life (1998). |
| Patrick Stewart | Adventure in The Pagemaster (1994); Pharaoh Seti I in The Prince of Egypt (1998). |
| Rod Taylor | Pongo the Dalmatian in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). |
| Brenda Vaccaro | Tilly in made-for TV Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977); Scruple in the 1980s TV series The Smurfs. |
| Robin Williams | Batty Koda in FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992); Genie of the lamp in Aladdin (1992) and video Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996). |
