There was a time, in the early years of the art, when animated films were made using non-celebrity talent. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) did employ some character actors who were working in the movies, but for the greater part of animation’s history, features were made using unsung talent or people working as actual voice artists on television. In some of the shorts made by Warner Bros. (and other studios), voice actors imitated celebrities rather than use the actual stars.

This situation changed gradually during the 1960s. Prior to that era, characters were developed and then voices found to fit them. Within a decade, the opposite would occur. Celebrity voices would be hired and the characters would be developed around them, often to the point where the animated characters retained the celebrity’s more recognizable features or mannerisms.

Even Disney was not immune; starting with The Jungle Book, (1967) characters were adapted to mirror recognizable Hollywood actors. This could be amusing and delightful. Hearing Robert Goulet, for example, perform as an animated cat or Paul Lynde cavort as a cartoon rat was a treat for audiences who recognized the celebrities. As time went on, filmgoers had more and more celebs to identify, because hiring them as voice talents became an increasingly indispensable component of producing an animated feature.

Animated TV series come and go; some are superb, some mediocre and some dismal. Very few of them reach iconic status, and the majority of them are forgotten two or three years after their final storyboard session. An animated feature with chartbusting potential, however, is a significant investment involving hundreds of people, years of labor, prodigious investment in leading-edge technology and publicity budgets that can surpass the allotment for producing an animated series. Everything possible is done to ensure success, such as hiring Billy Crystal as a cyclopean monster, Michelle Pfeiffer as a sinuous goddess or Angelina Jolie as a sultry fish. A-list celebrities trump anyone else when it comes to providing voices for the features, and this situation will likely continue into the future.

The trend intensified after 1990; by the time DreamWorks released The Prince of Egypt in 1998, the entire voice cast was comprised of notable Hollywood actors and actresses, with pop music stars Whitney Houston and Boys II Men thrown in for good measure. It seems we have reached the point at which, if a feature did not hire such a cast, audiences would feel somehow cheated. This is the age of tabloids, armies of paparazzi, cable stations devoted to celebrity and the cultish following of people who are famous for no discernible reason.

Adam Sandler, much for the worse, even made an animated film starring himself. We are seeing a distinct difference between the actors who make a living as television voice artists and the all-star celebrity casts who voice animated features. Many celebrities are taking their first shots at the genre, as opposed to those voice artists who have worked for thousands of hours over countless animated series.

Have we reached the saturation level of celebrities voicing animated films? Above John Ratzenberger (left) is directed by John Lasseter for Cars. Photo credit Debby Coleman. © 2006 Disney/Pixar. All rights reserved.

Veterans such as Rob Paulson, Cheryl Chase, Tress McNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Frank Welker, Tara Strong and Billy West, among others, may have voiced more toons than Bruce Willis will ever see in his lifetime, but they have far less chance of lending their talents to a major Pixar, DreamWorks or Disney opus. Even these experienced artists must bow to an inevitable fact in today’s star-obsessed culture — celebrity sells, even when dressed up as a raccoon or a hedgehog. Even the low-budget indie Hoodwinked played by this formula.

During the research for this column I noticed that many of the celebrity voices featured in recent animated movies have already signed up for various features that are currently in production. Animated features have begun to play like an extension of People or Us magazine. While this may seem unfair to those who eke out a living doing voices on short-lived TV series, it is merely a reflection of what America expects of its entertainment vehicles. The recent domination of celebrity culture in animated films neither destroys the medium nor benefits it — the current situation is the result of giving Americans the celebrities they desire.

The same is true for American Idol. People magazine has now determined that Hicks is among America’s “hottest bachelors.” Hicks’ romantic life really has nothing to do with his singing or talent; it has everything to do with his newfound celebrity status.

As I continued writing this month’s piece, two more events surged into the never-ending mainstream of American celebrity. Every magazine cover in the nation seemed to feature the “Current Woman Temporarily Possessing Brad Pitt” in advanced stages of pregnancy. Gallons of ink and billions of photos of the baby and its mega-famous parents closely followed this event. At roughly the same time Pixar birthed Cars into theaters everywhere, featuring an all-star cast of… well, you know who they are by now. Well, so be it, then. If Willis makes for a convincing raccoon, or Mike Myers a fine green ogre or Paul Newman a sage old rust-bucket, at least the saturation level of celebrities voicing animated films can get no higher.

Until, that is, Hicks voices a street-smart, singing frog in some future high-budget CGI feature.

Martin “Dr. Toon” Goodman is a longtime student and fan of animation. He lives in Anderson, Indiana.