Maurice LaMarche is one of the most talented voice actors in the business, and I can almost guarantee you’ve heard him at one time or another. He’s Kif Kroker, Morbo, and Calculon on the now-ended Futurama, and he played the Brain on Pinky and the Brain.
How did he come up with Kif’s voice in Futurama? Creator Matt Groening said Kif’s tagline is, “He’s Mr. Spock, if Mr. Spock had to deal with William Shatner.” LaMarche took that description and then explained that he “threw Truman Capote and Jon Lovitz into a blender, and out came Kif.”
With Futurama canceled, one of his current projects is for Disney Junior called The 7D. It’s about the seven dwarfs about twenty years before they meet Snow White, and LaMarche plays Grumpy.
About Pinky and the Brain, he said, “Rob Paulsen got all the great lines, while I gave him the, ‘Are you pondering what I’m pondering?’ and then he got to say the funny thing” but he admitted he did have some great lines occasionally: “If I could reach you I would hurt you” and “Yes, that is a pain that is going to linger.”
I asked him about his favorite Pinky and the Brain episode, and he answered, “Bubba Bo Bob Brain . . Brain stopped being a straight Orson Wells impression [in that episode].” It also happens to be one of my favorite episodes. The Brain decides to take over the world by becoming a country music star. Hilarious. He also loves the Emmy-winning—Prime Time Emmy—Christmas special. He’s never been able to choose between them.
Of Dragon Con he said, “It’s my first Dragon Con, my first time in Atlanta . . . I’m fully used to [the humidity]. And the Dragon Con people, I have to say, there’s a very real difference between the Comic-Con vibe and the Dragon Con vibe. . .This is all about fan love. This is completely fan-driven . . . this is just fans expressing themselves and paying tribute to the genres, and it’s wonderful to see.”
While he’s only done a handful of games, he did voice General Var Suthra in Star Wars: The Old Republic. He played “this Mon Calamari general named Var Suthra, and the whole thing takes place 3,000 years before the continuity of Star Wars, so [he] wasn’t locked into “It’s a trap!” He decided to sound more like Gene Hackman than Admiral Ackbar.
Besides the voice of the Brain, LaMarche also portrayed the Ray Liotta-based pigeon Squit in Animaniacs. “Martin Scorsese apparently loved the Goodfeathers . . . Spielberg would send him tapes of the Goodfeathers,” he said, referring to brilliantly talented director Steven Spielberg and his friend Scorsese, director of Goodfellas, which served as inspiration for the pigeons who love to perch on top of Scorsese’s statue. (And be sure to watch the West Side Pigeons episode if you have a moment).
He also voiced Michaelangelo in Hooked on a Ceiling, yet another incredible Animaniacs episode. The Renaissance artist is trying to complete his work on the Sistine Chapel before His Eminence arrives. And the reveal at the end . . . how Spielbergian.
Though we will no longer get to hear his voice in new Futurama episodes, the future looks bright for Maurice LaMarche. His incredible talent means he will always have work, and there’s a new interest in Animaniacs now that it’s playing on television again. And, I overheard that the first Pinky and the Brain panel at Dragon Con reached capacity, so that only shows how popular he is and will forever be with his fans._big.jpg)