Rob Sterling's voice in ToT

[Brewski]

How did they get his voice for the ToT, he died 30 years ago?

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Not sure about Rob Sterling, but I do know a bit about how they got Rod Serling's voice. :animwink:

Only a few seconds of Serling's monologue were actually spoken by Serling himself. When Serling says "Tonight's episode is somewhat unique. This, as you may recognize, is a...", all of that is actual voicework from a Twilight Zone episode entitled "It's a Good Life." In that show, Serling was standing in front of a mounted map and actually said "...is a map of the United States." Disney played off that "m" sound to begin the portion of the monologue recorded by a sound-alike actor, who of course, says "maintenance service elevator," and changed the background to suit the new monologue. From there, the rest is recorded by the sound alike. You'll also notice that it's right at that point in the speech that the camera shifts from Serling's face to the elevator, since his lips would no longer synch with the words after that.

My trainer told me that the actor would occasionally come in and quote the dialogue under his breath, just loud enough for a few people around him to hear. Needless to say, he'd get some funny looks.

 

[Brewski]

thanks, :wave:

 

[Coasterbp]

Actually, the entire dialogue is from the voice over actor, Mark Silverberg. His voice is throughout the entire attraction. The reason they didn't just dub him in after the "This as you might recognize, is a..." is because you would be able to hear the difference in their voices. So he did the whole thing.

 

[HinunterZuNich]

Actually, the entire dialogue is from the voice over actor, Mark Silverberg. His voice is throughout the entire attraction. The reason they didn't just dub him in after the "This as you might recognize, is a..." is because you would be able to hear the difference in their voices. So he did the whole thing.

Actually I believe you are wrong and the poster above is correct.

 

[Coasterbp]

Actually I believe you are wrong and the poster above is correct.

Actually, no, I am correct. I've met Mark Silverberg, and I used to work at the attraction a long time ago. There is NO place in the Tower of Terror where you actually hear Rod Serlings voice. It is ALL Mark Silverberg. And the reason for that is the same reason they didn't just dub in Marks' voice in the video. There would be a noticeable difference.

Thanks for your comments though.

 

[FamilyMan]

It's a fact... Mark Silverberg dubbed over EVERYTHING. WDI even released that information a long time ago.

 

[Bairstow]

I'm inclined to believe coasterbp. I've got a sound clip of the dialogue in question and even you can't notice any shift in quality at all.
Besides, if a trained sound-a-like like Sliverberg was watching the clip of Serling's mouth moving when he recorded the dialogue, and presumably he would be, the final sound would be exceptionaly close to the original voice, since the inflection, rhythm, and tempo would already be perfectly matched.

 

[GoofyMike29]

who do they use in the video as the actor?

rod sterling was a very good short story writer.

 

[darthjohnny]

The first explanation by Wilt Dasney was correct.

Even Disney Archivist Dave Smith has said Rod Serling was used for the preshow, both in video and audio.

If you listen very closely, you can hear the switch over from Serling to the newer voice over actor.

 

[sbkline]

I asked this question a long time ago on these boards and someone posted a link explaining that it wasn't Rod Serling at all. It was a look alike who filmed the whole thing. It might have been that Silverberg guy that was mentioned, I can't remember. But according to what I read, he watched every episode of "The Twilight Zone" in preparation for his role in ToT, in order to get the mannerisms down pat. He looks enough like Serling that when he dresses like him and talks like him, it's hard to tell the difference. I could have sworn it was Serling, myself, until I read that article and saw that it was an actor.

 

[darthjohnny]

I've heard that story too.

Rod Serling was taken from the episode. Now they say that this other actor was only a stand-in at most.

 

[MrNonacho]

It's simple:

You see Rod Serling.

You hear Mark Silverman.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Here's a snippet from an interview Steve posted on this site with Mark Silverman about the look-alike actor:

I just want to clear something up. I am sure some of you have read over the years about somebody who does interviews and claims to portray Rod Serling in The Tower of Terror attractions. Let me clear this up for anyone that might be confused.

In '93 Disney wanted to use a "lookalike" for Rod Serling in the pre-show and for the closing speech after the drops. This man was filmed "mouthing" my Serling dialogue. Disney instead used an actual clip of the real Rod Serling from the episode "It's a Good Life". That is the clip you see in the pre-show. NO footage of the "lookalike" performance has EVER appeared in ANY "TOWER OF TERROR" attraction. What ever was shot that day was not used.

Full interview here

 

[WDITrent]

Hahaha! "Rob Sterling"... "Mark Silverberg"...
Is this the "Name confusion thread? :animwink:
It would be "Rod Serling" and "Mark Silverman."
By the way, how they do it in TOT- The video footage is taken from the episode, "It's a Good Life". The entire dialogue is by Mark Silverman. There was no cigar in that episode, no one had to digitally remove it, and there is no "smoke" on Rod Serling.

 

[heliumalias]

I can't comment on exactly how it was done in TOT but about a year or so ago there was a commercial made in the UK where there was a similar problem (deceased actor). They got archival footage, a lookalike, and a voice actor and mixed them all together to create the finished product.

 

[ChrisFL]

After riding the DCA version, it sounds a LOT different than the voice in the DHS one...sounds like they used someone else and IMO not as accurate to Rod Serling's voice

 

[WDITrent]

After riding the DCA version, it sounds a LOT different than the voice in the DHS one...sounds like they used someone else and IMO not as accurate to Rod Serling's voice

I noticed that too! He sounds much more like Rod Serling at WDW.

 

[rbrower]

I noticed that too! He sounds much more like Rod Serling at WDW.

I thought that it was the same recording at both parks.:shrug:

 

[Dr.Seeker]

Yeah it is, save for the graphic of the tower being struck by lightning, because obviously the two hotels look different. No point in repeating the tedious and expensive process when the diologue remains the same.