Andre Stojka
Description
Andre Stojka is an American voice actor known for a long career in animation, particularly for taking over the role of Owl in various Winnie-the-Pooh productions. In the context of anime, he is recognized for his single most prominent role in the medium: providing the English dub voice of Osho, an elder and teacher raccoon, in the 1994 Studio Ghibli film Pom Poko.
Born on May 26, 1944, in Los Angeles, California, Stojka began his career in entertainment in the late 1960s before moving into voice acting in 1979. His early voice work included providing additional voices for numerous animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera and other studios throughout the 1980s, such as Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Smurfs, and Challenge of the GoBots.
Stojka is best known for his role as Owl, the scholarly but often confused bird in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise. He inherited the role from voice actor Hal Smith in 1994 and has voiced the character in numerous films and series, including Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin, The Tigger Movie, Piglet's Big Movie, and the television series The Book of Pooh. Another significant role is the voice of Starlite, the talking white horse, in all animated Rainbow Brite productions from the 1980s. His other major roles include the King in the direct-to-video sequels Cinderella II: Dreams Come True and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, as well as the Grim Creeper in Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School.
A notable pattern in Stojka's career involves a recurring collaboration by inheriting iconic roles from the late actor Hal Smith. Beyond Owl, Stojka also succeeded Smith by taking over the role of John Avery Whittaker, the central character on the long-running Christian radio drama Adventures in Odyssey, starting in September 2009. This role had previously been voiced by Paul Herlinger after Smith's death.
His notable achievements include a career spanning over four decades with credits across television animation, direct-to-video films, feature films, and video games. His voice can be heard in major Disney films such as The Emperor's New Groove, where he provided additional voices, and the Kingdom Hearts video game series, in which he voiced Owl.
Born on May 26, 1944, in Los Angeles, California, Stojka began his career in entertainment in the late 1960s before moving into voice acting in 1979. His early voice work included providing additional voices for numerous animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera and other studios throughout the 1980s, such as Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Smurfs, and Challenge of the GoBots.
Stojka is best known for his role as Owl, the scholarly but often confused bird in the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise. He inherited the role from voice actor Hal Smith in 1994 and has voiced the character in numerous films and series, including Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin, The Tigger Movie, Piglet's Big Movie, and the television series The Book of Pooh. Another significant role is the voice of Starlite, the talking white horse, in all animated Rainbow Brite productions from the 1980s. His other major roles include the King in the direct-to-video sequels Cinderella II: Dreams Come True and Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, as well as the Grim Creeper in Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School.
A notable pattern in Stojka's career involves a recurring collaboration by inheriting iconic roles from the late actor Hal Smith. Beyond Owl, Stojka also succeeded Smith by taking over the role of John Avery Whittaker, the central character on the long-running Christian radio drama Adventures in Odyssey, starting in September 2009. This role had previously been voiced by Paul Herlinger after Smith's death.
His notable achievements include a career spanning over four decades with credits across television animation, direct-to-video films, feature films, and video games. His voice can be heard in major Disney films such as The Emperor's New Groove, where he provided additional voices, and the Kingdom Hearts video game series, in which he voiced Owl.