10 Stars You Forget Voiced Disney Characters
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Disney animation is a who's who of celebrity voices. Many stars become famously attached to their roles by the public, for example, every '90s baby knows who Danny DeVito and James Woods were in Hercules, and everyone with a pulse knows that Robin Williams was the Genie in Aladdin.
But many of the voices of our favorite characters in Disney are either so subtle or so well-disguised that we forget they were the voices of actors we might never have expected to take a Disney job. From classics like The Lion King to more obscure pieces like The Great Mouse Detective, a variety of Hollywood icons have given audiences pleasant childhood memories, and some of us never realized it was them.
10 Rowan Atkinson - The Lion King
Who could bring to life the relentless wit and sarcasm of Zazu, the African hornbill bird that served first as King Mufasa's advisor and later as King Scar's captive? Well, such a dry and often unrelenting wit would need someone with the experience to deliver a quality performance. So who better than British comedy icon Rowan Atkinson, who before he was famous for Mr. Bean was quite well known as the sinister and sarcastic historical character The Black Adder?
9 Christian Bale - Pocahontas
It is easy to forget that Bale had a career as a child actor years before he entered more adult roles like American Psycho and later The Dark Knight trilogy. But as a boy, he was in Stephen Spielberg's underrated WWII picture Empire Of The Sun, and in the 1990s, a youthful Bale was the voice of Thomas, AKA John Smith's young assistant in Pocahontas.
8 Mel Gibson - Pocahontas
Pocahontas is not as popular as it used to be, as many now argue the film is a product of cultural appropriation, and many of the themes either do not age well or misrepresent the history of American colonization and Native Americans. However, for many, the film is still a Disney classic, and the romantic lead in that classic is none other than (problematic) action star Mel Gibson. The film came out in 1995, the height of Gibson's career and a time when he was very well-liked by the public. In 2006, Gibson would fall out of public favor after going on an antisemitic tirade when he was arrested for drunk driving.
7 Jerry Orbach - Beauty And The Beast
Orbach died in 2004 but he remains one of the most popular and beloved stars of Law And Order where he played Det. Lenny Briscoe for several seasons. Not many know that Orbach was also a talented singer and dancer, and a decent impressionist. This is why it takes a trained ear to realize that it is his voice providing the French accent of Lumiere, the endearingly romantic candlestick in Beauty and The Beast.
6 Vincent Price - The Great Mouse Detective
The Great Mouse Detective is one of the more obscure and underrated Disney features, but it remains a cult classic for many. The villain of the film was Professor Ratigan, voiced by the Halloween and Horror icon Vincent Price. Price was synonymous with sinister characters and horror thanks to his roles in House of Wax, House On Haunted Hill, The Edgar Allen Poe films directed by Roger Corman, and his voice-over in Michael Jackson's major hit "Thriller."
5 Eartha Kitt - The Emperor's New Groove
The Emperor's New Groove is the story of a Mayan emperor who is turned into a llama by a bitter ex-employee. The film is a hilarious series of gags that today are now the subject of several memes. The film uses the voices of David Spade as the Emperor, John Goodman as Poncho, Pat Warburton as Krunk, and Eartha Kitt as the villain Yzma. Kitt was a sex symbol in the 1960s and 1970s whose sultry self-expression was used to play another famous villain, she was Catwoman in the Adam West Batman TV series.
4 Glenn Close - Tarzan
Close is a very serious actress, and someone who takes their craft so seriously might think that Disney is beneath them. Yet Close was not above herself to voice Kala in 1999's Tarzan. She has not spoken so kindly of her Disney-related roles though. Close is on record saying that the only reason she appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy was for the money.
3 Demi Moore - The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
The Hunchback of Notre Dame is not the most popular of Disney films, as the company's animation department found itself in a bit of a creative slump in the 1990s following the massive success of films like The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Beauty and The Beast. But it was still impressive enough to attract some major names, one of them was Demi Moore, who plays Esmeralda the romantic lead in the film. Fun fact: in the book her character is publicly executed, but that is not exactly Disney friendly material, is it?
2 Kevin Kline - The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
Kline is one of the most accomplished actors of his time, both in drama and comedy. Famous comedy roles of his include his vulgar burglar character in A Fish Called Wanda and his part in The Pirates Of Panache. He has done a few animated features, he was a lead character in The Road To El Dorado (which is by Dreamworks, not Disney) but for Disney, he voiced Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
1 Wallace Shawn - Toy Story
Wallace Shawn is best known to modern audiences as Fezzini (AKA the Inconvievable Guy) in The Princess Bride.He is also an accomplished playwright, co-author of the classic film My Dinner With Andre, and a recurring player on the hit sitcom Young Sheldon. He is also the voice of Rex, the neurotic dinosaur, in Toy Story.
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