# Worst Voice in Saturday Morning Cartoons **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** cartoons-animation\ **Created:** [April 6, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065 "2026-04-06T13:41:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/21 "2026-04-07T22:04:42Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Lou Scheimer is to blame for providing the voice for Dumb Donald in the Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Show. I was coming in the mention him. Hated his voice and the weird reverb effect they always had on him. For instance, his narrator and Elders in Shazam. He also did Bat-mite in Batman and Orko in Masters of the Universe. Also hated Dal Mckennon, Gumby / Pokey / Prickle, Archie Andrews, Mr Weatherbee, Buzz Buzzard. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2026, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/22 "2026-04-07T23:09:00Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Which makes it amusing to watch the Star Trek episode “A Wolf in the Fold,” in which Fiedler plays a man who is possessed by the same murderous spirit which once possessed Jack the Ripper, and is on a killing spree. What I love about that photo is she looks to be having the time of her life. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/23 "2026-04-08T00:41:48Z")
It was appropriate for that scene. She’d been drugged. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/24 "2026-04-08T00:44:44Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I remember as a very young lad being appalled that Barney Rubble’s voice had unexpectedly and dramatically changed. > > Why is this in my head 60 years later? Here’s an interesting story for you. One day I got a call from a very nice lady who wanted to inquire about me doing some work for her son. She introduced herself as Jean Vander Pyl. Being a pop culture geek, I immediately asked, “Are you the voice of Wilma Flintstone?” She laughed and said yes. Once we were done talking business, she asked if I wanted to hear “Wilma”. Of course I did. She talked to me as Wilma for a minute or two before switching to Rosy the Robot from _The Jetsons_, which she also was responsible for. Then I asked her, “Why did Barney’s voice change?”, a question that had been in my mind for years. She explained that during the series, Mel Blanc was in a very bad car accident on Sunset Boulevard. When he got out of the hospital, he was still in a body cast. They moved recording equipment to his home and did the shows from there. Apparently the body cast and the different location were the reasons he sounded different. I don’t have any evidence beyond that, although Mel Blanc’s accident is well documented, and I doubt she had any reason to lie about it. She was a very sweet lady, who passed away a year or two later. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/25 "2026-04-08T00:45:30Z")
Exactly. The “Jack the Ripper” entity subsisted on people’s fear. So Kirk’s solution was to shoot up everyone with amphetamines so they couldn’t feel fear. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/26 "2026-04-08T00:48:20Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#): > > Then I asked her, “Why did Barney’s voice change?”, a question that had been in my mind for years. She explained that during the series, Mel Blanc was in a very bad car accident on Sunset Boulevard. He was in a body cast in the hospital. They moved recording equipment into the hospital and did the shows there. Apparently the body cast and the different location were the reasons. > > I don’t have any evidence beyond that, although Mel Blanc’s accident is well documented, and I doubt she had any reason to lie about it. She was a very sweet lady, who passed away a year or two later. See above: Daws Butler stood in for Blanc for five episodes, as well, before Blanc was well enough to start recording dialogue from his hospital room. > [@Worst Voice in Saturday Morning Cartoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/14): > > I remember Barney having different voices, but I didn’t know the details until I looked it up. Mel Blanc was the primary voice actor for Barney, though the way he did Barney’s voice changed over the course of Season 1, initially using a higher-pitched New Jersey accent, but switching to a deeper, less smart-alec-y voice later on. When Blanc was recovering from a near-fatal car crash, Daws Butler stepped into the role for several episodes in Season 2. Blanc returned to the role once he recovere… ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/27 "2026-04-08T00:52:42Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > See above: Daws Butler stood in for Blanc for five episodes, as well, before Blanc was well enough to start recording dialogue from his hospital room. Interesting. She didn’t mention that part. But that actually makes more sense, because the voice was so different. Daws was obviously very prolific in his own right, so she may have just left that part out. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/28 "2026-04-08T01:25:03Z")
I also looked on YouTube. It initially was not the Southern accent that bothered me, just the high pitch. But then later on the pitch sounds better when she’s driving her car. It’s just, well, not a Southern Belle voice. It’s a country bumpkin comedy relief character. I get Ellie Mae Clampett vibes, not often angry rich girl who thinks she’s better than everyone else. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3WPDAbodCmI/maxresdefault.jpg "The Archie Show - Veronica's Veil (Correct Video Speed) (Premium Bitrate SD)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WPDAbodCmI&t=48s) ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/29 "2026-04-08T02:10:24Z")
That is awesome, thanks for sharing! mmm ---
**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:** [April 8, 2026, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/30 "2026-04-08T03:05:27Z")
Yeah, the high pitch makes it worse. It may be what someone who’s never met a wealthy southern teenager thinks they sound, but again it doesn’t fit the character. I sure don’t remember Mr. Lodge having a southern accent. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/31 "2026-04-08T04:05:26Z")
Showed just those two bits to a friend, and he admitted he’d never heard of Veronica before, so I asked her what he thought her personality would be like. He totally got that she is petty and jealous and specifically that she comes from money. So it her voice worked for him. Though he did hear the country bumpkin when I mentioned it. He said he just that was the style of the cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2026, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065/32 "2026-04-08T05:16:41Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > Even better is Fiedler in the original **True Grit**. Shows up at the very end and single-handedly saves the flick. Ah, yes, lawyer Daggett. “She draws him like a gun.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-voice-in-saturday-morning-cartoons/1029065.md?page=1)