Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Kath Soucie began her acting career on stage in New York City before transitioning to television. However, she felt restricted by on-camera acting, so she took a chance voicing some background characters in the animated show Rambo: The Force of Freedom. This would prove to be the beginning of a prolific career that would see her rise to one of the most well-known and highest-paid voice actors of the '80s and '90s.
Soucie's success comes from her vocal range, which is versatile enough to cover a wide spectrum of male and female characters. She can switch on a dime from sweet, childish, mature, loving, seductive, and unhinged. This is made all the more special thanks to her talent for mimicking accents.
Linka — 'Captain Planet and the Planeteers'
Hailing from the Soviet Union (later Eastern Europe after its collapse), Linka is chosen alongside four other youths by Gaia to defend the world from human greed. She is gifted a magic ring that grants her power over the element of air. When combined with the other four rings, she and her friends can summon the eco-hero, Captain Planet.
Linka is one of the more complex members of the Planeteers. While good with machines and often providing a voice of reason, she can be brash, reckless, and short-tempered, especially around her American friend/romantic interest, Wheeler. Soucie manages to pull this off while also performing a thick Russian accent.
Cubert Farnsworth — 'Futurama'
When Professor Farnsworth begins to get up in years, he decides to awaken a clone of himself to continue his scientific legacy. At first, Cubert resisted the professor's life, but after being inspired by a dream, he changed his tune and referred to the professor as his father. When he's not hanging out with his friends, he often criticizes the Planet Express crew's methods.
Soucie's voice hits that balance of arrogance while reminding you of the character's age. Despite having a great intellect, he would rather waste time with his friends or point out the flaws of others. This is a tricky character to pull off, but the writers did this by limiting Cubert's screen time and reminding audiences of his softer side with the professor.
Kanga — 'Winnie the Pooh'
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Kanga and her son Roo came later to the Hundred Acre Woods compared to the rest of Christopher Robin's Friends. At first, they were mistrusted by the others, particularly Rabbit, who hatched a plan to get them to leave. It didn't end up working and helped warm everyone up to the two.
Soucie probably best captures Kanga's nurturing nature out of all the women who have voiced her. She is sweet and motherly to all her friends as if they were her own children and is always there to give them a hand or advice. Should they push things too far, she isn't afraid to teach them a lesson.
Maddie Fenton — 'Danny Phantom'
During her college years, Maddie teamed up with her friends Jack Fenton and Vlad Masters to create a portal to the world of ghosts. Over time, she and Jack fell in love and started a family. This did little to quell their ghost-hunting ways, especially after they created a functional portal to the Ghost Zone.
Maddie is one of the most fun mothers in children's cartoons. With her friendly and supportive demeanor towards her kids, Maddie doesn't hold back when it comes time to fight. With her husband, she makes for a formidable duo: Jack invents the ghost-hunting gadgets, and Maddie uses them to their fullest.
Morgana Macawber — 'Darkwing Duck'
Coming from the magical Macawber family, Morgana is a powerful young sorceress, albeit unrefined. After moving to St. Canard from Transylvania, she turns to crime to make money. This brings her into contact with the city's hero, Darkwing Duck, and the two fall for one another instantly.
Morgana and Darkwing's relationship is one of the more interesting ones in Disney's television canon. Having grown up around monsters her whole life, much of Morgana's attraction to Darkwing comes from his status as a normal, powerless duck who still fights crime. However, a series of bad relationships leave her short-tempered, which, combined with Darkwing's ego, results in even more bumps in their road to love.
Lola Bunny — 'Looney Tunes'
Introduced in the hybrid live-action/animated film Space Jam, Lola Bunny signed up for the Looney Tunes' basketball team to play against aliens who wanted to capture them for their theme park. Though seen as eye candy by most, her skills at the sport help her team considerably. After the game, she started dating Bugs Bunny after he saved her from injury.
While others have voiced Lola, including a more comedic version by Kirsten Wiig in The Looney Tunes Show, Soucie has been the most consistent. Her original take perfectly fits Lola's flirtatious but firm personality. Despite the animator's playing up her feminine attributes, Lola is more than capable of physically and verbally defending herself when needed.
Miriam Pataki — 'Hey Arnold'
The mother of Arnold's bully/stalker, Helga, Miriam spends most of her days asleep at home while her husband, Bob, pushes his business as the "Beeper King." She can be found beside her blender when she is awake, making one of her favorite "smoothies." The only time she is on her best behavior is when her eldest daughter, Olga, comes home.
Miriam's behavior and mannerism are as close as a children's show could get to portraying a depressed and alcoholic parent. Several episodes also showcase her hidden potential, hinting that she gave up a promising life to marry Bob. Soucie pulls this off with aplomb, slurring her words in a disturbingly realistic manner while still being able to capitalize on rare moments of emotion between the family.
Fifi La Fume — 'Tiny Toon Adventures'
In the city of Acme Acres is Acme Looniversity, where the Looney Toons themselves educate aspiring toons. One of these students is Fifi La Fume, a purple skunk who studies under Pepé le Pew. Like her mentor, Fifi is desperate for love but finds herself hindered by her stench and inability to understand no.
While Fifi shares many of her counterpart's worst traits, the writers give her a more diverse personality, allowing for more stories than just her chasing after unreceptive men. Unlike Pep, Fifi gets upset when her attempts at love fail and is aware of her stench to use it as a weapon when needed. She's also another chance for Soucie to flex her talent with accents.
Phil and Lil DeVille — 'Rugrats'
As the next-door neighbors to the Pickles and Finter family, Phil and Lil became friends with Tommy and Chuckie when their parents gathered. The twins happily go along with their adventures, especially if they involve collecting bugs or making mud pies. Though the twins are loyal to one another, they're also not above the usual amount of sibling bickering.
Rugrats is perhaps the best show to showcase Soucie's vocal range. Phil and Lil's voices require Soucie to speak in different pitches and sound youthful, but she manages to pull it off to a point where you forget they're the same person. She also voices their feminist mother, Betty, a mature and deeper voice in a different range from the twins entirely.
Princess Sally Acorn — 'Sonic the Hedgehog'
At the age of five, princess Sally Acorn saw her kingdom taken over by Julian Robotnik and her father banished to another dimension. Fleeing to Knothole Village, Sally grew up in hiding and watched as Robotnik turned her kingdom into a robotic empire. Eventually, with the aid of her friend Sonic the Hedgehog, she formed a group of freedom fighters to take back her kingdom and find her father.
Despite replacing Sonic's traditional love interest, Amy Rose, Sally has become one of the most popular characters in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. Her romance with Sonic feels organic over the show's run, but she can operate without him thanks to her kind heart and tech-savvy mind. Though the show ended after two seasons, Sally's adventures have been kept alive in comic form through Archie Comics.