Granted not all film actors do a bad job of doing cartoon voices for big budget animated films, people like Jack Black and Bill Hader did amazing jobs in my opinion. But when you have trained voice artists that have taken decades to perfect their craft, you have talents like Mr. Horvitz.
Richard Steven Horvitz is known for his work as the the title character Zim from the show Invader Zim. He was also the voice of the original Alpha 5 in all the Power Rangers series, as Raz in Psychonauts, Billy in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Daggett in The Angry Beavers and as Orthopox in the Destroy All Humans! series. He continues to provide the voice of Zim, albeit in mostly video games as the series was canceled in 2002.
He began voice acting in 1993, starting with voice of Alpha 5 on the live-action series Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. This is one of Richard's often-forgotten roles that he has performed. From here, he expanded into several other regular voice roles on such animated shows as The Angry Beavers (Daggett), Invader Zim (Zim), Kim Possible, Dave the Barbarian (Ned Frischman), Zatch Bell! (Kanchomé), and more recent shows like The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (Billy, Billy's dad), Ben 10 (Grey Matter), Squirrel Boy (Rodney), and Shorty McShorts' Shorts as Dudley.
He also played the main character Razputin in Psychonauts and Orthopox in Destroy All Humans!, Destroy All Humans! 2, and Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon, in a voice that closely resembles that of Zim (rather, what would happen if Zim adopted an English accent). He has voiced various NPCs in Everquest 2. He also does the voice of the Berserker Darklings in The Darkness. He also had a minor part as a grocer that Sophie buys potatoes from in Howl's Moving Castle. Observe his credit list here.In a behind-the-scenes style interview on the first Invader Zim DVD collection, when questioned about how hard it was to do Zim's voice (meaning all the screaming he did), he simply stated "Did I find doing the voice of Zim hard on my voice? How do I put this?...yes." He also claims his favorite line from the entire series is "You! Obey the fist!" from Career Day but his favorite exchange was in Rise of the Zitboy, where Zim angrily yells out "Why was there BACON IN THE SOAP?!"
See a sample of his work with this collection of clips from Invader Zim.
Selected Voice Credits:
| Angry Beavers, The (1997, Animated Series) | Daggett | |
| Otters | ||
| Ape Escape: On the Loose (2005, Video Game) | Child | |
| Spike | ||
| Ben 10 (2005, Animated Series) | Boy Nerdy Kid | |
| Grey Matter | ||
| Sublimino | ||
| Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix (2007, Animated TV Film) | Grey Matter | |
| Lepidopterran Alien | ||
| Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures (2006, Animated Series) | Scott | |
| Brütal Legend (2009, Video Game) | Jack the Lift-Op | |
| Kabbage Boy Guitarist | ||
| Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall (2009, Video Game) | Billy | |
| Chimp Channel, The (1999, Live Action Series) | Timmy Briar | |
| Crash of the Titans (2007, Video Game) | Koo-ala | |
| Dave the Barbarian (2004, Animated Series) | Ned Frischman | |
| Destroy All Humans! (2005, Video Game) | Crazy | |
| Orthopox | ||
| Destroy All Humans! 2 (2006, Video Game) | Orthopox-13 | |
| The Freak | ||
| Duel Masters (2004, Anime Series) | Fritz | |
| El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera (2007, Animated Series) | Dr. Chipolte Jr. / Diego | |
| Dr. Chipolte Sr. | ||
| EverQuest II (2004, Video Game) | Cog Burn | |
| Farmer Walcott | ||
| Gerbard the Snitch | ||
| Geredo | ||
| Guard Tanglor | ||
| Gubbo Chaley | ||
| Jubbs Tagglefoot | ||
| Ogobre | ||
| Shadowman | ||
| Skeleton | ||
| Snorgle Filthwallow | ||
| Turtle | ||
| Grim & Evil (2001, Animated Series) | Billy | |
| Harold, Billy's Dad | ||
| Monsters | ||
| Soap Opera Guy | ||
| Zombie | ||
| Howl's Moving Castle (2004, Anime Film) | (additional voices) | |
| Invader ZIM (2001, Animated Series) | Zim | |
| Johnny Bravo (1997, Animated Series) | Dr. Pencilneck | |
| Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil (2010, Animated Series) | Mouth | |
| Kim Possible (2002, Animated Series) | Aviarius | |
| King's Quest: Mask of Eternity (Video Game) | Ice Orc Foot Soldier | |
| Skeletons | ||
| Swamp Wisp | ||
| Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008, Video Game) | Enemy Soldiers | |
| Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993, Live Action Series) | Alpha 5 | |
| Monsters vs. Aliens (2009, Computer Animated Film) | (ADR group) | |
| Nicktoons: Globs of Doom (2008, Video Game) | Invader ZIM | |
| Osmosis Jones (2001, Live Action/Animated Film) | (additional voices) | |
| Pom Poko (1994, Anime Film) | (additional voices) | |
| Power Rangers: Lightspeed Rescue (2000, Live Action Series) | Smogger | |
| Power Rangers: Time Force (2001, Live-Action Series) | Mantamobile | |
| Power Rangers: Turbo (1997, Live-Action Series) | Alpha 5 | |
| Power Rangers: Zeo (1996, Live-Action Series) | Alpha 5 | |
| Prototype 2 (2012, Video Game) | (Voice) | |
| Psychonauts (2005, Video Game) | Raz | |
| Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time (2009, Video Game) | Battery Bot | |
| Pollyx | ||
| Zoni | ||
| Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction (2007, Video Game) | The Zoni | |
| Shaolin Soccer (2000, Live Action Film) | (additional voices) | |
| Team Gangster Leader | ||
| Shorty McShorts' Shorts (2006, Animated Series) | Dudley | |
| Guard | ||
| Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure (2011, Video Game) | Kaos | |
| Squirrel Boy (2006, Animated Series) | Rodney J. Squirrel | |
| Static Shock (2000, Animated Series) | Jimmy Osgood | |
| Zatch Bell! (2003, Anime Series) | Kanchome | |
| Zatch Bell!: Mamodo Fury (2005, Video Game) | Kanchome |
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