Do animation companies undervalue the importance of consistancy in voice actors?

[Alph]

Sometimes it seems to me that the people who make cartoons don't realise how integral someone's voice is to their character. So many times in cartoons I see characters with new voices (far more than you see new actors in live action productions), and I think the companies just aren't trying hard enough to keep the same voice actors around throughout a cartoon's entire run. They think that since it's only a person's voice being replaced, the audience won't notice so much. But they are wrong. A person's voice is far too important in how we identify ourselves with another person, far more important than even physical appearance. In fact, a person's physical appearance can change completely and it will still be perfectly easy to recognize them as the same character, provided that their voice remains the same (a good example of this, I think, is the show "Beast Wars").

Sure, sometimes a voice actor dies and there's nothing you can do...but that certainly isn't the main reason for all the many voice cast changes that have occured in animation history. And really, I'd go as far to say that if a character's voice actor does die, it is more preferable that the character be given a respectful farewell (and thus be written out of the show) instead of just replacing the old VA. A character's voice is, in my opinion, so important to who that character is (even moreso than someone's physical appearance) that once you try to change it, it becomes hard (if not impossible) to accept that the character is still the same person as before.

[DarthGonzo]

It's even worse when established voice actors seem to forget how to do a voice.

Three simple words...

Fourth. Season. Spongebob.

Yeesh, what happened to you Tom Kenny??

[Tay the Cat]

It's even worse when established voice actors seem to forget how to do a voice.

Three simple words...

Fourth. Season. Spongebob.

Yeesh, what happened to you Tom Kenny??
He was told to make the pitch higher.

[Mandi-chan]

It's even worse when established voice actors seem to forget how to do a voice.

Three simple words...

Fourth. Season. Spongebob.

Yeesh, what happened to you Tom Kenny??

The same thing happened to Ron Stoppable, for some reason the actor (who's a great actor) started doing the voice differently. I think the character sounds really annoying now, I don't know why he changed it (or why the director wanted him to change it).

[Simpler Simon]

The very nature of voice-work is that its an entire seasons worth of shows in only a few days of recording - most voice actors will gladly reprise their roles, if just for that extra paycheck, but if something better should come along they may not be able to bend their schedules to accomodate a certain episode.

Now if you're a central character on a show (one of the main 7 in Justice League, one of the four Ninja Turtles, etc) I'm sure there's some contractual obligation to be there like any other series. But if the actor happens to walk over some dispute or is fired, the only choice is to recast because so much of the animation work has already been completed.

[Luna]

Unfortunately,replacing voice actors is unavoidable sometimes.....Actors die,quit/get fired,or sometimes just aren't available to record....

I can only think of one case of characters not being used anymore because the actor died....
The Simpsons stopped using Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz after the tragic death of Phil Hartman.....though they occasionally show up in the background(I've also heard that Futurama's main character,Fry,was given the first name Phillip in honor of Phil Hartman).....

[Aldrius]

I can only think of one case of characters not being used anymore because the actor died....

I'm sure there's more than that.

Eh, get someone as close as possible who is going to make it their own, or retire the character.

When the actor dies, those are the only options to me. :P

[Undrave]

I'm sure there's more than that.

Eh, get someone as close as possible who is going to make it their own, or retire the character.

When the actor dies, those are the only options to me. :P

Didn't theo riginal actor for Hugo Strange on 'The Batman' died and they replaced him? I must say the replacement did a stellar job in 'Strange New World' because I sure didn't noticed any change.

[ElBarto]

The Simpson voice actors are geting paid incredible amounts of money to stay.

[Tea]

I hate it when they change VA's. It's a big animation pet peeve of mine. I prefer to have them kill off the character than change their VA, but that's just me.

And if the VA dies, I agree that it's more respectful to write out the character than just replace them.

[Frank]

And if the VA dies, I agree that it's more respectful to write out the character than just replace them.

They could have done that with Grandpa Lou from the Rugrats but Nickelodeon had a No Dead Rule at the time so killing the character off was not an option. They did do that to Mrs. Gordon from As Told By Ginger but Ginger's target audience is a bit older than that of the Rugrats. Of course they can have the character stop making appearences in a certain series but it would irk a number of fans.

[Mr. Ralph]

duel masters had so many voice changes you'd think it was going through puberty!!:D:D

[Shredder565]

As a kid, it was always annoying to hear the replacement voices in TMNT....but I did not make the connection that when Bebop and Donatello had different voices, it was one actor being replaced and not two.. That came a year or two later during my voice chaser years :)..


I have since found out that James Avery, Barry Gordon, etc...did originaly record some of these missing episodes at the time, but for some reason replacements where aired instead of the originals. For the ones they missed completely, I would LOVE to somehow get a movement going to get those VA's back to record the missing lines.

They have all stated a desire to come back and do the missing shows, but how would one go about organizing that? Plus, assuming these guys don't have studios of their own to use, how much would it cost to get 4 voice actors to re-record about 20 episodes? Most of these only need James Avery, but a dozen need Rob Paulsen, about 2 need Pat Fraley, and about 5 need Barry Gordan.


When they are released...watch the European episodes. James Avery is only in two as Shredder, and ...no offense to Jim Cummings, his Shredder does not even begin to compare :).

[shadesofgray]

how much would it cost to get 4 voice actors to re-record about 20 episodes?

Off the top of my head, each episode would cost...
$4000 for voice actors (if done in the US, maybe $2500 in Canada)
$1000 for studio (adr would be needed)
$500 for re-edit of dial (taking out old dial, put in new dial)
$1000 for new mix (putting the voices into the shows fx and music)
$10,000 for redelivery (assuming it is standard delivery to networks)

So the total per episode would be around $16,500 per episode or $330,000 for all 20. Do not know many studios that would spend over a quarter million dollars for voice replacement.

[Tay the Cat]

duel masters had so many voice changes you'd think it was going through puberty!!:D:D

Well, considering each season was done by a different studio...

[Simpler Simon]

Didn't theo riginal actor for Hugo Strange on 'The Batman' died and they replaced him? I must say the replacement did a stellar job in 'Strange New World' because I sure didn't noticed any change.

Right. Frank Gorshin (Riddler from the Adam West series) was Hugo Strange all through season 2, and I believe one episode of season 3 before he passed away. His replacement came in at the D.A.V.E. episode. Considering that Strange was one of the better-defined villains on the show, I'm glad they re-cast him rather than retire the character. Plus like you said, the replacement did a good job.

Obvious voice-actor replacements in the past include Peter and Winston on The Real Ghostbusters, and various characters on Ninja Turtles for temporary stints. When your audience is children whose identification with key characters drives merchandise sales, retiring a character seems like a less likely option.

[Shredder565]

Off the top of my head, each episode would cost...
$4000 for voice actors (if done in the US, maybe $2500 in Canada)
$1000 for studio (adr would be needed)
$500 for re-edit of dial (taking out old dial, put in new dial)
$1000 for new mix (putting the voices into the shows fx and music)
$10,000 for redelivery (assuming it is standard delivery to networks)

So the total per episode would be around $16,500 per episode or $330,000 for all 20. Do not know many studios that would spend over a quarter million dollars for voice replacement.

Hmm, and hear I thought it would be easier to do with todays technology..

[Golgo13]

What was that little bit about animated shows on the Simpsons?

"That's an animated show. It's easier to make animated shows because they don't have to pay the actors squat."
"Plus, they can replace them and nobody will know the dif-didily-iference."