Top 10 Young Characters Voiced by Someone Much Older

Kristen Schaal has a super fitting voice for younger characters, and the youngest of the Belcher family is no exception. Schaal would have been 33 when she began voicing 9-year-old Louise. The show’s been on the air for over a decade now, meaning Schaal is now in her early-to-mid-40s, and Louise, as a cartoon, seems to be forever stuck at the age of a fourth-grader. That’s like a 35 year difference, but Kristen Schaal pulls it off flawlessly! If her performance as Mabel in “Gravity Falls” is anything to go by, we know Schaal is definitely still a kid at heart! Though we’re not sure we can say the same about Louise…

Before you get out your pitchforks, let us explain! While Scott Menville has been voicing Robin since 2003, the age difference is a lot more impressive now that he’s still lending his voice to “Teen Titans Go!’s” Robin almost twenty years later! While the character is definitely a lot different than he was in the original series, we have no doubt that Menville has a blast playing him. Somehow, this man perpetually sounds like a teenager, despite having celebrated his 50th birthday in 2021. He has what is quite possibly the perfect voice for our favorite Boy Wonder, and we’re happy to see him still in the role!

“Rick and Morty” is a show that’s filled with Justin Roiland’s heart and soul from top to bottom. Not only is he co-creator, he also voices both of the title characters. This is a pretty insane feat but we bet it’s also super fun! Although Rick is around 70 and Morty is 14, Roiland’s actual age falls between the two, as he was born in 1980. He’s now been playing the characters for 9 years, which puts him and Morty at an approximately 30-year difference. But, either way, if Roiland’s lengthy roster of roles is anything to go by, the age of his voice is timeless!

While the reboot of “The Powerpuff Girls” sees new voices, the original cast–comprised of Cathy Cavadini, Tara Strong, and E.G. Daily–had quite the noteworthy age difference from their characters, seeing as the cartoon heroines are only 5 years old. The fantastic E.G. Daily, who played Buttercup, was born in 1961, which made her 44 by the time the show ended in 2005. The same can also be said for Blossom’s voice actress, Cathy Cavadini. We certainly haven’t forgotten about Bubbles, but Tara Strong doesn’t have quite the age gap, as she would’ve been around 32 by the series finale. If there's one thing we're sure of, E.G. Daily is also made up of sugar, spice, and everything nice!

If you’re an OG “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” fan, chances are Donatello from the 2012 series sounded awfully familiar. While the legendary Rob Paulsen would have been only 31 when he voiced Raphael in the classic TMNT, two TV reboots later would put him in his early 60s! Keep in mind that the turtles are always around 15 years old, so that’s quite the contrast in age bracket! Whether it’s the hothead or the brainiac of the terrapin bunch, Rob Paulsen definitely knows how to voice a teenager who is also a turtle…who is also… Yeah, we’re not going to go through the whole description, but you get it.

While all of the “Big Mouth” preteens are voiced by adults with some considerable distance away from puberty years, Jason Mantzoukas, who plays Jay, is the oldest at 49. You definitely wouldn’t know he’s celebrating his 50th birthday in 2022 based on his bubbly and upbeat personality, and all of the off-the-wall characters he plays. Jay, of course, is no exception to this rule, but Mantzoukas also manages to portray his more profound arcs with incredible emotional intelligence and considerable depth. This is definitely a perk of having an older actor voice a young character but, make no mistake, Mantzoukas knows what he’s doing as far as playing the part of the scumbag teen!

“Phineas and Ferb” was pretty consistent with the corresponding ages of their characters to that of their voice actors. “Milo Murphy’s Law” does a pretty good job of this also, with young adults Sabrina Carpenter and Mekai Curtis playing the part of teens Melissa and Zack. Milo himself, however, is voiced by none other than Weird Al, who’s quite a bit older than his castmates. Weird Al was born in 1959, putting him at age 60 at the time of the show’s end. Milo, meanwhile, was 13 as of the episode “Party of Peril”. We’ll let you do the math on that one!

The wonderful Grey DeLisle-Griffin has a whole inventory of characters of all ages under her belt. Seriously, we owe our childhood to her! Currently, a pair of her youngest cartoon roles are Lola and Lana Loud coming in at just 7 years old. DeLisle herself, on the other hand, was born in 1973. How she manages to embody the spirit of a couple of second graders is beyond us. All we know is that she gets their voices right every single time! It’s also worth noting that, as well as the tomboy and the beauty queen, DeLisle also lends herself to their baby sister, Lily, and a few other additional voices in the show.

Bart is 10 for the majority of the series, though we do get to celebrate a few birthdays with him and witness him grow up in a few flashforwards. Still, Bart never really ages, considering his animated nature. Nancy Cartwright, by contrast, has been voicing him for over 30 years. So, while she was in her early 30s when she began the role, Cartwright is now in her mid-60s! Think she has Bart’s character down pat yet? In addition to the young troublemaker, she also plays Nelson Muntz, Ralph Wiggum, and a few other “Simpsons”’ characters.

You ever wonder if Tara Strong was an average kid that no one understood? This woman, as well as a few others on our list, totally made our childhood what it was! One of her most known roles is, of course, 10-year-old Timmy Turner. Strong has been doing this whole acting thing for a while and, at the time of the “The Fairly OddParents’” debut, she would have been 28, which, yes, is quite far from 10 years old, but not nearly as far as the 34-year difference she would’ve had with Timmy when the show ended. Hey, at least Tara Strong doesn’t have to deal with any evil babysitters!