Eric Stuart is an American voice actor, voice director, musician, singer, and songwriter who was one of the original voice actors of Pokémon the Series and was a voice actor at 4Kids Entertainment and at NYAV Post. He was the voice of Brock and James from Season 1 to Season 8, but left the show when Pokémon USA and TAJ Productions took over the dubbing of the show from 4Kids. Stuart was replaced by Bill Rogers, who took over the role of Brock, and James Carter Cathcart, who took over the role of James and Butch. His voice for May's Squirtle in Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon was from an archive clip he had no actual participation in the dub, like the rest of the 4Kids voice actors. He is the lead singer of his band, The Eric Stuart Band.
Pokémon Roles
Characters
- Brock (TB005-RS146)
- James (TB009-RS146)
- Butch (TB057-RS132)
- Flint (Pokémon Chronicles)
- Magikarp Salesman (TB015-SS004)
- Professor Sebastian
- Marcello
- Master Hamm
- SWAT Team member (EP102)
- Gligarman movie announcer (EP138)
- Move Class instructor (EP176)
- Security guard (SS008)
- Waiter (SS016)
- Male scientist without accent (Mewtwo's Origin)
Pokémon
- Squirtle
- Wartortle
- Blastoise
- Charmeleon
- Charizard (EP056 only)
- Metapod
- Snorlax (RS086)
- Poliwhirl
- Politoed
- Pineco
- Forretress
- Victreebel (EP057 only)
- Hitmonlee
- Hypno
- Jolteon
- Machoke
- Magmar
- Magnemite
- Magneton
- Marowak
- Omastar
- Tentacruel
- Venusaur
- Voltorb
- Mewtwo ("Who's That Pokémon?", "Bye Bye Psyduck")
- Hansen's Shedinja
- Scizor
- Golbat (EP032)
- Porygon (EP098)
- Feraligatr
- Beldum
Video Games
- Lickitung (Pokémon Learning League) (archive recordings)
Other
- Kanto Pokédex (TB050-GS153)
- Johto Pokédex (RS134-RS145)
Non-Pokémon Roles
Anime
- Seto Kaiba, Gansley, Critias (Yu-Gi-Oh!)
- Bastion Misawa, Ojama Black (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)
- Elsworth, Sir Randsburg (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's)
- Scorch (Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL)
- Gourry Gabriev (Slayers)
- Harry Parker, Phil, Quarry, D'Jinn, and other voices (Teenage Mutant Turtles: 2003 series)
- Hanzui (Giant Robo: the Animation)
- Sewwix, Heroix, Ixmo, The Alien (Cubix: Robots for Everyone)
- Hi-Tech, Machette (G.I. Joe: Sigma Six)
- Opening theme song and additional voices (Ultraman Tiga)
- Les Galagoogoo, Pecky Pudgeon, Sour Mongo, and other voices (Viva Piñata)
- Meta Knight, Gus, Blade Knight, Sword Knight (Kirby: Right Back at Ya!)
Video Games
- Pokémon Puzzle League - Brock, James, Squirtle, Weezing, Butch
- Super Smash Bros. Melee - Weezing
- Shadow Hearts - Yuri Hyuga
- Valkyrie Profile - Grey and Lucian
Music career
Solo albums
- Eric Stuart (1998)
Eric Stuart Band albums
- Curiosity (1996)
- Picture Perfect World (1997)
- Blue, Dressed in Black (2000)
- Bombshell Shocked (2003)
- In The County of Kings (2007)
- Empty Frame of Reference (2009)
K-Zone interview
From July 2006, according to this archive:
- K-Zone: Pokémon has been around for 10 years and is as popular as ever. Do you feel honoured to have been a part of it?
- Eric Stuart: I do. It's a great show to work on. The cast and production team are really special people. I'm honoured to have voiced some very popular characters in the toon world.
- K-Zone: You get to play the good guy (Brock) and the bad guy (James from Team Rocket). Which is more fun?
- Eric Stuart: That's a really hard question. I don't like to pick favourites. Brock is funny with his girl-crazy stuff, but James is much funnier overall. I think I actually laugh a lot more when voicing James.
- K-Zone: Brock seems to be the wisest member of the gang. Is he a good influence on Ash?
- Eric Stuart: I think he acts like a big brother to Ash. Though his girl-chasing is a little over the top, I think he keeps an eye on Ash and tries to help him make good decisions in his life. I think Brock would do anything for Ash.
- K-Zone: Apart from Pokémon, what other series have you worked on? And which character has been the most fun?
- Eric Stuart: Oh boy! Ok, I'll try to give you a list, but don't hold it against me if I leave someone's favourite off! Here are the shows and the main voice I did for each one: Yu-Gi-Oh! (Seto Kaiba), Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (Bastion), Ultimate Muscle (Mac Metaphor), Funky Cops, TMNT, GI JOE: Sigma 6 (Hi-Tech), Kirby: Right Back At Ya! (Meta Knight), One Piece (VP Schoople). Okay, you get the idea... My favourite role would have to be Seto Kaiba. He's a blast to do.
- -Zone:How is voicing Pokémon characters different to doing other shows?
- Eric Stuart: Pokémon has a lot of comedy and a good moral to each story. Some of the other shows are either very dramatic or really goofy. Pokémon has a nice balance.
- K-Zone: What's something that most Pokémon fans don't know about the series?
- Eric Stuart: Brock's last name is Harrison.
- K-Zone: And finally, who's your favourite Pokémon?
- Eric Stuart: Squirtle. He was the first one I voiced.
Trivia
- He and Veronica Taylor still wish to return to Pokémon, but they haven't been given the chance to do so as of 2016.
- While he voiced James, he snuck in a subliminal message of James in The Whistle Stop saying "Leo Burnett and 4Kids are the Devil" because he wasn't getting paid for commercials, meaning that this was intentional. So the line was said backwards.
- Aside from voice acting Eric writes and sings music and has his own band: The Eric Stuart Band.
- His favorite Pokémon movie is Pokémon: Jirachi, Wish Maker, which he also directed in English.
- When he first took over as James in series one, it was supposed to be temporary, but the dub directors liked his James so much and decided to cast him regularly as the character.
- He has stated that his favorite line from the series is "I am a flaming Moltres!", which comes from The Fortune Hunters.
- In recent public appearances, he wears a hat either for fashion or because of likely baldness from potential hair loss.
- Aside from Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh! is his other favorite show he's worked on.
