Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#38
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Frank Welker represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 54 years in, and Frank is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Frank Welker appears in 137 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Frank. The Lion King is the clearest case: a film rated 8.5 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for comedy, fantasy, family. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Dan Abraham, Cecilia Aranovich, Audie Harrison and others, Frank Welker helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
The Lion King (1994) as Lions Roars (voice) (uncredited) · Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2013) as Mayor Stevenson / Weather Man (voice) · Toy Story 3 (2010) as Bullseye / Buster / The Monkey / Pigeon (voice) (uncredited)
Career snapshot
Ranked #38 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
137
1969–2023
Career length
54 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.5
The Lion King
Average Nutevio score
6.9
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.3
Once Upon a Studio
Most frequent director
Ethan Spaulding
4 films together
Longest collaboration
4×
With Ethan Spaulding
Most common genre
Family
104 titles
Average runtime
1h 28m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.2
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
7.2
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2010s
7.2 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island, Curious George: Royal Monkey, The Little Mermaid Live! — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
7.2
Across 37 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
7.2
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1960s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.
Most productive era
1990s
37 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1960s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.21 film | — | 7.35 films | 6.21 film | — | 7.71 film |
| Action | — | 6.94 films | 6.110 films | 6.79 films | 6.98 films | 7.61 film |
| Thriller | — | 6.72 films | 5.53 films | — | — | — |
| Comedy | 6.21 film | 6.86 films | 6.416 films | 6.729 films | 7.329 films | 7.08 films |
| Crime | — | 7.32 films | 5.51 film | 5.82 films | — | — |
| Romance | — | — | 6.97 films | 5.41 film | 7.11 film | — |
| Horror | — | 7.03 films | 6.07 films | 6.01 film | 7.01 film | 7.81 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1969The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Henry.
Highest rated performance
1994The Lion King
8.5 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Career peak
2019Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
2023Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too!
The current state of the argument, as Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones (voice).
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
137 of 137 films
as Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones (voice)
Directed by Cecilia Aranovich
as Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones (voice)
Directed by Maxwell Atoms
as Scooby-Doo / Fred (voice)
Directed by Matt Peters
as Fred / Scooby Doo (voice)
Directed by Ethan Spaulding
as Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones / Self
Directed by Jonathan Stern
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones (voice)
Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost (2019)
Performance score8.4
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones (voice) gives Frank Welker a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones (voice)
Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! (2020)
Performance score8.3
Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Scooby-Doo / Fred (voice)
Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown (2017)
Performance score8.3
Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Scooby-Doo / Fred (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Fred / Scooby Doo (voice)
Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare (2010)
Performance score8.3
Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Fred / Scooby Doo (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones (voice)
Start here. Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost is the clearest statement of what Frank Welker does — accessible, 82 minutes, and rated 7.9 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Frank at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare (2010)
Keeps the mystery register of Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost but asks for a colder reading of it.
Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown (2017)
Keeps the mystery register of Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare but asks for a colder reading of it.
Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! (2020)
Keeps the mystery register of Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown but asks for a colder reading of it.
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now! (2021)
Keeps the mystery register of Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo! but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Ethan Spaulding
Director
4 films together
Notably Scooby-Doo! Camp Scare
John Musker
Director
3 films together
Notably Aladdin
Joe Dante
Director
3 films together
Notably Gremlins
Joe Sichta
Director
3 films together
Notably Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King
Tim Burton
Director
3 films together
Notably Frankenweenie
Jay Oliva
Director
3 films together
Notably Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
Michael Bay
Director
3 films together
Notably Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Tony Cervone
Director
3 films together
Notably Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-Doo
Doug Murphy
Director
3 films together
Notably Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet Ghost
Cecilia Aranovich
Director
3 films together
Notably Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost
Mike Gabriel
Director
2 films together
Notably Pocahontas
Joe Johnston
Director
2 films together
Notably Jumanji
Kirk Wise
Director
2 films together
Notably Beauty and the Beast
Kevin Lima
Director
2 films together
Notably Tarzan
Bradley Raymond
Director
2 films together
Notably Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World
Toby Shelton
Director
2 films together
Notably The Return of Jafar
John A. Davis
Director
2 films together
Notably Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
Paul McEvoy
Director
2 films together
Notably Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster Madness
Robert Butler
Director
1 film together
Notably The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together
Notably Raiders of the Lost Ark
Tobe Hooper
Director
1 film together
Notably Poltergeist
Leonard Nimoy
Director
1 film together
Notably Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Lewis Teague
Director
1 film together
Notably Cat's Eye
Harry Winer
Director
1 film together
Notably SpaceCamp
Michael Ritchie
Director
1 film together
Notably The Golden Child
Nelson Shin
Director
1 film together
Notably The Transformers: The Movie
Don Bluth
Director
1 film together
Notably The Land Before Time
Robert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together
Notably Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Ray Patterson
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant Werewolf
George Scribner
Director
1 film together
Notably Oliver & Company
Ron Underwood
Director
1 film together
Notably Tremors
Michael Pressman
Director
1 film together
Notably Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
Michael Lehmann
Director
1 film together
Notably Hudson Hawk
Peter Hewitt
Director
1 film together
Notably Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
Rob Minkoff
Director
1 film together
Notably The Lion King
Donald Petrie
Director
1 film together
Notably Ri¢hie Ri¢h
Roland Emmerich
Director
1 film together
Notably Stargate
John Pasquin
Director
1 film together
Notably The Santa Clause
Rachel Talalay
Director
1 film together
Notably Tank Girl
Paul W. S. Anderson
Director
1 film together
Notably Mortal Kombat
Simon Wells
Director
1 film together
Notably Balto
Roger Donaldson
Director
1 film together
Notably Species
John Frankenheimer
Director
1 film together
Notably The Island of Dr. Moreau
Joe Pytka
Director
1 film together
Notably Space Jam
Tad Stones
Director
1 film together
Notably Aladdin and the King of Thieves
Gore Verbinski
Director
1 film together
Notably MouseHunt
Mark Dindal
Director
1 film together
Notably Cats Don't Dance
Luis Llosa
Director
1 film together
Notably Anaconda
Tony Bancroft
Director
1 film together
Notably Mulan
John Lasseter
Director
1 film together
Notably Toy Story 2
Renny Harlin
Director
1 film together
Notably Deep Blue Sea
Bibo Bergeron
Director
1 film together
Notably The Road to El Dorado
Ron Howard
Director
1 film together
Notably How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Andrew Adamson
Director
1 film together
Notably Shrek
Raja Gosnell
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo
Craig McCracken
Director
1 film together
Notably The Powerpuff Girls Movie
Steve Loter
Director
1 film together
Notably Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time
Bo Welch
Director
1 film together
Notably The Cat in the Hat
Bobs Gannaway
Director
1 film together
Notably Stitch! The Movie
Tim Johnson
Director
1 film together
Notably Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
Lynne Southerland
Director
1 film together
Notably Mulan II
Scott Jeralds
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness Monster
Tim Maltby
Director
1 film together
Notably Aloha Scooby-Doo!
Matthew O'Callaghan
Director
1 film together
Notably Curious George
Chuck Sheetz
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!
Tom Warburton
Director
1 film together
Notably Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation Z.E.R.O.
Christopher Berkeley
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai Sword
Carlos Saldanha
Director
1 film together
Notably Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Mike Mitchell
Director
1 film together
Notably Shrek Forever After
Lee Unkrich
Director
1 film together
Notably Toy Story 3
Robert Rodriguez
Director
1 film together
Notably Spy Kids: All the Time in the World
David Block
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire
Heather A. Maxwell
Director
1 film together
Notably Big Top Scooby-Doo!
Tarsem Singh
Director
1 film together
Notably Mirror Mirror
Michael Goguen
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon
Eric Darnell
Director
1 film together
Notably Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
Victor Cook
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! Stage Fright
Brandon Vietti
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania Mystery
Chris Williams
Director
1 film together
Notably Big Hero 6
Tim Divar
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon
Rick Morales
Director
1 film together
Notably LEGO Scooby-Doo! Haunted Hollywood
Kelly Asbury
Director
1 film together
Notably Smurfs: The Lost Village
Matt Peters
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown
Jake Castorena
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Guy Ritchie
Director
1 film together
Notably Aladdin
Maxwell Atoms
Director
1 film together
Notably Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo!
Jonathan Stern
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!
Jeff Gordon
Director
1 film together
Notably Mickey's Tale of Two Witches
Melchior Zwyer
Director
1 film together
Notably Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob
Francisco Ruiz Velasco
Director
1 film together
Notably Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans
Tim Story
Director
1 film together
Notably Tom & Jerry
Audie Harrison
Director
1 film together
Notably Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!
Dan Abraham
Director
1 film together
Notably Once Upon a Studio
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Ethan Spaulding
Director
4 films together · 7.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 4 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! Camp ScareJay Oliva
Director
3 films together · 7.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Batman: The Dark Knight ReturnsCecilia Aranovich
Director
3 films together · 7.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th GhostJoe Sichta
Director
3 films together · 7.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin KingJohn Musker
Director
3 films together · 7.4 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
AladdinTony Cervone
Director
3 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! Abracadabra-DooDoug Murphy
Director
3 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! and the Gourmet GhostTim Burton
Director
3 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
FrankenweenieJoe Dante
Director
3 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
GremlinsMichael Bay
Director
3 films together · 6.1 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 3 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Transformers: Revenge of the FallenPaul McEvoy
Director
2 films together · 7.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! Moon Monster MadnessKirk Wise
Director
2 films together · 7.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Beauty and the BeastKevin Lima
Director
2 films together · 7.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
TarzanJoe Johnston
Director
2 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
JumanjiMike Gabriel
Director
2 films together · 6.8 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
PocahontasToby Shelton
Director
2 films together · 6.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Return of JafarJohn A. Davis
Director
2 films together · 5.9 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Jimmy Neutron: Boy GeniusBradley Raymond
Director
2 films together · 5.6 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New WorldRob Minkoff
Director
1 film together · 8.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Lion KingLee Unkrich
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Toy Story 3Steven Spielberg
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Raiders of the Lost ArkChris Williams
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Big Hero 6Tom Warburton
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Codename: Kids Next Door: Operation Z.E.R.O.Andrew Adamson
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
ShrekTony Bancroft
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MulanMaxwell Atoms
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Happy Halloween, Scooby-Doo!Matt Peters
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's ShowdownJohn Lasseter
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Toy Story 2Dan Abraham
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Once Upon a StudioJonathan Stern
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You Now!Michael Goguen
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue FalconHeather A. Maxwell
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Big Top Scooby-Doo!David Block
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! Music of the VampireChristopher Berkeley
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! and the Samurai SwordFrancisco Ruiz Velasco
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Trollhunters: Rise of the TitansMelchior Zwyer
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the ScoobTim Divar
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed DemonVictor Cook
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! Stage FrightRobert Zemeckis
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Who Framed Roger RabbitChuck Sheetz
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!Rick Morales
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LEGO Scooby-Doo! Haunted HollywoodBrandon Vietti
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! WrestleMania MysteryScott Jeralds
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! and the Loch Ness MonsterBibo Bergeron
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Road to El DoradoJake Castorena
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the BoldSimon Wells
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BaltoGuy Ritchie
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AladdinTim Maltby
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Aloha Scooby-Doo!Tim Johnson
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven SeasRoland Emmerich
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
StargateDon Bluth
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Land Before TimeTobe Hooper
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
PoltergeistAudie Harrison
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!Jeff Gordon
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mickey's Tale of Two WitchesRon Underwood
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
TremorsRay Patterson
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-Doo! and the Reluctant WerewolfNelson Shin
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Transformers: The MovieTim Story
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Tom & JerryCarlos Saldanha
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ice Age: Dawn of the DinosaursRon Howard
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
How the Grinch Stole ChristmasJoe Pytka
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Space JamCraig McCracken
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Powerpuff Girls MovieMark Dindal
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cats Don't DanceEric Darnell
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most WantedSteve Loter
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Kim Possible: A Sitch in TimeGeorge Scribner
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Oliver & CompanyLewis Teague
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Cat's EyeJohn Pasquin
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Santa ClauseLeonard Nimoy
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Star Trek III: The Search for SpockMatthew O'Callaghan
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Curious GeorgeLynne Southerland
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mulan IIGore Verbinski
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
MouseHuntKelly Asbury
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Smurfs: The Lost VillageMike Mitchell
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Shrek Forever AfterBobs Gannaway
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Stitch! The MovieTad Stones
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Aladdin and the King of ThievesPeter Hewitt
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bill & Ted's Bogus JourneyRenny Harlin
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Deep Blue SeaRoger Donaldson
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SpeciesMichael Pressman
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the OozeRobert Butler
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Computer Wore Tennis ShoesRaja Gosnell
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Scooby-DooPaul W. S. Anderson
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mortal KombatDonald Petrie
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ri¢hie Ri¢hTarsem Singh
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mirror MirrorMichael Ritchie
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Golden ChildHarry Winer
Director
1 film together · 5.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SpaceCampMichael Lehmann
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hudson HawkLuis Llosa
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
AnacondaRachel Talalay
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Tank GirlBo Welch
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Cat in the HatJohn Frankenheimer
Director
1 film together · 4.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Island of Dr. MoreauRobert Rodriguez
Director
1 film together · 4.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Spy Kids: All the Time in the WorldSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
The Lion King
as Lions Roars (voice) (uncredited)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
The Lion King
as Lions Roars (voice) (uncredited)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
The Lion King
as Lions Roars (voice) (uncredited)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Once Upon a Studio
as Abu / Joanna (voice) (archive sound)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Scooby-Doo! and the Curse of the 13th Ghost
as Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones (voice)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Frank Welker has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
54 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Family Legend
Awarded
104 catalogue titles in family, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Scooby-Doo! Music of the Vampire
as Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
as Mayor Stevenson / Weather Man (voice)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Aladdin
as Cave of Wonders (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Scooby-Doo! and Krypto, Too!
as Scooby-Doo / Fred Jones (voice)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Raiders of the Lost Ark
as Special Vocal Effects (voice) (uncredited)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans
as Additional Voices (voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
A Goofy Movie
as Bigfoot (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Anaconda
as Anaconda (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Matt Damon
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Morgan Freeman
Built a career in the same territory: action and crime
Jamie Harris
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and drama
Have your say
Community
Which Frank Welker performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
Join the conversation
Reference
Continue exploring
Trending performers
Directors they work with
Collections to read next
