The 1960s
Some of the best vocal performances of this decade came from the mouths of Neanderthals. Alan Reed, Mel Blanc, Jean VanderPyl and Bea Benaderet were the voices behind The Flintstones (1960), arguably the best series ever produced under the aegis of Hanna-Barbera. No primordial grunting here -- Reed's Fred Flintstone could go from bluster to contrition in the same breath, and Blanc's Barney Rubble had the friendliest voice ever to waft over a neighbor's fence. VanderPyl, as Wilma Flintstone, responded to Reed's acting with an impressive range of her own, and Benaderet's performance as giggly Betty Rubble was, on second listening, surprisingly nuanced. As a cast, the four performers had flawless chemistry.

The big screen brought us Betty Lou Gerson's unforgettable performance as Cruella DeVil in Disney's 101 Dalmatians (1961). Her uncanny ability to balance menace and over-the-top comedy stole the movie. Two outstanding jobs were turned in by performers with virtually no experience in cartoon voice work. 1964 saw Burl Ives' outstanding performance as Sam the Snowman in Rankin-Bass' production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The venerable performer would have been charming enough even without singing musical numbers, but fortunately for us, he did that, too. Boris Karloff's narration of the 1966 holiday special How the Grinch Stole Christmas revealed the great horror actor to be a golden-voiced storyteller. Sterling Holloway lent his warm story-time tenor to Winnie-the-Pooh for the first time in 1966, giving the silly old bear a truly memorable voice. Finally, Don Messick dug up a garbled comic voice he created for Astro the Dog in Hanna-Barbera's The Jetsons and put it into a goofy Great Dane named Scooby-Doo; one might question the quality of the series, but "Rat rog ruz rate!

Charlie Adler.

The 1970s & ‘80s
With Saturday morning settling into a rut, cable TV still in infancy and feature animation all but kaput, these decades still produced a few gems. Working at several studios, Frank Welker became the go-to-guy for any sort of animal voice needed. Whether the beast was real, imaginary or extraterrestrial, Welker’s vocal trickery could fill the bill. Alan Young first provided Scrooge McDuck’s comic Scottish brogue in 1976; it remains one of cartoondom’s funniest. Not to be overlooked was Don Adams’ supremely confident portrayal of DIC star Inspector Gadget. Garfield the Cat met up with Lorenzo Music for the first time in 1982 and today it is difficult to read the strip without hearing Music’s mordant tones. How’s this for an ensemble: Don Messick, Lucille Bliss, Frank Welker, June Foray, Susan Blu, Charlie Adler and Alan Young? This all-star line-up, among others, contributed regular voice work to the 1981 series The Smurfs. What a show of talent! How’s this for an ensemble: Charlie Adler, Susan Blu, Frank Welker, Ellen Gerstel and Ron Palillo? This awesome cast worked on the 1987 series The Little Clowns of Happytown. What a waste of talent!

Rob Paulsen (Pinky).

Maurice LaMarche (The Brain).

The 1990s
Series tended to come and go with amazing speed during the 1990s, and few lasted for very long. Voice artists became traveling free agents, stopping long enough to do memorable star turns for whoever was fortunate enough to hire them. Among the more memorable nomads were talents like Jim Cummings and Kath Soucie. Tress McNeille’s coo-coo cooing as sweetly destructive Dot Warner was a high point of Steven Spielberg’s Animaniacs. The same show brought us the spectacular team-up of Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche as Pinky and the Brain. Charlie Adler put on the best one-man show of the decade for Cartoon Network when he joined David Feiss’ series Cow and Chicken. Adler’s testy chicken, whiny cow and unctuous "Red Guy" comprise a clinic for aspiring voice artists.