The Road to Episode Infinity: The Voices of Star Wars (Cartoons)

Animated movies are sometimes synonymous with Disney- so much so that many animated films are wrongly assumed to have been made by Diseny (Anastasia, The Land Before Time, Balto, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Fern Gully, etc.) Since purchasing Lucasfilm, Disney has launched no less than three animated Star Wars television shows including “Rebels” “Forces of Destiny” and “The Freemaker Adventures”. Though the three shows are quite different, all of them have provided a platform for some big-name Star Wars actors to reprise their iconic roles.

Many fans were overjoyed to learn that Ian McDiarmid would return to voice Emperor Palpatine after a 13-year hiatus. When McDiarmid did not appear as Palpatine in "Rogue One", many fans felt that it was a missed opportunity. In the years since “Revenge of the Sith”, Palpatine has been voiced by Seth McFarlane on “Family Guy” and “Robot Chicken”. McFarlane’s humorous take on the character has even translated over to official Star Wars media such as “The Freemaker Adventures”. Yet, hearing Ian McDiarmid back as the “classic” version of Palpatine really was a treat for fans.

Along with McDiarmid, “Rebels” has seen the return of Frank Oz, James Earl Jones, Billy Dee Williams, and Anthony Daniels. In addition to classic Star Wars voices, “Rebels” has seen new characters voiced by Sci-Fi veterans, such as Gina Toress and Warwick Davis. Gina Toress can be heard as the voice of Ketsu Onyo in both “Rebels” and “Forces of Destiny”. Warwick Davis is a veteran of “Star Wars” films having played many characters including Wicket the Ewok, yet Davis never gets any lines on the big screen. Warwick Davis can be heard as the voice of Rukh in “Rebels”. Fans of Timothy Zahn’s “Thrawn Trilogy” will be familiar with Rukh and his species, the Noghri.

Another great “Star Wars” show with some big-name voice actors is “Forces of Destiny”. This web series has a minuscule runtime, but that doesn’t mean the voices are small. Most of the cast of the new Disney films have made an appearance and even Mark Hamill lent his voice to a recent episode portraying “Young Luke Skywalker”. There is something magical hearing Mark trade lines with Tom Kane’s Yoda.

“The Freemaker Adventures” is the flagship “Lego Star Wars” show on the Disney channel. The show has seen a variety of cameos from “Star Wars” greats, but the most notable is probably Billy Dee Williams returning as Lando Calrissian. Williams has actually voiced Lando in a variety of media including “Robot Chicken”, “The Cleavland Show”, the “Star Wars: Battlefront” video games and even “The Lego Movie”. Williams never really stopped being Lando, but Billy Dee has not appeared in a “Star Wars” film since 1983. Fingers crossed for Episode IX everybody.

Though hearing the cast of the “Star Wars” films voice their animated counterparts, the “Star Wars” television shows have also introduced a menagerie of original characters- one of the most notable is the Weequay pirate, Hondo Ohnaka. Jim Cummings first voiced Hondo Ohnaka in 2009, and nearly a decade later Hondo is alive and well on our screens. Cummings is one of the most accomplished voice actors in the cartoon business, having voiced Darkwing Duck, Tigger and Winnie the Pooh (to name a few). Hondo survived the “Rebels” series finale and fans will keep their fingers crossed for a future return.

James Arnold Taylor is another veteran of Star Wars voice acting. Taylor first voiced Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2003 for the 2D animated series “Clone Wars”. He must have impressed the higher-ups at Lucasfilm because in 2008 he returned as Obi-Wan in the 3D animated Clone Wars series. Most recently Taylor has appeared as a much older Ben Kenobi in “Rebels”. Taylor may have the record for most episodes voicing a single Star Wars character.

The record for providing a voice to the most animated shows falls to Anthony Daniels. Daniels played C-3PO in all 9 Star Wars films and starred as Threepio in the very first animated Star Wars show “Droids” back in 1985. Daniels has also appeared as the golden droid in “Clone Wars”, “The Clone Wars”, “Rebels”, and “Forces of Destiny”. Daniels has voiced Threepio in video games, theme park rides and even appeared in “The Lego Movie”. It is very hard to believe anyone other than Daneils has ever voiced Threepio, although Simon Pegg did voice the droid in the "Star Wars" episode of “Phineas and Ferb” and Tom Kane has voiced the droid in some video games.

Speaking of Tom Kane, this performer has become popular among Star Wars fans for voicing Yoda. Tom first voiced Yoda in the year 2000 for the game “Jedi Power Battles”. Kane is still voicing the Jedi Master almost two decades later. Yoda’s appearance in “The Last Jedi” was performed by Frank Oz, but Tom Kane was not left out of the film. Kane was brought on to voice Admiral Ackbar after Ackbar’s original voice actor died shortly after the release of “The Force Awakens”

Perhaps the most famous “Star Wars” voice actor is Ashley Ekstein for her portrayal of Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka is beloved by many fans of “The Clone Wars” and more recently “Rebels”. Ashley has also narrated the “Ahsoka” audiobook and co-authored a short story in the collection “From a Certain Point of View”. Though many fans have clamored for a live action portrayal of Ahsoka in a future film, others are satisfied with the character’s role on the small screen. After 80 episodes across 3 TV series, it is almost certain that Disney is not finished with Ahsoka Tano and Ekstein’s future career as a voice artist seems secure.

One final character that is near and dear to the hearts of cartoon consumers is Hera Syndulla as portrayed by Vanessa Marshall. Hera was introduced to Star Wars fans in 2014, but already her role has expanded to many mediums. Hera has been featured in three TV series and also in many books and comics. Most recently Hera has appeared in issues of “Doctor Aphra” alongside of archeologist Chelli Lona Aphra. Voice actress Vanessa Marshall notes that Hera is “one tough cookie” but also “quite nurturing” and motherly. In fact, it was revealed in the “Rebels” finale that Hera now has a son named Jacen Syndulla.

I could not end this voice-character blog without mentioning two famed “Doctor Who” actors who have lent their voices to “Star Wars”. David Tennent (who played the extremely popular Tenth Doctor) voiced a Jedi training droid named Huyang in the fifth season of “Clone Wars”. Furthermore, Tom Baker (the legendary actor who played the Forth Doctor in the 1970s) voiced the mysterious Bendu in the third Season of “Rebels”.

Listed here are only some of the many talented voice actors who have appeared in “Star Wars” cartoons over the past 30-plus years. Fans of “Star Wars” animated shows will be pleased to know that a new series (rumored to be titled “Star Wars: Resistance”) is in the works. Perhaps we will hear some of the old favorites return for another lap around the old podrace track.

Happy watching Star Wars fans!

Star Wars TV Blogs

Rebels

Star Wars: Rebels- http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2014/10/star-wars-rebels.html

Catching up with Rebels- http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2016/10/catching-up-with-rebels.html

The End of Rebels- http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-end-of-rebels.html

Forces of Destiny

Forces of Destiny Preview- http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/04/forces-of-destiny.html

Forces of Destiny Review- http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2017/11/forces-of-destiny-review.html

The Freemaker Adventures

Live Blog Day1 - http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2016/06/freemaker-adventures-live-blog.html

Live Blog Day 2- http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2016/06/live-blog-freemaker-adventures-day-2.html

Live Blog Day 3- http://roadto7.blogspot.com/2016/06/freemaker-adventures-part-iii-live-blog.html