Regarding Voice Acting

S

shadrack kakui

New member
I’ve noticed that there aren’t many threads devoted towards voice acting. Maybe they existed at one time or another, but I’ve been frequenting this part of the forum for a while now and I’m not sure if I’ve seen many threads. So, I thought I’d ask a few questions in order to get some discussion going.

Who is your favorite voice actor? Why are they your favorite?

I’m not sure who my favorite voice actor is, but I’m pretty sure it’s either Charlie Adler or Steven Blum.

I admire Charlie Adler for many of the voices that he has used over the years; hell, he voiced just about every character on “Cow & Chicken”. A lot of his characters were really wacky and he managed to capture their spirit, but I’ve read that he’s hard to work with and that he stopped voicing Buster on “Tiny Toon Adventures” because of certain disagreements, but I don’t really know the details. Sadly, he doesn’t seem to be working too much anymore, but I did love his role on “Brandy & Mr. Whiskers”.

As for Steven Blum, I’m not sure if I could say anything that would do him justice. That voice of his could melt butter; I wish I could sound like he can.

Who is your favorite voice actress? Why are they your favorite?

My favorite voice actress is Kath Soucie. I know; she was never really a huge name in the industry and there are many talented women who may deserve my praise more than her, but I have adored many of the voices that she has provided over the years. The voice that she provided for Cadpig in “101 Dalmatians: The Series” was my favorite; sure, it may have been a variation of the voice that she provided for Lil on “Rugrats”, but it was a good variation and it fit the character perfectly. I also liked the voice that she provided for Princess Sally, but I think I’ll avoid opening up a can of worms and move on. Unfortunately, Kath Soucie doesn’t seem to be working too much in this day and age, merely voicing supporting characters, but I’m hoping that she’ll make a comeback.

What do you believe makes a good voice? How important is good voice acting to make a character enjoyable?

I think a good voice is an integral part of a character’s success, but what makes a good voice is too difficult of a question for me to answer. From what I’ve seen, it’s something that those in the industry know but fans can seldom grasp. Of course, I’m sure other users on this forum will be able to come up with a brilliant answer.

What are your thoughts on celebrities voicing characters in movies, rather than professionals?

I don’t mind, as long as those who make the movie want the celebrity because their voice works for a character and not because their voice fills theater seats. Of course, if both instances are true, then it’s perfect.

I hope that you will take the time to answer the above questions; they in bold, so you should find them in the midst of my own answers.
 
i guess i'll just list two each
i like a lot of Voices from the 80's but i cant think of names lol

Who is your favorite voice actor? Why are they your favorite?

Crispin Freeman - just something about that Sarcastic tone that makes me laugh. every character he played, he really fit them. from Calm, to Serious, to Hyper

totally loved him as Hideki.

the way he flips out always cracks me up.

Steven Blum - believe it or not he actually has a lot of range, only he gets into similar roles XD he just has such swagger to his voice.

Who is your favorite voice actress? Why are they your favorite?

Tara Strong - wow...is there a cartoon, videogame, or movie she has not been in?! she is everywhere and she is just awesome! she also has a good range of voices, even though she is mostly chosen for cute girly roles.

with the voice of Bubbles being one of her signature roles, i have grown to be a fan of her work. i have tried to tune my ears to anything she is in, i had no idea she was the voice of Rikku -till i looked it up!
and she can sing! (TLM Melody)

if i had to list all her roles it would take up this whole post ^_^ she rocks!

Sandy Fox - first heard her voice, when i was listening to Anime music online and heard the Eng intro to Rurouni Kenshin.

then again singing the intro of Magic Knight Rayearth. i found it cute and she does a character a few eps in. she has one of the most adorable voices i have heard!

it was Chobits that sealed it for me. she voiced Sumomo. she goes into highpitched tones so naturally (that and the fact, that is what she sounds like half the time lol). its annoying when people cant pay a compliment toward her. they think her high voice is fake or computerized! :mad: its obvious they never saw her live shows.

if "Chii's Sweet Home" is EVER brought to the US. she would make the best voice for Chii.

What do you believe makes a good voice? How important is good voice acting to make a character enjoyable?

Umm. Someone you know is having fun with their role. The way the VA talks about the character they play and the series they are in, it lets you know "hey, they really are enjoying themselves, i gotta check this out"

someone who knows when to break away from their typed-cast roles from time to time. has a good range of voices, or able to change tone with one they work with

example. Cree Summers - she gets some bad rep because people are so use to hearing her tone. but i just personally enjoy it, specifically the more teenager type roles.

VAs that spend a lot of time on their lines, till they think they get it just right. ones they are not afraid to speak their mind.
being a Voice Actor seems like hard work.

VAs that take their acting skills from the stage to the booth box. they know how to emote without an audience.

What are your thoughts on celebrities voicing characters in movies, rather than professionals?

hmm. i dont know.
if the voice fits the character, and that is what the creators of the movie wanted. than fine.

but if its a movie done just because "parents wont take their kids unless so-n-so is in it" then i get annoyed. because Live Action Actors are not trained for Voice Acting. and at times they are not directed to alter their voice, they just talk how they usually would talk.

its nice that they are having fun though, and hope their kids see it and such. but you want the director to at least grab a celeb and say "try this voice out"

there are a few Celebs that can pull of some nice cartoonish voices, Jim and Mike for instance. they are use to emoting so much and they are perfect for animation roles.

i wish that Professional voice actors got more recognition when it comes to be movies. that would expand their resume a lot. but it seems like they just get some kind of :shrug: "hmnf" and a nod and 'thanks for your time' type of situation.

i would like it, if more Professional VAs got more Mainstream Animated Movie roles.
 
I guess I was right; it doesn?t seem like people on this forum care that much about voice acting. Regardless, thanks for the reply, Bunai. I agree with you about Tara Strong; I believe that she and Grey DeLisle are amongst the best voice actresses working in the industry today.
 
lol
it was kind of hard to type. i am not use to being so wordy.
hmm. more people need to migrate to the General forum

Grey is awesome...every time i hear Azula i just want to punch her, but be impressed :anime:
 
Who is your favorite voice actor? Why are they your favorite?

I actually have a few. It would come down to a tie between Billy West, Mark Hamill, Maurice LaMarche, Jeff Bennet and Daran Norris. There are plenty of others, whom I certainly appreciate. But these five are possibly the only reasons I ever became interested in voice acting to begin with.

I admire the energy they put into their roles (particularly Daran Norris), and their ability to give life to these characters, I find amazing.

Others that deserve special mention are Frank Welker and Dee Bradley Baker for their ability to bring life, not only to humans, but to creatures of all kinds as well.

I also like Tim Curry's voice work.

Who is your favorite voice actress? Why are they your favorite?

Again, this couldn't possibly be limited to one person. But my tops are Jennifer Hale, Tress MacNeille, Grey DeLisle and Rachael Lillis.

Melissa Fahn and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (ironically, Daran Norris's wife) I also admire, though, I hesitate to count them since I've seen very little of their work.

But the reasons I enjoy these voices probably rely on their abilities to actually manifest themselves as the character. When I watch a show with Jennifer Hale voicing a particular character in it, I am almost always surprised that it is indeed her. My first real experience observing her voice was in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and so I always go back to hearing her Bastila-Shan-English-accent when thinking of her. She puts a lot of life into characters, however small their part may be. And I admire her ability to always find a new way to mask that voice and still be able to give life to these characters.

What do you believe makes a good voice? How important is good voice acting to make a character enjoyable?

To me, I believe a good voice actor, is what makes an on-screen actor good. They understand the role. It's not just a job, but the ability to present themselves in a certain way. The ability to express themselves. For the character to be enjoyable, the person playing them must have a good understanding of them, and be able to make these characters believable without distracting the viewer.

What are your thoughts on celebrities voicing characters in movies, rather than professionals?

I don't have a problem with it... If they are casted in aid of the actual production, rather than in aid of a marketing ploy. And if they understand and grasp the idea of voice acting and the character they were chosen to voice.

Someone noted somewhere on these forums, a few months or weeks ago that Chris Rock went into A Bee Movie and came out stating that it was "the easiest job of his life". I resent remarks like that, because they often come from people who think that all you're doing is talking into a microphone. And often these people are celebrities.

Usually, they're used to on screen acting. They think it's far less serious to be behind a microphone, and they therefore put less effort into actually acting and more into just reading a bunch of lines.

I don't have a problem with celebrities voicing characters, if they are treating these characters with the same respect they would if they were on-screen. But I have a problem with them thinking that it requires less effort and therefore shun it as being just another stint in their already long-lasting-cheap-movie-careers (obviously not applicable to every celebrity).

If I did have a problem with it, however, I would say that I also resent the influx of celebrities doing voice actor jobs, because most of them treat it like the above, and professionals in the industry are losing jobs to them because of it. That last bit is what I believe most people in the industry are so vocal about (Billy West, particularly).
 
Who is your favorite voice actor? Why are they your favorite?

Crispin Freeman, Richard Epcar, Beau Billingslea, Steve Blum, Greg Snow and Tony Oliver, bar none. They've got a lot of six bladed talent in their knives.

Who is your favorite voice actress? Why are they your favorite?

I have no choices (Tara, Kahtie, June, Bea--meh), save for one--Mary Liz Mc Glynn Norris, when it comes to doing Jura Elden (Vandread) Twinkle Murdock (Cowboy Bebop) Maj. Kusanagi (GITS: SAC), et al. It's a shame she's married......:(

What do you believe makes a good voice? How important is good voice acting to make a character enjoyable?

Mosty taking care of your vocal cords, especially in physical integrity. Use them a lot, and they can deteriorate. Sort of like an It's All Gone, Pete Tong for the v-cords, which is what every actor dreads.

What are your thoughts on celebrities voicing characters in movies, rather than professionals?

No problem. It gives them a chance to try a new challenge.
 
Who is your favorite voice actor? Why are they your favorite?
Crispen Freeman. The man is contastly showing up in animated shows left & right, and I've yet to tire of it. It's hard to articulate why I like a voice, I just do.

Who is your favorite voice actress? Why are they your favorite?
Jennifer Hale. I've always enjoyed hearing her voice. Again, it's hard to correctly articulate...there's just a level of liveliness to it. She has a nice range, sounds attractive without being over the top. I tend to like all the characters she plays on some level! :) Some my favorite roles of her include Princess (PPG), Felicia Hardy/Black Cat (Spiderman TAS), Sam/Mandy (Totally Spies), and one of my favorite video game characters, Sheena Fujibayashi (Tales of Symphonia)...and on a sidenote: hoping she'll reprise that role for the game's sequel.

Kari Walhgren has slowly but surely become my 2nd favorite.

What do you believe makes a good voice? How important is good voice acting to make a character enjoyable?
A good voice simply has the match the character's personality. Yes this is very, very important. A character is only as lively as the performance the actor brings to the table. A poor voice can kill emotional scenes and can distract the viewers from enjoying a good story.

What are your thoughts on celebrities voicing characters in movies, rather than professionals?
I don't mind, but honestly I'd rather have VAs who love & care about animation. Big name actors are nice, but I really don't believe they would be interested in doing such work if it wasn't a Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks film, or companies were shelling out the big bucks for their talents, so yeah.
 
Can't really say that I have a favorite voice actor/actress, so I'll answer this question:
What do you believe makes a good voice? How important is good voice acting to make a character enjoyable?

For me, the voice has to be a natural fit for the character. While I love a good "cartoony" voice or performance, I generally prefer Andrea Romano's philosophy of finding "voices with character". Good voice acting combined with good writing is what makes an animated character enjoyable, and I'm of the belief that a good/great vocal performance can overcome occasionally weak writing or weak animation.
 
Who is your favorite voice actor? Why are they your favorite?

Hard to pick from one. Steve Blum, Dee Bradley Baker, Frank Welker, Jeff Bennett and Daran Norris. The first being the one that got me interested in voice acting in the first place. And, enjoy what they give to their characters. And, I admire Dee Baker and Frank Welker being able to voice not only people, but animals.

Who is your favorite voice actress? Why are they your favorite?

Again, hard to pick. Tara Strong, Jennifer Hale, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Grey DeLisle and Kari Wahlgren. I'd put Rachael Lillis in the mix, but I barely heard her. They're very talented, and they do justice to the characters they do. Sometimes, I don't even catch their voices at all (Tara, Jennifer, and Kari, notably).

What do you believe makes a good voice? How important is good voice acting to make a character enjoyable?

A good voice complements the character, and just the voice won't cut it. The actor also has to know the character in order to make his/her performance as believable as possible.

What are your thoughts on celebrities voicing characters in movies, rather than professionals?

Doesn't matter to me. As long as it doesn't end up promoting that actor too much, and they treat the role with respect. I rather have voice over regulars do the mainstream animated films instead.
 
There are several VA's that I look for. On the occasions I find them on other shows, the most I can do is drop them in my tv.com blog because they are so random. A VA discussion would be 'up my ally", but an all encompassing thread would be impossible for me.
 
Who is your favorite voice actor? Why are they your favorite?

Most of the really good ones were really prolific in 80s cartoons (and went on to 90s stuff). (Try to spot how many of them had voiced multiple charas on G1 Transformers.)

Aside from the obligatory Frank Welker mention, there's....

Rob Paulsen: Dude. He can act. End of story.

Charlie Adler is just plain fun to listen to.

Tress MacNeille is all kinds of talented.

Marilyn Lightstone. Who is this? In my mind, she and one other actor single-handedly made a badly-animated 80s action show watchable. (and no--not Thundercats: their opening title sequence did that job very nicely.)

It would take too long to post more, except for a few others:

Jim Cummings. Terry McGovern. Peter Cullen. Michael Bell. I like all of these guys.

Christine Cavanaugh. She will always be Dexter, boy genius.

The two Toms: Kenny and Kane. Kenny--oddly-enough--is a worthy succsssor to Starscream(see below), and...Tom Kane is Tom Kane.

Brian Drummond.(say what you will about the first DBZ dub, his Vegeta's memorable.) Paul Dobson. Jaxon(Jason) Lee(not to knock the other one from Clerks). Stephen David Jay Lucas Blum. Efram Zimbalist, Jr. John DeLancie's turn as Dr. Quest in The Real Adventures of JQ.

The late, great Chris Latta; and the (also) late and great:

Bernard Erhart and Don Messick. Not to mention the late Paul Winchell and Lorenzo Music.

And a special mention of Earl Hammond. No one summoned the ANCIENT SPIRITS of EVIL or imbued himself with the unholy light of the MOONSTAR of LIMBO quite like he did. (can you imagine Larry Kenney doing that? No.)

What do you believe makes a good voice? How important is good voice acting to make a character enjoyable?

In addition to the Romano principle, the actor has to be the character. A reason I like Frank Welker is that he IS Monty Uno or Prof. 3XL! during the time either chara's on screen in KND.(mentioning his VA work on Transformers would be unfair.) If you were to hear another VA with that strong quality, say Marilyn L., you could never forget that chara.

The real trick, though, is when one actor does multiple charas in the same scene and (to an untrained ear) you'd never know that the same actor is blithely talking to himself(herself). I don't hear much of that anymore, except from Daran Norris.

If an actor only seems to have one particular character voice, milk it for all its worth. In particular, I again tip my hat to Earl Hammond; as well as Chris Latta(who did have more than one voice in his library) and Rene Auberjonois. (the "stuffy, snotty, middle-aged French-sounding jerk" was his default voice, and it somehow fit every character he performed.)

What are your thoughts on celebrities voicing characters in movies, rather than professionals?

Depends on the actor. Leo DiCaprio: no. Patrick Stewart: yes. DiCaprio's...meh. Patrick Stewart cut his acting teeth on the stage. Kevin Conroy(see Romano principle) and Rene Auberjonois are both connected with Juillard Academy.

Auberjonois teaches at said acting school, and if you've seen him as Constable Odo(ST: DS9) or heard his VA work, you'd know why. (Okay...make that THREE actors who make that badly-animated 80s robot action show watchable.)[not to mention his other work.]

I mean, someone watching a cartoon to watch the cartoon(anime included) will--at first--not care if Will Smith(talented LA actor)/Jack Black/Rosie O'Donnell/Johnny Depp(who's a great LA actor)/Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence is voicing Winnie the Pooh in a 3D adaption of Now We are Six; or if it's just Peter Cullen voicing Eeyore, Jim Cummings as Pooh and Tigger, et cetera.(IMO, Winchell will always be Tigger; Cummings is good, but he doesn't have Winchell's energy in this role.)

A quality animation requires the best VAs in the business--the best actors in the business, period.

* incidentally, that 80s show I had mentioned: CHALLENGE of the GOBOTS, featuring two scenery-eating Renegades and one scenery-devouring human mad scientist. Seriously: all of the VAs on that show, their writers, and the toyline they were hawking deserved a better show.
 
I mentioned this back when I created this thread, but voice artists are seldom discussed on Toon Zone; the fact that this thread died after a mere eleven posts is proof enough of that. However, I believe that this thread has the potential to generate countless discussions, so I?m going to pose another query. However, if you haven?t answered the questions in this thread?s first post, I hope that you will take the time to get them answered as well. The questions are italicized in bold; I provided my own answers in an attempt to generate discussion.

How important do you believe voice acting is when you watch an animated program?

I may have said it before, but it would take some truly atrocious voice acting to make me change the channel on an animated program that is otherwise enjoyable. Therefore, I do not believe that voice acting is as important as making sure that the episodes are well written and so forth. However, good voice acting can be a contributing factor when I make my final decisions about an animated program. There are a lot of talented voice artists in the world who can really make their characters come to life, but I don?t believe that I would ever choose to view an animated program based solely on the fact that it uses voice artists that I?m fond of.
 
Favorite male voice actor? Being an old timer myself, it's a tie between Kevin Conroy (the definitive Batman voice), Michael Bell (who turned Lex Luthor into a JR Ewing style rogue 20 years ago), and, of course, Casey Kasem, who always supplements his primary roles with at least 1-2 supporting characters on every show he does. His best work came in the original Super Friends ep, "Gulliver's Gigantic Goof". He was Dr. Gulliver, doing a near perfect Peter Lorre mimic. Looking back, this was awesome stuff.

Favorite female voice actor? Grey DeLisle, the current Daphne, gets my vote. Very talented and underrated.
 
So many, I am a fan of so many people.

But let me say this, I think there are many types of voice actors in reguards to the unions and what type of voice acting roles they do. I am familar with three of them.

1) The american voice actors, the more main stream people most of us know of, like Tara Strong, Dee Baley Baker, Tom Kenny, Grey DeLisle, etc.

2) The candian voice actors, those that do roles for canadain shows for studios like Nelvana.

3) The anime dubs, those that specilies in dubbing for animes.

There are some that has crossover. Tara Stong starred out doing almost exclussively canadian roles, but of course she does more mainstream american roles now. Yuri Lowential is known more for dubs, but now he is the lead character in Ben 10: Alien Force. Steven Blum is a great example of doing both american and anime roles.

Of course there are some that have done canadain shows and anime dubs, the first two english voices of Sailor Moon, they have done canadian shows. The entire cast of Bakugan Battle Brawlers would be in both canadain and anime dub casts, since the english dub is done by a canadain company.
 
Important to note, America: Voice Over acting is as important to cartoons as regular old acting is to everything else in the world of creating television or movies. And from my experience, it's just as hard if not more difficult. Of course voice over acting is important! I've known this since I was like five and I first started watching and loving cartoons!

Who is your favorite voice actor? Why are they your favorite?

Over the decades the list has actually grown, but my first and most dominant was ROB PAULSEN, starting with his work as Raphael for TMNT. Notable mentions also include PHIL LAMARR, JENNIFER HALE, LORENZO MUSIC, and CAM CLARK.

Who is your favorite voice actress? Why are they your favorite?

That probably goes to JENNIFER HALE. She has never ceased to impress me ever since her flawless work on SpidermanTAS. She even surpased TARA STRONG as my favorite, which is impossible to do. Impossible.

What do you believe makes a good voice? How important is good voice acting to make a character enjoyable?

A good voice comes from a good actor. How important? Endlessly.

What are your thoughts on celebrities voicing characters in movies, rather than professionals?

To a cartoon voice over actor veteran like me, it's the ultimate test. It helps me measure the talent of an actor in that one unique way. You know if he or she can do THAT job, then we have a great actor on our hands.
 
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