James Arnold Taylor
 |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2013) |
| James Arnold Taylor | |
|---|---|
 Taylor at Star Wars Weekends 2011 |
|
| Born | July 22, 1969 Santa Barbara, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Voice actor |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Agent | DPN |
| Spouse(s) | Allison Taylor (1991-present) |
| Children | Lydia Taylor |
| Website | |
| http://www.jamesarnoldtaylor.com | |
James Arnold Taylor (born July 22, 1969) is an American voice actor. He is known for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and TV series, Johnny Test in Johnny Test, Tidus in Final Fantasy X, X-2, Dissidia: Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, and Ratchet from the Ratchet & Clank video game series, and the current voice of Fred Flintstone.
Contents |
Early life [edit]
Taylor was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California,.[1]
Voice acting career [edit]
Notable roles [edit]
Taylor provided the English voice work in Square Soft's video game Final Fantasy X as the lead role of Tidus. He is also known as the voice of Ratchet in Ratchet & Clank video game series from Insomniac Games (sans the original title where Ratchet was voiced by Mikey Kelley) and lent his voice as Leonardo from TMNT. Taylor's other large roles include the roles of Wooldoor Sockbat and others on the Comedy Central animated series Drawn Together, voice acting for Captain Jack Sparrow in Kingdom Hearts II, and providing the voices for several characters in The Animatrix. He reprises his role as Tidus in the action/fighting game Dissidia Final Fantasy and in the prequel Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. He also starred in the 2004 mockumentary Comic Book: The Movie. He played the role of the Agori, Berix, the Glatorian, and Vastus in the recent direct-to-DVD film BIONICLE: The Legend Reborn.
Star Wars [edit]
Taylor first voiced Obi-Wan Kenobi as a voice double for Ewan McGregor in the Star Wars: Clone Wars animated series (having provided voice double work as Ewan McGregor doing an American voice in the past). He then auditioned for the micro-series role unaware of the actual project due to studio secrecy. Taylor continued playing Obi-Wan for both the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and TV series, as well as several Star Wars video games. As he continued to play the role, Taylor went back to the character's roots as he drew inspiration from Sir Alec Guinness when he voiced Ben Kenobi in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed .
In Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series, he also provided the voice of Plo Koon (in the style of Ian McKellen), Barb Mentir, Bannamu as well as some Death Watch Mandalorians. He is the only actor to have portrayed Obi-Wan Kenobi more than four times in the Star Wars saga. Since 2011, he has been the Host of Star Wars Weekends, and has made his own show Obi-Wan & Beyond, also known as Talking to Myself, about his life as a voice actor. In August 2012, Taylor was the main host of the Star Wars event Celebration VI in Orlando Florida. Along with some of The Clone Wars cast, he attended also The Clone Wars Season 5 Premiere.
He also plays an uncredited voice-role as Jedi Master Ferroda in the video-game Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron.
Fred Flintstone [edit]
Taylor is the current voice of Fred Flintstone in commercials featuring the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character (i.e., Midas car care; Cocoa Pebbles cereal, etc.) and also voiced the character in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Drawn Together.
Marvel Comics [edit]
Taylor also provides voices of several Marvel Comics characters: Iceman in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Mysterio in Spider-Man 2, Electro in Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Battle for New York and Spider-Man: Friend or Foe and Lego Marvel Super Heroes, and Harry Osborn as well as Frederick Foswell in The Spectacular Spider-Man.
DC Comics [edit]
Taylor voices Green Arrow as well as Guy Gardner on Cartoon Network's Batman: The Brave and the Bold, the voice for Captain Cold in the direct-to-video film Justice League: The New Frontier and the voice of Topo in Young Justice.
As a voice double [edit]
Taylor has also worked as a voice double for actors such as Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor, Shia LaBeouf, Christopher Walken, Michael J. Fox, David Spade, Daniel Radcliffe, Clive Owen, Nicolas Cage, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Matthew McConaughey, Justin Timberlake, James McAvoy, Alec Baldwin, Billy Bob Thornton, Sean William Scott, Denis Leary, Robin Williams and Ron Howard.[2] Taylor finally met and worked with Johnny Depp while performing the voice for a talking skull in Disney's Hollywood Studios attraction The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow.
He can also do a multitude of other character and celebrity voices which he showed off during his stage show "Talking to Myself" which he performed at Disney World's Hollywood Studios during Star Wars Weekends.
Acting career [edit]
Although Taylor had no aspirations to be an on-camera actor, he starred in the movie Comic Book: The Movie as himself in physical form as well as reprising his voice role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in live table reads of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. He also made an appearance as a hotel agent in an episode of Big Time Rush. He played Duane Swift in the short-film The Audition which aired on YouTube on September 1, 2009. His voice dubbed an actor named Josh as Obi-Wan Kenobi for the fan film Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom, a fan story that brings together the Star Wars series and the Indiana Jones saga. The show was shown as a part of the Last Tour to Endor celebration at Star Wars Celebration V at Orlando, Florida. He will reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in live-action form along with Catherine Taber reprising her role as Padme Amidala in the fan film Hughes the Force.[3]
Personal life [edit]
Taylor is a long-time comic book and Star Wars fan. He is married to Allison Taylor. Together they have one daughter Lydia, who is described as "[talking] about Obi-Wan all the time."[citation needed]
At Star Wars Weekends, he and Star Wars: The Clone Wars co-star Ashley Eckstein were demonstrating to fans how they perform voice-acting for the show. While doing this, Taylor invited his daughter to the stage where she lent her voice to Zillo The Beast (a character voiced by Fred Tatasciore) from The Clone Wars episodes: "The Zillo Beast" and "The Zillo Beast Strikes Back".
Taylor is good friends with voice actors David Kaye, Jim Ward, Corey Burton, Tom Kane, Diedrich Bader, Tom Kenny, Quinton Flynn, Khary Payton, Trevor Devall, Dee Bradley Baker, Neil Flynn, Steven Blum, John DiMaggio, Tara Strong, Kevin Michael Richardson, Chris Edgerly, Catherine Taber, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph along with others.[citation needed] He and Corey Burton performed their own version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas using the voices of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cad Bane, and Ziro The Hutt.
Taylor has cited Uncanny X-men, Green Arrow, Spider-Man, Green Lantern, Batman, Iron Man and The Flash as his favorite comic books series.[citation needed]
Mediagraphy [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Atlantis: Milo's Return | Milo Thatch | Doubles Michael J. Fox |
| 2003 | The Animatrix | Ash, Raul, Additional voices | |
| 2005 | Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film) | Muzu | |
| 2007 | TMNT (film) | Leonardo | |
| 2007 | Superman: Doomsday | Mayor of Metropolis | |
| 2008 | Justice League: The New Frontier | Captain Cold | |
| 2008 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars (film) | Obi-Wan Kenobi, Various voices | |
| 2009 | Bionicle: The Legend Reborn | Berix, Vastus | |
| 2010 | The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie! | Wooldoor Sockbat, Jew Producer | |
| 2011 | Green Lantern: Emerald Knights | Tomar-Re | |
| 2012 | Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (film) | Mr. Hudson, Spud, Additional voices | |
| 2012 | Foodfight! | Doctor Si Nustrix | |
| 2015 | Ratchet & Clank (film) | Ratchet | In production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-2002 | Celebrity Deathmatch | Johnny Depp, Christian Bale | Voice double |
| 1999-2002 | The New Woody Woodpecker Show | Louie the Mongrel | |
| 2000 | Dinozaurs | Dino Kenty | |
| 2002 | Invader Zim | Rob Hummel | |
| 2002 | Whatever Happened to Robot Jones? | Boy 3, Boy 6, Cool Kid | |
| 2003 | Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003 TV series) | Obi-Wan Kenobi | |
| 2003 | The Powerpuff Girls | Kid #3, Kid #5, Triplet #3 | |
| 2003-2005 | Teen Titans (TV series) | Overload, Cash | |
| 2003-2006 | What's New, Scooby-Doo? | Prince Al-Fimer, Zombie Son, Burr Baston, Moto X Guy #2, Owen DeCassle, Steve Fortescu, Sonny Les Matines, Guy L'Avorton, Shawn, Frankie Martin, Dr. Laslow Ostwald, Tad | |
| 2004 | Crash Nebula | Crash Nebula, Sprig Speevak | |
| 2004 | The Fairly Odd Parents | Crash Nebula, Sprig Speevak | |
| 2004 | Static Shock | Eddie Felson, Speedwarp | |
| 2004 | Justice League (TV series) | Private, Robber | |
| 2004-2005 | Danny Phantom | Walker | |
| 2004-2006 | Codename: Kids Next Door | King Sandy, Knight #2, Eggbert | |
| 2004-2008 | Drawn Together | Wooldoor Sockbat, Jew Producer | |
| 2005-2007 | A.T.O.M. | Axel, Sebastian Manning, Tilian | |
| 2005 | Firehouse Tales | Red | |
| 2005-2006 | Krypto the Superdog | Paw Pooch | |
| 2005-2006 | The Boondocks | Crew Member, Ganstalicious Fan, Officer Frank | |
| 2006-2008 | Legion of Super Heroes (TV series) | Mekt Ranzz, Porcupine Pete, Color Kid | |
| 2008 | Family Guy | Nathan Lane | Voice double |
| 2008–Present | Johnny Test | Johnny Test, Hank Anchorman, The Principal, Mr. Mittens, Bee Keeper, Dark Vegan | |
| 2008-2009 | The Spectacular Spider-Man (TV series) | Harry Osborn, Frederick Foswell | |
| 2008-2011 | Batman: The Brave and the Bold | Green Arrow, Blue Bowman, Guy Gardner, Major Disaster, Wotan, Mark Desmond, Arges, Leslie "Rocky" Davis, Alpha-Red, Jace | |
| 2008-2013 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series) | Obi-Wan Kenobi, Plo Koon, Rako Hardeen | |
| 2010-2012 | Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated | Rung Laddernton, George Avcados, Randy | |
| 2010 | Big Time Rush | Regional Manager Taylor | On-camera role |
| 2011 | Ben 10: Ultimate Alien | Kolar, Announcer, Brannigan | |
| 2011-2013 | Young Justice (TV series) | Barry Allen, Burton Thompson, Atlantean Guard #2, Topo, Neutron |
References [edit]
External links [edit]
- James Arnold Taylor at the Internet Movie Database
- James Arnold Taylor at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- James Arnold Taylor @ BehindTheVoiceActors
- Interview w/ James about Batman: Brave & the Bold (Legions of Gotham)
|
