Rick Moranis Voiced More Of Your Childhood Than You Likely Realized
Even though Rick Moranis took an early retirement from the Hollywood spotlight, he's still widely regarded as a big and small screen icon. Through productions like "Ghostbusters," "Spaceballs," and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," he became a pop culture staple in short order, specifically thriving in the field of comedy. At the same time, Moranis also found time to sharpen his voice-acting skills in a variety of projects. Thus, if you grew up in the 1990s and 2000s, odds are his voice performances made their way into your childhood in some form.
When it comes to feature-length efforts, Moranis' most high-profile voice role comes via the "Brother Bear" franchise. In the duology, he voices the goofy moose Rutt opposite Dave Thomas as Rutt's brother, Tuke. For the few who watched it, Moranis also voices the Toy Taker in the rough-around-the-edges 2001 "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" sequel, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys." Meanwhile, on television, his credits include "Gravedale High," "Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories," and "Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids."
While Moranis likely impacted a lot of younger viewers in these and other voice-acting endeavors, none of these credits can sentimentally compare to one of his most celebrated live-action ones.
To Moranis, his most meaningful credit is a live-action one
Due to his decision to leave the entertainment world behind just as his career was truly picking up steam, Rick Moranis' filmography isn't very long. It's solid and full of varied and noteworthy credits, but compared to most on-screen talents of his generation, it's incredibly brief. If nothing else, though, it makes it easier for Moranis to hold certain credits closer to his heart. In fact, it's not at all difficult for him to point out which one of his roles means the most to him after all these years.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Moranis admitted that he doesn't have a favorite film or TV show that he's taken part in, but one production is truly special in his mind: "Little Shop of Horrors." "It was timing, and I fit the right type. It was an amazing experience. One of the greatest moments of my life was shooting that thing," he said of the 1986 musical classic. Moranis famously takes on the role of the wimpy Seymour Krelborn, who ends up raising a monstrous human-eating plant named Audrey II (Levi Stubbs).
Whether he was in front of a camera or a microphone, Rick Moranis never disappointed during his acting tenure. Hopefully, one day the beloved star will return to the movies or TV, but even if he doesn't, he has more than made his mark on pop culture already.