Tress MacNeille

Tress MacNeille

MacNeille in 2007
Born (1951-06-20) June 20, 1951
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation Voice actress, DJ
Years active 1979–present

Tress MacNeille (born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress and former DJ. She is best known for providing the voices of Dot, Daisy Duck, Chip, Gadget Hackwrench, Wilma Flintstone, Mom, Agnes Skinner, Dolph Starbeam, Babs Bunny, and various other characters on other animated television series such as The Simpsons, Futurama, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Disney's House of Mouse, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, SWAT Kats, Rugrats, and Dave the Barbarian.

Early life

MacNeille was born in Chicago, Illinois. She loved cartoons as a child and wanted to be a voice actress from the age of eight, but instead chose a "practical" career, feeling she would never be able to realize her ambition. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and attended broadcasting school, becoming a disc jockey.[1]

Career

MacNeille worked in a variety of jobs and had numerous minor voice-over roles before becoming a regular on an animated TV show. In her words, "I'd been doing radio spots, some TV, demos, sound-alikes, industrial narrations -- anything that came my way for about two years."[1] She was also a member of the improvisational comedy group The Groundlings for ten years.[2] MacNeille took acting workshops and worked as a casting assistant for voice acting talent agent Bob Lloyd in what she calls "The University of Voice-over." Lloyd and fellow agent Rita Vennari got MacNeille her first role on an animated show: a part in a 1979 episode of Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo.[1]

She sang and appeared in the music video (as Lucille Ball) for "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Ricky" (1983), which was based on the I Love Lucy television show and parodied the song "Mickey" by Toni Basil.[2] MacNeille also appeared on Yankovic's 1999 album Running with Scissors, on the tracks "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi" and "Jerry Springer."

MacNeille was cast as Babs Bunny in Tiny Toon Adventures (1990–1995). Writer Paul Dini said that MacNeille was good for the role because she could do both Babs' voice and the voices of her impressions.[3] MacNeille commented: "The best part of doing Babs is that she's a mimic, like me ... In the show I do Babs doing Billie Burke, Hepburn, Bette Davis, Madonna and Cher. I even have her doing Jessica Rabbit, which is one rabbit imitating another."[2] The success of Tiny Toon Adventures led to the series Animaniacs. MacNeille was brought in to voice Dot Warner, one of the show's three main characters, because Dot's character was very similar to Babs Bunny.[4] Andrea Romano, the voice director and caster for Animaniacs, said that the casters had "no trouble" choosing the role of Dot: "Tress MacNeille was just hilarious (...) And yet [she had] that edge."[5] MacNeille was nominated for an Annie Award for her performance on the show in 1995.[6]

She has provided voices for numerous films, television shows, video games and commercials, garnering over 200 credits.[1] MacNeille says: "The characters that I do all come from people in my own life -- as well as the material I've stolen from my friends!"[1] Her TV roles include characters on The Simpsons, where she voices Agnes Skinner, Brandine Spuckler and Lindsey Naegle, and Futurama, in which her main role is the character Mom.[1] MacNeille has provided voices on many other television shows and cartoons such as Rugrats (as Charlotte Pickles), Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (as Chip and Gadget),[1] Histeria, Hey Arnold, as well as dubbing work on English language anime translations.

She is the current voice of Daisy Duck and Wilma Flintstone.[1] MacNeille also appeared as an angry anchorwoman in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and served as the voice of Elvira's great-aunt Morgana Talbot. She provided voice acting for the 2003 Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner short feature The Whizzard of Ow.

Characters voiced by Tress MacNeille

Voices on The Simpsons

Voices on Futurama

Warner Bros. character roles

Disney character roles

Other roles

Video games

Year Video Game Voice Notes
1993 Rise of the Dragon Karyn Sommers
1995 Full Throttle Suzi, Leader of the Vultures
1996 Toonstruck Fluffy Fluffy Bun Bun, Ms. Fortune, Marge, 'Mistress' Marge, Bouncer, Chipper, Sparky, Sam Shmaltz's secretary
1996 Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster and the Beanstalk Babs Bunny
1997 The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield Additional Voices
1997 Fallout Jain
1997 Animaniacs Game Pack Dot Warner
1997 ClayFighter 63⅓ Taffy, Lady Liberty, High Five
1998 Tiny Toon Adventures: The Great Beanstalk Babs Bunny
1999 Animaniacs Splat Ball Dot Warner
2000 Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour Chip, Polly Roger, Otto Plugnut
2000 Tigger's Honey Hunt Kanga
2000 Mickey's Speedway USA Daisy Duck
2000 Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers Daisy Duck
Unreleased Tiny Toon Adventures: Defenders of the Universe Babs Bunny
2002 Kingdom Hearts Daisy Duck, Queen of Hearts
2003 Futurama Mom/Linda
2003 The Simpsons: Hit & Run Agnes Skinner/Others
2005 Winnie the Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure Kanga
2005 Animaniacs: The Great Edgar Hunt Dot Warner/Mary Hartless
2005 Kingdom Hearts II Daisy Duck, Chip, Merryweather, Kanga, Shenzi
2007 Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ Daisy Duck, Chip, Kanga, Merryweather
2007 The Simpsons Game Dolph
2007 Bee Movie Game Jeanette Chung
2010 Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Chip, Merryweather
(2010) Kingdom Hearts Re:coded Chip
2010 Epic Mickey Daisy Duck
2011 Kinect Disneyland Adventures Daisy Duck, Chip
2012 Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two Daisy Duck
2013 Disney Magic Castle: My Happy Life Daisy Duck, Chip
2014 - Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix Daisy Duck, Chip, Merryweather, Kanga, Queen of Hearts

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Uribes, Alexis (2008-12-18). "Nancy Cartwright Chats with Tress MacNeille". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  2. 1 2 3 Meisler, Andy (July 8, 1990). "Television; Steven Spielberg Promises: 'Th-Th-That's Not All, Folks'". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  3. ↑ Miller, Bob (1990). "NEW TOONS ON THE BLOCK: They're attending Acme Looniversity & hoping to graduate as classic cartoon characters". Comic Scene (15). pp. 33–39, 68.
  4. ↑ Ross, Curtis (1996-01-19). "It's time for Animaniacs! - The Kids' WB network cartoon has gained a huge adult following and several Internet sites, with its zany stories, hip references and irreverent attitude.". The Tampa Tribune. p. 18.
  5. ↑ Maurice LaMarche et al. (2006). Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs: Volume 1. Special Features: Animaniacs Live! (DVD). Warner Home Video.
  6. ↑ Legacy: 23rd Annual Annie Award Nominees and Winners (1995), Annie Award Database, retrieved 2007-05-19
  7. ↑ The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age SmackDown! Closing Credits
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