Russi Taylor, Voice of Minnie Mouse, Dies at 75

Disney Legend Russi Taylor.

Russi Taylor, the Disney Legend and official voice of Minnie Mouse for more than 30 years, passed away Friday in Glendale, California at the age of 75. Taylor beat out 200 other voice actors when she auditioned for the role in 1986 – during her career, she voiced Minnie in hundreds of projects, from television, to theme park experiences, animated shorts, and movies, including films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Runaway Brain, Get a Horse!, and Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers, TV series such as Mickey MouseWorks, House of Mouse, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Mickey and the Roadster Racers, and the award-winning Mickey Mouse shorts series for Disney Channel from Disney Television Animation that debuted in 2013.

“Minnie Mouse lost her voice with the passing of Russi Taylor,” Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company said in a statement on Saturday. “For more than 30 years, Minnie and Russi worked together to entertain millions around the world -- a partnership that made Minnie a global icon and Russi a Disney Legend beloved by fans everywhere. We’re so grateful for Russi’s talent as well as the tremendous spirit and great joy she brought to everything she did. It was a privilege to have known her and an honor to have worked with her, and we take comfort in the knowledge that her work will continue to entertain and inspire for generations to come. Russi will be sorely missed and our hearts go out to her family and friends, along with our deepest condolences.”

Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 4, 1944, Taylor had a desire to work for Disney since childhood. She had previously commented, “When I was a little girl, I was with my mom and my brother, and it was late at night at Disneyland. We had just come off the Mark Twain Riverboat and were getting some popcorn. I looked over and saw Walt sitting on a bench, so we introduced ourselves and shared our popcorn with him. At one point during our chat, he asked me what I wanted to do when I grow up, and I said, ‘I want to work for you!’ So he said, ‘Okay!’ -- and now I do!”

“Russi was as close as family; as wonderful, funny, and sweet as Minnie Mouse, and as talented yet humble as you would expect,” Bill Farmer, the voice of Goofy and a longtime friend of Taylor, said. “I will deeply and dearly miss her.”

In the mid-1980s, Taylor fell in love with fellow voice artist and Emmy Award-winning sound effects editor Wayne Allwine, who had been the voice of Mickey Mouse since taking over the roll from Disney sound effects wizard Jimmy Macdonald in 1977.  “I really want whoever comes after us to be aware of the history and the tradition, and to love the characters as much as we do,” Taylor said of herself and Allwine. The pair, who married in 1991, had their own production company, Taylor-Allwine Associates, and were named Disney Legends in 2008, one year before Allwine’s death in 2009 at age 62.

Rick Dempsey, Senior Vice President of Disney Character Voices, said, “Russi Taylor embodied the character of Minnie Mouse. She truly was one of the kindest, most gracious, upbeat, and loving people I have ever had the privilege to work with and to count as a friend. Anytime anyone met Russi, their day would always get just a little bit brighter. Not only was she amazingly talented and gifted, but she had a true desire to make the world a better place with the gifts she was blessed with. The world has a lost a real treasure. She will truly be missed, but her voice will live on.”

Russi’s other Disney voices included Nurse Mouse in The Rescuers Down Under, as well as Donald’s mischievous nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and their friend Webbigail Vanderquack in the original DuckTales animated series. She also lent her voice to roles on other classic TV animated series like TaleSpin, The Little Mermaid, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and Kim Possible, as well as modern favorites that include Sofia the First, The Lion Guard, and Tangled: The Series.

Among the most famous roles on Russi’s extensive list of credits are Strawberry Shortcake, Baby Gonzo (of Muppet Babies fame), Pebbles Flintstone, Duchess the Cat in the film Babe, and Ferny Toro in Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks. She also provided the voice of Martin Prince and the twins, Sherri and Terri, on more than 100 episodes of The Simpsons, as well as the blockbuster feature The Simpsons Movie.

“I never wanted to be famous,” she once said. “The characters I do are famous, and that’s fine for me.”

Source: The Walt Disney Company

Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.