There are plenty of voice actors who can content for Mel Blanc’s title of the Man of a Thousand Voices. One of the best female examples is Tress MacNeille, who grew up on cartoons and knew from an early age that she wanted to be a voice actor. She got her first television role in Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo in 1979.
MacNeille’s vocal talents are so diverse that she often voices multiple characters in a show, which can be seen in examples like Futurama and The Simpsons. She usually plays silly characters but is more than capable of being serious when needed.
10 Hama – ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’
A water bender from the Southern Water Tribe, Hama was kidnapped alongside her fellow benders after months of brutal raids by the Fire Nation. She was subjugated to brutal torture and deprived of water except what she needed to survive. Eventually, Hama escaped captivity by learning how to manipulate people’s blood like puppets.
Hama is a chance for MacNeille to show how chilling she can be in a villainous role. She is the perfect representation of a predator: she wears the friendly face of an innkeeper while hiding the true extent of her cruelty. As an old woman, she has become even more spiteful, taking out her anger at her jailors on innocent civilians.
9 Gadget Hackwrench – ‘Chip and Dale: Rescue Ranges’
The daughter of an esteemed mouse inventor, Gadget Hackwrench inherited her father’s love for tinkering and creation. After meeting Chip, Dale (Corey Burton), Monterey Jack (Peter Cullen and Jim Cummings) and Zipper (Corey Burton), they form a team called the Rescue Rangers. She often creates gadgets and modes of transportation for the team.
Gadget’s love for inventing means she is always curious and eager to try new things. She has an adventurous spirit and will stand by her friends through thick and thin. Sometimes she can get too focused on her projects, however, which means she can misinterpret things at times.
8 Chip – ‘Disney’
One of Disney’s oldest animated duos is the friendly pair of chipmunks, Chip and Dale. They originated as foils for Mickey’s dog, Pluto, but became famous for their escapades with Donald Duck. Comparatively, Chip is the smarter, more level-headed one, while Dale is sillier and accident-prone.
MacNeille first voiced Chip in the late 80s and reached a wider audience in theChip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers show. Though her voice is altered to sound high-pitched, she does a great job capturing Chip’s no-nonsense attitude. She and Burton also have a natural flow between one another’s dialogue, which adds a level of charm to their portrayals.
7 Babs Bunny – ‘Tiny Toon Adventures’
At Acme Looniversity, young cartoon characters learn the tricks of the business from the classic Looney Tunes themselves. One of its most promising students is a pink rabbit named Babs. With her best friend and co-star, Buster (Charlie Adler and John Kassir), she gets up to all sorts of crazy hijinks inspired by the work of Bugs Bunny (Jeff Bergman and Greg Burson).
Babs loves to do impressions of others, which gives MacNeille a chance to show off her vocal range. She draws inspiration from Bob Clampett’s version of Bugs, who was more of a mischief-maker and instigator of trouble. Sometimes her impressions can get her into trouble with the faculty and her friends, but she means well in the end.
6 Grandma Gertie – ‘Hey Arnold’
A former librarian and police officer, Gertrude Shortman now operates a boarding house in Hillwood, Washington, with her husband, Phil (Dan Castellaneta), and her grandson, Arnold (Lane Toran, Phillip Van Dyke, and Spencer Klein). Age has not been the kindest to her mind, and she often has moments of senility. However, her body is as strong as ever.
Gertie is one of the best grandmother characters in any cartoon. Her cooky personality manifests in many ways, such as through diverse outfits, nicknames, and mixing up important holidays. Yet when needed, she can focus long enough to rally to an important cause and never forgets to remind Arnold how much she loves him.
5 Charlotte Pickles – ‘Rugrats’
The mother of Angelica (Cheryl Chase), Charlotte is the CEO of Mega Corp. As such, she sometimes has a hard time juggling her work and home life and is frequently on the phone with clients or her assistant, Jonathan (Rene Auberjonois and Dan Castellaneta). She was at first hesitant to spend her free time with her extended family and their friends, but over time came to appreciate the eclectic group.
Compared to her husband, Drew (Michael Bell), Charlotte is more stern when Angelica acts out, though she’s still prone to moments of doting on her. While she can come across as ruthless, she has a good side deep down and encourages her daughter to be strong and independent. MacNeille captures this well in her performance, which always has an edge that can be sharper or duller depending on the context.
4 Mom – ‘Futurama’
To the rest of the galaxy, Mom, the owner of MomCorp, is a sweet, dotting old woman who loves to service her customers in the most fair way possible. Behind closed doors, however, she is really a corporate tyrant always trying to gain more power and control. She also has a personal rivalry with Professor Hubert Farnsworth (Billy West) the founder of the Planet Express delivery company, due to a breakup.
Mom stands out as MacNeille’s best characters in Futurama. There’s something so terrifying and hilarious hearing her switch between a soft, tender voice and one more aggressive and abusive. Her cruelty manifests in many ways, from starting a robot uprising to take over Earth, to taking the only possession of Dr. Zoidberg (Billy West) in exchange for a way to save Farnsworth’s life.
3 Dot Warner – ‘Animaniacs’
For decades, Dot and her older brothers Yakko (Rob Paulsen) and Wakko (Jessie Harnell) were kept locked up in the Warner Bros. water tower until they escaped for good in the 90s. When attempts to contain them failed, the studio assigned them a psychiatrist, Dr. Scratchansniff (Rob Paulsen). This did little to stop the Warners, who regularly get up to wacky misadventures.
Compared to her siblings, Dot is the cute one with a mix of masculine and feminine interests and a sardonic wit. She prefers to use her cuteness to get her way, but if that doesn’t work, she isn’t above using unexpected violence ranging from mallets and bombs to dangerous pets. MacNeille’s voice work is amazing, capturing her cute innocence and deadpan snark perfectly.
2 Agnes Skinner – ‘The Simpsons’
One of the older residents of Springfield, Agnes Skinner lives with her son, Seymour (Harry Shearer). Their relationship is quite toxic, with Agnes acting overbearing and controlling over every aspect of Seymour’s life. She’s often physically and emotionally abusive when Seymour steps out of line, especially when she catches him speaking to other women.
Agnes’ interactions with other residents in Springfield aren’t much better, as she loves to spread hurtful gossip and make impossible demands from store clerks. As terrible as she is, her presence does give the show a level of dark humor. MacNeille does a great job of making her lines humorous despite how terrible they’d be in real life.
1 Daisy Duck – Disney (Various)
As the girlfriend of Donald Duck and best friend to Minnie Mouse, Daisy is one of Disney’s most prominent legacy characters. A fashionista at heart, she often tries to encourage Donald to indulge in her sophisticated interests. She also loves to talk and hang out with her friends, sometimes to their annoyance due to how extroverted she can be.
MacNeille took over voicing Daisy in 1999 and has gone on to be her most prominent voice actress. Her skill as a voice actress allows her to hit all the necessary notes for Daisy: kind, supportive, chatty, a little overbearing, and scatterbrained. This has helped to contribute to Daisy’s enduring popularity and increased her presence in modern Disney cartoons.
