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Templeton
Comparison of the voice actors who have been the voice of Templeton with sound clips and images.
Number of Comparisons: 3
Franchise: Charlotte's Web
Templeton is a primary character in Charlotte's Web. He is a rat who makes his home in Zuckerman's barn cellar, doing little more than eating Wilbur's slop, until Charlotte enlists him to help her find new adjectives she can write into her web to describe Wilbur. He agrees, but only because he knows that Wilbur's death will make it more difficult for him to find food.
In contrast to Wilbur's clean, polite, and respectful demeanor, Templeton is rude, selfish, lazy, gluttonous, and unsympathetic to anyone's needs other than his own. His sole pursuit in life is the pleasure of the next moment, and he can be bribed with food into doing practically anything. His perpetually self-serving nature draws the ire of everyone else in the barn cellar.
Templeton's original voice during production of the 1973 Hanna Barbera adaptation of the book was
Tony Randall, but the voice he did was not sleazy enough for the directors' liking; so Paul Lynde, who happened to be around the Hanna Barbera studio at the time recording characters for some of their shows, was asked to try some of the character's lines instead. The directors loved his take, so he was given the part outright. In the film's sequel, prolific voice actor Charlie Adler took a swing at the role. When a live-action version was produced three years later, the role was given to veteran screen and voice performer Steve Buscemi.