Finding Your Voices Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mel Blanc

Mel Blanc started his career in radio in the early 1930s, even joining into radio shows for "The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air" on NBC, but his most noteworthy break came when he was snatched up by Warner Bros. for both "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" in 1937. It was a job he would hold, creating voices for many of the most iconic characters in animation, until his passing in 1989. In addition to creating the voices for Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd, Blanc was also the original voice for Woody Woodpecker, Tom and Jerry, Barney Rubble, Cosmo Spacely, and Heathcliff the Cat.

Blanc would pass away in 1989 of emphysema and coronary artery disease, both of which he'd acquired after a lifetime of pack-a-day smoking (he'd started this habit when he was nine years old). Nothing helps the voice quite like cigarettes as a child, right?

Answer: Mark Hamill

Though Mark Hamill started acting on TV in the early 1970s he managed to snag the lead role as Luke Skywalker in the 1977 film "Star Wars", kicking off a massive film career with the unexpected blockbuster turn that occurred with that sci-fi classic. Interestingly, in the same year, Hamill would also voice act the role of Sean in the Ralph Bakshi movie "Wizards".

Hamill's Bakshi role would be his only voice acting credit for more than a decade. His next would be as The Joker, for the first time, in the 1992 series "Batman: The Animated Series". He would return to this role many times over, but also establish himself in the Warner Bros. voice acting roster quite substantially, growing to take the lead in "Freakazoid!", "Wing Commander" and "The Wrong Coast". You might recall his work, as well, as Fire Lord Ozai in "Avatar: The Last Airbender", as Skeletor in "Masters of the Universe: Revelation", and as Art Rosenbaum in "Invincible".

And those barely scratch the surface.

Answer: Dan Castellaneta

Originally a radio voice actor, Dan Castellaneta auditioned for the short-lived "Tracey Ullman Show" in the late 1980s and, after a handful of animated shorts, the rest was history. He would co-star with other soon-to-be-famous names like Yeardley Smith, Julie Kavner, and Nancy Cartwright in what would become "The Simpsons", which first aired with a Christmas episode at the end of 1989.

Castellaneta would eventually take on a massive amount of the show's classic roles including Homer, Grandpa Simpson, Krusty, Barney Gumble, and Groundskeeper Willie (to name a handful). It wouldn't interfere with a consistent live acting career and a massively lucrative career in other voice work. He would play the role of the Genie in "Aladdin", taking up the mantle for content after "The King of Thieves", Doc Brown in the animated "Back to the Future" show, the Robot Devil in Matt Groening's "Futurama", and Earthworm Jim.

Answer: Tara Strong

Although initially a theatre and improv actress, Tara Strong started taking on voiceover work in the late 1980s and quickly became a go-to for both original animated works and localization efforts. In addition to being the English voice of Hello Kitty, Strong would be the woman behind Batgirl in most "Batman" series (including "Teen Titans").

Every decade of Strong's career has been punctuated by key major roles. She would play Dil Pickles in several incarnations of "Rugrats" (including the films and spin-off, "All Grown Up!") in the late '90s, Timmy Turner from the 2000s into the 2010s, Twilight Sparkle in the "My Little Pony" universe in the 2010s and 2020s, and Miss Minutes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically in "Loki's" two seasons on Disney+.

Answer: John DiMaggio

John DiMaggio had some minor roles in TV voice work before 1999 but he truly hit the big time with Bender, amongst other minor roles on "Futurama", taking the character of the surly bending robot who befriends the hapless man from the past, Philip J. Fry, in the show's pilot episode. This would ultimately open the door for DiMaggio taking on TV roles on "Star Wars: Clone Wars" and "Adventure Time" (as one of the leads, Jake the Dog).

Anyone looking in film might find DiMaggio in the English dubs of Studio Ghibli's "Princess Mononoke", "Pom Poko", and "Castle in the Sky" while gamers would know him as Wakka in "Final Fantasy X" and "X-2".

Answer: Patrick Warburton

Known for his characteristic deep voice, Patrick Warburton found success in both live-action and voice acting, starting his career off with roles on a number of 1990s sitcoms like "Seinfeld" (as Elaine's on-and-off boyfriend, David Puddy) and "Dave's World". Where Warburton made it much bigger was as Kronk in Disney's "The Emperor's New Groove" (2000), a role that would spin off into the much-less-remembered direct-to-DVD sequel "Kronk's New Groove". He would also end up appearing in animated films like "Bee Movie", "Hoodwinked!", and "Space Chimps" as a result.

On TV, Warburton is also one of the key voices on "Family Guy", playing Joe Swanson; he was Brock Samson across all seasons of "The Venture Bros."; in gaming he was Flynn in the "Skylanders" series. In live-action roles, he was The Tick in the 2001 show of the same name and he played Lemony Snicket in the Netflix adaptation of "A Series of Unfortunate Events". No shortage of roles for Patrick Warburton!

Answer: H. Jon Benjamin

Though H. Jon Benjamin ran with a particular comedian crowd that found modest success in the 1990s and 2000s, it was his voice work and his almost always-recognizable cadence that allowed him to take off for a new generation of adult animation. On FX he starred as Archer in the show of the same name, leading a crew of dysfunctional secret agents across fourteen seasons of the program (alongside Aisha Tyler, Judy Greer, Chris Parnell, and Jessica Walters). On FOX, he was also the lead on "Bob's Burgers", starting that popular sitcom in 2011.

He would subsequently appear in "The Bob's Burgers Movie" in 2022.

Answer: Robin Williams

Though, by this point in his career, Robin Williams was already a massively successful film and TV actor and professional comedian, a handful of high-profile animated film roles didn't hurt. In addition to the two films in question, Williams would co-star in "Robots" (2005) and "Happy Feet" in 2006 (and its sequel in 2011).

Though his voice work, across his many acting roles, would be quite limited, Robin would be celebrated for the few he took on, receiving a Special Achievement Award at the Golden Globes for his take on the Genie (as well as an MTV Award and a Saturn Award). It was a role that, famously, animators built around Williams, attempting to draw his physical humour into the character.

Answer: June Foray

Though June Foray would inevitably appear in live-action productions starting in the 1950s, her work in radio is what led to a much more lucrative career in voice acting and animated film. Foray would end up becoming a household voice, being the woman behind Rocky (or Rocket J. Squirrel) the Flying Squirrel in "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show", Cindy Lou Who in "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", and Granny from "Looney Tunes".

Foray would be cited, by many of her contemporaries, as one of the best and most versatile voices in animation. Her significant work not just in the studio, but in Hollywood, helped establish both the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, which finally emerged in 2001, and the entirety of the Annie Awards, celebrating achievements in animation (which began in 1972). She passed away in 2017.

Answer: Brittany Murphy

Brittany Murphy was already making a name for herself as a well-established actress by the time "King of the Hill" first started airing on FOX in 1997, but she ended up providing the voice of Hank Hill's niece, Luanne Platter, through twelve seasons and more than two hundred episodes of the show, only ending her run upon her unexpected death in 2009. Due to the show's ending in the following year, her character was not written out of the program's initial run.

Murphy would also act in the movie "Happy Feet" (2006), providing the voice for Gloria.