I'm sorry to announce that Russi Taylor, the official voice of Minnie Mouse for more than 30 years, passed away this last Friday at the age of 75.

Besides Minnie, Russi also had voice roles on DuckTales (Huey, Dewey, Louie and Webby), The Simpsons (Martin Prince, Sherri and Terri), Muppet Babies (Gonzo) and the Cinderella DTV sequels (Fairy Godmother and Drizella). She was named a Disney Legend in 2008.

It should be noted that her late husband, Wayne Allwine, was also the voice of Mickey Mouse.

I was quite heartbroken after hearing about the news yesterday and after over decade after Wayne passed. It was very shocking as she seemed as busy as ever doing Minnie and other characters (including the up-coming Mickey and Minnie ride at Hollywood Studios). She has done Minnie for so long, it's hard to imagine someone else to take over the role. She will be deeply missed.

I'm worried. Now that Taylor's gone, what's going to happen to Minnie (and nearly all of Taylor's The Simpsons characters)? They're still very popular (Minnie more so), so who will Disney and Fox hire to replace Taylor? I'd hate to imagine Minnie sounding like a female counterpart to Chris Diamantopoulos' Mickey (i.e. sounding almost nothing like the character's most well-known voice[s]).

She will be missed...

I was surprised and saddened to see this in the news just now. What a talent to lose.

The last time I heard Russi Taylor's voice was as Minnie singing the title song in the latest Mickey Mouse cartoon. It's a real showcase of her skills:

I'm worried. Now that Taylor's gone, what's going to happen to Minnie (and nearly all of Taylor's The Simpsons characters)? They're still very popular (Minnie more so), so who will Disney and Fox hire to replace Taylor? I'd hate to imagine Minnie sounding like a female counterpart to Chris Diamantopoulos' Mickey (i.e. sounding almost nothing like the character's most well-known voice[s]).

She will be missed...

You do know that they also have Brett Irwin as Mickey and his Mickey sounds virtually identical to Wayne's Mickey. Just wish they do a big project with Brett like adaptations of recent overseas comic stories or graphic novels (such as the recent ones based on classic literature).

You do know that they also have Brett Irwin as Mickey and his Mickey sounds virtually identical to Wayne's Mickey. Just wish they do a big project with Brett like adaptations of recent overseas comic stories or graphic novels (such as the recent ones based on classic literature).

Yes, that I'm aware of. (It's a shame that Disney's pushing the 2010s shorts more and more as time goes on; Iwan's Mickey sounds exactly like Allwine's (as you pointed out), whereas Diamantopoulos sounds like (to quote a friend of mine) a drunk man doing a poor imitation of Mickey's voice - heck, even I can do a better facsimile of Walt's Mickey voice than that!)

I'm worried. Now that Taylor's gone, what's going to happen to Minnie (and nearly all of Taylor's The Simpsons characters)? They're still very popular (Minnie more so), so who will Disney and Fox hire to replace Taylor?.

I think Grey DeLisle is doing a really good job as Martin Prince. You'd almost think that Russi Taylor hadn't died. (No disrespect meant.)

Iwan's Mickey sounds exactly like Allwine's (as you pointed out), whereas Diamantopoulos sounds like (to quote a friend of mine) a drunk man doing a poor imitation of Mickey's voice - heck, even I can do a better facsimile of Walt's Mickey voice than that!

Here's Chris Diamantopoulos being put to good use:



P.S. Does anyone know why Chris Diamantopoulos is (mostly) doing the voice of Darkwing Duck in the new Ducktales series? There can't be any bad blood between Jim Cummings and Disney. Disney has been keeping him busy voicing Pete in the Disney Junior series featuring the classic Disney characters and in the Flash-animated Mickey Mouse shorts. It sounded like he did the voices of the Big Bad Wolf and the Beanstalk Giant in the Disney Junior series Goldie and Bear, which is now off the air. And he did reprise his role as another Darkwing Duck character in the new Ducktales series. (But I'm not saying what character because I don't want to spoil the surprise.)

While the four-post "off-topic" limit hasn't been reached, this was still a bump of an obituary thread, which could confuse some members. I'd suggest moving discussion of Diamantopoulos to another thread.

---