10 People You Didn't Know Voiced Studio Ghibli Dubs

TV & Film

May 27

The stars line up to perform on Studio Ghibli dubs. It’s well known that Kirsten Dunst voiced the lead in Kiki Delivery Service, and that Liam Neeson played the mysterious Fujimoto in Ponyo. But there are other big names there that might surprise you.

10. Brittany Snow

Yes, Pitch Perfect’s Chloe was in a Ghibli movie. As expected from Snow there was a brief acapella interlude, but Country Roads was a switch up from the high energy medleys in Pitch Perfect. Snow plays the female lead Shizuku in Whisper of the Heart, a coming-of-age romance. But listen out for her best friend who is none other than Ashley Tisdale aka Sharpay from High School Musical.

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9. John DiMaggio

John Dimaggio as Bender — Image Source: GamesRadar

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, you’ll probably recognise at least one of the characters this iconic voice actor has made famous. Bender from Futurama, Disenchantment’s King Zog, Adventure Time’s Jake, Rico from Madagascar, Saul from Bolt, Dr Drakken in Kim Possible, the list is stupidly long. You can spot him in Ghibli’s environmentally themed Pom Poko as the club owner fox, Ryûtarô. This movie was one of Ghibli’s quirkiest, but the dub also contains Johnathon Taylor Thomas, (who voiced the young Simba in the OG Lion King), and the epic J.K Simmons so it’s worth a watch.

8. Cate Blanchett

Ponyo is packed with Hollywood A-listers. Most remember Liam Neeson and Matt Damon as Kôichi. But did you know that Ponyo’s mother, Gran Mamare, was Cate Blanchett? This was the actor’s first attempt at voice work, but she has gone on to do many more, including How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio.

7. Willem Dafoe

Another actor to play two roles in the Ghibli universe. Dafoe starred in an old classic (Tales from Earthsea) as Lord Cobb, the evil mage who tries to take over the fantasy world. (It’s also worth looking out for James Bond actor Timothy Dalton as Sparrowhawk.) Eighteen years later, Dafoe is back in a lighter part as the Noble Pelican in The Boy and the Heron. His role as a main character is often forgotten, as Tales from Earthsea was not a Hayao Miyazaki film, but instead directed by his son Gorō Miyazaki.

6. Anne Hathaway

The Cat Returns might be the most star-studded of all the Ghibli movies, with Tim Curry, Cary Elwes, Elliot Gould, Kirsten Bell, Judy Greer, Rene Auberjonois and Christine Sutherland making up the cast list. But the lead, Haru was none other than Anne "I Dreamed a Dream" Hathaway.

5. Mark Hamill

Okay, it’s not exactly a shocker that voice actor Mark Hamill has worked for Ghibli, but it might surprise to know just how many times he’s featured on their cast list. Recently he’s been added to the English dub of The Boy and the Heron as the Grand Uncle. But Hamill did some of his first voice work for the anime studio. Back in 1986, he voiced the bad guy, Muska in Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and 1984 he played the Mayor of Pejite in Nausicaӓ of the Valley of the Wind.

But Hamill was also one of Ghibli’s first hires as Laputa: Castle in the Sky was their first official film. Ghibli was not officially formed when Nausicaӓ of the Valley of the Wind was made, but it was the same team (Hayao Miyazaki) and is considered one of their works. The pair have a long and successful relationship.

4. Uma Thurman

The Kill Bill actress played Kushana, the antagonist of Nausicaӓ of the Valley of the Wind. Thurman only has two voice-acting credits on her entire IMDb profile, the other being an episode of American Dad. She put in a stunning performance behind the camera, and it’s worth catching this rare side of Thurman.

3. Gillian Anderson

Scully has worked with Ghibli on no less than three occasions, believe it or not. The first was back in 1997 as the savage wolf Goddess Moro, in the award-winning Princess Mononoke. The versatile actress switched it up when she took on a role in the Japanese war drama, From Up On Poppy Hill (Dr. Miki Hokuto). Not content with assisting the studio in film, Gillian Anderson partnered with Netflix on the series Ronja, the Robber's Daughter acting as narrator for the show. Do we think she’s done? Hopefully not.

2. Christian Bale

Christian Bale reportedly saw Spirited Away and went to Ghibli and asked for a part in one of their films. He expected a small cameo but was offered the title role in their next picture. Yes, that was Howl in Howl’s Moving Castle. Diana Wynne Jones's novel inspired the anime and stars Emily Mortimer, Lauren Bacall, and Billy Crystal.

But it didn’t end there.

Bale is back in The Boy and the Heron, playing Shoichi Maki, Mahito’s father. Incidentally, The Boy and the Heron is bringing together two Batmen (R-Pats and Bale) and a Joker (Mark Hamil).

1. Tom Holland

There were two dubs of the Ghibli classic The Secret World of Arriety. One for the US Market and another for the United Kingdom and Ireland. If you’ve been living in the United States, you’ve missed out on Tom Holland as Sho all these years. It also features Saoirse Ronan, Mark Strong, and Olivia Coleman. Track it down if you’ve never seen it.

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