American voice actor and animator
Tony Anselmo
(born February 18, 1960)
[1]
is an American voice actor and animator. He has been the official character voice of
Donald Duck
since 1985 following the death of the original voice actor,
Clarence Nash
. He has also provided voices for Donald's triplet nephews,
Huey, Dewey, and Louie
.
Prior to voicing for Disney projects, he became an animator for the company in 1980. As of 2023, he has been credited in 23 animation roles.
Early life
[
edit
]
Anselmo was born on February 18, 1960, in
Salt Lake City, Utah
.
[1]
Anselmo formed an early interest with Disney after attending a screening of
Mary Poppins
at the age of four. Anselmo says, "I remember leaving the theater and asking, 'How did they do this? Who did that?' and so on...So a seed was planted there, and from that time on I never wanted to be a
fireman
, an
astronaut
, or anything else. I wanted to work for
Disney
."
Anselmo's family moved to
Sunnyvale
in northern California when he was seven, and he continued to actively study Disney and animation. He began drawing, utilizing the famed
Preston Blair
art book,
Advanced Animation
, built a light table of his own, and began creating animation with a Super 8 camera.
He attended
Marian A. Peterson High School
in
Sunnyvale, California
. He began night art classes at local colleges and began a regular correspondence with the artists who animated the Disney films, including
Frank Thomas
,
Ollie Johnston
,
Eric Larson
, and
Milt Kahl
.
[2]
Anselmo says, "Ollie wrote a lot and sent me drawings, advising me to learn quick sketch, life drawing, and design.”
[3]
Anselmo studied at the Character Animation Department of
California Institute of the Arts
on a full scholarship from the Disney Family in fall 1978.
[3]
Career
[
edit
]
Anselmo's career as an animator began in 1980, at age 20. In subsequent years, Anselmo contributed to the animation of 20 Disney animated features, including
The Black Cauldron
,
The Little Mermaid
,
Beauty and the Beast
,
The Lion King
,
Tarzan
and
The Emperor's New Groove
.
[3]
Anselmo was trained and mentored by the original voice of Donald,
Clarence Nash
, who died in 1985 and Anselmo inherited the role of Donald Duck just as Nash had wished.
[4]
He first voiced Donald on a 1986
D-TV Valentine
special on
The Disney Channel
.
[2]
Walt Disney insisted on character consistency and integrity. As long as Clarence Nash was alive no one other than Nash was permitted to provide Donald's voice. Continuing in that tradition, in 1988
Roy E. Disney
created the department of Disney Character Voices to insure the continuation of character integrity, consistency, and quality in recording methods.
[5]
During an interview, Anselmo stated that “Most people believe that Donald’s voice is done squeezing air through the cheek, that is not true. I can't reveal how it's actually done, but it is definitely not done by squeezing air through the cheek. The
Hanna-Barbera
character ‘
Yakky Doodle
’ is done that way. Donald Duck is not."
[3]
Anselmo is the only person to both animate, and voice Donald Duck in
Mickey Donald Goofy: The Three Musketeers
,
Funny You Don’t Look 200
,
The Prince and the Pauper
, and the
60th Annual Academy Awards
.
[2]
He has voiced the nephews on the TV special
Down and Out With Donald Duck
and the shows
Mickey Mouse Works
and
House of Mouse
(while
Russi Taylor
voiced the nephews in
DuckTales
,
Mickey's Once
and
Twice Upon a Christmas
,
Mickey's Speedway USA
and the
remastered DuckTales
video game in 2013.). He also lent his voice to minor characters in
The Great Mouse Detective
,
Mickey's Around the World in 80 Days
and
Phineas and Ferb
.
[2]
[3]
Anselmo has also worked as a voice actor for the
Kingdom Hearts
series, which features Donald Duck as one of three main characters. He also provided the voice of Donald in the video game
Kinect Disneyland Adventures
in 2011.
Anselmo has been honored with several awards and nominations. He was a winner of the 2014 BTVA Television Voice Acting Award for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series - Children's/Educational for
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
, as well as the BTVA Video Game Voice Acting Award for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Video Game -
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
.
In September 2009, Tony Anselmo was named a
Disney Legend
by Roy E. Disney.
[6]
Anselmo began collecting Disney merchandise at an early age, and is known for his comprehensive collection of Disney posters relating to the works of
Walt Disney
. This expertise resulted in a 2002 art book,
The Disney Poster Book featuring the Collection of Tony Anselmo
.
[
citation needed
]
Anselmo's collection was used in exhibits at The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.
[3]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Video games
[
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]
Theme park attractions
[
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]
Animator
[
edit
]
Awards and nominations
[
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]
Awards and nominations
Year
|
Award
|
Category
|
Title
|
Result
|
2005
|
Annie Awards
|
Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
|
Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers
|
Nominated
|
2009
|
Disney Legend Award
|
Animation - Voice
|
|
Won
|
2009
|
Behind the Voice Actors Television Voice Acting Award
|
Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series - Children's/Educational
|
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
|
Nominated
|
2014
|
Behind the Voice Actors People's Choice Voice Acting Award
|
Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series - Children's/Educational
|
Nominated
|
2014
|
Best Vocal Ensemble in a Television Series - Children's/Educational
|
Nominated
|
2015
|
Nominated
|
2015
|
Best Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series - Children's/Educational
|
Nominated
|
2018
|
Best Vocal Ensemble in a New Television Series
|
DuckTales
|
Nominated
|
2018
|
Won
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Joseph Walker (May 27, 1987).
"An Utahn is the man behind Donald Duck"
.
The Deseret News
. Retrieved
March 30,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Staff, The National Era (2022-02-18).
"If it Quacks like a Duck, it Must be Tony Anselmo: The Only Animator to have Voiced the Character He Animated"
.
The National Era
. Retrieved
2022-09-11
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"Uncovering Donald Duck's Official Voice, Tony Anselmo | ?? LatestLY"
.
LatestLY
. 2022-01-29
. Retrieved
2022-09-11
.
- ^
"If It Quacks Like This Odd Duck, It Must Be Tony Anselmo"
.
People
. May 18, 1987
. Retrieved
June 3,
2015
.
- ^
"The Classic Character Voice Department"
.
Disney
. Retrieved
2022-09-11
.
- ^
"2009 Disney Legends Award Recipients to Be Honored During D23 Expo in Anaheim"
(Press release).
The Walt Disney Company
. September 1, 2009. Archived from
the original
on September 5, 2013
. Retrieved
July 15,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Tony Anselmo (visual voices guide)"
.
Behind the Voice Actors
. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
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