Comments on: Open Forum Friday: Do Animated Movies Really Need Big Name Voice Actors?

By: Leila Kostiv

Leila Kostiv — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:06:08 +0000

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By: Lawrence Wise (a.k.a. OSMOSIS)

Lawrence Wise (a.k.a. OSMOSIS) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:16:29 +0000

Sadly, I really have to agree with Billy West that using A-Listers for animated movies is a terrible trend. There are many great voice actors who have been at their craft for many years, but have remained annonymous–mostly because of the early Disney attitude of not listing said talent.
And, by the time the (now very much adult)fans discover the voice to their favorite character(s), said actor is usually on their last legs, or have been in obscurity so long, that seeing a 83-year-old woman come on a talk show (say, DAVID LETTERMAN in 1987)mentioning–and PROVING–that she was SNOW WHITE and BETTY BOOP!–it hurts because they have been kept hidden.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but when Peter Fernandez passed almost 2 weeks prior to this posting, this fan’s heart was broken, mainly because I was raised as a life-long anime fan because of his work. And to this day, I have more respect for true voice actors (Bang-Zoom/New Generation Pictures fantastic stable, and ADV Films/Funimation’s in-house crew comes to mind), than I do for an A-Lister looking to add a animated film to their resume.
It also hurts that most of the animated product hitting the multiplex is of the juvenile/comedic nature. Or, if it’s “mature”, its of the Saturday Morning “Battle/Superhero” variety.
An animated slice-of-life dramedy would NEVER even warrant A-List “talent”–or US Animation Studios–attention, let alone make it to the multiplex. Which kinda breaks my heart as a fan, because a “Crispin Freeman/Wendee Lee” dramatic paring would be more believable than, let’s say, a “Tom Cruise/Halle Barry” pairing in the same animated dramedy.
Last but not least, it’s also not the fault of the actors, but of directors who have the “Hey!! It’s a Cartoon!!” mindset.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:44:59 +0000

I believe that if a movie(cartoon)has all the feeling, heart, and soul that the writer(s) put into it, Then the actual voice behind the character makes no difference. When my wife and I watch movies with our 3 year old daughter, we love to see who played the lesser known character rolls. Its nice to hear a voice really make a movie and not be able to place that voice somewhere else. My daughter doesnt care who was the voice of Woody(Tom Hanks), Mr. potato head (Don Rickles), or Hamm the Piggy Bank (John Ratzenburger). She likes the Movies. She dosent even know who these people are yet. Don’t get me wrong these actors usualy do an incredible job, but most parents just want their kids to have good, appropriate, fun, and if the screen actor/actress is right for it they should have it but don’t overlook the masters of voice that have been making and will continue to make us laugh for decades. We take our kids to see movies they like not because of who is in the film, but for the time we get to spend with our kids.

By: moo

moo — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:07:42 +0000

I much prefer the quality of work from real voice actors…Billy West Dan Castellnata to hearing jim carrey. What would Finding Nemo be like if Albert Brooks wasn’t voicing Marlin?

By: vipul

vipul — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 07:23:21 +0000

i want work in animation movie as a voice acter.

By: Renexola

Renexola — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:42:06 +0000

I really don’t think it’s necessary. There are plenty of talented voice actors out there with the range to convey all the necessary emotions.

For example, my boyfriend and I were watching Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp’s Adventure the other day and were thrilled to hear Jeff Bennett as Tramp. He was excellent. He had the appropriate emotional range and he was convincing as the character.

I think a big problem is that when a lot of people think voice actors they think “silly Saturday morning cartoon shows.” But if they sat down and watched some of the more dark and emotional scenes, they would realize that it’s more than just silly voices. I can’t count the number of times I have cried while watching various animated series. I also can’t count the number of times I’ve watched an animated movie with an A-List actor and thought “Man, this would be so much better if __*insert voice actor’s name here*__ were doing this role.”

Another major pet peeve of mine is when they cast famous Hollywood actors for the major roles and established voice actors for the minor roles. Example: Bolt. Grey Delisle would have made a MUCH better Penny than Miley Cyrus. Instead, she got cast as Penny’s mother. I looked forward to hearing her voice more than Miley’s.

I do have to admit though, Pixar does do a good job of casting. I had no idea that it was Owen Wilson voicing Lightning McQueen until I read the credits. I do wish they would tap into the voice actor pool a little more, though.

The worst part is that the excuse “Well, it sells tickets” is poor. Anyone remember Sinbad Legend of the Seven Seas? It starred Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Joseph Fiennes. It bombed at the box-office. Oh, and among the SUPPORTING cast: Jim Cummings and Frank Welker. Yes, Frank Welker. A.K.A. the man who was referred to as a “voice acting god” by Billy West.

Bottom line, A-list celeb voices doesn’t guarantee ticket sales. Casting directors need to look for talent in actors rather than popularity. That’s not to say that some celebrities aren’t good voice actors, it’s just that there is plenty of voice talent out there already. If push comes to shove, there should at least be a balance; hire one A-list actor and have the rest of the characters played by established voice actors. That way they get the ticket sales they want without ignoring the amazing talent that otherwise goes unnoticed by the general public.

Just my [long] two cents.

By: Jenni

Jenni — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 18:52:25 +0000

Children won’t notice but I guess they’re looking
for incentive for parents to choose this cartoon
movie over another. People often choose what they
know and trust- so maybe it’s not necessary or even
the best choice to use a celebrity… but I think it
works to a certain degree.

Most of the time I don’t mind that a celebrity is doing the voice but often it takes me out of the moment so I would rather not recognize the voice. Ray Romano in Ice Age is an example. I like him but I feel constantly reminded of his real image.

By: Hanna

Hanna — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:33:24 +0000

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By: Girlsoutloud

Girlsoutloud — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:01:49 +0000

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By: Duke Togo

Duke Togo — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:34:10 +0000

IMO, many of the big names doing animated aren’t all that great, they either seem to be phoning it in or are just being their normal persona IE Chris Rock, he’s funny as a comedian, but he only plays himself when he voices animation.

Transformers fans raised a ruckus to get Peter Cullen to voice Optimus Prime in the Transformers movies, without this small concession the hardcore fans may have snubbed the movie and only seen it once instead of five times.

Frankly I think kids make the choices and they really aren’t aware of celebs doing the VO, though they can tell when the voices are different, I said to myself as a kid, WTF is wrong with the Smufs’ voices in their animated movie, they sounded nothing like the TV show.

Some of the problem is that regular voice actors usually don’t or can’t promote themselves, they won’t be asked to guest on Conan or Letterman. Sure some have a hardcore following like Cullen and Frank Welker, but the mainstream audiences would great them like the ‘Chocoalte Rain’ guy performing on Jimmy Kimmel. Cullen did voice a CGI optimus prime reading Letterman’s top ten list.

By: Joe Strike

Joe Strike — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:44:58 +0000

As great as the classic (and current) voice actors are, I don’t see any reason animation producers shouldn’t turn to live actors with name recognition if they think they’ll a) help the box office, and especially b) deliver a **performance** beyond what what a Tom Kenny or Billy West – who can do great voice characterizations – can provide. Name value aside, does anybody really think Kenny and West could have delivered as emotionally powerful performances as Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman provided for their characters in “Kung Fu Panda”?

Disney may not have used name performers for their voices, but he kept going back to the same Phil Harris / Sterling Hollway / Pat Buttram well over and over – as much a crutch in its own way as turning to stars to voice the lead characters.

By: Joe Strike

Joe Strike — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:39:41 +0000

Disney may not have used name performers for their voices, but he kept going back to the same P