John Lithgow has appeared in many acclaimed animated films throughout his career, and although Fascinated is not the best in his catalogue, it demonstrates excellent work that reminds the public of the actor’s dubbing skills. Lithgow’s most famous animated film is Shrekfor which he voiced the villain Lord Farquaad, but has also appeared in projects such as The jungle group and Rugrats in Paris. Lithgow is generally known for villainous performances, but his animation work can be just as entertaining.
This includes Fascinated, a fun adventure for the whole family that revolves around a teenage princess (voiced by Rachel Zegler) whose parents are suddenly transformed into giant monsters, leaving her alone with a dangerous mission to reverse the curse before it’s too late. The film borrows many aspects from modern-era Disney, such as its brilliant animation style and classic fairy tale storytelling, but FascinatedThe unique cast of characters maintains a feeling of freshness and interest despite its somewhat derivative narrative.
Before Netflix’s Spellbound, Disney and Pixar re-recorded two of John Lithgow’s animated voice roles
Lithgow admitted he was cut from two major Disney releases
After the release of Fascinated on Netflix, Lithgow confirmed that he recorded lines for two different animated films in the past that ended up being re-recorded, with him being written out of the projects (via Screen speech). These films were Hercules and The Good Dinosaurwhere he was cast to voice the characters of Hades and Poppa, respectively. However, after recording most of his lines, both films underwent significant changes; Lithgow was then replaced on these projects by James Woods and Jeffrey Wright.
The decision to re-record Lithgow’s lines in these Disney films understandably left the actor somewhat weary of the whole process, and he revealed that he was worried that the same thing would happen to him again with Fascinated. These concerns were further heightened when the film’s production included large gaps between filming. Fortunately, all of Lithgow’s lines made it into the final version of Fascinatedand he has proven that he is always a reliable choice for this type of work.
John Lithgow is fantastic in Spellbound – and it’s his best voice work since the Shrek films
Lithgow taps immense voice acting talent into Fascination
Although Fascinated received mixed reviews, Lithgow is easily one of the best parts of the film. The actor has an immense talent for dubbing, something that not even some of the biggest stars in the industry can achieve. It requires a completely different skill set than normal acting, requiring more overt and unsubtle enunciation and articulation. The casting of prominent actors for publicity purposes in animated films proved disappointing. However, Lithgow is not one of those cases, and Fascinated is some of his strongest voice work to date.
In FascinatedLithgow plays the character of Minister Bolinarone of the young princess’s closest advisors who helps her hide her monster parents from the public. But despite his best attempts to help the princess in her quest, he ends up falling victim to a spell gone wrong and causing him to switch bodies with a rodent. Lithgow’s character is restored in Fascinated emotional ending, but his voice work as he plays a human/rodent is some of the funniest material in the film. Few actors can play a character so convincingly without using facial expressions or physicality.
John Lithgow May Continue His Return to Animated Film with Shrek 5
Lord Farquaad may be making a surprise return
Although Lithgow has not been officially announced as a cast member for Shrek 5there’s every possibility he’ll return to his most iconic voice performance of all time. Lord Farquaad is technically dead at the time Shrek 5 happens, but that never stopped the character from appearing before: he appeared in several other Shrek properties since the original, both in flashbacks and in ghost form. So, truly, anything is possible. Lithgow would be an extremely valuable addition to the sequel’s cast, having once given a pompous voice performance that perfectly matched the tone of the original film.
It will be difficult for Shrek 5 to live up to the success of the original two films, which most agree are the best in the franchise, and it may need some familiar faces to get fans invested again.
There has been little news about this sequel other than the return of some of the main actors. However, it will be difficult for Shrek 5 to live up to the success of the original two films, which most agree are the best in the franchise, and it may need some familiar faces to get fans invested again. Lithgow would be a perfect asset to this, and the actor has already admitted he would “say yes in a minute“to return as Farquaad in Shrek 5. He may be even more inclined to do so after the positive experience of producing Fascinated.