Frank James Bailey 

Most of us have grown up watching a cartoon or two. I used to watch Bugs Bunny when I was little, but when I was just getting into my teens (12 maybe 13, I think) I mostly watched a Japan animation cartoon called Battle Of The Planets and Starblazers! These were NOT popular cartoons. I was just a weird kid!

I’m talking about the big ones. Cartoons like Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo and today’s big ones like Phineas and Ferb, Family Guy and The Simpsons. A lot of us watch these cartoons ALL THE TIME. So, when we hear the voice of Homer or Bugs, we instantly know…it’s them!

On the other hand, what happens if the voice changes? Can you tell?

I’m sure most people know that Casey Kasem voiced Shaggy on Scooby Doo for many years. Now Shaggy is voiced by Matthew Lillard. They both sound like Shaggy, but to me…Casey Kasem will always be Shaggy! It’s that voice! When I hear Casey Kasem’s voice I instantly know… it’s Shaggy! My daughter watches Scooby Doo too. She doesn’t notice this change.

My 5 year old loves to watch Phineas and Ferb and Johnny Test. I listened carefully and I noticed that Johnny’s dog is NOT voiced by the same person anymore! Again, I’m sure my daughter hasn’t noticed (because the cartoon is the same!) but I noticed! The same with Phineas and Ferb. I can’t remember which character, but I know one of the girl’s voices has changed!

On the other hand…my daughter did notice that the voice of Dora The Explorer was different now! But she watches it all the time.

In most recent years, I noticed in the earlier episodes of Family Guy, Meg and Lois were first voiced by someone different then they are today.

So my question to you today is this…

Can you tell when a cartoon voice has changed? And…do you really care? (Ok, I know, this is actually 2 questions)

Here’s what I think.

I notice when a cartoon voice changes because I’m a voice actor and I listen carefully to these things. I get connected with the CHARACTER I SEE and the VOICE I HEAR! When that connection is changed because the character is voiced by someone different…I can tell! To me…Casey Kasem will ALWAYS be the BEST Shaggy!! And, even though Family Guy’s Meg Griffen started off as a different voice, if Meg was voiced by someone OTHER then Mila Kunis now, I would notice right away!

As for children, I don’t think they notice the different voices. At least most of the time they don’t. To a 5 year old, SpongeBob Squarepants could be voiced by James Earl Jones and they wouldn’t notice the difference!

Well, maybe they would notice if the voice was THAT deep and THAT different! But I think you know what I’m talking about. To most kids, a cartoon is a cartoon!

So…what do you think…can you tell when a cartoon voice has changed?