The Mickey Mouse Club
The Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned in 2017 to social media. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised for four seasons, from 1955 to 1959, by ABC; this original run featured a regular but ever-changing cast of teen performers. ABC broadcast reruns weekday afternoons during the 1958–1959 season, airing right after American Bandstand; the show was revived three times after its initial 1955–1959 run on ABC, first from 1977–1979 for first-run syndication as The New Mickey Mouse Club from 1989–1996 as The All-New Mickey Mouse Club airing on cable television's The Disney Channel, again in 2017 with the moniker Club Mickey Mouse airing on internet social media. Mickey Mouse himself appeared in every show, not only in vintage cartoons made for theatrical release, but in opening and closing segments made for the show. In both the vintage cartoons and new animated segments, Mickey was voiced by his creator Walt Disney.
The first official theater-based Mickey Mouse Club began on January 11, 1930, at the Fox Dome Theater in Ocean Park, with 60 theaters hosting clubs by March 31. The Club released its first issue of the Official Bulletin of the Mickey Mouse Club on April 15, 1930. By 1932, the club had 1 million members, in 1933 its first British club opened at Darlington’s Arcade Cinema. In 1935, Disney began to phase out the club; the Mickey Mouse Club was hosted by Jimmie Dodd, a songwriter and the Head Mouseketeer, who provided leadership both on and off screen. In addition to his other contributions, he provided short segments encouraging young viewers to make the right moral choices; these little homilies became known as "Doddisms". Roy Williams, a staff artist at Disney appeared in the show as the Big Mouseketeer. Roy suggested the Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears worn by the cast members, which he helped create, along with Chuck Keehne, Hal Adelquist, Bill Walsh; the main cast members were called Mouseketeers, they performed in a variety of musical and dance numbers, as well as some informational segments.
The most popular of the Mouseketeers constituted the so-called Red Team, who were kept under contract for the entire run of the show, included: Sharon Baird Bobby Burgess Lonnie Burr Tommy Cole Annette Funicello Darlene Gillespie Cubby O'Brien Karen Pendleton Doreen TraceyOther Mouseketeers who were Red Team members but not on the show for all three seasons included: Cheryl Holdridge Nancy Abbate Johnny Crawford Dennis Day Mike Smith Jay-Jay Solari Don Underhill The remaining Mouseketeers, consisting of the White or Blue Teams, were Don Agrati, Sherry Alberoni, Billie Jean Beanblossom, Eileen Diamond, Dickie Dodd, Mary Espinosa, Bonnie Lynn Fields, Judy Harriet, Linda Hughes, Dallas Johann, John Lee Johann, Bonni Lou Kern, Charlie Laney, Larry Larsen, Paul Petersen, Lynn Ready, Mickey Rooney Jr. Tim Rooney, Mary Sartori, Bronson Scott, Margene Storey, Ronnie Steiner, Mark Sutherland. Larry Larsen, on only for the 1956–57 season, was the oldest Mouseketeer, being born in 1939, Bronson Scott, on only the 1955–56 season, was the youngest Mouseketeer, being born in July 1947.
Among the thousands who auditioned but did not make the cut were future vocalist/songwriter Paul Williams and future actress Candice Bergen. The 39 Mouseketeers and the seasons in which they were featured: Notes: Cole and Day were Blue Team members, but were drafted to the Red Team in the first season. Johann and the Rooney brothers were all fired early in the first season. Dallas' brother John Lee replaced him, while Dodd and Steiner were hired as replacements for the Rooney brothers. For the show's fourth season, only a small amount of new footage was filmed, was intermixed with material from previous seasons, it is believed that only six of the Mouseketeers—Funicello, Tracey, Pendleton, O'Brien—were called back for the filming of new material, while Cole and Baird were used for some publicity material. Jimmie Dodd Roy Williams Bob Amsberry Other notable non-Mouseketeer performers appeared in various dramatic segments: Tim Considine Tommy Kirk Roberta Shore David Stollery Judy Nugent Kevin Corcoran, a.k.a.
Moochie J. Pat O'Malley Sammy Ogg Alvy Moore Julius Sumner Miller as "Professor Wonderful"These non-Mouseketeers appeared in numerous original serials filmed for the series, only some of which have appeared in reruns. Certain Mouseketeers were featured in some of the serials Annette Funicello and Darlene Gillespie. Major serials included: Spin and Marty The Hardy Boys Corky and White Shadow, starring Darlene Gillespie Walt Disney Presents: Annette, starring Annette Funicello Adventure in Dairyland, featuring Funicello and Sammy Ogg, introducing Kevin Corcoran as Moochie Jiminy Cricket educational serials (four animated serials educating kids on vari
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction set in a fictional universe inspired by real world myth and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which became literature and drama. From the twentieth century it has expanded further into various media, including film, graphic novels and video games. Fantasy is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by the absence of scientific or macabre themes though these genres overlap. In popular culture, the fantasy genre is predominantly of the medievalist form. In its broadest sense, fantasy consists of works by many writers, artists and musicians from ancient myths and legends to many recent and popular works. Most fantasy uses other supernatural elements as a main plot element, theme, or setting. Magic and magical creatures are common in many of these worlds. An identifying trait of fantasy is the author's reliance on imagination to create narrative elements that do not have to rely on history or nature to be coherent; this differs from realistic fiction in that realistic fiction has to attend to the history and natural laws of reality, where fantasy does not.
An author applies his or her imagination to come up with characters and settings that are impossible in reality. Many fantasy authors use real-world mythology as inspiration. For instance, a narrative that takes place in an imagined town in the northeastern United States could be considered realistic fiction as long as the plot and characters are consistent with the history of a region and the natural characteristics that someone, to the northeastern United States expects. Fantasy has been compared to science fiction and horror because they are the major categories of speculative fiction. Fantasy is distinguished from science fiction by the plausibility of the narrative elements. A science fiction narrative is unlikely, though possible through logical scientific or technological extrapolation, where fantasy narratives do not need to be scientifically possible. Authors have to rely on the readers' suspension of disbelief, an acceptance of the unbelievable or impossible for the sake of enjoyment, in order to write effective fantasies.
Despite both genres' heavy reliance on the supernatural and horror are distinguishable. Horror evokes fear through the protagonists' weaknesses or inability to deal with the antagonists. Elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were a part of literature from its beginning. Fantasy elements occur throughout the ancient Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh; the ancient Babylonian creation epic, the Enûma Eliš, in which the god Marduk slays the goddess Tiamat, contains the theme of a cosmic battle between good and evil, characteristic of the modern fantasy genre. Genres of romantic and fantasy literature existed in ancient Egypt; the Tales of the Court of King Khufu, preserved in the Westcar Papyrus and was written in the middle of the second half of the eighteenth century BC, preserves a mixture of stories with elements of historical fiction and satire. Egyptian funerary texts preserve mythological tales, the most significant of which are the myths of Osiris and his son Horus. Folk tales with fantastic elements intended for adults were a major genre of ancient Greek literature.
The comedies of Aristophanes are filled with fantastic elements his play The Birds, in which an Athenian man builds a city in the clouds with the birds and challenges Zeus's authority. Ovid's Metamorphoses and Apuleius's The Golden Ass are both works that influenced the development of the fantasy genre by taking mythic elements and weaving them into personal accounts. Both works involve complex narratives in which humans beings are transformed into animals or inanimate objects. Platonic teachings and early Christian theology are major influences on the modern fantasy genre. Plato used allegories to convey many of his teachings, early Christian writers interpreted both the Old and New Testaments as employing parables to relay spiritual truths; this ability to find meaning in a story, not true became the foundation that allowed the modern fantasy genre to develop. The most well known fiction from the Islamic world was The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, a compilation of many ancient and medieval folk tales.
Various characters from this epic have become cultural icons in Western culture, such as Aladdin and Ali Baba. Hindu mythology was an evolution of the earlier Vedic mythology and had many more fantastical stories and characters in the Indian epics; the Panchatantra, for example, used various animal fables and magical tales to illustrate the central Indian principles of political science. Chinese traditions have been influential in the vein of fantasy known as Chinoiserie, including such writers as Ernest Bramah and Barry Hughart. Beowulf is among the best known of the Nordic tales in the English speaking world, has had deep influence on the fantasy genre. Norse mythology, as found in the Elder Edda and the Younger Edda, includes such figures as Odin and his fellow Aesir, dwarves, elves and giants; these elements have been directly imported into various fantasy works. The separate folklore of Ireland and Scotland has sometimes been us
Disney Television Animation
Disney Television Animation is an American animation studio that creates and produces animated television series, films and other projects. It is a division of the Disney Channels Worldwide owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1984 during the reorganization and subsequent re-incorporation of The Walt Disney Company following the arrival of then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner, the entity was known as the Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group before being shortened to Walt Disney Television Animation in 1987, was shortened again in 2011 to Disney Television Animation; the Walt Disney Company first ventured into the television industry as early as 1950, beginning with the one-hour Christmas special, One Hour in Wonderland. This was followed by the 1951 Christmas special, The Walt Disney Christmas Show, the long-running anthology series, The Wonderful World of Disney, the children's variety show The Mickey Mouse Club, the 1957-1959 adventure series, Zorro. However, one element was missing from Disney's expansion into television: An original animated television series.
Until the early 80's, the studio had never produced its own original animated shows in-house, because Walt Disney felt it was economically impossible. Nearly all pre-1985 TV animation was wrap-around segments made to bridge the gaps on existing theatrical material on The Wonderful World of Disney. Osamu Tezuka met Walt at the 1964 World's Fair, at which time Disney said he hoped to "make something just like" Tezuka's Astro Boy someday, but nothing came of it. With the hiring of a new CEO for Disney Production in 1984, Michael Eisner, lead him to push to expand Disney into new areas thus the establishment of a television animation division that year; the cartoon would be shop to all markets: Disney Channel and syndication. Eisner held a meeting at his home in which he brought up the concept of doing a series on Gummi bear as his kids like the candy; the staff was told that they could not use the principal Disney cartoon characters in the new shows. The Walt Disney Television Animation department was started in November 1984 with Gary Krisel as president and Michael Webster as senior vice president.
This was considered a risky move, because animated TV series were considered low-budget investments for most of the history of TV cartoons up through the 1980s. Many critics say that Disney's own animation studio had lost most of its luster during the period from Walt Disney's passing through the 1980s. However, the studio took a number of risks; the studio gambled on the idea that a larger investment into quality animation could be made back through both network television and over-the-air in syndication, as well as cable. The final result is a string of higher budgeted animated television productions which proved to be profitable ventures and raised the standard for the TV medium; the Disney television animation cycle began in mid-1985, with The Wuzzles and Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears, both which are based upon funny animal-based conceptions. The final third series in the incidentally so-called "magic animal"-based "trilogy" of original character sets was going to be Fluppy Dogs, itself loosely based a series of children's books and line of toys about a race of anthropomorphic pastel-colored dimension-hopping alien dogs.
It was not a successful hit however, as the proposed series was not picked up after it never went beyond that one pilot episode, the studio instead fell into a routine of adapting its old properties into the new use, which Disney coincidentally did. In 1987, Disney unveiled the newest series yet in its cycle, the first in their successful long-time line of syndicated animated shows, DuckTales; the show was successful enough to spawn a feature film, DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, two spin-off series: Darkwing Duck and Quack Pack. 1990 release Treasure of the Lost Lamp was the first movie from TV Animation's Disney MovieToon unit. Disney Television Animation hired a director of specials, Sharon Morrill, in 1993; the success of DuckTales paved the way for a new wave of high-quality animated TV series, including Disney's own The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1988. Early that spring, Chip'n Dale Rescue Rangers debuted on March 4, 1989, was paired with DuckTales in an hour-long syndicated show through the 1989-1990 television season.
In the 1990-1991 season, Disney expanded the idea further, to create The Disney Afternoon, a two-hour long syndicated block of half-hour cartoons, which premiered much on September 10, 1990. DuckTales was one of the early flagship cartoons in the block. On August 24, 1994 with Jeffrey Katzenberg's resignation, Richard Frank became head of newly formed Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications, which included WDTA, from units of The Walt Disney Studios. Morrill was in charge of the first Aladdin DTV film launching Disney Video Premiere/Direct to Video unit. Three overseas Disney studios were set up to produce the company's animated television series. Disney Animation Australia was started in 1988. In 1989, the Brizzi brothers sold Brizzi Films to Disney Television Animation and was renamed Walt Disney Animation France; that year, Disney Animation Japan was started. Walt Disney Animation Canada was opened in January 1996 to tap Canada's animator pool and produce direct-to-video; as direct-to-video increased in importance, the overseas studios moved to making feature films.
WDTT chair Frank left D
Tress MacNeille
Tress MacNeille is an American voice actress and singer who has voiced various characters in shows such as The Simpsons, Hey Arnold!, Tiny Toon Adventures, Rugrats and Disney's House of Mouse. MacNeille was born in Illinois, she loved cartoons as a child and wanted to be a voice actress from the age of eight, but instead chose a "practical" career, feeling she would never be able to realize her ambition. She graduated from the University of California and attended broadcasting school, becoming a disc jockey. MacNeille worked in a variety of jobs and had numerous minor voiceover roles before becoming a regular on an animated TV show. In her words, "I'd been doing radio spots, some TV, sound-alikes, industrial narrations -- anything that came my way for about two years." She was a member of the improvisational comedy group The Groundlings for ten years. MacNeille took acting workshops and worked as a casting assistant for voice acting talent agent Bob Lloyd in what she calls "The University of Voice-over."
Lloyd and fellow agent Rita Vennari got MacNeille her first role on an animated show: a part in an episode of the 1979 Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. She sang and appeared in the music video for "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Ricky", based on the I Love Lucy television show and parodied the song "Mickey" by Toni Basil. MacNeille appeared on Yankovic's 1999 album Running with Scissors, on the tracks "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" and "Jerry Springer." MacNeille was cast as Babs Bunny in Tiny Toon Adventures. Writer Paul Dini said that MacNeille was good for the role because she could do both Babs' voice and the voices of her impressions. MacNeille commented: "The best part of doing Babs is that she's a mimic, like me... In the show I do Babs doing Billie Burke, Bette Davis and Cher. I have her doing Jessica Rabbit." The success of Tiny Toon Adventures led to the series Animaniacs. MacNeille was brought in to voice Dot Warner, one of the show's three main characters, because Dot's character was similar to Babs Bunny.
Andrea Romano, the voice director and caster for Animaniacs, said that the casters had "no trouble" choosing the role of Dot: "Tress MacNeille was just hilarious And yet that edge." MacNeille was nominated for an Annie Award for her performance on the show in 1995. She has provided voices for numerous films, television shows, video games and commercials, garnering over 200 credits. MacNeille says: "The characters that I do all come from people in my own life--as well as the material I've stolen from my friends!" Her TV roles include characters on The Simpsons, where she voices Agnes Skinner, Brandine Spuckler and Lindsey Naegle, Futurama, in which her main role is the character Mom. MacNeille has provided voices on many other television shows and cartoons such as Rugrats, Chip'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Hey Arnold, as well as dubbing work on English language anime translations, she is the current voice of Wilma Flintstone. MacNeille appeared as an angry anchorwoman in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and served as the voice of Elvira's Great-Aunt Morganna Talbot.
She provided voice acting for the 2003 Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner short feature The Whizzard of Ow. Agnes Skinner, Seymour Skinner's elderly, overbearing mother Lindsey Naegle, generic businesswoman or television network executive in "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", "Girly Edition", "You Kent Always Say What You Want", other episodes Dolph, one of the three hooligan/ruffians. Brandine Spuckler, Cletus Spuckler's wife/cousin/sister Cookie Kwan, a territorial Asian-American realtor with a heavy accent, who threatens anyone who tries to sell houses on "the west side". Ms. Albright, the Sunday School Teacher seen in "Homer's Triple Bypass" and "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment". Mrs. Glick, the elderly shut-in lady Bernice Hibbert, the recovering alcoholic wife of Julius Hibbert Mona Simpson, Homer Simpson's mother Brunella Pommelhorst, the stern school gym teacher Poor Violet, the Dickensian little orphan girl Crazy Cat Lady, the psychotic, old woman surrounded by pet cats she hurls Gino Terwilliger, Sideshow Bob's son seen in the season 17 episode, "The Italian Bob" and the season 19 episode "Funeral for a Fiend".
Lunchlady Doris in the season 17 episode, "The Mook, the Chef, the Wife, Her Homer" and the season 19 episode, "The Debarted", replacing Doris Grau. Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon, Apu's wife Belle, the burlesque house Madam, first appeared in "Bart After Dark" Mrs. Muntz, Nelson Muntz's mother Colin, an Irish boy in The Simpsons Movie Medicine Woman, in The Simpsons Movie Maya, a beautiful woman with dwarfism whom Moe Szyslak meets over the Internet in the season 20 episode "Eeny Teeny Maya Moe". Kumiko Nakamura, a Japanese manga artist who becomes the Comic Book Guy's wife in "Married to the Blob". Barbara "Booberella" Lelavinsky is an ample-chested vampire-looking woman and a local TV personality in Springfield. Various other characters Mom, the owner of Mom's Friendly Robot Company and series antagonist. Linda, the cohost of Good Morning, Earth Hattie McDoogal, the crazy, old cat lady Tinny Tim, a Tiny Ti
Bill Farmer
William Farmer is an American voice actor and comedian. He has performed the voice of the Disney character Goofy since 1987, is the current voice of Pluto and Horace Horsecollar. Farmer was born on November 1952 in Pratt, Kansas, as the second child in his family, his parents were of Welsh descent. Farmer's first job, at the age of 15, involved doing voices those of Western stars like John Wayne or Walter Brennan, he and his friends would sometimes go through fast food drive-thrus and order foods in his character voices. Bill attended the University of Kansas, is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. In college, he found work in radio and TV and moved on to stand-up comedy as an impressionist until he moved out to Hollywood, where he began voicing Goofy in January 1987. In 1982, while he was still doing stand-up comedy, Farmer worked at a comedy club called the Comedy Corner in Dallas, Texas, he continued to work there until his move to Hollywood in 1986. His decision to move to California came from a Dallas commercial agent who suggested that, given his talent for voices, he should try his luck in California.
He was married, but he and his wife talked it over and came to an arrangement. She stayed back in Dallas. Four months after his moving out to Hollywood, his agent asked him if he could do any Disney characters, he asserts that voice acting about acting. His mentor was the versatile voice actor Daws Butler, the man behind many of Hanna-Barbera's characters, he taught Farmer that when doing cartoon voices, you're not doing a funny voice, you're an actor and the acting is premier and you have to think like the character you're doing. In 1987, he had a small part as reporter Justin Ballard-Watkins in the film RoboCop. Farmer's first voice over audition was for Goofy; when he auditioned for the voice, he studied the way the original actor Pinto Colvig performed as Goofy in the classic cartoons. He studied the hilarious laugh and the distinctive "gawrsh", he inherited the voice of Goofy around the same time Tony Anselmo inherited Donald Duck and Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor did for Mickey and Minnie Mouse, respectively.
He originated the voice of Horace Horsecollar in Disney's version of The Prince and the Pauper and has played him since as well. Farmer performed additional voices on The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Astro Boy. Other significant characters he has played include Yosemite Sam and Foghorn Leghorn in the movie Space Jam, he has done several guest voices, both on TV, including The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and in video games, including the Destroy All Humans! series, Namco's Tales of Symphonia, where he voiced Governor-General Dorr, in Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts series reprising the role of Goofy, Detective Date in the SEGA game Yakuza, Captain Wedgewood and Frill Lizard in Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, many voices on EverQuest II, Cletus Samson, Floyd Sanders, Jeff Meyers and Ryan LaRosa in the video game Dead Rising and Sam and others in the cult classic adventure game Sam & Max Hit the Road. Farmer has played Secret Squirrel on Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law in both the animated series and its spin-off video game, Stinkie in Casper: A Spirited Beginning and Casper Meets Wendy, Willie Bear in Horton Hears a Who! and Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in Robot Chicken.
He voiced Gaston in one part of Beauty and the Beast, when Gaston eats eggs. As of 2014, he plays Doc, the leader of the title characters in Disney's animated television series The 7D, he voiced Blackhoof Boar Clan Leader in the 2008 video game Kung Fu Panda Bill Farmer still performs comedy routines at the Laugh Factory. In September 2009, Farmer was named a Disney Legend. In 2011, the International Family Film Festival awarded Bill Farmer the'Friz Award' for Animation, he won the Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production for his work as Goofy and Grandma Goofy in Mickey Mouse. Farmer has been married to his wife Jennifer Farmer since 1985. Official website Bill Farmer on IMDb
Frank Welker
Franklin Wendell Welker is an American voice actor best known for his role as Fred Jones from the Scooby-Doo franchise since its inception in 1969 and as the voice of Scooby-Doo since 2002. He is known as the voice of Megatron in the Transformers franchise and as the voice and vocal effects of Nibbler on Futurama. In 2016, Welker was honored with an Emmy Award for his lifetime achievement. Welker was born in Denver, Colorado, on March 12, 1946, he moved to California and attended Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, where he majored in theatrical arts. In 1966, he received honors for his performance as the Cowardly Lion in the college's theater production of The Wizard of Oz. During his transition between college and his voice-acting career, his first voice-over role was in a commercial for Friskies dog food; the producer's girlfriend informed him of auditioning for Hanna-Barbera during the casting of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, where he auditioned for the title character but instead won the role of Fred Jones.
Welker's first voice role came as Fred Jones in the Scooby-Doo franchise. Welker has voiced Fred in every series and incarnation of the Scooby-Doo animated franchise and has provided the voice of Scooby-Doo since 2002; as of 2019, Welker is the only remaining original voice actor still involved in the series. His next major character voice was for Marvin White on the 1973 series Super Friends; that same year, he played Pudge and Gabby on DePatie-Freleng Enterprises' animated series Bailey's Comets. Welker continued to provide voices for many characters for Hanna-Barbera for several years, which include Jabberjaw, Dog Wonder, the Shmoo in The New Fred and Barney Show and its spin-off, The Flintstones Comedy Show. Frank Welker described the voice he used for the Shmoo as "a bubble voice". In 1978, he played the title character on Fangface and in its spin-off and Fangpuss, voiced Heckle and Jeckle and Quackula on The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse and Heckle & Jeckle, Tom Cat, Jerry Mouse, Tyke, Slick Wolf and Barney Bear on The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Welker became a busy actor, providing the voice for many popular cartoon characters in multiple series, including Brain, Doctor Claw, M. A. D. Cat on Inspector Gadget. I. Joe heroes and villains, he voiced various characters on The Simpsons, such as Santa's Little Helper, Snowball II, various other animals from 1991 to his departure from the show in 2002. Welker provided both the speaking animal sounds for Nibbler on Matt Groening's Futurama, he provided the voices for Mr. Plotz, Ralph the Guard and other characters on Animaniacs, Gogo Dodo, Furball and others on Tiny Toon Adventures, Pepé Le Pew on The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, McWolf the main antagonist to Droopy and his nephew Dripple on Tom and Jerry Kids Show and Droopy, Master Detective. Welker has created the vocal effects for many animals and creatures in films, including Abu the monkey, Rajah the tiger, the Cave of Wonders in Aladdin, its two sequels, the television series, Arnold the Pig in the television film Return to Green Acres, the Martians in Tim Burton's Mars Attacks!, the penguins in Mr. Popper's Penguins.
He performed Spock's screams in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and voiced The Thing in The Golden Child, Jinx the robot in SpaceCamp, Totoro in the 2005 English version of Studio Ghibli's film My Neighbor Totoro, Alien Sil in Species, Malebolgia in Spawn, Gargamel's cat Azrael in Sony Pictures Animation's live action/animated film versions of The Smurfs. In 2006, he began voicing George in the popular children's series Curious George, he voiced George in the animated film of the same name that same year. In 2007, Welker became the new voice of Garfield, succeeding the original actor Lorenzo Music, who died in 2001. Welker voiced Garfield in Garfield Gets Real, Garfield's Fun Fest, Garfield's Pet Force, on the series The Garfield Show, which ran from 2008 to 2016. In 2011, he provided the voice of Batman in a Scooby-Doo crossover segment of the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode, "Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!". In the same episode, he voiced Batboy, the classic Mad Magazine Batman spoof created by Wally Wood.
Welker has provided voices for many video game characters, most notably Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and The Shadow Blot in Epic Mickey and its sequel Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, as well as Zurvan called the Ancient One, on StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm. He provided the voice of the mad mage Xzar for the Baldur's Gate video game series, reprised his role from Avengers Assemble as Odin for Lego Marvel's Avengers. Welker's first on-camera film role was as a college kid from Rutgers University who
Rob Paulsen
Robert Fredrick Paulsen III is an American voice actor and singer who has done many voice roles in various films, television shows, video games, including Raphael and Donatello from the 1987 and 2012 cartoons of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In total, Paulsen has been the voice of over 250 different animated characters and performed in over 1000 commercials, he continues to play parts in dozens of cartoons as well as characters in animated feature movies. He began his voice-over career in 1983 with the mini-series G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero, where he played "Snow Job" and "Tripwire". A few years his career launched into more roles such as "Cobra Slavemaster" and reprising "Snow Job" and "Tripwire" on G. I. Joe, "Corky" on The Snorks, "Marco Smurf" on the seasons of The Smurfs, "Boober" on the animated version of Fraggle Rock, "Hadji" in The New Adventures of Jonny Quest and the title character – "Saber Rider" and the villain "Jesse Blue" on Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs. During the 1980s, Paulsen explored the field of live action films.
His first movie was Eyes of Fire in 1983. He played supporting roles in Body Double, Stewardess School and Mutant on the Bounty, he appeared in television shows during this time as well, such as St. Elsewhere, he mentioned in an interview, regarding his role in Body Double, that he would not want his child to see the movie, so he could not be proud of his work. Paulsen became more prevalent in the world of advertising as well. In the 1980s, he had been the announcer for the sitcom Cheers and continued to secure roles as an announcer, he appeared as the voice of "Mr. Opportunity", spokesman of Honda commercials on TV and radio, the announcer for Buffalo Dick's Radio Ranch, the spokesman for Lucky Stores, a West Coast grocery store chain, before it was acquired by Albertsons in 1998, he provided the voice of "Dog" in the Taco Bell kids meal commercials from 1996 to mid-1997, with Eddie Deezen as the voice of "Nacho" the cat. However, Paulsen's most famous advertising role was in the original commercial of the now ubiquitous Got Milk? campaign.
The famous commercial, Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel?, aired in 1993, launched the Got Milk? Campaign into a monstrously successful enterprise. Paulsen continues to be one of the most sought-after commercial voice actors in the industry, he can be heard as the voice of singing Mr. Mini-Wheat in the Mini-Wheats commercials in Canada. From 1987 to 1995, Paulsen voiced Raphael and various supporting characters in the original 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Starting as a five-part miniseries, the series continued for ten seasons and 193 episodes, it became an instant pop culture symbol. Paulsen has said that Raphael's voice is similar to his natural voice, he returned to the franchise as Donatello for the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series on Nickelodeon, which ran for five seasons and 124 episodes from September 29, 2012 until November 12, 2017. Paulsen serves as the voice director for the subsequent series, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which premiered in July 2018.
Throughout the early 1990s, Paulsen continued to co-star in animated series, which allowed him to branch further into radio and television announcements and dropped live action acting from his repertoire. In 1993, he voiced "Antoine D'Coolette" in ABC's series Sonic the Hedgehog, "Arthur", an insecure accountant in a moth costume, in the superhero series The Tick in 1995, replacing Micky Dolenz, who had played Arthur. In 1993, he starred as the title character in The Mask. At this time, he starred in what became one of his most popular roles, "Yakko Warner" of Animaniacs. Paulsen provided the voice of "Pinky" from both Animaniacs and its spin-off Pinky and the Brain, a show which won him several Annie Awards and a Daytime Emmy in 1999, he did a number of characters in Tiny Toon Adventures, including "Fowlmouth", "Arnold the Pit Bull", "Concord Condor". In the direct-to-video movie Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation, he did the voices for "Banjo Possum", "Mr. Hitcher", "Johnny Pew".
Paulsen has provided voices for a great number of characters, among which are Yakko Warner, Dr. Otto Scratchansniff and Pinky in Animaniacs, Steelbeak in Darkwing Duck and Boomer in The Powerpuff Girls, Atchan in Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost in The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper, Ogden O. Ostrich in Channel Umptee-3, Hathi in Jungle Cubs, Jack Fenton, The Box Ghost, Nicolai Technus, The Vulture Ghosts in Danny Phantom, Carl Wheezer and Skeet in Jimmy Neutron, Mark Chang, his father King Grippulon, Happy Peppy Gary and Bucky McBadbat in The Fairly OddParents, Peck the Rooster in Barnyard and Back at the Barnyard, Gordon in'Catscratch, he was the voice of Rothchild in the early episodes of Samurai Jack. Additionally, Paulsen provided the voice of P. J. Pete in Goof Troop, A Goofy Movie, An Extremely Goofy Movie, as well as the voices of Ratchet and Dr. Debolt in the TaleSpin pilot episode and introductory TV movie Plunder & Lightning, he did the voices of Boober Fraggle and Marjory the Trash Heap in the animated version of Fraggle Rock, as well as Gwizdo in the Dragon Hunters movie.
He voiced Zeek and Joshua in K10C: Kids' Ten Commandments, Rude Dog in Rude Dog and the Dweebs, Archie the Raccoon, A. K. A. Ze Archer, in "Mask of the Raccoon" on
