10 Animated Characters You Might Not Know Were Voiced By Tim Curry

Fans everywhere are mourning the loss of beloved actor Tim Curry, following his death on August 25, 2026, at the age of 80. Many of the tributes for Curry have focused on his live action work, including his iconic turn as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult-classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and his memorable appearance as the suspicious Hotel Concierge in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York.

However, Curry also had a prolific career in voice acting, and in the days since his death, some fans have been surprised to realise just how widespread this part of his career was. Let's take a look at a few animated characters you might not know were voiced by Tim Curry.

1. MAL (Captain Planet and the Planeteers)

Eco-warrior animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers had a surprisingly star-studded voice cast, especially in it's first season. This included Whoopi Goldberg as the Earth spirit, Gaia, Jeff Goldblum as the rat-like Verminous Skumm, and Meg Ryan as mad scientist Dr. Blight.

Between 1991 and 1996, Tim Curry voices MAL, an A.I programmed to be Blight's husband and serve all her needs. He acts as the main power source for items she needs in her nefarious plans.

2. Taurus Bulba (Darkwing Duck)

In 1991, Curry voiced evil St. Canard crime lord Taurus Bulba in 'Darkly Dawns The Duck' the two-part pilot episode of the beloved Disney animated series Darkwing Duck. Bulba viciously pursues young Gosalyn Waddlemeyer, falsely believing she holds the codes to activate her late Grandfather Professor Waddlemeyer's invention, the Waddlemeyer Ramrod, forcing Darkwing Duck to reluctantly take Gosalyn under his protection. Darkwing ultimately defeats Taurus Bulba and adopts the orphaned Gosalyn, setting up one of the core character dynamics of the series.

Bulba returns in a later episode as the Steerminator, a revived cyborg copy of himself. Gosalyn must overcome her past trauma to help Darkwing defeat him.

Taurus Bulba only appears in three episodes out of Darkwing Duck's 65, yet Curry's performance made the character just as iconic and memorable as the other more commonly recurring villains.

3. Hexxus (FernGully: The Last Rainforest)

The 1992 animated film FernGully: The Last Rainforest, tells the story of Crysta, a young fairy apprentice who must save her Rainforest home from Hexxus, a spirit of pollution and destruction, after human loggers inadvertently free him from the tree in which he had been trapped. Tim Curry provided the voice of Hexxus.

FernGully was only a modest box office success upon it's release, but has become something of a cult hit in the years since, still screened in schools as a cautionary tale on pollution. It's cult status has been largely attributed to Curry's performance as Hexxus. Whoever is cast in the reported live action adaptation will have big shoes to fill.

4. Zimbo ('Aaahh! Real Monsters')

Created by Klasky-Csupo, the same studio as the iconic Rugrats, and aired under the Nicktoons banner, Aaahh! Real Monsters Followed a group of monster schoolchildren as they learn the art of scaring. Curry, in the first of many roles for Nickelodeon, voiced Zimbo, the annoying assistant of school Principal The Gromble.

While perhaps the lesser known among Curry's Nickelodeon roles, Aaahh! Real Monsters did make it into the actor's memoir, Vagabond, released just last year. Curry stated that he, Charlie Adler, who voiced Ickis, and Gregg Berger, the voice of The Gromble, often had each other in hysterics in the recording booth.

5. Rex Pester ('The Rugrats Movie')

The closest The Rugrats Movie gets to having a villain is the hungry wolf tracking the babies through the forest for most of the film. However, while not a full-blown villain, the adult characters do have an antagonistic presence in the form of Rex Pester, an overzealous news reporter eager to spin the Pickles family's misfortune into his own awards fodder.

Tim Curry was the voice of Rex Pester. Curry actually appeared in all three Rugrats films, playing a singing sumo wrestler in Rugrats in Paris, and, of course, Sir Nigel Thornberry in The Wild Thornberrys crossover movie Rugrats Go Wild.

6. Sir Nigel Thornberrry

1996 saw the debut of The Wild Thornberrys, Klasky-Csupo's third major project for Nickelodeon. The series follows Eliza Thornberry, a girl with the ability to speak to animals, as she travels the world with her family filming her Father's popular wildlife documentary series, 'Nigel Thornberry's Animal World'.

Tim Curry voiced Nigel Thornberry in all five seasons of The Wild Thornberrys, and the two films in which the character appears. Nigel receives a Knighthood in the two-part episode 'Sir Nigel', with the title of Nigel's show then altered to reflect his new title.

Eccentric but deeply devoted to his Wife and children, Nigel is sometimes led to question whether life on the road is really what's best for his family, especially in The Wild Thornberrys Movie, when Eliza's tendency to place herself in danger leads to her being temporarily sent away to a British boarding school.

Rugrats Go Wild places The Wild Thornberrys in the same universe as Rugrats, as both Tommy Pickles and Grandpa Lou are fans of Nigel's show, which prompts Tommy's decision to venture into the 'Drainforest' in search of Nigel's help when the Rugrats and their families become stranded on a deserted island. By a very convenient twist of fate, Nigel and the Thornberrys were in fact filming on this same Island.

Nigel Thornberry saw a surprise surge in popularity in recent years as the character became a figure in meme culture. Despite this resurgence, many fans are still surprised to learn Curry is the voice behind Nigel.

7. Forte ('Beauty and The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas')

From the mid 90s through to the late 2000s, Disney released a number of Direct-to-Video sequels to their most popular animated classics. While these sequels varied in quality, one common aspect of them was that they would often attempt to rope in at least one big star to join the voice cast and boost the film's credibility. For Beauty and The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, that star was Tim Curry.

Curry voiced the film's villain, Forte, an enchanted pipe organ who enjoys his increased importance in The Beast's life following the curse placed upon the castle, and resists Belle's attempts to increase The Beast's happiness for fear the curse will break. Curry's performance, and villain song, 'Don't Fall In Love', have long been among the best reviewed parts of the film.

8. The Cat King ('The Cat Returns')

When the minor character Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, a handsome, heroic cat, became a surprise breakout character of the Studio Ghibli film Whispers of the Heart, Ghibli developed a spin of film, The Cat Returns, around him. The film follows Baron's efforts to help Haru, a girl partially transformed into a cat, to gain the self-confidence needed to halt her transformation before The Cat King traps her in the Cat King traps her in the Cat Kingdom forever.

Tim Curry voiced the lazy but devious Cat King in Disney's English dub of The Cat Returns, part of a star-studded English voice cast including Cary Elwes as Baron, and Anne Hathaway as Haru.

9. Professor Finbarr Calamitous ('The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius')

As Nickelodeon series The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius went on, it was eventually decided that Jimmy would need a new nemesis to account for the fact that Jimmy's relationship with Cindy Vortex had evolved to a more 'frenemies' vibe. Enter Professor Finbarr Calamitous, voiced by Tim Curry.

Calamitous is a rare genius mind that can rival Jimmy's own, but his genius is hampered by his unfortunate ability to never finish anything he starts. Despite ultimately appearing in just six episodes of the series, Professor Calamitous is still considered one of Jimmy's most memorable enemies, largely due to Curry's performance.

10. Chancellor Palpatine/Darth Sidious ('Star Wars: The Clone Wars'

When original voice actor Ian Abercrombie passed away part way through the run of the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, producers were forced to search for a quick replacement. It wasn't an easy job.. whoever was chosen would have to swing between the affable, seemingly sweet nature of Chancellor Palpatine and the evil of his alter ego Darth Sidious.

Tim Curry was eventually chosen, voicing the character in Seasons five and six of Clone Wars. While some fans missed Abercrombie's Palpatine, many preferred Curry's take on Sidious.

Rest in Peace, Tim Curry. You will live on through your many beloved characters.