Then, everything changed in 1992 with the explosive success of Disney’s Aladdin. RELATED: 'Aladdin' Voice Actors Scott Weinger & Brad Kane on the New Signature Collection Edition Prominent stars would voice characters in animated features prior to the 1990s here and there, such as Phil Harris in Disney’s The Jungle Book and Burt Reynolds in Don Bluth’s All Dogs Go to Heaven, but the films were not heavily built around their involvement and their commercial awareness primarily stuck to the artistry of the films themselves. The voices were done by industry character actors with a background in stage and radio that specialized in projecting performances with just their voice and were seldom a selling point for the final product. Originally, animated films were marketed on the spectacle of their stories, the artistry of their animation, and the variety of their music.

While casting celebrities for roles in animation is far from a new practice, it was only in recent decades that animated features were treated as star vehicles for their voice talent. At least, that is how things used to be until very recently. After all, animated movies can be a hard sell to a general moviegoing audience who sees them as only “for kids,” and a line-up of pre-established stars with built-in appeal and recognizable voices can help bring in crowds who typically stay away from cartoon flicks. How many times a year has your local movie theater been plastered with posters that detail a laundry list of celebrity names attached to an animated film? How often have animated trailers ended with a massive wall of text revealing a lengthy, star-studded voice cast? Over the past couple of decades, it has almost become ubiquitous for animated films to market themselves on their big-name voice talent.

Shrek voice actor