In regards to the role of Doc Brown in the Back to the Future movies, Christopher Lloyd had a rather unexpected successor. This came in the form of Dan Castellaneta, one of the most recognizable voices in the world. Even those who haven’t seen the long-running animated sitcom in full have likely heard his voice at some point or another. What many don’t know, though, is that Dan Castellaneta has a connection to another iconic franchise that started in the ’80s. Back to the Future, one of the best feel-good movies of the 1980s, introduced the world to Christopher Lloyd’s Doc Brown, who Castellaneta would later be connected to.

Chrstopher Lloyd famously portrayed the science fiction icon three times on the big screen, with his character’s journey taking him all sorts of places, including to the Wild West in the final movie. This particular stop in Back to the Future Part III was seemingly revisited with Lloyd’s shock return to the role in A Million Ways to Die in the West, which amounted to one of the best surprise movie cameos ever. The cameo came after a long break in playing the character, but that’s not to say Brown wasn’t around – interestingly, he was voiced by Dan Castellaneta in the 1980s.

Dan Castellaneta Voiced Doc Brown In Back To The Future: The Animated Series

The Show Ran For 2 Seasons From 1991 To 1992

At the end of Back to the Future Part III, Doc Brown, despite initially deciding to stay back in 1885, shows up in 1985 with a new time machine, built out of a train. While that is the last scene in the trilogy, it’s not the last time Doc and Marty have gone on an adventure together. Just a year after the release of Back to the Future Part III, Back to the Future: The Animated Series aired its first season, continuing the story from Doc’s perspective.

The few live-action segments in the animated show still feature Christopher Lloyd as the beloved character, so it’s forgivable if viewers ᴀssume Lloyd voices the character in the show. However, it’s actually Dan Castellaneta’s voice that we hear as the animated Doc. The actor, who had already debuted as the voice of Homer Simpson in 1989, gives a chameleonic performance as Doc, making it hard to differentiate his voice from the voice and accent ᴀssociated with the character, thanks to Lloyd’s iconic performance in the trilogy.

Back To The Future‘s Animated Sequel Series Made Doc Brown The Main Character

He Was A Supporting Character In The Trilogy

While Doc Brown plays a major role in the events in the Back to the Future trilogy, he’s mostly a supporting character, and the most important secondary character. Marty McFly is the protagonist through whose eyes we see the story unfold in the movies, which is why his love for rock and roll makes Back to the Future a memorable 1980s movie ᴀssociated with one song. However, the animated series flips the script on the dynamic between him and Doc.

Doc Brown is the protagonist of Back to the Future: The Animated Series. While Marty and his girlfriend Jennifer appear in some of the episodes, the animated show primarily focuses on Doc and his family, detailing the wacky adventures he takes his family on. Moreover, making Marty a side character introduced a new interesting dynamic for Doc, as Bill Nye appears as his sidekick and lab ᴀssistant in the live-action sequences in the show. The chemistry between Lloyd and Nye as partners helped create many viewers’ perfect introduction to Bill Nye.