Frank Welker

Frank Welker in the recording studio

Frank Welker (b. 1946) is one of the most prolific cartoon voice actors of the last 30 years and played several leading roles on the Muppet Babies animated series: Baby Kermit, Baby Beaker, and (following the departure of Howie Mandel) Skeeter. Welker also voiced the animated, adult versions of Kermit and others in Little Muppet Monsters, and provided the voice of Kermit the Frog when he made a brief appearance on a Family Guy episode.

His first notable voice role was Freddy Jones on Scooby-Doo, a role he has reprised in most subsequent spin-offs and adaptations (he is also the current voice of Scooby-Doo himself as of 2002). His range extends to such varied characters as Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget, Slimer from The Real Ghostbusters, Megatron from The Transformers, Abu the Monkey in Disney's Aladdin, Hefty Smurf from The Smurfs, Curious George in the film and TV series of the same name, Dr. Claw and Brain on Inspector Gadget, and Santa's Little Helper (the dog) on The Simpsons.

Welker's ability to mimic animal noises is so uncanny that he's frequently used in live-action movies and TV shows. He voiced the monkey in Raiders of the Lost Ark, Darwin the dolphin on SeaQuest DSV, and the title role in Jim Henson Pictures' Buddy, as well as other animal sounds in Creature Shop films.

Since the death of his colleague Mel Blanc in 1989, Welker has performed Dino the Dinosaur in all Flintstones projects to use new audio for the character (the feature film The Flintstones being the most notable exception), and has portrayed Barney Rubble in most projects. He also occasionally voices Scooby-Doo in various direct-to-video and television productions, thus bringing his career full circle.

Henson Voice Credits

• Muppet Babies: Baby Kermit, Skeeter (Seasons 3-7), Baby Beaker, Kermit the Frog (looped dialogue, "The Incredible Shrinking Weirdo"), Bosko the Snowman, Irma, Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard, Polly the Parrot, additional voices, looping for clip actors (including Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, José Ferrer as Cyrano de Bergerac, The Incredible Hulk, Max Fleischer, Bela Lugosi, Edward G. Robinson, Darth Vader, Ed Wynn)
• Little Muppet Monsters: Kermit, Banananose Moldenado, Chicken Who Crossed the Road
• Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue: Baby Kermit, Slimer, Smurf
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze: Tokka, Rahzar
• The Indian in the Cupboard: Rat
• 101 Dalmatians: Newborn Puppy, Special Vocal Effects
• Buddy: Buddy vocals, Parrot
• George of the Jungle: Shep, The Tookie Tookie Bird, Little Monkey, Gorilla Sound Effects

External links

• Frank Welker interview in Animation World Magazine
• IMDb