The New Fozzy Bear

Did it ever screw you up as a kid when voices of cartoon characters would change up? Most recently this happens when you watch season one episodes of Family Guy [wiki], which feature a different actress doing Meg’s voice.

We were watching it today [Episode Wiki] and Stewie said the following: “Jim Henson had a wait and see attitude, and look what happened to him. Now we’ve got wrong-sounding Muppets.” A clip then plays, showing Kermit talking in a funky voice (obviously not his own). Then the Swedish Chef enters and starts talking to him in an American accent. This bit cracked me up and I wish I could find it on You Tube but in its place, there’s another Kermit on Family Guy clip below.

This reminded me of a couple other cartoons I used to watch where the voices for characters changed. The most noticeable for me was Bugs Bunny [wiki], after the passing of Mel Blanc. It was so weird to hear Bugs but not Bugs’ voice.

You get used to the new voices then you start associating episodes with the voice, “oh that one was with old so and so.” Although cartoons’ voices change less frequently than actors playing a child on a soap opera, it can still throw you off.