Voiceover artist June Foray: Our Wonder Woman of the Week

June Foray died Thursday at the age of 99. The longtime voiceover artist brought some of the most iconic cartoons to life and forever changed the way Hollywood treats animation.

When a contemporary animated movie or show needs its characters voiced, they just turn to whoever the “it” movie star is: The Rock, Justin Timberlake, J Lo, etc. But back in the day, they turned to June Foray, our Wonder Woman of the Week.

Foray died Thursday at the age of 99, and though you might not recognize her if you saw her picture, you’d definitely recognize her voice. Foray built a legendary career for herself as the voice of cartoon characters in the 1960s from Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show to Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas to Granny in Tweety and Sylvester. Foray started voice acting at the age of 12, but she also was a big reason the entertainment world takes animation seriously. According to Variety, she hosted what would eventually become the Annie Awards as a dinner to recognize the best in animation in 1972. When she first suggested the awards, she was told no one would show up. But they did. About 400 people that first year. Now, the Annies have an award named for Foray. As a governors’ boardmember, she worked for years to get the Academy Awards to recognize animated films (about 20 years, she said). It worked. Shrek won the first Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2001.

Next: A Wrinkle in Time: A look at who’s who in the cast

Basically, Foray was a cartoon pioneer and this week we salute her for making the world a little more fun.