John DiMaggio Improvises 11 New Cartoon Voices

Voice actor John DiMaggio tries his hand at improvising the voices of 11 random cartoon characters that he has never seen before.

Using a similar technique he used for Bender (Futurama), Jake the Dog (Adventure Time), and Marcus Fenix (Gears of War), John brings these characters to life.

Hey everybody, I'm John DiMaggio.You may know me as the voice of Bender,you know the lovablescamp from "Futurama",the dog from "Adventuretime" Jake,you know dude, come onman, you're totally math.And what I'm gonna do todayis improvise some charactersthat I've neverseen before[images whoosh]so, hmm, hope I get the gig.[air whooshes]All right,so looking at this mosquito andthe first thing I'm thinkingis the New Jersey state birdbecause I'm from New Jersey, originally.So he's definitely,definitely, definitely up here.You know he's got thathigh pitch sorta thing,maybe like a Pesci-esque sorta thingand yeah 'cause he's worriedand he wants to do, suckyour blood out and bleed.But maybe he don't butmaybe he's got a problemwith the hemoglobin, eek,then he doesn't really--He has a problem consuming blood.

[moans]But then again, I meangoing against the grainis always funny so you canmake him some sort of dumbkinda voice like this.[moans] and when he gets up [moans],you know he wants to sucksomebody's blood.

[moans]I mean, so you know butdefinitely, definitely up herein the nose.That's what I would do for that.[air whooshes]Okay, here you have a--Wow, I just noticed thathe's got crossed eyes.You know what's funny,when you do a characterwith certain sort ofthings, you tend to do itwhen you're doing it so I'mgonna try not to do that.But I would think thathe is some sort of guywho talks like this and you know.Or maybe because he seems like a vikingthat he would have a sortof a Scandinavian accent,you know.Arg, he likes the snowand he likes his mustacheand he likes his ax and boy,this wooden table on my backsure makes a great shield, huh?He could also have sortof a voice like thisbut anyway I'm out here in the snow.Like I tell you what,I love a smoked fish.Definitely not working with a full deck'cause of those crossed eyes.You can make him sound, youknow he's trying to be smarterthan he actually is buthe's not really that smart.So the faster you have him talk,the more you think he knowswhat he's talking aboutbut he doesn't knowwhat he's talking about.This guy looks like a devilthat is middle managementand he's always just angry at everybody.What is everybody doing?'Cause he's got no noseso you can't really hear.Ah, ah!I'll tell you what I need.Somebody get me somethingto wipe my glasses with.Ah!You know what, I wouldget the direction on this,if I'd booked this gig, Iwould get the direction,"John, start lower so youhave somewhere to go."'Cause I would constantlyjust be screaming,screaming, screaming.He'd start out like thisand then he'd go like thisand he'd get really angry and then ah!All right, you couldtry a nerdier version.I want everybody at thatmeeting at 9:30.

[growls]And you could totally add the adenoidaland then like a total demon snarl.Yeah, so any time he complains you know,"Hooves, how made thiscoffee in here?

[growls]"You know, I mean that could work.Oh, this guy is very cute.He seems like a very timid guy.Now, this is interestingbecause the first place I wentwith this voice, thistiger seems very timid.He almost is like, "I can'tbelieve how large I am"and yet, I'm a vegetarian."I really don't like killingother animals for food."He could even be sadder becauseI mean if you just tiny bitit could be just, it couldalmost be on the verge of tearsthe whole time that he talks.I just [mumbles].I had to eat this lone little pig.It was the worst thingI've ever done in my life.I can't believe it.I gotta go back to eating aplant-based diet.

[laughs]Ooh gee, ooh.I mean just his facealone just makes him--He just seems like he'sjust scared of everything.I mean I would woo.I mean I don't knowwhat it is about birds,they just seem very New Yorkish, woot.Look out.I know I'm not friendly here [moans].Ah, don't throw that there.I know, I know.No, I know, I know it'sbirdseed [chuckles].I know it's birdseed.I don't need any birdseed right now.I'm birdseed intolerant.Birds, for me, are alwaysjust so much higherunless they're birds of prey.This is not a bird of prey.A bird of prey can--You get an owl, like a night owl.This is not an owl.This guy's just scared of everything.Ooh, ah!Oh boy.Hi, ah.[air whooshes]So this,this is some old timey character design.Just the face alone.Ha, it's hi.Oh boy, I kinda--I mean I would literallygo somewhere in betweenlike a Mickey Mouse and a Goofy.You know because Mickey'sgot that high voiceand [chuckles] good oleGoofy's got that sort of thingbut I would make him alot more sophisticated.Every time I get excitedI sweat profusely,as you can see coming off my head.Wow!Dogs, they just always havethat look on their face.What do you want me to do?I don't know what to do.You want me to sit?Okay, I'll sit.Ah, hi, how are you?But you could make him a littlemore masculine than that.So he got it, too.Hi everybody.Almost sounds like my old manager.See, and this is the thing,I could do an impressionof my old manager right.His name is Barry Katz,man, he's unbelievable.He's managed so many comedians.John DiMaggio, you're on fire.I could make him sound likeBarry Katz if I wanted to.And that's the thing.You can do an impression of someone,change it just a little bit.And a bad impression isa good voice, actually.This guy does not give a [pop].He doesn't care.Look at that.Oh, I love his mole.Look at that thing on his forehead.That is growth city.Well, you know, the firstthing you gotta age him up,so you put him up there.He's got a cane so he'sgonna have a little troublewalking around but he's gota heavy as hell disposition.Boy, he's happy to be here.I'm happy to be alive all thistime, for crying out loud.I went to the barber's todayand they cut out my nose hairs.It was a good time.Oh boy, I like my guy Mario.Hey, I been with him for 62 years.He's as old as I am.Sometimes I trim outhis nose hairs.

[laughs]Ha ha, purple kitty cat.I mean, wow.I would just put him somewhere in here.Hi everybody, I love being a cat.Oh boy, does anybody haveany [pants] treats for me?Yeah, I'd put him up there.It's totally not in mywheelhouse, admittedly,and I don't get called infor characters like this.Here's an idea.This cat is around kids all the timeand is a real fun cat.Hi, I'm Purple Puss.That's me, I'm Purple Puss.Hey, everybody.Well, that's the end ofthe show for you guys.I'll see you later.And then like goes behind thecurtain and it's just like,Ah man, I tell ya, these kids.I can't take it anymore.I can't do it, I just can't do it.I can't do it.The one of 'em wiped a booger on me.I sit there and I dothe thing and it's no.There's too many boogers.Too many boogers and I'mnot getting paid enough.Okay, now this thing I'd have no ideawhat this guy soundslike but I tell you what,let me give it a shot.He's got some sort of thing.You can see that his mouth is quite wide.So maybe he's got some sort of a voicethat comes across as etherealand is grand.I would like to take you on my shipwhere I will probe you.

[laughs]The probing will continue on the ship.Don't worry, I have snacks.Weird.[air whooshes]Yeah.He looks like some kindof a big ole crazy biker,ha yeah, come on.I wanna give it to you like that.

[laughs]Yeah.He's gotta have a voice that kinda carriesover the sound of the bike, you know.Yeah, I'm one of thoseguys and he just [yells].And he, wow.Look at him, I'm quite huge suit.

[laughs]Look at me.I need a razor.

[laughs]I can't get a date 'cause myshoulders are hairy.

[laughs]Yeah, that's true.Women don't like that.Definitely go with something really loudand yeah, come on, yeah!I mean and if you wantedto you get a little--I mean this is himquiet, you know.

[laughs]Maybe my bike is idlingright now, [laughs]but when I'm riding, boy, oh yeah!I can feel the wind blowingthrough my shoulder hair.Gross.[John yells]Hey everybody.This is like a kind of guythat's got a loose mouthand he's got his tonguehanging out, and wee!He's just really excited.

[yells]And then, again, the cross eyes kinda seemlike he's a little dopier than mostbut the tongue hanging out especiallyand the mouth being that wide.[yells] Lotta cheeks, put alotta cheeks in it, you know.Bleh.There's sort of everything [yells].Try to put your tongue outevery time you say something.You could vary the pitch of it.You could not make himas dopey and you couldgive him sort of an impediment.Sort of like a lisp.Sort of this sort of thing,like kind of a Wallace Shawn sort of thingwhere he's, "Hey, wow, thisis really something.

[laughs]"And boy, I'm telling you.

[chuckles]"It's so great to seeyou, boy, I tell ya."So that's it for improvisingnew cartoon voices.I'm John DiMaggio.I hope you maybe learned something.I hope you at least enjoyed it.And good luck with tryingto improvise your own voicesand someday maybe I'llsee you in the studio.