These voice actors possess limitless range. For this list, we’ll be looking at performers who have provided voices for a wide variety of characters on the big and small screens.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 "I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons."
00:03 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 voice actors with impressive range.
00:10 "Hi, I'm Tara. You do my voice, you don't sound like me. I'm versatile."
00:14 For this list, we're looking at performers who have provided voices for a wide variety of characters on the big and small screens.
00:21 Which actor's voice makes you nostalgic for your favorite cartoon?
00:24 Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
00:27 Number 10, Rob Paulson.
00:30 With over 1,000 endeavors to his name, Paulson has been a beloved part of people's childhoods for over four decades.
00:36 "We always hear about your day, but what about mine?
00:40 "Divorce this and divorce that!
00:42 "La-di-la-di-da!
00:44 "Move!"
00:45 "Did you ever ask what I did today?!"
00:49 '90s kids know him from Animaniacs, where he played several different characters,
00:53 including the unspoken leader of the Warner Brothers.
00:56 He's also been a part of numerous Disney projects on both the big and small screens.
01:00 "Hey, hey, hey!"
01:01 "Whoa! Small wilderness, dude! Didn't expect to run into you."
01:05 "Apparently not."
01:06 "You're just jealous, man, 'cause you ain't got the moves!"
01:10 If you're a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan, you'll know him as both Raphael in the original '80s show
01:15 and Donatello in the computer animated series that ran until 2017.
01:19 He voiced the characters a whopping 30 years apart,
01:22 which means kids who grew up listening to Paulson's work can now enjoy it with their own children.
01:27 "No, no, no, no, don't worry! We're the good guys! It's okay!"
01:31 Number 9. Jim Cummings
01:33 Giving a character life and personality with only a laugh is an impressive feat,
01:37 but it's just another day at the office for Jim Cummings.
01:39 [Jim Cummings laughing]
01:43 The actor has voiced hundreds of characters in both film and on TV,
01:47 and has been working practically non-stop for almost 40 years.
01:50 From 'My Little Pony' to 'The Simpsons', he's been involved with a huge range of IPs.
01:55 [Jim Cummings laughing]
01:59 "Yeah, she's the best."
02:00 He even became the first person to play the same Disney character
02:03 in both animation and a live-action feature
02:06 as he provided the voices of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in 2018's 'Christopher Robin'.
02:11 "I'm totally cracked. I don't see any cracks. A few wrinkles, maybe."
02:18 Number 8. Seth MacFarlane
02:20 Unlike most of the actors on this list, MacFarlane's resume skews a little more adult.
02:25 He rose to fame as the creator of 'Family Guy',
02:28 and still provides the voices of several major characters.
02:31 "I know what you're asking, and I'll bark like a seal for you."
02:34 "I do Peter, I do Stewie, I do Brian, and I do Quagmire."
02:38 He's also dabbled in live-action films over the years,
02:41 perhaps most famously as the adorable potty-mouthed teddy bear in 'Ted',
02:45 for which he also did motion capture.
02:47 "John, I look like something you give your kid when you tell him grandma died."
02:50 "Look, I know it sucks, okay? But you gotta make some money so you can pay for an apartment."
02:55 "I don't wanna work at a grocery store."
02:57 "Yeah, but you have no skills."
02:58 "I told you I can totally be a lawyer."
03:00 You might not know that he's an accomplished singer too,
03:03 and has released several albums,
03:05 primarily in the big band and jazz standard styles of the 1950s.
03:09 He even puts that talent to work in his acting roles.
03:12 "Every time it rains, it rains, pennies from heaven."
03:19 Foray's incredible career lasted a wildly impressive 85 years.
03:30 "I've got all the luck we'll need."
03:32 "This is your chance to prove yourself."
03:36 During that time, she put her uniquely flexible voice to work in a huge range of roles.
03:41 She even provided the voice of the original Chatty Cathy doll,
03:44 and her creepy Twilight Zone counterpart, Talky Tina.
03:47 "I told you you'd be sorry."
03:49 "Christy, Christy, wake up, Christy."
03:54 One of her most memorable characters was Granny,
03:57 the woman who owned Tweety Bird and Sylvester the Cat in the Looney Tunes series.
04:02 She took over the role from 1955 all the way until 2013,
04:06 when Foray was in her mid-90s.
04:08 "You know, if somebody gets injured, we could see a lot of minutes."
04:11 "I'm a cheerleader."
04:13 With the exception of Mel Blanc,
04:16 voice actors didn't typically get credited for their work back in the day.
04:19 That means Foray brought the sweet old lady to life for years
04:22 before most people knew it was her behind the microphone.
04:25 "My, it sounds so exciting. You're going to love it, Tweety."
04:30 Number 6 - Kevin Michael Richardson
04:33 If you need a deep, booming baritone for your cartoon character,
04:36 Richardson is your guy.
04:37 After getting his start in commercials,
04:45 he appeared on screen in a number of live-action shows and movies.
04:48 But the majority of his career has happened in the sound studio.
04:52 "The council has banished you to exile on a desert asteroid."
04:56 "So relax, enjoy the trip."
04:59 "And don't get any ideas."
05:01 Richardson has worked on both family-friendly and adult-oriented properties,
05:05 and he's been involved in some of the biggest franchises of all time.
05:08 He's also voiced plenty of superheroes and villains in both the Marvel and DC universes.
05:14 And in 2004, he became the first black actor to play the Joker.
05:19 "Nothing up my sleeves."
05:20 "Nothing that won't put a smile on your face."
05:24 "Say cheese!"
05:27 Number 5 - Seth Green
05:29 You probably recognize his face from his live-action roles
05:32 in the Austin Powers movies and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
05:35 However, you might be surprised to learn that Green has also had
05:38 an extremely successful career in animation.
05:41 "Guys, do you hear me? Are you alright?"
05:43 "Leo!"
05:44 His longest-running role has been the character of Chris Griffin on Family Guy,
05:48 which he's played since the series' inception in 1999.
05:52 He's also one of the creators and voices behind the stop-motion series Robot Chicken.
05:56 "Chris, I don't think people are even aware of that show's existence."
05:59 "Well, I don't know, Dad. I think a decent number of people watch it."
06:02 "Oh, really? Define 'decent'."
06:03 "I think it's the highest-rated show on Cartoon Network,
06:06 and the Star Wars episode doubled that audience."
06:08 Green has even made it into the MCU,
06:11 appearing as Howard the Duck in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.
06:14 And did we mention that he does a phenomenal impression of Matthew McConaughey?
06:19 "You know, I also made a movie called Fool's Gold, me and Kate Hudson.
06:23 We had a contest to see who could get more tan. I won, of course, but still, it was a great contest."
06:28 Number 4 - Frank Welker
06:30 You've definitely heard Welker's voice at some point,
06:34 even if you didn't know it was actually a human you were listening to.
06:37 [Welker making animal noises]
06:40 "What?"
06:40 "Uh, Abu says, uh, that's not fair."
06:46 Welker has a special talent for animal noises,
06:48 but he's done plenty of other well-known characters, too.
06:51 He got his first role as Fred Jones when Scooby-Doo premiered in 1969,
06:55 and he's been voicing the leader of Mystery Incorporated ever since.
06:59 He's actually the only member of the original cast still working on the franchise.
07:04 "Was basically, it's my own voice with maybe five cups of coffee.
07:07 'Hey, would you do it for a Scooby snack? Oh gosh, well, come on guys.
07:10 Hey, I can drive because I have the license.'"
07:12 Welker tends to have serious longevity in his roles.
07:15 He's also played various Transformers since the 1980s,
07:19 including Megatron in the 1986 animated film.
07:22 Over 30 years later, he would bring the villain to life again,
07:26 this time in live action.
07:27 [Megatron growling]
07:28 "I live for this. I've lived to kill a planet.
07:32 For our world, I activate this portal."
07:37 As one of the hardest-working actors around,
07:43 McNeil has been a staple of animated entertainment since the 80s.
07:46 Her breakout role arguably came playing Babs Bunny,
07:50 one of the two stars of Tiny Toon Adventures.
07:52 "Who would think a future star of film and television
07:55 could make such a mess by herself?"
07:57 Following that job,
07:59 she quickly landed another leading role in a mega popular kid show,
08:03 this time as Dot Warner in Animaniacs.
08:06 But her work playing smaller parts has been just as impactful as her major roles.
08:10 "Who's she?"
08:11 "Uh, she, she's, she's..."
08:14 "Why, I'm his sister."
08:15 "His sister?"
08:16 "And I'm also Mary, Queen of Scots."
08:19 [laughing]
08:20 She's voiced over 40 different characters on The Simpsons alone.
08:24 From the teenage bully Dolph to Principal Skinner's elderly mother,
08:28 McNeil's full range is on display in a single show.
08:31 "Good lord, mother, I can see your... figure."
08:34 "Oh, you see a lot more when you do my daily mole check."
08:39 Perhaps no one holds a more important place
08:44 in the history of animation than Mel Blanc.
08:46 "See now, which is the toughest voice in the United States?
08:49 It's either Brooklyn or the Bronx.
08:51 Says, 'Why don't I put the two together?'
08:54 'So, uh, guess what, come out, Doc.'
08:57 As the first voice actor to be credited on screen for his work,
09:02 he paved the way for thousands of others to make names for themselves in the industry.
09:05 Blanc was best known for his iconic Looney Tunes characters like
09:09 Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig,
09:11 who he first played all the way back in the 1930s.
09:14 He often voiced multiple characters at once,
09:32 meaning many episodes were literally one-man shows.
09:35 There's a reason he was dubbed the Man of a Thousand Voices.
09:38 "It-a-da, it-a-da, it-a-da, it-a-das, it's all, it's my fine."
09:42 Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions.
09:50 John DiMaggio.
09:51 He's the reason we've loved Futurama for so long.
09:54 "It has motorized sensors attached to motion detectors."
09:57 "Short as my butt, but I don't frame it and put it on the wall."
10:01 Grey Delisle.
10:02 Heroes, villains, little boys, and old ladies.
10:06 She's done them all.
10:07 "You're pretty."
10:08 "Together, you and I will be the strongest couple in the entire world."
10:13 "We will dominate the Earth!"
10:15 Billy West.
10:18 Not many can fill in for Mel Blanc.
10:20 "Bugs Bunny."
10:21 "Eh, you were expecting maybe the Easter Bunny?"
10:24 "You're a cartoon, you're not real."
10:26 "Not real, eh? If I weren't real, could I do this?"
10:29 Dee Bradley Baker.
10:33 Giving unique voices to clones of the same character takes serious skill.
10:38 "Are we making the galaxy better?"
10:39 "We're soldiers. We do what needs to be done."
10:44 "Well, you know what makes us different from battle droids?"
10:48 "We make our own decisions."
10:51 Trey Parker.
10:53 The South Park creator has voiced over 600 characters just on that show.
10:58 "Screw you guys, I'm going home."
11:01 "But Carmen, we're trying to—eh, screw you guys."
11:03 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
11:10 You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
11:14 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
11:18 Number 1.
11:21 Tara Strong.
11:22 "I'm just as tough as Blossom and Buttercup. I'm hardcore."
11:27 Since she began voice work at the age of 13, Strong has racked up an impressive list of credits.
11:32 Although she's paid her dues playing plenty of minor parts, she's also earned more lead roles than most,
11:38 including multiple heroes and villains in both Marvel and DC franchises.
11:42 "You lit my plate then get away, Batman! That wasn't nice!"
11:47 "Just because you're such a gloomy Gus doesn't mean we all have to be that way."
11:54 From Timmy Turner to Barbara Gordon to Twilight Sparkle,
11:57 Strong's range is hard to top.
11:59 In fact, she's voiced so many important characters that she eventually became one herself,
12:04 showing off her talents as an animated version of herself
12:07 alongside one of her most beloved characters, Raven, on Teen Titans Go!
12:11 "I used to do this voice a lot!"
12:13 "Yeah, I wish you'd seen it!"
12:14 "I'm pretty Pegasus!"
12:15 Do you agree with our picks?
12:18 Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
12:21 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
12:25 [MUSIC]