That’s not all, folks, for popular toon voices
It’s a challenge to keep characters sputtering, spewing and snickering.
By Robert K. Elder | Chicago Tribune
Posted July 9, 2005
The animation community lost two of its most recognizable voices last month when TV veteran Paul Winchell, who voiced Winnie the Pooh's friend Tigger, and thespian John Fiedler, who voiced Piglet, died.
Their passing will not, however, leave their characters silent. In an age when some cartoon characters are entering their eighth or ninth decade, vocal recasting has become an art.
" 'Recast' " is a good term, but you really can't replace these people," says Andrea Romano, a vocal casting director who worked on Justice League and The Jetsons.
"Nobody has really replaced Mel Blanc [the voice of Bugs Bunny, among others], but the key is to find someone who can do as close an impression of a voice that someone else actually created."
When Alan Reed, for instance, the original voice of Fred Flintstone, died in 1977, Henry Corden stepped in to provide the "Yabba-dabba-doos!" Corden, who tweaked his voice to echo The Honeymooners-era Jackie Gleason, passed away in May.
When director/producers Tony Cervone and Spike Brandt set out to cast Cartoon Network's futuristic Duck Dodgers -- featuring Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Marvin the Martian -- they faced more than simply filling Blanc's legendary roles.
"The voices are so specific that you have to at least be in the ballpark, or people reject it out of hand," Brandt says. "Some guys can imitate certain lines, but they have to be able to bring these characters to life with new dialogue and forge into new areas."
As for who will fill Tigger's shoes, that part's already been played by Jim Cummings in The Tigger Movie and Pooh's Heffalump Movie. Cummings also voices the honey-obsessed Pooh.
Recasting Fiedler's Piglet will be tougher, Romano says.
"When Disney looks to go out and recast that voice, that sweet charm that John brought to the role -- that's going to be a challenge."
Robert K. Elder is a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.
It’s a challenge to keep characters sputtering, spewing and snickering.
By Robert K. Elder | Chicago Tribune
Posted July 9, 2005
The animation community lost two of its most recognizable voices last month when TV veteran Paul Winchell, who voiced Winnie the Pooh's friend Tigger, and thespian John Fiedler, who voiced Piglet, died.
Their passing will not, however, leave their characters silent. In an age when some cartoon characters are entering their eighth or ninth decade, vocal recasting has become an art.
" 'Recast' " is a good term, but you really can't replace these people," says Andrea Romano, a vocal casting director who worked on Justice League and The Jetsons.
"Nobody has really replaced Mel Blanc [the voice of Bugs Bunny, among others], but the key is to find someone who can do as close an impression of a voice that someone else actually created."
When Alan Reed, for instance, the original voice of Fred Flintstone, died in 1977, Henry Corden stepped in to provide the "Yabba-dabba-doos!" Corden, who tweaked his voice to echo The Honeymooners-era Jackie Gleason, passed away in May.
When director/producers Tony Cervone and Spike Brandt set out to cast Cartoon Network's futuristic Duck Dodgers -- featuring Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Marvin the Martian -- they faced more than simply filling Blanc's legendary roles.
"The voices are so specific that you have to at least be in the ballpark, or people reject it out of hand," Brandt says. "Some guys can imitate certain lines, but they have to be able to bring these characters to life with new dialogue and forge into new areas."
As for who will fill Tigger's shoes, that part's already been played by Jim Cummings in The Tigger Movie and Pooh's Heffalump Movie. Cummings also voices the honey-obsessed Pooh.
Recasting Fiedler's Piglet will be tougher, Romano says.
"When Disney looks to go out and recast that voice, that sweet charm that John brought to the role -- that's going to be a challenge."
Robert K. Elder is a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.
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