Richard Steven Horvitz

Richard Steven Horvitz, also known as Richard Wood (born July 29, 1966), is an American actor and voice actor. In the world of animation, he voiced neurotic and mentally unstable characters. He is best known for his work as the voice of the original Alpha 5 in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, and Power Rangers Turbo, Razputin in Psychonauts, Kaos in the Skylanders franchise, Billy and his dad Harold in The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy,Grey Matter in Ben 10, Daggett in The Angry Beavers, Bumble in Kinectimals, the title character Zim in Invader Zim, Mouth in Kick Buttowski, Orthopox in the Destroy All Humans! series and the Space Weaver Broken Age.

Personal life

Horvitz was born, grew up, resides and currently works in Los Angeles. Later, he taught voice acting and theater at the California State University, Northridge. He is a friend of Fred Willard, Rob Paulsen, Barry Dennen and Billy West, who voiced Zim in the pilot episode. He lives with his wife, playwright and screenwriter Kristen Lazarian, and their three sons: Cole, Jake and Wyatt. The couple's oldest of their three sons, Jake Elliot Horvitz, (born April 11, 1997), was mentioned in one of his event for The Angry Beavers. He and Lazarian also wrote "Keeper of the Reaper", an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy.

Invader Zim

Invader Zim is an American animated television series created by Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on an extraterrestrial named Zim from the planet Irk, and his mission to conquer Earth and enslave the human race along with his malfunctioning robot servant GIR. He is antagonized by Dib, a young paranormal investigator who is determined to stop Zim.

Vasquez pitched the series to Nickelodeon, who desired a series for their older demographic. This led to it being greenlit and premiering on March 30, 2001. As the series went on, ratings declined and budgetary issues became more frequent. Before the second season was completed, Nickelodeon cancelled the series, leaving several episodes and a planned TV movie series finale unfinished. The show first ended on Nick on December 10, 2002, with some episodes unaired. It moved to Nicktoons and ended a second time on August 19, 2006, with all two seasons and 27 episodes broadcast.

Invader Zim was met with critical acclaim, winning an Annie Award, an Emmy Award and a World Animation Celebration Award, with nominations for six Annie Awards and a Golden Reel Award. The series has maintained a devoted cult following since its cancellation and numerous attempts have been made to put in back in production, though none have been successful.

Richard

The Germanic first or given name Richard derives from German, French, and English "ric" (ruler, leader, king) and "hard" (strong, brave), and it therefore means "powerful leader". Nicknames include "Dick", "Dickie", "Rich", "Richie", "Rick", "Ricky", "Rickey", and others.

"Richard" is a common name in many Germanic languages, including English, German, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Dutch. It can also be used as a French, Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian name.

People named Richard

Rulers and aristocrats

Voice-over

Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. The voice-over is read from a script and may be spoken by someone who appears elsewhere in the production or by a specialist voice talent. It is usually pre-recorded and placed over the top of a film or video and commonly used in documentaries or news reports to explain information. It may also be read live for events such as award presentations.

Techniques

Character device

In Herman Melville's Moby Dick (1956), Ishmael (Richard Basehart) narrates the story and sometimes comments on the action in voice-over, as does Joe Gillis (William Holden) in Sunset Boulevard (1950) and Eric Erickson (William Holden) in The Counterfeit Traitor (1962); adult Pip (John Mills) in Great Expectations (1946) and Michael York in a television remake (1974).

Voice-over technique is likewise used to give voices and personalities to animated characters. Noteworthy and versatile voice actors include Mel Blanc, Daws Butler, Don Messick, Paul Frees, and June Foray.

The Angry Beavers

The Angry Beavers is an American animated television series created by Mitch Schauer for the Nickelodeon channel. The series revolves around Daggett and Norbert Beaver, two young beaver brothers who have left their home to become bachelors in the forest near the fictional Wayouttatown, Oregon. The show premiered in the United States on April 19, 1997. The show started airing on the Nickelodeon Canada channel when it launched on November 2, 2009. The series aired on The '90s Are All That block on TeenNick in the US on October 7, 2011 as part of the block's U Pick with Stick line-up. The series was also up for a U Pick with Stick showdown on The '90s Are All That for the weekend of February 3, 2012, but lost to Rocko's Modern Life and did not air.

The series was added to the Sunday line-up on The '90s Are All That on TeenNick, and aired from February 10, 2013, to March 3, 2013. The series returned to The '90s Are All That on TeenNick on March 25, 2013, but has since left the line-up again. As of 2016, the show currently airs on The Splat's nightly lineup. The series is also currently being released on DVD.