Famous Animated Characters You Didn't Realize Were Voiced by the Same Actors

Voice actors don’t often get the credit they deserve, while live-action stars get all the love. The things that are shown the most sell the most, and the behind-the-scenes elements get ignored.

What people don’t understand is that voice acting is incredibly hard and technical. The best voice artists in the business have tremendous modulation and a range that’ll put even the best actor to shame.

Growing up, I had my head buried deep in cartoons without realizing the actual names of artists who were making my childhood awesome. Once I started digging into their names, I would find the same artist voicing another one of my favorite cartoon characters.

In one show, they’ll be playing a good-hearted hero, and in another, a salivating villain. These are some of the most well-known animated characters you didn’t realize had the same voice actors.

11 Well-Known Characters Who Shared the Same Actor’s Voice

1. Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny and Barney Rubble)

If you talk about versatile voice actors in the profession, Mel Blanc has to be in the discussion for voicing the most lovable characters. He struck a deal with Warner Bros. that made him the first actor to get his name in the credits for all the classic “Looney Tunes” cartoons.

There was a reason he was known as “the man of a thousand voices”—he voiced fast-talking Bugs Bunny, stuttering Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, and a few more throughout his run.

2. Peter Cullen (Eeyore and Optimus Prime)

Range and voice modulation define how talented a voice actor is. In the case of Peter Cullen, the man could play both—the heroic leader of a superpowered robot army, Optimus Prime, since the original TV series in 1984, and Winnie the Pooh’s friend, a dejected cartoon donkey, Eeyore from Disney.

While other actors have occasionally stepped into the shoes, Cullen’s voice still feels best suited for the donkey, with his most recent appearance in the 2017 crossover with Doc McStuffins.

3. Christine Cavanaugh (Dexter and Babe)

The classic movie Babe, about the adorable, orphaned little piggy and how his goodness transforms the lives of others around him, is worlds apart from Dexter’s Laboratory, which is about an egotistical little genius boy who causes mayhem with his strange inventions. The late Christine Cavanaugh voiced both these distinct characters.

Some of Cavanaugh’s other work includes Darkwing Duck’s niece, Gosalyn Waddlemeyer, Marty Sherman in The Critic and Chuckie on Rugrats, along with an on-camera appearance in Jerry Maguire and one episode of The X-Files.

4. Dan Castellaneta (Grampa Simpson and Grandpa Phil)

Only a handful of shows would be greater than The Simpsons when it comes to legacy in the history of cartoons. Dan Castellaneta embraced the Simpsons’ house head and has also lent his voice to Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, Sideshow Mel, Mayor Quimby, Hans Moleman, and Grampa Simpson.

Another exciting character he voiced is Grandpa Phil from the Nickelodeon animated series, Hey Arnold!, without sounding like an old man at all. In one of the memorable moments from the show, Grandpa Phil breaks to his family how he beat the hell out of Hitler during World War II.

5. Tom Kenny (SpongeBob and Ice King)

Rising to popularity from the cult series Mr. Show, Tom Kenny voiced the iconic character SpongeBob SquarePants, for which any actor would have killed. He also played the Ice King on Adventure Time, a totally different character from SpongeBob.

As we are talking about his range, his other notable characters are important to mention—SpongeBob’s pet snail, Gary, the narrator and mayor in The Powerpuff Girls, Rabbit in Winnie the Pooh, and Dr. Octopus in Ultimate Spider-Man.

6. J.K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson and the Yellow M&M)

As a young actor in 1996, J.K. Simmons landed a job playing the goofy yellow M&M opposite Billy West as the red one in commercials. Since then, the man has been on a tear for playing some amazing roles, including J. Jonah Jameson, Peter Parker’s douchebag boss in the Spider-Man movies. He has played Jameson’s role in animated series as well including Spider-Man, Hulk, and the Avengers.

The Academy Award-winning actor has several other characters under his belt, namely the bovine warlord Kai in Kung Fu Panda 3, Omni-Man in Invincible, Mayor Lionheart in Zootopia, and many others.

7. Tara Strong (Harley Quinn and Miss Minutes)

Tara Strong used her vocal talents for the Joker’s notorious muse, Harley Quinn, who first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, and Miss Minutes in both seasons of Loki. Neither of these characters is similar in any way, which is a testament to her voice acting talents.

Moreover, Strong is credited with over 1,300 characters across nearly 500 different titles, making her one of the most active voice-over artists. However, Harley Quinn and Miss Minutes remain her most popular characters, which proved to be a big success in the animation industry.

8. Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh and Darkwing Duck)

With 1,250 roles across nearly 500 titles, Jim Cummings is one of the leading voice-over artists who has played the iconic Pooh from Winnie the Pooh more than 100 times.

In addition, Cummings voiced the character of Darkwing Duck in the Darkwing Duck series and has also lent his voice to some popular characters from Adventures of Gummi Bears, The Transformers, DuckTales, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. His ability to alter his voice is a thing of beauty when you start comparing his characters.

9. Mindy Kaling (Velma Dinkley and Disgust)

Although many people know Mindy Kaling for her role as Kelly Kapoor from the Emmy Award-winning show The Office, she dons many hats as an entertainer.

She voiced Velma in 2023’s Velma series, which didn’t garner much attention due to the poor reboot of the character. But Kaling did a fantastic job with her voice. However, her voice for Disgust in the Inside Out series garnered all the praise she deserved.

10. Mark Hamill (The Joker and Skeletor)

Best known for his iconic portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, Mark Hamill showcased his voice talents by playing several characters in The Scooby-Doo Movies and Wizards.

It would take another 15 years before Hamill immortalized The Joker’s menacing voice in Batman: The Animated Series. He would go on to play the iconic villain in nearly every animated series, film, and video game for years before retiring the voice after the death of Kevin Conroy, who played Batman opposite him. In 2021, Hamill would play another great character, Skeletor, from Masters of the Universe: Revelation, whose tonal quality is creepily similar to the Joker.

11. Frank Welker (Scooby-Doo and Megatron)

Frank Welker is one of the most prolific voice-over artists since the 1960s, who played a wide range of characters throughout his career with over 900 film, television, and video game credits. He has voiced, possibly, the most loved and watched characters of all time—the legendary investigator dog in the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! Series. Initially, he voiced Fred Jones, and began playing Scooby Doo in 2002 and counting. His other famous character is Megatron from The Transformers, whom he started playing in 1984 and hasn’t stopped.

Some other notable characters voiced by Welker include the Superman villain Mr. Mxyzptlk, the X-Men’s Iceman, Inspector Gadget and Cujo. For his excellent work, Welker also received a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award in 2016.

Summing It Up

Which characters do you think had the perfect voice? Also, which characters made your childhood awesome?

Let us know in the comments.