DVDizzy Forum

Who do you think is the greatest voice actor that has ever worked for Disney?

I would definately have to say Sterling Holloway, the voices of:

Stork (Dumbo)
Adult Flower (Bambi)
Cheshire Cat (Alice in Wonderland)
Amos Mouse (Ben & Me)
Kaa (Jungle Book)
Roquefort (AristoCats)
& Winnie the Pooh


My 2nd is a tie between Jim Cummings & Verna Felton

I think that the greatest voice actor is Clarence Nash!!!!!!!! (Donald Duck)

Yeah, not only did he do Donald Duck, but he also did the bullfrog in Bambi, some puppies in 101 Dalmations, and other animal voices though the decades.

I agree that Sterling Holloway was great. He did so many things. But how about Arthur Feidler (?). He's been doing the voice of Piglet for ever!

I thought this might be a good time to bring up something that I've been thinking about. For a long time, it was a hollywood stigma for popular actors to be in a disney film. That was until Robin Williams voiced the genii. Then it became the thing to do. So now when you watch a disney movie ad they very prominently advertise the actors who are doing the voices, which I guess is good. But that usually means that these actors are just being themselves and none of these characters are having very animated voices.

I'm thinking of people like Mel Blanc -- who did tons of voices that were all very original and entertaining. I know that there still are some contract voice talents that do a lot of multiple characters, but I was just wondering if anyone had an opinion of whether the high profile talent really adds anything to the movies.

In the case of Shark tale, it seemed to me that the only thing the movie had going for it was the voice talent.

quiden wrote: I thought this might be a good time to bring up something that I've been thinking about. For a long time, it was a hollywood stigma for popular actors to be in a disney film. That was until Robin Williams voiced the genii. Then it became the thing to do. So now when you watch a disney movie ad they very prominently advertise the actors who are doing the voices, which I guess is good. But that usually means that these actors are just being themselves and none of these characters are having very animated voices.

There has been a similar debate since Jungle Book came out in 1967 featuring Phil Harris' voice; Disney basing a character on a voice instead of finding a voice for a created character. I think they can push and pull either way, and sometimes it works better than others.

I think John Fiedler is a great voice actor, same with people like Paul Winchell, Eva Gabor and Pinto Colvig, they are so good that they make more appearances in Walt's other films

June Foray! She was Lucifer for Cinderella in 1950 then Grandma Fa for Mulan in 1998!

Also, David Ogden Stiers is pretty good. Once you recognize a certain quality/tone/accent in different voices, you can tell its him. Sometimes they're so different you do not realize it for a while. Compare Cogsworth, Gov. Ratcliffe, and Jumba Jookiba and you'll see what I mean.

Also Corey Burton, who does mostly sequels and tv stuff. He did a very convincing Captain Hook for Return to Neverland but also was Gus in Cinderella II, Mole in Atlantis, and Ranger Audobon, Ludwig Von Drake, and Smee for television. I think the real voice of Smee did the orignal Ranger Audobon too.

yeah, that was bill thompson, he did smee, white rabbit, the dodo in alice in wonderland, jock and some of the dogs, and joe the italian chef in lady and the tramp as well as ranger woodlore

Oh, he was also the original voice of Scrooge McDuck

sterling holloway of course
patrick warburton (as kronk
james woods (as hades)
hans conried (as hook)
ed wynn (as the mad hatter)
Peter Ustinov (as prince john)

Verna Felton is pretty good....shes my favorite female disney voice actor

Kram Nebuer wrote:
Also, David Ogden Stiers is pretty good. Once you recognize a certain quality/tone/accent in different voices, you can tell its him. Sometimes they're so different you do not realize it for a while. Compare Cogsworth, Gov. Ratcliffe, and Jumba Jookiba and you'll see what I mean.
.

Agreed. DOS is amazingly talented as far as voices go. Very convincing. Espically as Cogsworth in BATB.
But, I liked Robby Benson, the voice of the Beast. How many guys can truly sound terrifying and be so prince-like at the same time?

For a "Disney" VA - David Ogden Stiers, hands-down. Like others have said, he has an amazing vocal range and register. I think I'm most amused by his spitting, lispy Mr. Jolly from Teacher's Pet. He was so good at that part, in fact, that I was surprised to see him in the credits!

As for a "Jack-of-all-trades" VA, I dunno - maybe Hank Azaria? I think it's really cool that he's managed to have a successful live-action and voice career, and he's got a good range, too. There are several VAs out there that have such a limited range that you can immediately tell when they voice a character; Jim Cummings, Rob Paulsen, Jeff Bennett, and Tress MacNeille are a few examples. Frank Welker can get especially annoying, since he's "the animal guy" for pretty much any cartoon big or small that needs it. I mean, Welker's certainly good at animal sounds, but it's so obviously him when you hear it. His "dog", his "horse"... whatever. It always sounds the same. It gets pretty old after a while.

I'll always hold a special affection for Jim Cummings, probably because it's fun to recognize him in whatever he's doing (yes, his voice is very recognizable) and because he was the voice of Darkwing.

I liked Eleanor Audley in Sleeping Beauty (Maleficent) as well as David Spade from The Emperor's New Groove.

Well, ofcourse I'm going to go first with Eleanor Audley, she has a wonderfully chillding voice that ads so much to Maleficent, as well and Lady Tremain. I always enjoyed Ertha Kitt as Yzma. As well as Betty Lou Geruisson as Cruella. In choir today, we were asked who did the voice of the Cheshire Cat (This mostly being because the choir teachers name is Mrs. Cheshier) and whoever answered it correctly first got some prize or something. I amazed myself by not knowing it immediatley after she asked it, but I wracked my brain for a few moments and then I got it. Sterling Holloway! The prize didn't really matter. But I got some funny looks from some other students. I'm pretty much to go-to guy on anything about movies at my school.

I can't believe nobody mentioned Paige O'Hara! She's awesome!

My all time favorite Disney Voice Actors was Miss Eva Gabor. She was simply magnificent in Rescuers, and Rescuers Down Under.

Disney Guru wrote:My all time favorite Disney Voice Actors was Miss Eva Gabor. She was simply magnificent in Rescuers, and Rescuers Down Under.

Don't forget The Aristocats, dahh-ling!

Rob Paulsen

As much for his non-Disney work than his Disney work. But, hey, he is Experiment #626! Oh, and "additional voice" in lots of Disney work!