Tom Kenny's 10 Most Iconic Voice Acting Roles, Ranked

Throughout the decades of cartoons, some voice actors have managed to make huge names for themselves, which is no easy feat. The industry is a hard one to flourish in, requiring voice actors to have as broad a range as possible to take on as many roles as possible.

One of the most famous voice actors working today is Tom Kenny, whose work has helped to shape some of the most iconic characters in children's cartoons. Kenny is perhaps most famous as the titular sponge in SpongeBob SquarePants. In addition to his fame as the lovable sponge, Kenny's most iconic roles have brought a smile to faces of both young and old, but some have found more success than others.

10 Eduardo's Voice Reveals That He's A Friendly Guy

Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends

Straying away from his usual scrawny-sized roles, Tom Kenny provided the voice for Eduardo, one of the main characters in Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends. Despite his menacing appearance, Eduardo is a sweetheart and more often than not a nervous wreck. Tom Kenny's heavy, gruff tone is the perfect contrast.

The major downside of this performance is Kenny's poor Spanish. This might have been overlooked back in the early 2000s, but it is much more frustrating today. Still, Kenny's performance adds an endearing nature to Eduardo, making him such a lovable character.

9 Commander Peepers Speaks His Chaotic Mind

Wander Over Yonder

Despite his track record for voicing heroic characters, Tom Kenny is also known for voicing the small but fearsome villain Commander Peepers from Wander Over Yonder. Kenny's iconic high pitch tone balanced with overflowing rage and chaotic energy is fitting for Peepers' small size and big personality. The contrast also adds to the hilarity of Peepers' antics.

Though he can sound a bit too much like Kenny's most popular character, SpongeBob SquarePants, once viewers become more familiar with Peepers' character, they learn that Peepers is lovable and original. Kenny's best moments are when he's expressing Peepers' rage, but he also makes Peepers likable with a balance of confidence and endearment in this performance.

8 Scoutmaster Lumpus Is A Lovable Old Man

Camp Lazlo

Sharp-eared viewers might recognize Tom Kenny's voice in Camp Lazlo, as he voices the character Scoutmaster Lumpus. There's an emphasis on that "might," however, as he takes a much heavier tone of voice than normal.

As the bitter old Scoutmaster with little patience for the young immature campers, Kenny does a great job of building Lumpus' jaded character. At the same time, he also adds a hint of endearment with his voice, which at this point appears to be one of the best trademarks of his career.

7 The Mayor's Embarrassing Failures Become Whimsical When He Talks

The Powerpuff Girls

The Powerpuff Girls' popularity helped make the eccentric Mayor of Townsville one of Tom Kenny's most iconic and unforgettable characters. While his ridiculous actions might define him, Kenny's vocal performance is truly essential to the Mayor's outlandish and kooky persona.

Tom Kenny's performance adds a lovable whimsy to the Mayor. Without it, he would fall into the background as a rather boring character. The Mayor has few redeeming qualities, but Kenny's charm makes him more likable and adds some much-needed comic relief.

6 Tom Kenny Does A Fine Job of Expressing Ice King's Heaviest Moments

Adventure Time

Despite the similarity to the vocals of The Mayor and SpongeBob SquarePants, the Ice King from Adventure Time is one of Tom Kenny's most popular roles. This might have to do with how popular the show has become and how the Ice King surprisingly grew in popularity, but one aspect of Kenny's performance that made the Ice King special was his raw emotions.

Kenny's aggressive and serious tones are definitely a fit for the Ice King's moments of passion and emotion. His whimsical performance fits in perfectly with Adventure Time's many other larger-than-life characters.

5 Squanchy's Adult Humor Is The Perfect Addition To Tom Kenny's Vocal Talents

Rick and Morty

Rick and Morty's countless wacky side characters require a diverse and talented group of voice actors to keep the chaos of the series alive. That being said, no one expected to hear Tom Kenny's cartoon voice in the raunchy character Squanchy. His over-the-top nasal voice fits perfectly with an odd extraterrestrial creature like Squanchy and matches his wild personality too.

Tom Kenny's cartoon voice is the perfect addition to the ultimate comic relief character in Rick and Morty. It adds hilarity to Squanchy's wild antics, and any similarity to Tom Kenny's roles from children's television only adds to the shocking style of adult animated comedy that Rick and Morty excels at.

4 Dog Might've Been Lacking In Personality Without His Goofy Voice

CatDog

Before Tom Kenny attained fame as the voice behind SpongeBob, he played the beloved character Dog in the series CatDog. Kenny's soft, goofy tone is what gives Dog his lovable personality. Many other CatDog characters have strong visual designs to help make their personalities clear. But Cat and Dog's designs are relatively simple, leaving most of the character work to the voice actors.

This is why Tom Kenny's performance as Dog is so important. He manages to bring out Dog's goofy nature and convey his personality perfectly despite the relatively simple visual design.

3 Raimundo Pedrosa's Good And Bad Qualities Show With His Talking Alone

Xiaolin Showdown

Some fans might not have recognized Tom Kenny's performance in the series Xiaolin Showdown, but he voices the young warrior Raimundo from the very beginning. In this role, Tom Kenny shapes both sides of Raimundo's character. His voice ranges from immature and arrogant to fun-loving and strong, perfectly fitting Raimundo's personality.

Despite an occasional similarity to other characters, Kenny manages an original performance for this character. Raimundo's design and body language certainly added to his character development, but Tom Kenny's voice acting is a great addition as well.

2 The French Narrator Has A Popularity Of His Own

In the widely beloved series SpongeBob SquarePants, Tom Kenny has created his own legacy not only as the main character but also for the completely random role of the French Narrator. Something about Kenny's outlandish but charismatic French accent was inherently funny and memorable. It's stood the test of time as the series' funniest running gag.

The SpongeBob SquarePants Narrator voice has become emblematic of the series and is a running joke for all children who grew up watching the cartoon. It's such a well-known gag that it's become one of the most popular memes and long-lasting memes across the internet. In fact, there's an entire Reddit discussion all about fans' favorite SpongeBob time cards, which the French Narrator was most known for.

1 SpongeBob Is The Defining Role Of Tom Kenny's Career

SpongeBob SquarePants

Though Tom Kenny had voice acting roles before he voiced everyone's favorite sponge, SpongeBob SquarePants is the role that has given him the most fame. Granted, that definitely happens when an actor is able to play the same role for a little over two decades. But Kenny's endearing tone matched with the wacky extremes he can accomplish with his voice is what shapes SpongeBob's character.

With Tom Kenny's range, he can easily change SpongeBob's mood from happy to upset to shocked. His over-the-top performance with SpongeBob pulls viewers into the character's emotional personality and is probably why so many fans feel such a strong connection to an undersea sponge. But perhaps the most loveable feature Kenny brings to SpongeBob is his iconic laugh, which remains his most instantly recognizable trait even 20 years later.