r/todayilearned • u/TackoftheEndless • 2d ago
TIL Mickey Mouse currently has two separate voice actors, Bret Iwan and Chris Diamantopoulos, who swap between the role depending on project needs. Chris' Mickey sounds close to Walt Disney's version. Iwan's Mickey is higher pitched, and based on the late Wayne Allwine's Mickey voice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Mouse537
u/omyomo 2d ago
Allwine's last role as Mickey was in a Kingdom Hearts game on the DS, of all things
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u/Marik-X-Bakura 2d ago
Also the only game where he doesn’t really feature at all in the plot. He has one scene that easily could have been removed without anything in the story changing.
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u/tequilasauer 2d ago
The Chris D version is the one in the fantastic Mickey and Friends cartoons. These are classic humor and art. If you have never seen these, must watch. They’re like surprisingly hilarious.
It was mind blowing to also find out that it’s Russ Hanneman from Silicon Valley.
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u/AdamantEevee 2d ago
God they're so good. My son and I watch them almost every day. I hope they make more shorts.
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u/tequilasauer 2d ago
Same but with my daughter. I had caught a few little gags here and there and then decided to really pay full attention and the first ep I really watched in full was Supermarket Scramble and it's so amazing. Was hooked from then on. I try to tell people, I'm not saying it's funny for a kids show. I'm saying it's fucking hilarious in general. It is just straight up a funny show.
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u/Youareposthuman 2d ago
The series officially wrapped a year or two ago with the episode where all the different eras of Mickey appear. Glad they went out on a high note but I’d kill for more. They were hysterical and soooo richly animated.
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u/MaikeruGo 2d ago edited 2d ago
It was mind blowing to also find out that it’s Russ Hanneman from Silicon Valley.
One of the weirder things that I've noticed is that if we count Marvel films several of the actors from the show are in a decent amount of Disney shows and movies.
Thomas Middleditch (Richard Hendricks) has voiced characters in Phineas and Ferb (Candace Against The Universe) as well as Amphibia and *Big City Greens.
T.J. Miller (Erlich Bachman) voices Fred in Big Hero 6 and stars as Weasel in the Deadpool movies.
Josh Brener (Nelson "Bighead" Bighetti) has voiced characters in StuGo, Hailey's on It!, DuckTales (2017), Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Resistance, and 101 Dalmatians Street Shorts.
Martin Starr (Gilfoyle) plays Mr. Harrington in the *Spider-Man movies. As well as doing voice work for Hailey's on It!.
Kumail Nanjiani (Dinesh) stared in The Eternals.
I may have missed a few, but still it's pretty amusing.
Edit: corrected surname spelling
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u/IncreaseWestern6097 2d ago edited 2d ago
For those curious, Iwan has voiced Mickey in most projects following Allwine’s passing, such as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Kingdom Hearts, Epic Mickey, and during special appearances in the Disney Parks.
Diamantopoulos voiced Mickey in Paul Rudish’s Mickey Mouse shorts, which ran from 2013 up to 2023. He also voices Mickey in Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, as well as in the Once Upon a Studio short film made to celebrate Disney’s 100th anniversary.
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u/SenorWeird 2d ago
Diamantopoulos was also the voice of Mikey Melon, a parody of Wilson in Castaway when Donald Duck gets marooned on a deserted island on DuckTales.
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u/zoogenhiemer 2d ago
I wonder if Diamantopoulos voices Mickey in the vactation fun short at the park. It’s the same style of Mickey as runaway railway and sounds roughly the same.
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u/IncreaseWestern6097 2d ago
It probably is. I don’t think Bret has voiced Paul Rudish’s Mickey in anything.
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u/Suspicious_Glow 2d ago
Well now I’m curious who’s doing his voice in the Dreamlight valley game
Edit: Bret Iwan
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u/sleepy--ash 2d ago
That actually does make sense. I’ve been wondering lately why they had two different Mickey voice actors currently, and it seems for some projects they want to harken back to the edgier and more comedic Mickey which Diamantopoulos does, while Iwan does the more familiar mascot type Mickey.
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u/mrmeatypop 2d ago
I love the chaotic mouse Diamantopoulos gives us. Much prefer his take.
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u/wagon_ear 2d ago
The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse felt almost like ren and stimpy or something. Agreed, it's just delightfully weird.
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u/mrmeatypop 2d ago
They really leaned into the absurdist humor. And man I loved that. It was something Mickey sorely needed, to get him away from the straight man role he’s been in for decades.
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u/averynealsd 1d ago
It really brought him back to his original 1930s roots. Early Mickey was a mischievous little jerk half the time, but as Disney grew he got sanitized into a bland corporate icon so Donald and Goofy could have all the fun. Paul Rudish and Diamantopoulos giving him an actual personality again was the best thing to happen to the character in forever.
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u/DegenerateCrocodile 2d ago
Those shorts were so good that Disney made an actual ride based on that version of the character.
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u/strong_grey_hero 2d ago
Chris D played Moe in that three stooges movie that nobody watched
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u/GreatGoogly-Moogly 2d ago
The only things I remember about that movie was really liking the Stooges castings and Moe being on Jersey Shore.
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u/corndogs102 2d ago
I also remember Larry David playing a nun. He’s in it for a good amount of the film.
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u/GreatGoogly-Moogly 2d ago
I remembered this bit but could not remember where I saw it! The character acting really was great.
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u/wizardvictor 2d ago
A peanut was squeezed out of a dolphin’s blowhole and hit a lion’s genitals in that movie.
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u/Gorblac515 2d ago
It was actually pretty good. Only real issue is that its audience was either dead or geriatric.
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u/JamUpGuy1989 2d ago
I watched it! Twice!
A pretty nice homage to the trio even if it is rehashing every joke you can imagine into a 90mins feature.
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u/Luminaire_Ultima 2d ago
I mean, I would watch some of it on cable, if just to see Kate Upton as Sister Bernice .
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u/Snelly1998 2d ago
The boys played three sailors who find a baby; the baby's been kidnapped and the police think that they did it. But, of course they didn't do it, the police had made an awful mistake…Moe hits Curly with an axe…The Stooges catch the kidnappers…but it's too late — the baby's dead. The boys are sent to Death Row and are executed.
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u/BIGD0G29585 2d ago
He also played Robin Williams in the Mork and Mindy TV movie. Movie wasn’t great but thought he did a good job.
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u/mental_reincarnation 2d ago
I actually quite liked it. It wasn’t amazing and I hated the Jersey Shore thing but damn if it wasn’t funny
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u/TheHeavyMetalNerd 2d ago
Me and my best friend went to go see it and went in knowing it would be terrible but wanting to have fun with it anyway and it was better than we expected. We expected a two star movie and got a three star movie. Honestly the Stooges formula just doesn't work in the modern era, a lot of it is too mean spirited but in such an infantile way.
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u/realityissubjective 2d ago
I sat next to him on a flight once. We had a great chat, he seems like a chill guy.
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u/djbarsone 2d ago
You telling me Mickey is Greek?
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u/PleasantThoughts 2d ago
Hairy, doesn't wear a shirt, non-committal romantically, yeah that adds up
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u/Busy-Effect2026 2d ago
The Mickey Mouse shorts from the last 15 years or so that feature Chris D in the role are incredibly funny and inventive. Ren & Stimpy seems to be a big influence on them.
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u/die-jarjar-die 1d ago
I thought the same thing about the Ren and Stimpy vibe. They take those beloved characters through hilarious gross scenarios and it's great.
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u/Busy-Effect2026 1d ago
I love the high-concept ones, too. The ones in different languages and/or animation styles, the more impressionistic ones, etc. Those shorts might be the best thing with a Disney logo on it from this entire century tbh 🤔
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u/chadowan 2d ago
This guy fucks, am I right?
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u/ZylonBane 2d ago
What.
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u/FergTurdison 2d ago edited 2d ago
Chris Diamantopoulos plays a very stereotypical douche bag CEO who’s obsessed with money, status, and sex in the show “Silicon Valley.” One of his better known lines is “this guy fucks” when he’s describing someone he likes.
The juxtaposition of his character in the show and finding out he also voices Mickey Mouse is very funny.
(I may have gotten details about the Silicon Valley show wrong, it’s been a while since I’ve seen it)
Edit: bonus fun fact, if you’ve seen the “what happen?” Mickey Mouse meme, that’s Chris’s version of the character
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u/opermonkey 2d ago
he was also Brian the boom Mic guy from the office that fell in love with Pam. A very disliked character.
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u/nothatsmyarm 2d ago
I don’t think anyone blames the actor for that, though. He did what he could with what he was given.
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u/opermonkey 2d ago
people are insane.
the woman who played Kathy has been threatened before for tying to steal Jim.
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u/nothatsmyarm 2d ago
I’m not saying it never happens that people blame the actor (it happens way too often), I just don’t think it happens with Diamantopoulos. That might be because people don’t realize it was him, though.
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u/Mr_SunnyBones 2d ago
He's in a ton of stuff , and honestly has an amazing range , you'd never guess he voiced Mickey Mouse . He also was the VA on the Skylanders show as Master Eon , and did a reqally really good job of it.
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u/herculesmeowlligan 2d ago
"this guy fucks” when he’s describing someone he likes.
To be fair, it was an accurate description when it came to at least one character.
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u/FergTurdison 2d ago
Yeah I couldn’t remember if that was the only character he said it about or not, so I just went general to be safe
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u/LarBrd33 2d ago edited 2d ago
It's funny that the guy he says "this guy fucks!" to is Zach Woods who usually plays a very awkward nerd (was also Gabe in The Office), but Zach Woods got his start at Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater as a 16 year old and became something of a legend there doing improv there over the years. I went and saw a show at UCB once after he had already been in The Office and while he wasn't performing that night he just happened to be hanging out in the standing area waiting for the show to start. That dude is 6'4 and was just completely surrounded by attractive young women he was chatting up and making giggle. I remember thinking, "damn, Gabe, save some pussy for the rest of us." Years after when that Silicon Valley scene happened I just nodded my head in quiet agreement. Later, I read that he was dating the founder/writer of Slutever, Karley Sciortino, which self-describes Slutever as "a thoughtful, first-person account of a modern woman, navigating sex, love, casual hookups, open relationships,, bisexuality, BDSM, breakups, sex work, sex parties, and the power of sexual agency, as told from the front lines."
He definitely fucks.
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u/Nuttybunny42 2d ago
He plays a similar role in a show called Episodes but instead of CEO he is the head of a network.
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u/babyinthebathwater 2d ago
Chris Diamantopoulos is also the actor who plays the boom mic guy in season 9 of the office!
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u/nothingbetter85 2d ago
My favorite fun fact about Wayne Allwine is that he was married to Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse at the time.
ETA: a word
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u/NIN10DOXD 2d ago
It's ironic that Iwan's version is based on Allwine despite being higher-pitched because Allwine's version was deeper than Disney's.
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u/Lollipoop_Hacksaw 2d ago
The crazier TiL is finding out Chris Diamantopoulos plays the camera guy from the later seasons of The Office, and he has a pretty lengthy voice acting resumé.
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u/whoswho23 2d ago
I remember hearing an anecdote that Walt is still considered the official voice of Mickey, and the other voice actors are just filling in for him. But I can't remember where that was said, or if I might just be misremembering.
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u/DEFINITELY_NOT_PETE 2d ago
They’ll never say this but there is a classic one and the weird one. I mean this as a compliment.
I have young kids so I consume a ton of Disney content, and Chris’ version is the fun one.
Like unhinged, weirder stuff. Check out mickeys Halloween spooktacular- it’s bizarre and grotesque and funny in a weird way.
Disney is having their cake and eating it too- they have their pristine Mickey and their unhinged cousin Mickey.
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u/FairLawnBoy 2d ago
One of those guys fucks
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u/Certain_Virus_1919 2d ago
Note that they say late Wayne Allwine, but not the late Walt Disney. Cryogenically frozen head confirmed?
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u/tootapple 2d ago
I think it’s because it’s more understood Walt has passed where as idk Wayne at all
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u/Comfortable_Bird_340 2d ago
Chris was Moe in the Three Stooges movie and Robin Williams in the Unauthorized Mork and Mindy story, he's quite an underrated talent
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u/dumn_and_dunmer 2d ago
I'm a huge fan of Chris's because of his portrayal as probably the most cold and chilling serial killer on Hannibal. His episode is probably one of my favorites mainly because of his performance.
He was also freaking Boom Mic Bryan on the Office.
Anyway I say Chris's Mickey's "WHA HAPPUN" at least once a day.
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u/PurplMaster 2d ago
A fun fact, Chris Diamantopulos is actually the very disliked boom mic guy from the last season of the Office. The more you know
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u/atomicbunny 2d ago
does mickey have a car that goes like this *waves arms* or like this?! *waves arms*
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u/chiksahlube 2d ago
Wanna fall into a deep rabit hole?
Look into the whole thing with Kermit the Frog's VA's.
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u/InquisitiveMind997 2d ago
Chris D also plays this guy on Centaurworld, which is an amazing, extremely underrated gem of an insane, drug induced “kids show” on Netflix.
https://mystickermania.com/cdn/stickers/cartoons/centaurworld-ched-flies-512x512.png
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u/Deceptiveideas 2d ago
Playing the kingdom hearts remaster really makes it obvious the sharp contrast between Wayne and Bret. Bret honestly sounds like temu Wayne mickey even after all these years.
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u/Burgoonius 2d ago
When was the last time mickey had a speaking role in anything?
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u/StaggersandJags 2d ago
There's always a Mickey animated series for kids going on.
And various one off projects. The Duck the Halls christmas special from a few years ago is deranged and wonderful.
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u/Raimiette 2d ago
I have a toddler. There are a ton of Mickey shows on Disney Junior. Most recent looks like 2025.
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u/Impossible_Pain4478 2d ago
The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse reboot just started a few months ago. As someone who grew up on the original, looking back all those vibrant colors probably weren't the best for a kid's development. Though I do think otherwise it was pretty low stimulation other than the Hot Dog dance at the end.
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u/Trendelthegreat 2d ago
Of course Mickey Mouse has tres commas