The voice of Thurl Ravenscroft can be heard in the Haunted Mansion as Uncle Theodore...the lead vocal of the Grim Grinning Ghosts quintet in the graveyard scene and can also be heard singing the "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" song in the Cat In The Hat area of the parking garage.
Of course, Thurl Ravenscroft might be even better recognized as the voice of "Tony the Tiger" in the cereal commercials ("They're grrrrrrr-eat!).
I think a lot of people would be surprised at the sheer number of character voices in the 40's and 50's that were created by just a small handful of actors. Mel Blanc was probably the most prolific (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Sylvester, Pepe LePew, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin Martian...in fact, practically every Looney Tunes character except Elmer Fudd, who was voiced by Arthur Q. Bryan). Daws Butler (Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound) and Paul Frees (Ludwig Von Drake, Boris Badenov, Burgermeister Meisterburger and the Pillsbury Doughboy!) can be heard in countless cartoons. On the female side, the most prolific was June Foray (Witch Hazel, Granny, and other Looney Tunes characters along with Rocky, Natasha and Nell over at Jay Ward Productions) and Bea Benaderet who was not only a fine voice actor but a very funny comic actress as well (Cousin Pearl on the Beverly Hillbillies and Kate Bradley on Petticoat Junction). Sadly, all but Miss Foray have passed on but as long as there are classic cartoons their voices will live on.
Disney's Haunted Mansion soundtrack cd has a track that features a short, but fascinating, clip from Paul Frees' Ghost Host recording session that gives some great insight into how character voices come into being and what it takes to get the performances that we hear just right.
Today, it's still a handful of actors voicing the majority of cartoon characters. Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor do a lot of the Disney character voices and Dan Castellaneta, Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria keep busy just doing 90% of the characters on the Simpsons. Take a look at the credits at the end of modern cartoons or films featuring talking animals and you'll probably find the names of Pamela Hayden, Rob Paulson, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche or Maggie Roswell.
Sorry to bore you with all those details but I really love this kind of stuff.
