On animation: Who will speak for the dust bunnies?

had that nice Ewan McGregor’s voice in my mind’s ear when I was writing the part of Stour. For Rayon, Knickers, Yarn and the others though, no-one in particular came to mind. So who will speak for the dust bunnies - a good set of pipes or a well-known face?

Who do you think of when you hear ‘Nyaaah, what’s up Doc?’

Bugs Bunny or Mel Blanc?

Who do you think of when you hear ‘Just keep swimming, just keep swimming’?

Ellen DeGeneres or a fish?

The sound of a celeb’s voice conjures up a picture but it’s not necessarily of their character, it’s the celeb that comes to mind. Nowadays many animated characters are designed to evoke the VO artist’s look because celeb voices are a potent marketing device and it patently works. I wonder though if casting a celeb voice for your film or commercial is more their branding opportunity than yours.

My first radio commercial was with Robbie Coltrane long before he was Hagrid. I did a TV spot with the actor Sir Michael Hordern and a commercial with Paul Vaughan who narrated the BBC Horizon science series with such calm, measured tones back in the 80s.

My first radio commercial was with Robbie Coltrane long before he was Hagrid

We cast them solely for how they sounded, for their voice and delivery, not their Coefficient of Fame. You can hear their good pipes at work in the links below.

So you can cast voices for their own unique qualities or you can cast for whom a voice belongs to. Both approaches obviously have their merits so I’m sure budget issues will settle the argument.

Again, stolen from The Clangers, I’ve decided I want a narrator with soothing mellifluous tones and a wry edge. You can listen to the narrator’s intro of The Clangers below to hear what I mean. The lack of theatricality caught my ear.

(Sir Michael Palin is now the narrator for The Clangers; Next Gen. He’s in a link below too. I’ve also included a few other delightful voices for your listening pleasure.)

‘Show, not tell.’ says one of the film-making rules. Nope, I like to show and tell. When you listen to a narrator weaving the thread of a story in between the pictures and the music you’re in the thrall of the oldest form of entertainment ever.

References