Animation fans everywhere continue to mourn the loss of voice actor Eric Bauza, who died suddenly at age 46. Bauza was the modern voice for many Looney Tunes characters, including Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Among his other animation roles include Woody Woodpecker, Puss in Boots, and characters in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well as Avatar: The Last Airbender. But one of Bauza’s voice acting dreams was to get a role on The Simpsons. Now, after his passing, we’ve learned via Variety that he actually did get to voice Simpsons characters recently, and his episode will debut this fall.
So which new Springfield characters did Bauza get to lend his vocal talents to? The Simpsons’ co-executive producer Cesar Mazariegos, who is also the episode’s co-showrunner, confirmed that he actually plays two characters. One of them goes by the name “Mr. Fong,” and owns a restaurant. The other is a newspaper editor, “Harry Metsali.” Mazariegos said the following about Eric Bauza joining The Simpsons family in a statement:
Everything people have said about Eric, before and after his untimely passing, is absolutely true. He was so funny, kind, creative and just immensely talented. We reached out to him to play two New-Yorky characters for our ‘Dream Scenari-Moe’ episode, and he knocked it out of the park. He seamlessly dipped in and out of dozens of voices, both to give us options and just hilariously riffing while off-mic. He signed our Wall-of-Fame and drew an amazingly rendered Bugs Bunny on it. That’s how we found out he started as an animator! He was such a longtime fan of animation and kept saying that he felt like the luckiest guy in the world.
Nerdist’s Take: Fans Will Be Fortunate Enough to Hear Bauza in The Simpsons as Well as New Looney Tunes Soon
Cesar Mazariegos added, “His passing just checks off so many boxes that make this such a devastating loss. To his young family, to a generation of animation fans, to an industry that’s being hobbled by greed and AI. We join his countless friends, colleagues, and fans in mourning his loss.” The Simpsons episode in which Eric Bauza guest stars airs on Fox on November 15. Fans will also be able to hear him voice Looney Tunes characters one more time in the upcoming short, Daffy Season.