LOS ANGELES - Quick! Can you name who did the voice of Snow White? Or Cinderella? How about the Little Mermaid?

It's OK if the names don't immediately spring to mind - they were never promoted or paid as stars when their most famous screen characters debuted.

But now try naming the actors who voiced Shrek, the Genie from "Aladdin" or Woody the cowboy from "Toy Story," and it's easy to think of Mike Myers, Robin Williams and Tom Hanks.

Performing animation was not considered prestige work decades ago, but those three performances have changed things over the past 10 years.

Now, practically every cartoon features famous voices. The new undersea gangster comedy "Shark Tale" has a slew of them.

The computer-animated story of a scared little fish (Will Smith) who becomes famous as a "shark slayer" by surviving a shark attack when an anchor lands on his predator features the voices of no less than 12 famed actors

Jack Black is his vegetarian shark buddy, Robert De Niro the menacing undersea gangster mourning his son and Martin Scorsese a puffy-eyebrowed pufferfish. Renee Zellweger plays a love-stricken angel fish, "The Sopranos" Emmy winner Michael Imperioli Black's vicious brother, Peter Falk an aging gangster shark and Angelina Jolie a femme fatale.

What changed over the years?

Studios now find that a star is one more attraction for audiences. And actors find it's easy work - which pays enormously.

It's unclear how much Black and his co-stars got paid, but DreamWorks Animation, which produced "Shark Tale" has been generous with stars in the past. Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy each reportedly received $10 million upfront for "Shrek 2," not counting their percentage of the profits from the year's biggest movie.

Animation is also something the actors can squeeze in between their other jobs.

Meanwhile, a cartoon voice can give them a place in movie history as their cartoon passes through generations of kids - and they don't even have to shave.

"For the talent, the voice-over work is a minimal commitment," said Eric Wight, an artist who has worked on cartoons for "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Charlie's Angels." "They can record an hour's worth in a couple hours. I always love being at these voice-recording sessions and they show up and they're practically in their pajamas and unwashed - very easy work for them."

Black said the iconic status of being a cartoon had appeal for him, which is why he agreed to do "Shark Tale" before a script was even finished.

"I've wanted to do it ever since I saw Robin Williams in 'Aladdin,'" Black said. "I thought he was so awesome in that. I think it might have been his best performance because it was cool to see him go all the way insane with this crazy cartoon character taking care of the body. I wanted to do something like that."