But put these extremely talented people behind a microphone in a sound booth, and chances are they sound exactly the same as they would if you met them on the street.
“Dialogue should simply be a sound among other sounds, just something that comes out of the mouths of people whose eyes tell the story in visual terms.”
- Alfred Hitchcock, filmmaker
There is an incredible difference between acting on-screen and acting off-screen. The talent of a live-action actor lies in his or her natural charisma and ability to tell a story mainly through body language; a voice actor doesn’t have the advantage of eventually being seen by the viewer. All they have to work with is a voice. And the beauty of it is they have the ability to convey character through voice alone.
I fell in love with voice artists the same instant I fell in love with animation; even as a small child the two were never separate in my mind. Every time the Nickelodeon and Disney Channel networks allotted one of their “behind-the-scenes” segments to voice artists, I was there to watch it. I memorized a good portion of voice actor names before I was ten years old. I never had an interest in the craft myself, but I think I knew instinctively how crucial these people were, next to the animation crews themselves, in bringing the animation to life. As one who aims to work in the animation industry and a fan of voice and sound in general, I constantly keep a mental encyclopedia of voice artists going in my head.
Now I’d like to take the time to shine the spotlight on some fantastic voice actors. They aren’t the only force behind animation by any means, but their talents definitely add something to the enjoyment factor. There are far too many in the profession to list in one post, so I’ve selected only four this first time around, and I plan to highlight more voice actors, both classic and contemporary, in future posts.
Erin Fitzgerald
First a resident of Canada, Erin Fitzgerald pursued an acting career in Vancouver and later moved to Los Angeles in the United States to focus more on voice acting. Fitzgerald is very enthusiastic about her work and has lent her voice to a large variety of projects, from animated series on television to video games. Her most well-known characters are Nazz and May Kanker from Cartoon Network’s hit animated series, Edd, Edd n Eddy, and her character Nazz will play an important part in the upcoming Ed, Edd n Eddy movie, to air on television in 2008. Her voice can also be heard in the English language version of the anime series, Ranma 1/2.
Fitzgerald’s flexibility in voice enables her to play multiple characters per series or game. She played every character in the Arsenic Candy Gang, plus some minor characters, in the Spiderman 3 video game, and Alkaid and Saku Bo in the Playstation game series, .hack//G.U. She also voiced over fifty characters in Sabrina, the Animated Series. Fitzgerald may not voice one signature character for a series, but her voice work contributes much of the backbone that completes a show or game and gives a project overall character and personality.
On how to get into voice acting: “Take classes, lots of local classes, and have tons of fun; then let the universe take care of everything else.”
For a complete list of works, visit this actress at IMDB.com.
Tom Kenny
Originally a stand-up comedian, Tom Kenny’s voice acting career launched when he was cast as Heffer for the Nickelodeon animated series, Rocko’s Modern Life. Kenny enjoyed the collaborative atmosphere voice-acting offered and went on to voice some of the most memorable characters in modern animation. He puts just the right amount of energy into his work and adds that extra oomph.
Probably most well known for providing the voice of SpongeBob in Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants, Kenny started up the Best Day Ever CD as a fun little side project for him and fellow cast members, and eventually received funding from Nickelodeon to produce and release the album. They wanted to create a SpongeBob music experience reminiscent of the old Hanna-Barbera records, something a little more than the simple short songs from the actual series that fans of all ages could enjoy. Always a comedian at heart, Kenny contributes a little something extra even when just recording. According to Camp Lazlo creator Joe Murray, Kenny (who voiced the character of Algonquin C. Lumpus) connected with the character so much that “during one recording session where Lumpus was an extraordinarily extra diabolical, deviant sociopath, Tom joked that at the end of the series we should reveal that Lumpus locked the real scoutmaster in the closet and that he was really a patient from the local asylum.” Murray ended up using the idea in the last episode of the series.
“It sounds stupid to talk about cartoons this way, but you know really…they’re not really in the room, the [actors] really aren’t in the room for a few hours…it’s very much like channeling…where for four hours, you’re this sponge.”
For a complete list of works, visit this actor at IMDB.com.
Dee Bradley Baker
Dee Bradley Baker started performing at age nine, his work including musicals, operas, and stand up. Baker soon became recognized for his voice work, his credits ranging from television to film and including video games. As he delved into voice acting, Baker was sought out more and more, and not just for human voices.
In addition to providing a range of voices, Baker also specializes in realistic animal and monster sounds, and various other creature noises. He played winged lemur Momo and sky bison Appa on Nickeolodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender, Gravemind in Halo 2 and 3, and zombies in the Dawn of the Dead remake. Baker’s versatility in voice has led him to be one of the most sought after voice actors and is constantly heard in a large variety of projects.
On recording for Appa and Momo on Avatar: The Last Airbender: “They just give me a drawing of the creature, and I look at it, and then I make sounds that I think that that creature would make.”
For a complete list of works, visit this actor at IMDB.com.
Nancy Cartwright
She’s a ten-year-old boy. No, really. Most well known for the role of Bart on The Simpsons, Cartwright also landed many acting roles in film and sit-coms in her early years, and voiced many other characters in animated series throughout her career. But back in Dayton, Ohio, before Cartwright moved out into the acting world, she heard about Daws Butler, the man responsible for voicing characters such as Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound.
When Cartwright started growing an interest in voice, she contacted Butler, and he quickly became her mentor and a good friend. Once she moved to Los Angeles to attend UCLA, he also became her coach, and they would run through one-hour sessions together (often lasting longer than the original hour). After many lessons, Butler took Cartwright with him to sit in on one of his recording sessions, which eventually landed Cartwright her first job voicing professionally. Through all the fun times and hard work, Butler gave Cartwright a valuable piece of advice, that “talent cannot be taught. It must exist. But if it does exist at all, it can be nurtured and expanded.” Through a passion for acting and hours of dedication, Cartwright nurtured and expanded her own talent into the voice actress we hear today.
On auditioning for The Simpsons (1989): “I went in, saw Lisa, and didn`t really see anything I could sink my teeth into. But the audition piece for Bart was right there, and I`m like, `Whoa, 10 years old, under-achiever and proud of it? Yeah, man - that`s the one I want to do!”
For a complete list of works, visit this actress at IMDB.com.
The average ear may jump at the mention of Johnny Depp and shrug at the name of Tom Kenny, but within fan groups and the industry itself, voice actors are often just as well-known as those seen on stage and in film.
Feel free to comment with any feedback – what you liked, what you didn’t like, any ideas for future voice acting posts (or posts in general), etc. Thanks for reading!
Resources:
Brainy Quote - Alfred Hitchcock quote
Wikipedia
Official Website of Erin Fitzgerald
AV Club Interview w/ Tom Kenny
Murray, Joe. Crafting A Cartoon.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Complete First Season1. DVD.
Official Website of Dee Bradley Baker
Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Complete Book 1 Collection. DVD.
Official Website of Nancy Cartwright
Quote Lucy - Nancy Cartwright Quote
Photos courtesy their respective owners at Flickr
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