There's been a lot of talk about the number of celebrity voices that are entering animation voiceover work. Disney's Hercules is the record holder for the largest single-season voice cast in the history of TV animation weighing in at a hefty 166 entertainers. Why do these big time actors of television and major motion picture fame consider animation a new and unique challenge? Why do they jump at the chance to get in the animation act? Let's hear from Kathie Lee Gifford, Jon Favreau, Diedrich Bader, French Stewart, Linda Hamilton and James Woods, who reveal that animation really is a whole new world that stretches their abilities and proves to be a work out. Moreover, as James Woods discloses, it is hard to say no to an 8 year-old nephew...even if you do play Hades.

Kathie Lee Gifford.

Kathie Lee Gifford (Regis & Kathie Lee), who plays Echidna, the "mother of all monsters."
"You know, becoming a talk show hostess was the last thing on my agenda. I started out as an actress and a singer and a comedienne. To me, the talk show was like a side line. I mean, talking, shoot, I can wake up and do that. That's like breathing. Performing is hard. Singing is a tremendous discipline. And acting is a craft."

Jon Favreau.

Jon Favreau (Swingers, Friends), who plays Jealousy, one of the "miseries," a green monster that grows to huge proportions by feeding off the jealous emotions around him.
"There's nothing like doing an animated voice because it's one of the few things where the actor sort of comes first, and then everything is built around you and your voice. There's a lot of freedom in the performance -- even more so than in a film, because you're only using your voice to get the message across. On film, you're sometimes confined by the camera. In voiceovers, it's about imagination and expression. Quite often, that freedom provides even greater inspiration for the artist. And it's really fun to see their impression of what you've done."/p>

Diedrich Bader.

Diedrich Bader (The Drew Carey Show), who plays Adonis, the Big Man on Campus.
"Doing voiceovers is extremely fun because you're actually inside the actor's brain. I mean, you're in this dark little room, you're only speaking into a microphone, there's no cameras or anything, and you can play anyone you want. Voiceovers allow you to play a lot of characters that you otherwise wouldn't get the chance to play in Hollywood. You can be anybody -- young, old, whatever. You can be Adonis, for God's sake!"

French Stewart.

French Stewart (3rd Rock from the Sun), who plays Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the sun (and the burn went deeper than simply scorching his hair. It fried his brains in this Disney version).
"I'm not the most subtle actor on the planet. And these voiceover sessions are like offering me license to kill. Once I get started, I try and hone things down a little bit, but I always end up blowing the top of my head off. I feel sorry for the sound engineers -- I can see them pulling their headphones off when I go off the charts."