# Animated movies: The kiss of death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 30, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155 "2009-09-30T20:18:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/1 "2009-09-30T20:18:37Z")
I have noticed a disturbing trend in voice characterizations in animated motion pictures: some of the actors often immediately die afterward. Orson Welles died after voicing Unicron in The Transformers movie a while back. TV Chef Julia Child lent her voice to a character in We’re Back: A Dinosaurs Tale… and died. Recently, Paul Newman passed away after lending his voice talent to the Pixar film CARS. Is there some kind of curse in hollywood involving voicing animation? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/2 "2009-09-30T20:19:42Z")
Don’t forget! Steve Irwin: Happy Feet! ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/3 "2009-09-30T20:21:49Z")
Well, on the face of it, I can point you to the many hundreds if not thousands of voice actors and stars who lend their voices who have not died. _Aladdin_ came around when Robin Williams’ career was going strong, and he’s still making movies. But to go with the flow, Phil Harris died in 1995, with his last acting job as the voice of the bloodhound in Rock-A-Doodle in 1991. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/4 "2009-09-30T20:24:13Z")
Let us not forget Tom Hanks and that other guy whose name escapes me right now in Toy Story. They are alive and well. Tom Hanks’ career is definately doing well also. No curse for them. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/5 "2009-09-30T20:30:28Z")
Maybe it’s more likely that actors who are aging and sickly find that voice work for animated movies is an easier way for them to make some money. Of course, this logic makes no sense in the case of someone like Steve Irwin… ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/6 "2009-09-30T20:32:31Z")
Somehow, I think Randy Quaid is involved. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/7 "2009-09-30T20:40:04Z")
So, bad news for Ed Asner then? ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/8 "2009-09-30T20:49:28Z")
How big’s your window? Paul Newman died 2 years and 4 months after _Cars_ came out (and probably close to 3.5 years since he actually did the work. Not bad considering he was already 80 when he did that movie. Julia Child died 10 years and 9 months after the release of _We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story_. Not bad considering she was already 80 when she did that movie. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a correlation between really old people doing voice work in a movie and then dying not too long afterward. But I guess if 83 year old Don Rickles dies in the next decade you’ll be able to blame it on _Toy Story 3_. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/9 "2009-09-30T21:27:52Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > Let us not forget Tom Hanks and that other guy whose name escapes me right now in Toy Story. They are alive and well. Tom Hanks’ career is definately doing well also. No curse for them. Tell that to Jim Varney! ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/10 "2009-09-30T22:40:19Z")
Leonard Nimoy also provided a voice in _Transformers_. He’s fine. Look at all the guest voices on _The Simpsons_ or _Futurama_. The vast majority are OK. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/11 "2009-09-30T22:46:50Z")
Heck, Chris Farley didn’t even get to finish _Shrek_! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/12 "2009-09-30T22:59:42Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > Julia Child died 10 years and 9 months after the release of _We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story_. Not bad considering she was already 80 when she did that movie. Walter Cronkite was also in that movie, and died a scant 15 years and 7 months after its release. Plenty of Simpsons guest stars have died because there have been so many freaking guest stars. As far as I know, Phil Hartman and Doris Grau are the only ones who made “posthumous” appearances. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/13 "2009-09-30T23:10:08Z")
So there is a curse! Voice an animated character and you will die. (Is it necessary to add that you’re going to die anyhow?) ---
**Author:** ![Satchmo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/satchmo/32/4223_2.png) [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2009, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/14 "2009-09-30T23:40:35Z")
There’s also Elizabeth Hartman, who died 5 years after voicing Mrs. Brisby in “The Secret of NIMH”. One more data point. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/15 "2009-10-01T21:12:24Z")
[Chris Latta](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Collins) and [Mel Blanc](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Blanc) are also both dead. Coincedence? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/16 "2009-10-02T12:41:21Z")
It gets even worse: Lenny Bruce did the voice for “Thank You Mask Man” in 1971 and died -5 years “later”! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/17 "2009-10-02T13:22:05Z")
I don’t think it was being in an animated movie that killed them. It was just being. ---
**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:** [October 2, 2009, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/18 "2009-10-02T13:24:58Z")
**Movies in General: Kiss of Death?** You should see the list I’ve compiled of people who have died who were in movies. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/19 "2009-10-02T13:54:47Z")
You know, an awful lot of US Presidents are now dead. Coincidence? ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155/20 "2009-10-02T14:04:49Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Somehow, I think Randy Quaid is involved. Me too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/animated-movies-the-kiss-of-death/512155.md?page=2)