# Animated characters voiced by someone of the opposite gender **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** cartoons-animation\ **Created:** [January 9, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140 "2021-01-09T21:09:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/21 "2021-01-10T18:24:09Z")
Thought of another example of a child character being voiced by a child actor; Daveigh Chase did the voice of Lilo in _Lilo & Stitch_ when she was twelve. Chase also did the English dub for Chihiro/Sen in _Spirited Away_ when she was eleven. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/22 "2021-01-10T18:29:32Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > On _Bob’s Burgers_ , two female characters are actually voiced by men. Tina Belcher is voiced by Dan Mintz The funny thing is that Mintz uses his natural voice for the role. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/23 "2021-01-10T18:45:57Z")
Rankin & Bass’ Rudolph was voiced by a woman. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/24 "2021-01-10T19:29:21Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > He also originated Woody’s iconic laugh, which he previously used for Happy Rabbit, a precursor of Bugs Bunny. If that’s so, it’s very strange, since Woody’s laugh is based on the call of the Acorn Woodpecker. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/25 "2021-01-10T19:35:24Z")
Tara Strong had done the voice of Timmy Turner, Ben Tennyson and Rocket J Squirrel in the recent remake. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/26 "2021-01-10T19:45:26Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > June Forey voiced Rocket J Squirrel as well as handful of other male characters. Interesting trivia note; Foray was on Nixon’s enemies list. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/27 "2021-01-10T20:08:02Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > If that’s so, it’s very strange, since Woody’s laugh is based on the call of the Acorn Woodpecker. My understanding is that the character of Woody Woodpecker was based on the acorn woodpecker, but the laugh was not related to any call of the bird. In [Elmer’s Candid Camera](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9g3lNX_DC4) you can hear Happy Rabbit’s laugh (at 2:45 in this video), which to me does sound a lot like Woody’s laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/28 "2021-01-10T20:11:57Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > My understanding is that the character of Woody Woodpecker was based on the acorn woodpecker, but the laugh was not related to any call of the bird. I can personally attest to having heard Acorn Woodpeckers give calls quite similar to that of Woody Woodpecker. [Here’s an example.](https://www.xeno-canto.org/450848) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/29 "2021-01-10T21:25:00Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > > [@cochrane](#): > > > > He also originated Woody’s iconic laugh, which he previously used for Happy Rabbit, a precursor of Bugs Bunny. > > If that’s so, it’s very strange, since Woody’s laugh is based on the call of the Acorn Woodpecker. With all due respect to your birding knowledge, **Colibri** > **[Woody Woodpecker](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Woodpecker)** > > Woody Woodpecker is an animated character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures between 1940 and 1972. > Woody, an anthropomorphic woodpecker, was created in 1940 by Lantz and storyboard artist Ben "Bugs" Hardaway, who had previously laid the groundwork for two other screwball characters, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, at the Warner Bros. cartoon studio in the late 1930s. Woody's character and design evolved over the years,... > [@](#): > > Ironically, Blanc’s characterization of the Woody Woodpecker laugh had originally been applied to Happy Rabbit, a Bugs Bunny predecessor, in shorts such as the aforementioned Elmer’s Candid Camera and was later transferred to Woody. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/30 "2021-01-10T22:04:29Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > With all due respect to your birding knowledge, **Colibri** Yes, I know. The article also says: > [@](#): > > The inspiration for the character came during the [producer](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Lantz)’s honeymoon with his wife, [Grace](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Stafford), in [June Lake, California](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_Lake,_California) in 1941.[[7]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Woodpecker#cite_note-Fandango-7) A noisy [acorn woodpecker](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_woodpecker)[[8]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Woodpecker#cite_note-NPR-8) outside their cabin kept the couple awake at night, and when a heavy rain started, they learned that the bird had bored holes in their cabin’s roof. As both Walter and Gracie told Dallas attorney Rod Phelps during a visit, Walter wanted to shoot the bird, but Gracie suggested that her husband make a cartoon about the bird, and thus Woody was born.[[9]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Woodpecker#cite_note-9) Woody shares many characteristics in common with the [pileated woodpecker](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pileated_woodpecker) in terms of both physical appearance as well as his characteristic laugh, which resembles the call of the pileated woodpecker. These similarities are apparently the result of the [artistic license](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artistic_license) of the creators, and have caused much confusion within the [birding](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdwatching) community among those who have attempted to classify Woody’s species.[[8]](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Woodpecker#cite_note-NPR-8) The article itself says that Woody’s laugh is based on the call of a woodpecker, so it’s strange if it was first used for a rabbit. As the article states, Lantz originally saw an Acorn Woodpecker (which sometimes bores holes in roofs to store acorns), and I seem to recall seeing an interview with him in which he said the call he heard at that time inspired Woody’s laugh. I believe the article is wrong in stating the call is based on that of a Pileated Woodpecker, since to my ear Acorn’s is much closer. Woody’s red head and crest are those of a Pileated, but the Pileated’s body is black rather than blue and white. I think that fact has caused the confusion over which species call the laugh is based on. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/31 "2021-01-10T22:05:06Z")
I noticed the similarity of the proto-Bugs laugh to Woody’s the first time I heard it (probably 35-40 years ago). I also saw a video of Grace Stafford doing the Woody laugh; it was weird seeing it come from a grandmotherly woman. The same video had the story of Ms. Stafford sneaking her audition in with the others. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/32 "2021-01-10T22:45:28Z")
The article also says > [@](#): > > These similarities are apparently the result of the [artistic license](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artistic_license) of the creators, Blanc also stated in his autobiography _That’s Not All, Folks_ that he started doing funny voices while in high school and came up with the laugh long before he became a professional voice-over artist. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/33 "2021-01-10T23:02:05Z")
Of course it’s artistic license. Real Roadrunners aren’t purple and go beep-beep, so there’s no reason Woody needs to depict a real species. But given that Lantz himself said Woody was based on an Acorn Woodpecker, and remarked on its loud call, it’s a pretty bizarre coincidence that Blanc’s laugh that he developed years early is so similar to that species. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/34 "2021-01-10T23:22:07Z")
NPR article > **[Woody The Acorn (Not Pileated) Woodpecker](https://www.npr.org/2009/03/10/101665227/woody-the-acorn-not-pileated-woodpecker)** > > When commentator and resident bird expert Julie Zickefoose said that Woody Woodpecker is a pileated woodpecker, she ruffled some feathers in the ornithological community. Turns out that Woody is actually an acorn woodpecker, but maybe, just maybe, it... But see this: > **[The Woody Woodpecker Controversy — Birdchick](http://www.birdchick.com/blog/2009/03/the-woody-woodpecker-controversy)** > > While at the San Diego Bird Festival , I got to enjoy one of my favorite bird species--the acorn woodpecker (this is a female above, she's just as handsome as the male). I love this species, the first time I ever saw one was years ago in San... Brian ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/35 "2021-01-10T23:33:12Z")
So this is an interesting puzzle. Lantz says he based Woody on a real acorn woodpecker that he observed. But did he just use the appearance of the bird as the basis of Woody’s appearance, or did he also base Woody’s laugh on the bird’s call? Woody’s laugh does somewhat resemble the acorn’s call that Colibri linked to. But his laugh even more strongly resembles the laugh of Happy Rabbit, who predates Woody. Another question is, did Mel Blanc ever hear an acorn woodpecker’s call? In those days I don’t think it would have been easy to obtain a recording of the call. Perhaps Lantz simply told Blanc to use the Happy Rabbit laugh for Woody because it resembled the call that he had heard. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/36 "2021-01-11T01:36:04Z")
Or, just as likely, since Ben “Bugs” Hardaway created Happy Rabbit and developed Woody’s character under Lantz, he told Blanc, “Hey, why not use your Happy Rabbit laugh for Woody?” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/37 "2021-01-11T02:11:17Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > So this is an interesting puzzle. Lantz says he based Woody on a real acorn woodpecker that he observed. But did he just use the appearance of the bird as the basis of Woody’s appearance, or did he also base Woody’s laugh on the bird’s call? As I said, Woody looks somewhat like a [Pileated Woodpecker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/PileatedWoodpeckerFeedingonTree%2C_crop.jpg), and not at all like an [Acorn Woodpecker.](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/assets/photo/64992871-480px.jpg) Lantz specifically mentions having heard the woodpecker’s call. So it’s an interesting hypothesis that Lantz might have recognized that Happy Rabbit’s laugh sounded like the woodpecker’s call, and suggested that Blanc use it for Woody too. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/38 "2021-01-11T02:25:47Z")
Or more likely, as I suggested, Ben Hardaway and Mel Blanc worked together on both cartoons and Hardaway suggested that Blanc use the same laugh he used for Happy Rabbit. No coincidence there. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/39 "2021-01-11T02:45:53Z")
I don’t understand why you say that wouldn’t be a coincidence. Hardaway wouldn’t have known the woodpecker’s call, so if he told Blanc to use it _that_ would be a coincidence. If Lantz told him, knowing the woodpecker’s call, that _wouldn’t_ be a coincidence. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2021, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140/40 "2021-01-11T03:21:53Z")
How about this: Blanc, over the course of his life, came up with a large number of humorous vocal noises. When he heard a real woodpecker and decided to make a woodpecker character, he adapted one of the humorous vocal noises he had that was similar to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-characters-voiced-by-someone-of-the-opposite-gender/930140.md?page=3)