The voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (among countless others), Eric Bauza, will host this Saturday’s 3rd Annual Children’s & Family Emmy Awards (CAFE). Now in its third year, this standalone competition spotlights the pinnacle of creativity and innovation in children’s entertainment. The ceremony will be streamed live on watch.theemmys.tv and through The Emmys apps (apps.theemmys.tv). Note that the Creative Arts CAFE ceremony recognizing excellence in behind-the-scenes and technical achievements, will take place at 8:00 PM PT and will not have a host.
The nomination list is incredibly extensive; it includes I Am Groot, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Orion and the Dark, Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie, and The Tiny Chef Show. Announced last December, the animation, visual effects and related nominees can be found on AWN here.
Puppeteer and actor Dave Goetz (The Muppets) will present the Lifetime Achievement Award to previously announced honoree, Emmy Award-winning performer Fran Brill. Additional presenters for CAFE and the Creative Arts CAFE ceremonies include: Ella Bright (“Darrell Rivers” in Malory Towers), Noah Cottrell (“Simon” in The Spiderwick Chronicles), Lucia Cunningham (“Jessica Williams” in Jessica’s Big Little World), Terrence Little Gardenhigh (voice of “John Patrick ‘Pat’ Patterson” in Fright Krewe), Duff Goldman (host, Kids Baking Championship), Jack Griffo (“Max” in The Thundermans Return), Mykal-Michelle Harris (as “Alice Baxter” on Raven’s Home), Paul Walter Hauser (voice of “Dark” in Orion and the Dark), Leah Sava Jeffries (“Annabeth Chase” in Percy Jackson and the Olympians ), Kiersten Kelly (voice of “Brooklyn” in Jurassic World: Chaos Theory), Donna Kimball (Emmy nominee performer “Mokey Fraggle,” from Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock), Kira Kosarin (“Phoebe Thunderman” in The Thundermans Return), Amanda Lawrence (“Matron Shipley” on Malory Towers), Amanda Martinez (voice of “Abuela” in Rosie Rules), Arianna McDonald (Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie), Bobby Moynihan (Former Saturday Night Live cast member, voice of “Bobby Boots” in Pupstruction), Walker Scobell (“Percy Jackson” in Percy Jackson and the Olympians), Aryan Simhadri (“Grover Underwood” in Percy Jackson and the Olympians), Cree Summer (voice of Lizard & DeeDee in Spirit Rangers), John Tartaglia (Emmy nominee “Sprocket the Dog” (Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock), Jacob Tremblay (voice of “Orion” in Orion and the Dark) and Izaac Wang (“Sam Wing” in Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai).
Nominees and guests expected to attend the ceremonies include Bob Bergen (voice of “Porky Pig” in Looney Tunes Cartoons), Leslie Carrara-Rudolph (“Abby Cadabby & Tango” on Sesame Street), Adam Copeland (“Ares” on Percy Jackson and the Olympians, WWE wrestler Edge), Ben Feldman (voice of “Tylor Tuskmon” in Monsters At Work), Eric Jacobson (“Bert,” “Oscar the Grouch” & “Grover” on Sesame Street), Elizabeth Mitchell (“Carol Calvin”/“Mrs. Claus” on The Santa Clauses), Maximilian Lee Piazza (One Piece), Sarah Rafferty (“Donna” in Suits; “Katherine” in My Life with the Walter Boys), David Rudman (“Cookie Monster” & “Baby Bear” on Sesame Street), Eric Stonestreet (“Cameron Tucker” on Modern Family, “Magnus Antas” aka “The Mad Santa” in The Santa Clauses), and Kari Wahlgren (voices of “Magda,” “Granny Catherine,” “ Whiskers” in Superkitties).
Bauza is a veteran Looney Tunes voice actor who most recently earned him two Children’s and Family Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice Performance in an Animated Program – first in 2022 for his performance of Bugs Bunny in Looney Tunes Cartoons and again in 2023 for his performances of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, and Marvin the Martian in Bugs Bunny Builders. Bauza is the voice of both Porky Pig and Daffy Duck in The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie coming out in theaters on March 14, 2025. Bauza began his career in animation as a character designer working with production studios in Hollywood. It was this introduction to the animation world that led him to a successful career as one of the most in-demand voiceover artists in town.
He received Emmy and Annie Award nominations for his work as the title character in The Adventures of Puss in Boots and Muppet Babies as well as for Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck in Looney Tunes Cartoons. His other television credits include Tiny Toons Looniversity, Unikitty, Archibald’s Next Big Thing, The Rocketeer, Ballmastrz: 9009, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Turtles, Star vs. The Forces of Evil, Breadwinners, Uncle Grandpa, Atomic Puppet, The Powerpuff Girls, The Fairly Odd Parents, Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production, Ultimate Spider-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Guardians of the Galaxy, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Sanjay and Craig, Mighty Magiswords and the voice of Fozzie Bear, the big-hearted comedian, in Disney Junior’s reimagined Muppet Babies television series.
On the big screen, Bauza voiced Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, and Marvin the Martian in Space Jam: A New Legacy. He has voiced characters in The Book of Lifeand The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water, as well as Woody Woodpecker in the Woody Woodpecker feature film for Universal. He has also voiced characters in commercials such as Lucky the Leprechaun for Lucky Charms cereal, Trix Rabbit for Trix cereal and Marvin the Martian for Nike and Walmart.
He’s been vewwy, vewwy busy!
Source: NATAS
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
