Corey Burton (b. 1955) is a voice actor known for his work for Disney and other studios, often doing close sound alikes for characters originated by others. As a member of the record division's stock company, Burton voiced Jareth in the 1986 book and record set for Labyrinth. Recreating Paul Frees' role of the Ghost Host for the holiday version of The Haunted Mansion, Burton used a different but equally sinister voice as trailer announcer for Muppets Haunted Mansion.[1] In 2022, he narrated the video "Gonzo the Great: A Career Retrospective," released on the official YouTube channel for Disney+.
Burton began his voice career in the 1970s, working as an announcer as well as acting on old-time radio including the revival Sears Radio Theater anthology, the longrunning Heartbeat Theater, and the 1979 syndicated series Alien Worlds (a regular as Jerry). Later radio credits include multiple recurring roles on the Christian series The Adventures of Odyssey (with Will Ryan, Katie Leigh, and others). Known for his ability to match the voices of others, Burton did an assortment of soundalikes for Disney readalongs and other later projects. Both in and outside Disney, he took over characters originated by Paul Frees (Ludwig Von Drake, the narrator in Stan Freberg's United States of America Vol. 2, various Disney parks voices), Hans Conried (Captain Hook, Snidely Whiplash in later Jay Ward-based projects), and Bill Thompson (Mr. Smee, Ranger Woodlore and Professor Owl from shorts, the White Rabbit, Droopy in two Roger Rabbit shorts). His other major Disney characters include Dale of Chip n' Dale, the Goofy "How to" Narrator, Grumpy from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and Ed Wynn's Mad Hatter. He redubbed Deems Taylor for the DVD release of Fantasia and voiced Walt Disney himself in several home video extras. Disney feature voice credits, usually in secondary roles, include Aladdin, Mulan, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Atlantis: The Lost Empire (a larger role than usual as Moliere), and The Princess and the Frog.
On TV, Burton assumed several characters on Adventures of the Gummi Bears originally voiced by Bill Scott (the voice of Bullwinkle). Beyond Disney, he originated regular characters on Transformers and G.I. Joe. For Warner Bros., Burton voiced Brainiac on Superman and other DC Comics-related series and guest roles on various Batman series, Animaniacs, and Pinky and the Brain. Cartoon Network series include Mike, Lu, and Og (Old Queeks) and Secret Saturdays (Argost and Van Rook). Burton played Luke Skywalker and Yoda at various times in Disney-produced Star Wars read-alongs and voiced Count Dooku and others on both the Cartoon Network and later CG animated Clone Wars series. Video game work, in addition to the aforementioned franchises, includes the Crash Bandicoot series (Dr. N. Gine), the God of War franchise (Zeus), Toonstruck, Gabriel Knight 3, and Final Fantasy X.
Burton's credits as an announcer or narrator, in addition to Old Navy commercials and various trailers, includes Dudley Do-Right, the 2010 movie The A-Team, and the in-film trailers or promos in Matinee (with John Goodman) and the Tarantino movies Grindhouse and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.
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- ↑ Jason Marks Talent. Spot audio.