A purely subjective list, in no particular order, of all-time talking animals from movies or televisions series, with the actors who gave them a voice in parentheses:
1. Babe, pig (Magda Szubanski), 1995 and 1998 "Babe" films.
2. Mr. Ed, horse (Allan "Rocky" Lane), "Mr. Ed," 1961-66 TV series.
3. Chance, dog (Michael J. Fox), "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey" 1993 film.
4. Polynesia the Parrot (Ginny Tyler), "Dr. Doolittle," 1967 film starring Rex Harrison.
5. Napoleon, pig (Patrick Stewart), "Animal Farm," 1999 TV movie
6. Virgil, chimpanzee (Willie the chimpanzee, who did his own talking -- in sign language), "Project X," 1987 film.
7. Mr. Tinkles, cat (Sean Hayes), "Cats and Dogs," 2001 film.
8. Salem, cat (Nick Bakay), "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," 1996-2003 TV series.
9. All-star voice cast (Norm Macdonald, Albert Brooks, Chris Rock, John Leguizamo, Julie Kavner, Garry Shandling, Ellen DeGeneres, etc.), "Dr. Doolittle," 1998 remake starring Eddie Murphy.
10. Max, dog (Frank Welker), "How the Grinch Stole Christmas, 2000 film. Welker, whose voice work is ubiquitous in film and television animation, provided Max with a canine-only voice (barks and whines). He also was the original voice of Fred in the "Scooby-Doo" animated TV series. Jeepers!
Bonus list
Top grossing live-action animal films, domestic, 1982-present:
1. "Dr. Dolittle" (Fox, 1998), $144,156,605.
2. "Stuart Little" (Sony, 1999), $140,035,367.
3. "101 Dalmatians" (Buena Vista, 1996), $136,189,294.
4. "Dr. Dolittle 2" (Fox, 2001). $112,952,899.
5. "Cats and Dogs" (Warner Bros., 2001),$93,385,515.
6. "Garfield: The Movie" (Fox, 2004), $74,548,188.
7. "102 Dalmatians" (Buena Vista, 2000), $66,957,026.
8. "Stuart Little 2" (Sony, 2002), $64,956,806.
9. "Babe" (Universal, 1995), $63,658,910.
10. "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey" (Buena Vista, 1993), $41,833,324.
Source: www.boxofficemojo.com
First Published: October 17, 2004, 4:00 a.m.