Celebrity Voice-overs - Again....

My thanks to Tony Quinn for bringing this Washington Post article to my attention. It's interesting that the mainstream media is starting to comment on the lack of a tight correspondence between stars' fame and their talent in the voice-over booth - something voice actors have been musing about for some time. The writer, John Anderson, traces the hunger for celebs in animation back to the extraordinary work of Robin Williams in Aladdin and the success of Lion King, with its star-studded cast.

I came across another article recently that makes the same point, although it's nearly 4 years old already. It refers to laments by even high-profile TV voice actors like Tom Kenny that ''the guys who are top-of-the-line TV animation guys are Fish No. 47 in Finding Nemo.''

I've said it before - if directors want on-camera stars doing the voices in their animated features, they're going to have them. If they specifically want great acting in the voice-over booth - if that doesn't intersect with celebrity - I'm sure they know where to find that too. My not-very profound advice to voice actors who find the current state of animation casting disturbing (and I'm not referring to people like Tom Kenny, who does not need my advice ;): there is nothing to be gained by complaining. Stay in shape and keep working on your craft and be ready when opportunity comes. If the opportunities don't come soon enough, then make your own!

I’ve been Bob Bergened.

A tornado hit my world last weekend and I hope that world will never be the same. After a weekend with Bob Bergen at his voice-over animation workshop, I feel like I want to live my life IN CAPITAL LETTERS!!! The energy and generosity of this gifted teacher are beyond words.

I was sorry to miss Bob’s earlier appearance in Boston last month, especially because several of my good friends were in the class. One of the good things about the Hartford experience, however, was that I had never met any of the participants so I now have a whole new circle of very talented voice-over friends, and several of them live close enough that we can have periodic workout groups to keep the energy going from this extraordinary weekend.

The thought of going back to business as usual Monday morning was not appealing. I have to say, the dry narration scripts that were waiting for me when I switched on the computer just didn’t know what hit them! I had to tone it down a little so my clients wouldn’t say, “Whoa!! What are you ON?” but I was glad to find that indeed, life is not the same! My profound thanks to Anthony Piselli for bringing it all together, to Planet of Sound for their hospitality, and to Bob Bergen, for being his amazing self. Bob, you rock.

Mike Hand with Bob Bergen at Planet of Sound, May 2008

Bob Bergen Workshop in Hartford, CT

Bob Bergen will be bringing his renowned voice-over workshop to Hartford next month and I will be attending. Bob has provided voices for hundreds of cartoons, games and commercials, but is best known as the voice of Porky Pig and Tweety, having inherited these roles from the legendary Mel Blanc. Of course, it wasn't a simple bequest - Bob had been in training for the job since he was 5 years old and it was well earned.

I've taken 4 different character voices workshops in the last 3 years: two at Edge Studio, one with Pat Fraley, Hillary Huber and Candi Milo, and one with Pat Fraley hosted by DB Cooper. I'm allowing myself this one more and then I am not allowed to take any more until I make a character voices demo - a real one!

If you're a voice actor in the New England area and are looking for an extraordinary educational opportunity, you can join Bob Bergen 17-18 May 2008 by contacting Anthony Piselli.

Surf’s Up.

Penguins are much less a part of our lives than dogs and cats or even skunks and racoons, so three movies about penguins in three years makes me feel like Hollywood is "constantly" thrusting the dapper sphenisciforms in front of us. March of the Penguins (2005) was a masterpiece, an unromanticized tale of the hardship of life in Antarctica. I confess I never made it to Happy Feet (2006), so it seemed that I was overdue for another dose of penguin. I’m so glad I went. This was a movie about a young aspiring surfer following his dream, and the animation was superb, with breath-taking waves and a scene of “luge-ing” through lava tubes that was truly magnificent. The movie actually had a plot – a rather predictable one but good nevertheless. The voice-casting was well done – James Woods was terrific as the M.C. of the annual Penguin World Surfing Championship, Reggie Belafonte. This was apparently Jeff Bridges’ first animated voice-over role (as Cody Maverick’s hero, the legendary surfer Big Z). I loved the laid-back Chicken Joe and was astounded to learn he was voiced by Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite – a movie I will never be able to stomach). It was well I didn’t know his identity until after the show was over.

I daresay this film will be lost in the sea of this summer of sequels but it’s well worth a look.