Will Arnett is one of the most popular comedy actors working in TV and film today: “Arrested Development”, “G-Force”, the “Ninja Turtles” movies and most recently Netflix’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events”, a guest host stint on “Jimmy Kimmel LIVE” and a hilarious cameo in “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”.
But Arnett has been just as busy in the industry with just his voice. He embodies the title character on the Netflix animated series “Bojack Horseman”. And when Arnett was married to Amy Poehler, they often collaborated on the same movies. The duo had roles in 2008’s “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!”, 2009’s “Monsters vs. Aliens” and the 2012 English-language version of Studio Ghibli’s “The Secret World of Arrietty”. Arnett also lent his voice to minor characters in “Ice Age: The Meltdown” (2006), “Ratatouille” (2007) and “Despicable Me” (2010).
But his two most prominent on-screen animated characters were featured in both 2014 and again this year. “The LEGO Movie” saw Arnett’s Batman in a supporting role. But his voice work was so good, and the character was so well-received by audiences, that WB immediately went to work on the miniature Caped Crusader’s own spinoff film. “The LEGO Batman Movie”, released this past February, earned rave reviews from critics, regular moviegoers and diehard Batman fans, as well as more than $300 million at the worldwide box office.
Also in ’14, Arnett voiced main squirrel Surly in Open Road’s animated comedy “The Nut Job”. The studio released it during January – usually a quiet time for family fare. It was a smart decision, as “The Nut Job” took-in $65 million in the U.S. and is still Open Road’s highest-grossing film to date. It’s no surprise that a sequel was quickly put into development. “The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature”, with Arnett back as Surly, is out Aug. 11.