Hollywood is obsessed with faces when it should be obsessed with voices. Maybe that’s the radio host in me talking, a great voice just on its own can make a great character while a great face is no guarantee of anything. Voice casting is perhaps the last bastion of being acceptable, or even encouraged to stereotype. Come on, you can’t have Gilbert Godfried (not on this list) matched up with a sleepy turtle – or get French Stewart to voice a silverback gorilla. Animation might be a limitless medium as far as what can be created visually, but it’s the voices applied to it that tie it back to reality and let audiences engage with the film’s characters.
Below, I have compiled 5 voices that have made going to the movies and watching TV an experience that I could just as easily have enjoyed while wearing a blindfold.
5. Will Arnett
Given Will’s set of pipes, you’d think his body of work would make up an entire blog post on its own. I guess it’s because it’s still pretty early in his career that he doesn’t have more robust list of appearances to his name. So far, the best anyone’s been able to come up with is placing him opposite Alec Baldwin on “30 Rock” – which has actually yeilded more than a few good voice jokes.
His dulcet tones have graced such projects as: Sit Down Shut Up, Horton Hears a Who, Ratatouille, Monsters vs. Aliens
Best Suited For: His deep, gravelly voice gives him a lot of room to do dangerous, heroic characters. But so far he’s been playing in the background.
Next Project Should Be: He should totally do the voice for the Lone Ranger or some other cowboy. Maybe if they did some kind of animated movie about the Norse gods, Will Arnett could voice a mean Loki.
4. Mako Iwamatsu
He is probably best known for the work he did in Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer, but I prefer his work on Samurai Jack as the evil overlord Aku. The late Mako Iwamatsu’s final feature project was the voice of Splinter in the CG version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and I can think of no better animated character for him to perform in fitting with his talents.
His dulcet tones have graced such projects as: Avatar: The Last Airbender, TMNT, Samurai Jack, Scooby Doo, Dexter’s Laboratory
Best Suited For: Perhaps it goes without saying, but if you want a grizzled old Asian character to either impart some knowledge or torment your hero, Mako was the man to call.
Next Project Should Be: If Mako were still around to lend his voice to the world, I’d have liked him to play one of the Guardians in Green Lantern
3. John Ratzenberger
John has played a flea, a 16 wheeler, a school of fish, a piggy bank, the Abominable Snowman and more in his gig as the Pixar go to guy. He seems to be the most unlikely guy to have a household voice, but maybe he’s one of the most prototypical American voices out there. I’d say that’s fairly ironic, considering he rose to fame playing a character that everyone wished would just shut up.
His dulcet tones have graced such projects as: Every single one of Pixar’s feature films.
Best Suited For: He probably owes it to his performance on “Cheers”, but he really is the first guy you think of when you need someone to play a loveable knowitall. His non-threatening presense is probably the main reason why he’s got a permanent residence over at casa de Pixar.
Next Project Should Be: I’d really like to see him play the Underminer again, even if I’m not so sure I’d want him to be the main villain in an Incredibles sequel.
2. James Earl Jones
Can you imagine being able to do James Earl Jones’ voice just by speaking? Well, James Earl Jones can do it just by opening his mouth! If you ask me, Movie Mobsters’ Top 50 Villains top dog Darth Vader wouldn’t be much more than a guy in black with a vaccum cleaner on his face if it weren’t for Jones’ thunderous delivery of every single one of his ominous lines. You’d think that he would rate all at the top of this list, but he’s pretty light on voice work for some reason, so other than creating one of the most recognisable voices in all of sci-fi he hasn’t actually contributed to the craft all that much.
His dulcet tones have graced such projects as: Star Wars, The Lion King, The Simpsons, CNN Promos, The Bible on tape
Best Suited For: Need an authoritative voice that can swallow up your own head? Mr. Jones is the man.
Next Project Should Be: You’d be hard pressed to find someone who didn’t recognise his voice, so it is definitely the time for him to play against expectations. I’d like to hear him voice a circus clown, but don’t you think he’d be the best voice for the Bat-computer or the ship’s computer voice on the next Star Trek film? Maybe he should be the voice of Santa Claus?
1. Keith David
He is simply my favourite voice to hear in any show or film that I see. When he’s on board I know it means the director was serious about how dark he wants the production to go. That he hasn’t had all that much success in live-action film is lamentable, but that’s helped guide Keith to play to his strengths. His performance as Al Simmons in the animated HBO series Todd McFarlane’s Spawn was nothing short of spectacular – his gravelly voice epitomising the 5 years his character spent stewing in Hell.
His dulcet tones have graced such projects as: Princess Mononoke, Coraline, The Princess & The Frog, Gargoyles, Todd McFarlane’s Spawn
Best Suited For: After playing a demon, a gargoyle, a black cat and a voodoo priest it’s safe to say that Mr. David is best suited for playing characters who are treading the dark side. If it’s steeped in evil Keith David can do it, which is why he’d make a great Prince of Darkness. That or ads for some kind of super beefy sandwich at Arby’s.
Next Project Should Be: That he wasn’t brought in to do the voice of Malebolgia in the Spawn live action film seems like a missed opportunity, but given how poorly received it was perhaps it was for the best. Since Todd McFarlane is willing to give the live action film another go, maybe this is the time to right old wrongs and have David do the voice of Spawn’s devil-in-chief.
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Wooohhooo! Thank you for the shout out! And I absolutely agree with you about Vader and the voice of James Earl Jones. He is the reason he is such an ultimate badass, and his other voice overs have been tremendous.
I’m just in happy that you included John Ratzenburger. His small but hilarious parts in every Pixar film kind of unite them all, and give us nerds a sense of being in on some inside joke, making the films that much more personal.
Will Arnett is good as well.
Tony Todd does a lot of great voice overs as well. He’s had a pretty full career of not necessarily seeing his face, then when actually getting to see it, you don’t really want to because he plays the badguy! CANDYMAN AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Your list had to be shouted out, Heather. I’m happy to ride its coat-tails.
They totally should have gotten Tony Todd to do the voice of Chapel in Spawn. Having Keith David and the Candyman share some audio time would have been a grumbling masterpiece.
Ratzenberger might not wield the same kind of power as JEJ or Will Arnett, but his contribution to the medium of animated films has to be acknowledged. Really would never have predicted his career going in this direction, even if he did star in Superman and Empire Strikes Back.
Voices are definitely important but I don’t understand Hollywood’s obsession of having movie stars voice most animations for example. I couldn’t care less that Cameron Diaz is voicing whoever in Shrek for example. What’s important is how good the actor lending her voice is, not how popular of a movie star she is.
It’s part of the same school of thought that put the voice of Jackie Chan in Kung Fu Panda. Novelty, pure novelty. Fortunately films like the one Brad Pitt did – Sinbad, I think it was? – made such a poor showing at the box office.
I dig that Pixar has been consistently casting their voices with a number of unknowns, although since many of those voices tend to be of staff animators, perhaps Pixar is merely cheaping out.
I agree with Castor, just ’cause someone’s famous doesn’t mean they can do decent VO work. I particularly like Tom Hanks and Tim Allen in Toy Story, they embody the characters so perfectly.
Allen and Hanks were a good match, for sure. Goodman and Crystal worked well in Monsters, Inc. too. Fame and success are by no means the way to choose great voice talent. The great ones are the ones who can both truly disconnect their voice from their body and are willing to get really wacky in the voice booth. We need Gary Oldman to do more voice work, a lot more.