5 voice acting performances you probably didn't recognize

5 voice acting performances you probably didn’t recognize

Have you ever had that moment where you were watching something, like a cartoon or animated movie and then BAM you realize, “Oh my goodness! thats the voice of (insert famous actor here)”. Most of the time, famous actors who voice animated movies are easily recognizable. But there are those performances you just can’t put your finger on or even just not notice it at all, until you see the name in the credits or pull up the imdb page. Here are my top 5 voice acting performances you probably didn’t recognize:

(to my tumblr followers: the post is quite long so I added a “read more” link so that I won’t flood your dashboard)

5. I am Weasel - “I Am Weasel”

“I Am Weasel” started out as an in-betweener segment within the “Cow and Chicken”show on Cartoon Network, that eventually got its own spin-off show. Absolutely not for children, this slapstick comedy cartoon, along with “Cow and Chicken”, became the late 90’s version of “Ren and Stimpy” (but doesn’t come close to its pointlessness)

I’m starting this list with a guy you most probably won’t recognize. I Am Weasel is voiced by:

Michael Dorn

Don’t recognize him? Let me help:

Michael Dorn does alot of voice acting work both in the animation industry and the video game industry. He even had a small stint on “Heroes” as the President of the United States during the 3rd season. He is most known for his portrayal of Worf, the klingon crew member of the Starship Enterprise in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”

4. Verminus Skumm - “Captain Planet and the Planeteers”

Verminus Skumm is one of the six members of the Eco-Villans, the antagonists in the 90’s TV Cartoon “Captain Planet and the Planeteers”. He is a mutated rat person who was born and raised in the sewers of the city. Over the course of the TV series, Verminus Skumm had two voice actors. But the second one only came into the role during the last few episodes of the series. He was originally voiced by this man:

Jeff Goldblum

People in my generation remember Jeff Goldblum for two roles, Dr. Ian Malcom of the “Jurassic Park” series and as David Levinson in “Independence Day”. Older generations may remember him for his performance in “The Fly”. Although today, he has very little presence in Hollywood, he still makes his apperances in smaller indie flicks and was also seen in the extremely hilarious “Life Aquatic”.

3. Anchor - “Finding Nemo”

The only animated movie in this list, Anchor is one of the sharks who befriend the two protagonists of the story, Dory and Marline, as they search for Marlines son, Nemo. Anchor is one of three sharks who have sworn-off eating fish as “Fish are our friends, not food” and its part of an “alcoholics anonymous group” but for eating fish. A pedestrian character in this movie for sure, but who would have known his voice actor is one of the top Australian actors in Hollywood. Anchors voice actor is:

Eric Bana

Eric Bana was first noticed during the movie “Black Hawk Down” as a Delta Force operative. He then appeared as Bruce Baner in the 2003 version of “Hulk” and as Hector in “Troy”. His more recent roles include Captain Nero from the reboot of “Star Trek” and as the main character in “Time Travelers Wife”

2. Nigel Thornberry - “The Wild Thornberrys”

Any kid who grew up sometime around the late 90’s will recognize this guy as the father figure in the Nickelodeon cartoon show “The Wild Thornberrys” What you didn’t realize is that this guy is voiced by one of the most respected and versatile actors. His voice actor is:

Tim Curry

Tim Curry has been everywhere from Theater, TV, Movies, Cartoons to Video Games. He even has his own SOLO ALBUM. He has been nominated numerous times for a Tony award and has been a recipient of an Emmy Award. He has played nearly any role imaginable form demons to pirates, a concierge of a hotel and he even replaced the great Raul Julia as Gomez Adams. Just looking at his filmography and you would be impressed as well.

1. The Joker - “Batman The Animated Series”

Most of you should remember the Batman cartoon back in the 90’s. It was probably the best superhero cartoon at the time. Characters like, Clayface and Mr. Freeze and yes, who can forget the Joker. What I think made this cartoon great was the fact that my generation was coming out of childhood and into puberty, therefore we needed something to bridge the gap between the ultra kiddie shows and the normal violence we see on TV today, this cartoon bridged that gap. Do you remember how Joker was? His chuckles, his high pitched voice? Well, you would never imagine who the voice actor was:

Mark Hamil

Who the heck is Mark Hamil you ask? Well, let me show you:

Yup, Luke Skywalker himself is the Joker. Mark Hamil even voiced the Joker for the recent and extremely successful video game: “Batman: Arkham Asylum”. In fact, the entire cast of the animated series re-voiced all their original roles. Strangely enough, Mark Hamil never voiced over Luke Skywalker for any other Star Wars franchise, be it video games or cartoons, except of course as a cameo appearance in shows like “The Simpsons”, “Family Guy” or “Robot Chicken”.

My words, My Heart. Forever Online.