I’m pretty sure John Lasseter makes that point on one of the Toy Story DVD commentaries. Something along the lines of “We were lucky that we signed Hanks and Allen back before they became superstars” or thereabouts.
Thanks for the interesting discussion.
a note - The voice actor who “takes me out of a film” is Eddie Murphy. and Why isn’t he ever as funny in his recent live-action roles?
To maybe take this thread in a different direction a bit, what do y’all think of the idea of an Academy Award for best voice actor?
Absolutely. Though, I wouldn’t have it split between males and females. I’d have one for Best Voice Performance in a Feature Film.
That way, everyone who did voice work would be eligbile. Male and Female. Lead and Supporting.
And it wouldn’t be limited to animated films.
Andy Serkis would be awarded an Oscar retroactively.
I must add Patrick Warburton who is the voice of *Buzz Lightyear * on the TV series and the principal in Kim Possible.
You may remember him in such movies as:
The asshole coworker in Joe Somebody
The cop in Big Trouble
(both were with Tim Allen, who he replaced in Buzz LightYear)
and had a small part in the beginning of Men In Black II
Yes. And Sal, Elzar, Randy, Flexo, and some others I can’t think of at the moment. On Teen Titans, he also played Atlas’s mechanic, Spike.
Six years before Disney’s Jungle Book, UPA studios made the film Gay Purree, a film which certainly laid emphasis on its voice actors – Robert Goulet and Judy Garland were the romantic leads, with singng parts:
It came out in 1962.
Also in it were Red Buttons and Hermione Gingold, along with voice actor veterans Paul Frees (wo had a major part), Morey Amsterdam (He’d been in the UPA Mr. Magoo Christmas Carol) and Mel Blanc.
Chuck Jones co-wrote it and was, IIRC, the scenarist, but I don’t know how wel his name was known to the general public then.
I can name a large number of animated films that have succeeded of failed with me because of the quality of their voice actors.
One of the examples that works best for me to show how voice acting can make a film is Disney’s The Emporer’s New Groove. The headliners in the film are good enough, John Goodman and David Spade, but they don’t make the film. What made the film for me was the way that the voice acting of Patrick Warburton and Eartha Kitt brought the ‘villians’ to life. If you know the film I think you can see how the script is only part of the charm of the characters lines.
Similarly there are a number of seiyuu who can make or break films and TV shows. Recently one of my favorite is Okayaru Ryotaro, who is a decent voice actor for ‘straight’ roles, but can go over the top for manic villians to the point where he’s more fun to listen to than any voice actor I can think of since Mel Brooks.
One reason that star power names act as draws are the assurance that here, at least, the people doing the voice will actually be able to act. I have seen films I hated because the voice acting was so leaden.
If you watch the Futurama DVDs with the commentary track, you really get to appreciate the voice talent of Billy West. For example: The first time Billy did the voice of Morbo, they digitally altered his voice to the point where they didn’t think a human could make those sounds. And then Billy went on to perfectly imitate the altered voice.
I’ve mentioned this more than once, but Scott Innes comes from my hometown of Poplar Bluff, MO. He does Popeye, Scooby, Shaggy, Scrappy, and a few others.
Billy West didn’t do the voice of Morbo, Maurice LaMarsh did, although the anecdote is accurate. And he still contends that Morbo, Lrrr, and Horrible Gelatinous Blob are three different voices. 
Roles as minor as “the cop in ‘Big Trouble’” but no love for Warburton’s work as Joe Swanson on “Family Guy”? (I’ll not bring up the live action “The Tick”)
I’ve got to agree with Maurice on that one. Lrrr and Morbo are admittedly only subtly different, but Horrible Gelatinous Blog is quite distinct from the other two.
And why not? The Live Action Tick was great.
Warburton’s “breakout” role was ‘Puddy’ on Seinfeld, of course. And in addition to his stint as Joe Swanson on Family Guy, he’s the voice of the formidable Brock Samson on the Venture Brothers.
I wasn’t diagreeing with him, I can tell the difference too (though Lrrr and Morbo ARE very close.) But the other actors and producers make fun of him for just using the “same voice” to make it easier. 
Apropos of not much, I’d just like to mention that years back, when I would hang out on the Animaniacs newsgroup, Maurice LaMarche would drop by occasionally. He’d even ask what episode of Pinky and the Brain we thought he should put forward for *Emmy * consideration. Seemed like a nice guy.
(And yes, I know about people faking identities on the net, but no one in that knowledgeable group ever doubted it was him, there were no holes in his story, and, lets face it, who’s going to fake being Mo LaMarche when you can fake being Tom Cruise?)