Honestly, the 2014 movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman had big shoes to fill. It wasn’t just a random DreamWorks project; it was a revival of a segment from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show that originally aired back in the late 50s and early 60s. When people search for the Mr. Peabody and Sherman cast, they’re usually trying to figure out why the dog sounds so familiar or why the kid doesn't sound like a typical "cartoon child." It’s because the producers didn’t just hire random voice actors; they picked a lineup that could handle rapid-fire, intellectual banter and genuine emotional weight.
Ty Burrell was the guy. You know him as Phil Dunphy from Modern Family, but as Mr. Peabody, he had to dial back the "clumsy dad" energy and swap it for a hyper-intelligent, slightly aloof, but deeply caring beagle. It’s a weird transition if you think about it. One minute he’s tripping over a step in a sitcom, the next he’s explaining the nuances of the French Revolution while piloting a WABAC machine.
The main duo: Ty Burrell and Max Charles
The chemistry between a genius dog and his adopted human son is the whole heart of the movie. If that didn't work, the movie would have tanked.
Ty Burrell brought a specific kind of dry wit to Mr. Peabody. In the original series, Bill Scott voiced the character with a very distinct, almost clinical tone. Burrell had to honor that legacy without sounding like a robot. He used a mid-Atlantic accent—sort of—that made Peabody sound like the smartest person in the room, which, let’s be real, he always was.
Then you have Max Charles playing Sherman. At the time, Max was basically the go-to kid for big productions. He played young Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man. For Sherman, he had to sound energetic but also vulnerable. Sherman isn't a genius; he's just a kid trying to navigate the weirdness of having a dog for a dad. Charles’s performance grounded the sci-fi elements in something relatable. You’ve probably heard his voice in a dozen other things since then, including The Lion Guard and Family Guy.
Why the casting of Penny Peterson mattered
Ariel Winter joined her Modern Family co-star Ty Burrell in this film, voicing Penny Peterson. Originally, Penny is kind of a jerk. Let’s call it what it is: she’s a bully. She goads Sherman into using the WABAC machine just to prove a point, which kicks off the whole plot.
Winter had to walk a fine line. If Penny was too unlikable, the audience would hate her. If she was too nice, there was no conflict. Winter played her with a sharp, precocious edge that eventually softened. It’s a testament to her range that she could play Alex Dunphy—the smartest person in her TV family—and then play Penny, who is smart but incredibly impulsive.
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The supporting Mr. Peabody and Sherman cast: Comedy royalty
The movie is packed with cameos and supporting roles that you might have missed if you weren't listening closely. It’s a "who's who" of 2010s comedy and veteran character actors.
Stephen Colbert and Leslie Mann: They played Penny's parents, Paul and Patty Peterson. Colbert is basically doing a version of his "buttoned-up, slightly stressed-out suburbanite" persona. It works perfectly against Leslie Mann’s more bubbly, polite energy. The dinner scene where Peabody is trying to win them over while Sherman and Penny are messing with the space-time continuum is peak frantic comedy.
Allison Janney: She played Mrs. Grunion. If you need a villain who is both terrifying and bureaucratic, you hire Allison Janney. Mrs. Grunion is the social worker determined to prove that a dog isn't a fit parent. Janney’s voice has this incredible weight to it; she sounds like someone who has never laughed in her entire life.
Stanley Tucci: He showed up as Leonardo da Vinci. This is one of the best parts of the movie. Tucci plays Da Vinci as a high-strung, passionate artist who is struggling with a stubborn Mona Lisa (voiced by Lake Bell). It’s chaotic. It’s funny. It shows how the Mr. Peabody and Sherman cast utilized high-caliber actors for even the smallest roles to make the world feel lived-in.
Patrick Warburton: He played King Agamemnon. Honestly, is it even an animated movie if Patrick Warburton isn't in it? He has that iconic, booming bass voice. He plays the Greek hero as a lovable, slightly dim-witted meathead who just wants to invite everyone to a wedding or a war.
Historical figures and their voices
The movie travels through time, so we get these brief, hilarious snapshots of history.
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- Mel Brooks as Albert Einstein. Think about that for a second. The king of comedy playing the king of physics.
- Bill Hader as Robespierre. Hader is a master of voices, and his take on the French revolutionary is predictably over-the-top and paranoid.
- Lake Bell as Mona Lisa. She’s only in it for a bit, but her back-and-forth with Tucci’s Da Vinci is a highlight.
Comparing the 2014 cast to the original 1959 voices
We have to look back to understand why the 2014 movie felt the way it did. The original Peabody's Improbable History was a very different beast. It was a short segment, not a feature film.
The legendary Bill Scott was the original voice of Mr. Peabody. Scott was a giant in the industry—he was also the voice of Bullwinkle J. Moose and Dudley Do-Right. His Peabody was more deadpan. The humor was pun-heavy and focused on the "Improbable History" aspect rather than the emotional bond between the characters.
Walter Tetley voiced the original Sherman. Here’s a wild fact: Tetley was an adult man who voiced children because of a medical condition that kept his voice from deepening. He was in his 40s when he was voicing Sherman. This gave the original Sherman a very specific, almost "old-fashioned" kid sound that Max Charles updated for a modern audience.
The 2014 Mr. Peabody and Sherman cast had to bridge that gap. They kept the puns (Peabody loves a bad pun), but they added layers of sincerity that weren't really present in the 60s shorts.
The technical side of the performances
Voice acting isn't just reading lines. Director Rob Minkoff, who directed The Lion King, pushed the cast to record together whenever possible. Usually, in animation, actors record their lines alone in a booth. But for the dinner party scene or the scenes inside the WABAC, having the actors in the same room allowed for overlapping dialogue and more natural timing.
You can hear it in the way Ty Burrell and Max Charles interact. There’s a rhythm to their conversation. When Sherman gets frustrated, his voice cracks slightly; when Peabody is lecturing, his cadence is rhythmic and steady. That’s not just editing; that’s performance.
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The impact of the Netflix series cast
It’s worth noting that the franchise didn't end with the movie. The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show hit Netflix in 2015, but the cast changed completely.
- Chris Parnell took over as Mr. Peabody. Parnell (from SNL and 30 Rock) actually fits the vibe of Peabody incredibly well. He has that "nerdy but confident" voice down to a science.
- Max Charles stayed on as Sherman for the series, which provided some much-needed continuity for fans of the film.
While the movie felt like a grand adventure, the series was more like a late-night talk show hosted by a dog. The change in cast—specifically bringing in Parnell—shifted the energy to something more absurdist and fast-paced.
Addressing the "Is a dog a parent?" controversy in the film
One of the heavier themes the cast had to handle was the legal battle with Mrs. Grunion. It sounds silly—a dog in court—but the movie takes it surprisingly seriously. Allison Janney’s performance as Grunion provides a real sense of stakes. When she says, "A dog cannot raise a boy," she isn't playing it for laughs. She’s the antagonist because she represents a narrow-minded view of what a family looks like.
This is where Ty Burrell really shines. His "I'm a dog" speech at the end of the film is the emotional climax. He has to sound proud, defiant, and loving all at once. It’s a difficult monologue to deliver without sounding cheesy, but Burrell pulls it off because he played Peabody with such dignity throughout the entire story.
Actionable insights for fans and collectors
If you're a fan of the Mr. Peabody and Sherman cast or the franchise in general, there are a few things you can do to dive deeper into this specific pocket of animation history:
- Watch the original shorts: Before the 2014 movie, watch the segments from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. You can find them on various streaming platforms or DVD collections. It makes you appreciate the 2014 updates much more.
- Listen to the soundtrack: Danny Elfman did the score. The way the music interacts with the voice acting—especially during the time-travel sequences—is brilliant.
- Check out the Netflix series: Even if you love Ty Burrell, give Chris Parnell a chance. The show is much more "meta" and experimental than the movie.
- Look for behind-the-scenes footage: DreamWorks released several "making of" clips showing Ty Burrell and Max Charles in the recording booth. Seeing their facial expressions while they deliver lines adds a whole new layer to the characters.
The 2014 film stands as a rare example of a reboot that actually cares about its source material while trying to do something new. The cast was the primary reason it worked. They took characters that could have been one-dimensional caricatures and turned them into a family that felt real, even if one of them happened to be a Nobel Prize-winning beagle.