Jodi Marie Marzorati Benson (born October 10, 1961) is an American voice actress, actress and soprano singer. She is best known for providing both the speaking and the singing voice of Princess Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid and its sequel, prequel, and television series. Benson voiced the character Barbie in the 1999 movie Toy Story 2, the 2010 Academy Award winning movie Toy Story 3 and the Toy Story toon Hawaiian Vacation. For her contributions to the Disney company, Benson was named a Disney Legend in 2011.
Benson was the original voice of Ariel in the Academy Award-winning Walt Disney Pictures animated feature film The Little Mermaid and continues to perform Ariel and the bubbly voice of "Barbie" in Disney/Pixar's Best Picture Golden Globe winner Toy Story 2 and Academy Award winner Toy Story 3. She also gave voice to the spirited "Weebo" in Disney's live action Flubber, starring Robin Williams. For Warner Bros., she created the voice of Thumbelina, a Don Bluth animated feature film with songs by Barry Manilow. Jodi's other projects include Tinkerbell: Secret of the Wings, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure, 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, Balto II: Wolf Quest, and Balto III: Wings of Change. She appeared as Patrick Dempsey's assistant Sam, in Disney’s live-action feature film Enchanted. While being a Disney Legend, she also voiced Jane Doe and Patsy Smiles in Cartoon Network's Camp Lazlo. She also voiced the character Tula in Fox's "Pirates of Dark water" series.
Career
Benson's debut on Broadway was in the 1983 Kenny Ortega-directed "Marilyn: An American Fable". Other Broadway credits include a starring role in the Broadway musical Smile, where she introduced a song called "Disneyland". Howard Ashman, the lyricist of Smile, would go on to write the lyrics for The Little Mermaid. She describes the song "Disneyland" at the "Smile" Reunion concert held on Sept. 22, 2014, "This is the first piece of the puzzle of my life, the first step of the journey, so to speak". Benson also sings "Disneyland" on a compilation CD called Unsung Musicals. In 1989, Benson appeared in the Broadway musical, Welcome to the Club, alongside Samuel E. Wright, who performed the voice for Sebastian the Crab in The Little Mermaid.
In 1992, Benson received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Polly Baker in Crazy for You. She played the narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in 1998.
Benson also played the Queen in a one-night concert version of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella at the Nashville Symphony Orchestra in May 2010.
She was at the 2012 SYTA conference singing her signature song Part of Your World on Monday, August 27, 2012.
Benson has been the guest artist for the Candlelight Processional for 5 years at Walt Disney World including December 10–13, 2012.
She joined the "2013 Spring Pops" on May 14–15, 2013 as a guest soloist with the Boston Pops.
Benson can be heard on over a dozen recordings and has a six-part DVD series entitled Baby Faith from the creators of Baby Einstein. Her animated TV series include the Emmy Award-winning Camp Lazlo for the Cartoon Network, The Little Mermaid, Batman Beyond, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, The Wild Thornberrys, Barbie, Hercules: Zero to Hero, P. J. Sparkles, and the series Sofia the First for Disney as well as many others.
On the concert stage, Benson has performed as a concert soloist with symphonies all over the world, including The Boston Pops, The Philly Pops (conductor: Peter Nero), The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (conductor: John Mauceri), The National Symphony (conductor: Marvin Hamlisch), Cleveland, Dallas, Tokyo, San Francisco and Chicago Symphonies, to name a few. She starred in the Kennedy Center Honors for Ginger Rogers, and in Disney's Premiere in Central Park with Pocahontas, The Walt Disney World 25th Anniversary Spectacular and Disney's 100 Years of Magic. Benson is the resident guest soloist for the Walt Disney Company/Disney Cruise Line and ambassador for feature animation.
On June 6, 2016, Benson performed the role of Ariel at the Hollywood Bowl's concert performance of The Little Mermaid.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind | Lastelle's Mother (2004 Disney Dub) | Voice role | ||
| 1989 | The Little Mermaid | Princess Ariel/Vanessa | Voice role | ||
| 1991 | Pirates of Dark Water | Tula | TV series (voice) | ||
| 1992 | Dance! Workout with Barbie | Barbie | Video (voice) | ||
| P. J. Sparkles | P.J. (1988 Mattel) | Voice | |||
| The Little Mermaid | Princess Ariel | TV series (voice) | |||
| 1994 | Thumbelina | Thumbelina | Voice role | ||
| 1997 | Flubber | Weebo | Voice role | ||
| A Christmas Carol | Belle | Voice role | |||
| 1998 | The Mighty Kong | Ann Darrow | Voice role | ||
| An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island | Additional Voices | Voice role | |||
| Hercules | Helen of Troy | TV series (voice) | |||
| 1999 | Hercules: Zero to Hero | Helen of Troy | Voice role | ||
| Toy Story 2 | Barbie | Voice role | |||
| 2000 | The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea | Princess Ariel | Voice role | ||
| Joseph: King of Dreams | Asenath | Voice role | |||
| 2001 | Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure | Lady (replacing Barbara Luddy) | Nominated - Annie Award for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production | ||
| Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse | Princess Ariel | Voice role | |||
| House of Mouse | Princess Ariel, Princess Belle | TV series (voice) | |||
| The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy | The Blue Fairy | Additional Voices | |||
| 2002 | Balto II: Wolf Quest | Jenna (replacing Bridget Fonda in the rest of the franchise) | Voice role | ||
| Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa | Lenee | Voice role | |||
| 2003 | 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure | Anita (replacing Lisa Davis) | Voice role | ||
| Mickey's PhilharMagic | Princess Ariel | Voice role | |||
| K10C: Kids' Ten Commandments | Leila and Martha | Voice role | |||
| 2005 | Balto III: Wings of Change | Jenna | Voice role | ||
| Camp Lazlo | Patsy Smiles, Ms. Jane Doe, Almondine | Voice role | |||
| 2007 | Enchanted | Sam | |||
| 2007 | The Save-Ums | Chloe | Voice | ||
| 2008 | The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning | Princess Ariel | Voice role | ||
| 2010 | Toy Story 3 | Barbie | Voice role | ||
| 2011 | The Little Engine That Could | Jillian | Voice role | ||
| Hawaiian Vacation | Barbie | Voice role | |||
| 2012 | Secret of the Wings | Healing-Talent Fairy | Voice role | ||
| 2013 | Sofia the First | Princess Ariel and Queen Emmaline | Voice role, computer animated series | ||
| 2015 | Star vs. the Forces of Evil | Singing Teacher | Voice | ||
| 2016 | Clarence | Diana | Voice | ||
| 2018 | Wreck-It Ralph 2 | TBA | Voice role in production | ||
| 2019 | Toy Story 4 | Barbie | Voice role in production | ||
| 2022 | Turning Red | Bev | Voice role
Discography
External links
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