Who Voices the Animals in the Gruffalo
Have you ever wondered which actors play the characters in this popular Gruffalo animated film?
Read on because we have the answers...
Isn't it frustrating when you know the voice but you can't quite put a name to that voice? This award-winning, beautifully animated short film is full to the brim with famous names you know, who's names are on the tip of your tongue.
With over 17 million books sold, the book is beautifully illustrated by Axel Scheffler and translated into over 100 languages, this modern-day classic children's story has been transformed into a wonderful animated film which is available on BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime.
Magic Light Studios’ animations all feature famous names playing the characters, from the Late Show's very own James Cordon and Dr. Who's David Tennant who voices the Highway Rat to Gillian Anderson who plays the friendly witch in Room on the Broom.
What's the Gruffalo Story About?
Released in 2009, directed by Max Lang and Jakob Schuh, the story begins with a red squirrel mother who finds a nut in an Autumn woodland. When her children see an owl swooping down, they just manage to escape in time, prompting their mother to tell them the story of the little brown mouse who one day took a stroll through the deep dark wood.
Here is the star-studded cast in order of appearance.
Helena Bonham-Carter plays the Narrator
The renowned English actress plays the narrator and the red Squirrel. No stranger to voicing animated film characters, such as the Queen in Alice In Wonderland.
James Cordon Voices the Mouse
The incredible tale stars James Cordon as the protagonist rodent. The brave main character who suddenly stumbles across a fox who wants to eat him up. Inviting mouse back to his underground house for lunch, Mouse gladly declines and quickly announces "I'm going to have lunch with a gruffalo".
"What's a gruffalo?"
"Why didn't you know, he has terrible tusks and terrible claws and terrible teeth in his terrible jaws"
John Hurt is the Owl
Later Mouse is confronted by an owl (played by John Hurt) who invites the rodent to his treetop house. Again mouse says 'no' saying he's due to meet the gruffalo right here for tea. Off owl flies rather swiftly.
Rob Brydon Plays the Snake
The slow and whispering voice of the snake is Gavin and Stacy's Rob Byrdon. He asks mouse back to his log pile house, for which our main character happily declines.
Robbie Coltrane plays Gruffalo
Robbie Coltrane plays the voice of the antagonist brown furry monster, with his knobbly knees and turned-out toes, and a poisonous wart on the end of his nose. Orange eyes and his horrible tongue all black, and purple prickles all over his back.
Mouse convinces Gruffalo he is the scariest creature in the deep dark wood and ends up inviting him to follow him, "
Just walk behind me and soon you'll see Everyone is afraid of me".
Shop Gruffalo Toys
Why not check out our beautiful range of Gruffalo soft toys, available to buy from our online store, charactertoystore.com
All the characters from the story are available as plush toys from our Shopify store.
Don't forget to check out soft toy bundles from our other ranges from the Julia Donaldson franchise, such as Room on the Broom, Stickman, Highway Rat and Snail and the Whale.
Interesting facts about the story
- The story is based upon an old Chinese folk tale in which a fox borrows the terror of a tiger. As Julia Donaldson couldn't think of anything that rhymes with tiger, she invented a new imaginary creature.
- 17 million copies of the book sold and counting.
- Translated into over 100 languages
In Popular Culture
As the franchise has become more popular throughout the world, attractions and nature trails have opened up to cater for families and fans of the story.
Chessington's Lazy River Ride
In 2017, Chessington World of Adventure theme park in the UK opened a lazy river ride called The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure. Perfect for fans of the franchise, the Merlin Entertainment ride takes riders on a lazy river ride through various scenes from the story.
Forest of Dean Inspired Nature Trail
The Forest of Dean near Gloucester, England, is host to a nature trail inspired by the story featuring wood carved characters from the story, all created by Clayton Ryder, the internationally renowned chainsaw carver. For more information on the Gruffalo Trail check out deanheritagecentre.com/whats-on/gruffalo-trail
The Character Toy Store is home to the whole range of Julia Donaldson licensed soft toys from Aurora.