Why did Disney change some of the voice talent of Disney Princesses?

[DodgerGirl]

When I have watched Disney movies I have never figured out why Disney changes voice actresses for the princesses? Is that a way for Disney to save money on movies or cartoons or do they get the cheapest celebrity to do this? Because I noticed that when Beauty And The Beast debuted Paige O'Hara was the original voice of Belle in the three Beauty And The Beast movies then replaced by Susan Egan and then in a Sofia The First episode by Julie Nathanson and I thought it was weird because Susan Egan was a wonderful Belle after Paige O'Hara retired. A second princess that had a voice actress change was Cinderella and since Ilene Woods passed away it's hard to find a perfect Cinderella voice actress who can do the role so well. I can't even figure out how Jennifer Hale got the role of Cinderella in Cinderella II and III and I would've chosen singer Sandi Patty to play Cinderella because Sandi has a princess voice and could sing too. But I'm shocked that Jodi Benson and Linda Larkin still do the voices for Ariel and Jasmine but I can't figure out why Disney can't find good voice actresses to play Sleeping Beauty and Snow White? But they did an awesome job picking Anika Noni Rose to voice Tiana for The Princess And The Frog and Mandy Moore as Rapunzel in Tangled and we need more celebrity talent to voice Disney Princesses like Idina Menzel did for Elsa in Frozen

 

[BrianL]

Well, as you said, it really comes down to cost and availability. Things made for TV often don't have the budget of big theatrical releases. Also of course, some of the voice talent from older Princess movies passed away. They do usually try to be pretty consistent though and get the voice cast when possible. Tangled The Series for example had EVERY voice actor from the films reprising their roles. Even the non-princess Big Hero 6 got most of them. It just depends really.

 

[DodgerGirl]

What I can't figure out is why there hasn't been a great voice actress to provide Snow White's voice since the original actress that played Snow White passed away and when you look at voice actresses that have voiced Snow White in Disney cartoons none can compare to the original Snow White actress. But who I think Disney should consider to voice Belle in the future is singer Susan Boyle because whenever you hear Susan Boyle sing her voice sounds exactly like Paige O'Hara's and Susan Boyle would be a wonderful Belle. But I can't believe that Jodi Benson and Linda Larkin still are amazing as the voices of Ariel and Belle and I bet when Linda Larkin retires as Jasmine's voice I bet Liz Callaway will replace her as both the singing and speaking voice for Jasmine someday

 

[Karin1984]

We do not need celebrities to voice characters. They do not need the exposure, Disney hardly needs them to boost sales, there is plenty of talent around who are not famous but do amazing jobs. Being famous is not enough reason to be cast.

Disney doesn't want to pay celebrities for small stuff, only for theatrical releases. Tom Hanks doesn't do Woody's voice for most of the time. It's almost only in the Toy Story movies you hear Tom Hanks voice. For other things, like computer games, dolls etc. it's usually his brother who does the voicework. It's a lot of work to do all the small stuff, and celebrities have 'better' things to do.

Susan Boyle has an amazing voice, but she also sounds like a mature woman. I have the same problem why I do not like Idina Menzel for Elsa. I hear a 30-something's voice come out of a character's mouth who is in her early twenties. Idina and Elsa never matched for me.

 

[BrianL]

We do not need celebrities to voice characters. They do not need the exposure, Disney hardly needs them to boost sales, there is plenty of talent around who are not famous but do amazing jobs. Being famous is not enough reason to be cast.

Disney doesn't want to pay celebrities for small stuff, only for theatrical releases. Tom Hanks doesn't do Woody's voice for most of the time. It's almost only in the Toy Story movies you hear Tom Hanks voice. For other things, like computer games, dolls etc. it's usually his brother who does the voicework. It's a lot of work to do all the small stuff, and celebrities have 'better' things to do.

Yes, I agree, especially for TV work. One of the issues with the new DuckTales show was the all-star cast with David Tennant as Scrooge. What happened? Too many episodes without Scrooge even in them - surely because they didn't want to pay Tennant! I like when they cast true VOICE ACTORS and then they make that actor the voice for life! Mickey Mouse has only had three primary voice actors since the beginning (with some others stepping in ocassionally of==r for small projects like video games). That kind of consistency endears the characters to us more.