If Morgan Freeman were to read his grocery list out loud, it would immediately become timeless wisdom, meant to be passed down through the ages. There’s no denying the expressive and calming presence that man’s voice evokes and it’s not surprising that he has narrated a whole heap of stuff. So here’s some highlights from Freeman’s illustrious career as the storyteller. Sit back and enjoy his soothing baritone informing, amazing, and going Full Freeman.
The impressive actor starred in and narrated The Shawshank Redemption. Which will always be one of the most underrated films of all time. Portraying “Red,” he tells the story of Andy Dufresne, a man wrongfully imprisoned and his journey while inside the fictional Shawshank State Prison. Tim Robbins’ performance, Frank Darabont’s directing, and Morgan Freeman’s narrating is a furious trio of talent.
Freeman’s first gig as a narrator for a documentary was Cosmic Voyage, which explores the observable universe, black holes, the Big Bang Theory, subatomic particles. You know, everything.
In 2004, everyone’s favorite narrator lent his even timbre to the documentary The Hunt of the President. Based on work by investigative journalist Joe Conason, the film explores a plot to implicate Bill and Hillary Clinton in illegal activities. The following year was very good for Morgan Freeman. He narrated both Spielberg’s adaptation of the classic H.G. Wells novel War of the Worlds and the exceptional documentary March of the Penguins. Effectively making Freeman the Explainer of All Things.
Another noteworthy moment for Freeman was 2011, in which he narrated the documentary discussing the war on drugs entitled Breaking the Taboo, the Conan the Barbarian reboot, and the short nature documentary about orphaned orangutans and elephants called Born to Be Wild. But don’t get it confused. Freeman didn’t only lend his voice to insightful documentaries and harrowing dramas. He also plugged Michael Phelps’ Olympic dominance for Visa.
Lastly, Freeman narrated the nature documentary Island of Lemurs: Madagascar, which as you can guess discussed lemurs and Madagascar. At this point, Morgan Freeman has narrated docs exploring penguins, elephants, orangutans and lemurs. All this experience has earned the man the title of Voice of the Animals. A totally fictional and completely great achievement in the animal kingdom.
