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Animated Voice Casts That Would Have Also Been Great In Live Action

Netflix recently unveiled the cast for the animated series of He-Man, masterminded by writer/director Kevin Smith.

The Clerks filmmaker has brought some exciting voice talent on board for the project, including Mark Hamill as Skeletor, Lena Headey as Evil-Lynn, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Teela, and Alicia Silverstone as Queen Marlena.

So exciting, in fact, that we would be intrigued to see what a live action version of the series would be like, with that cast.

Animation is great, of course, and this new interpretation has all the signs of a reboot that will excite fans of the long-running series, but who wouldn’t want to see Hamill in an extensive amount of make-up, or Headey’s steely gaze bringing her character to life?

It has got us thinking about what other animated films had casts that would have equally worked in a live action movie. Here are some of our picks…

The Addams Family (2019)

Universal Pictures

The most recent big screen version of the creepy, kooky, mysterious and ooky family was a big success, that has already been green-lit for a sequel.

Part of that success is surely down to the jaw-dropping voice talent on display, starting with Charlize Theron and Oscar Isaac as Morticia and Gomez.

They did a great job in the recording booth, but for us Theron also has the presence to bring Morticia to life in the (pale) flesh, while Isaac’s darkly jovial take on Gomez was interesting enough for us to wonder what it might be like in another format.

At 23, Chloe Grace Moretz would play an older version of Wednesday than we’ve seen before, but Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley and Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester would fit quite nicely.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (2018)

Sony Pictures Animation

A version of this story could perhaps still happen in live action, given the multiverse aspect that allows for different kinds of styles of storytelling. Still, a live action remake of the 2018 Oscar winner would be something to see.

It would be awesome to see Shameik Moore as Miles Morales teaming up with Jake Johnson’s not-as-heroic Peter B. Parker, with the contrast of the chiseled Chris Pine as an alternative Peter.

Throw in Mahershala Ali as the villain Prowler, and of course Nicolas Cage bathed in shadow as Spider-Man Noir, and you’ve got an epic blockbuster.

Peter Porker/Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) would obviously remain animated – there’s some things you just don’t mess with!

Anomalisa (2015)

Paramount Pictures

Stop-motion really suited Charlie Kaufman’s masterful drama about a lonely man trying to connect with the world, particularly in the unusual fantasy sequences, and the protagonist’s growing feeling of everyone, and everything, feeling the same.

However, it’s easy to imagine the same moving experience happening with the same cast of David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tom Noonan.

It is, at its heart, a human drama, and much of that would be retained in a live action setting.

In fact, it already has, in a manner of speaking. Anomalisa was originally an ‘audio play’, performed on stage by the film’s actors for a theatre festival.

The Despicable Me franchise (2011-)

Universal Pictures

We know what you’re thinking. Yes, there’s no way of making the Minions truly live action and they may have to stay CGI. However, there’s so much of Steve Carell in his vocal performances as Gru, that it would be interesting to see what that energy would look like under some heavy prosthetics.

Don’t believe us? Well Carell did exactly that on Ellen and we’ve got to say it doesn’t look half bad.

Seeing this Gru opposite Kristen Wiig as his wife Lucy Wilde, battling the series’ various villains like Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker), or working with Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand, presumably also in some make-up) sounds like a fun proposition.

The Iron Giant (2001)

Warner Bros.

20 years have passed since Brad Bird’s gorgeous Ted Hughes adaptation, so we’d have to imagine that the cast were still the ages they were then (and that the great John Mahoney, who played General Rogard, was still with us).

However, Jennifer Aniston’s touching voice performance alongside Harry Connick Jr could have been interesting to see in front of a camera.

As for the giant itself? As compelling as a giant silver Vin Diesel might be, let’s go with the animatronics to bring the title character to life.

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Victoria Luxford

Victoria Luxford

Contributing Writer

James has been a professional film journalist and broadcaster for over a decade, writing for a number of outlets around the world. A film fan since they could crawl, they have an unhealthy devotion to the work of Quentin Tarantino, spends far too much on Blu-ray steelbooks, and sings badly to Lady Gaga songs while writing.