Have a listen to this announcer in this random advert:
https://youtu.be/zLgdKSoK3tA?t=349
And tell me he doesn't sound exactly like Seth MacFarlane doing his Stewie Griffin voice, almost 20 years before he dreamed up the character!
Haha, that's just an old stereotypical posh British accent... I've heard a lot of voices like that, particularly in 70s/80s TV shows... I wouldn't say it's identical... sounds even posher than Stewie but I get what you're saying... it's the tone more than anything!
shareI'm 100% sure that he ripped the character's voice off from Rik Mayall, who was one of the stars and writers of The Young Ones. Besides sounding exactly like him, The Young Ones also had similar cutaway gags.
Rik Mayall as Rik from TYO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmvaZEz2GgU
Rik Mayall from Drop Dead Fred, with the football-shaped head: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S76zFhXuO8M
I have respect for Seth MacFarlane, but I wish he'd pay his respects and cop to the influence. He didn't have to do it with Paul Lynde for American Dad, because the homage is so recognizable that it's obvious, but he should've done it for Mayall.
Seth MacFarlane has many times said he based Stewie's voice on Rex Harrison,but I can see what you mean.
shareMacFarlane that because that's what people trying to hide their inspirations do. It's an age old tactic (and an old one).
If they rip off Alice in Wonderland, they'll say they were inspired by The Wizard of Oz.
If they rip off The Beatles, they'll say they were inspired by The Stones.
If they rip off Madonna, they'll say they were inspired by Cyndi Lauper.
Normally, I would've accepted what MacFarlane said at face value, but it seems disingenuous for many reasons. For one, Rex Harrison was pretty much an obscure figure by the time he created the show and wouldn't really have been recognized by Family Guy's target audoence, so it doesn't make sense that he'd try to base a character around him.
Another thing, too, is that Rex Harrison had a very distinctive speaking and singing voice that sounded nothing like Stewie Griffin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wefP_aEl6_I. I'll give MacFarlane the benefit of the doubt that he might've infused a little of Harrison's personality into Stewie, but the voice is Mayall's and a lot of the so-called "signature" humor of Family Guy (the fast pacing and cutaways) were from The Young Ones.