Do you watch cartoons? Have you ever laughed at the way they talk? Well, that is the point! The voices you hear in cartoons are made by voice actors. A voice actor’s job is to come up with funny, ridiculous voices that are based on voices you hear around you. One famous voice actor is, Mel Blanc, The man of 1000 voices. He did most of the voices in the Looney Tunes Cartoons such as, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd.
How did he come up with such a range of voices?
It all starts with the character. If the character is short, you hear a high-pitched voice. If your character is smart, the voice is spoken through your nose. That is why most voice actors are hired after the character is made. If each character is different you will get a different voice for each one even if it is the same actor.
How do voice actors create a voice? Once the character is created the actors will think of the stereotypes associated with for its character. In most cartoons there are lots of stereotypes. Here are some examples: The Italians and the French are well known for being lovers – if a character is in love they might be given a French or Italian accent. French accents are also used for characters who are relaxed and nonchalant. The Irish are usually drunk – so if your character is often drunk they could speak with an Irish accent, as well as a slurred voice. British accents are associated with magic – so magical creatures would have a British accent or it can also be used as a way to hint to the audience that the character is intelligent. Authors in all mediums rely on some form of stereotype, so that they can let the audience fill in the character thanks to the recognizable stereotype.
Before most voice actors start creating voices, they copy other people’s voices. Mel Blank was not just born with 1000 voices and he could not just come up with them anytime. He practiced and learned different sounds by copying the sounds of things around him. Kids learn to speak by imitating their parents, voice acting just takes it a step further to making the exact same sound. When you are trying to imitate voices you first must find the pitch of the voice, this is usually the hardest part. Once you find the pitch, you try to figure out where in the mouth and nose you say it. After that it is just critiquing the small details such as, pattern of speech, the accent (British, French, Australian), and what they say, if you need to have a friend help you.
Once the character is known the voice actor gets to work on the voice. Some of the voices they create might be very similar to each other or borrow from another voice. Frank Oz created the voice of Grover for Sesame Street in the 1960s. In the 1980s, he borrowed from the voice of Grover to create the voice of Yoda in Star Wars. Both Yoda and Grover if you listen closely sound almost the same.
Now that you know how voices can be created, I am going to tell you give you some examples of famous people that went through the process creating of characters.
One example is Tom Kenney, the voice actor of SpongeBob. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U6WKQE7G-4 He started off as a stand-up comedian. When was describing scenes, he would, without even meaning to, change voices. That inspired him to start voice acting.
Another voice actor is Rob Paulson, the voice of Yakko in the Animaniacs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x88Z5txBc7w He had always wanted to go into show business, and voice acting was one of his favorites.
One last voice actor is the notable and dearly missed Robin Williams, he played highly remembered and amazing roles such as the genie in the animated Aladdin, Ms. Doubtfire, and many others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BefVfscqwpYHe used his vocal skills in animated and live movies, as well as on stage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8X9pG45QL0Robin Williams took that to another level by imitating a woman’s voice. There is no end to the possibilities of the voice.
Voice actors don’t just work in cartoons or animated movies. Tom Holland for one, has a British accent when he is not playing a character, but when he was Spiderman in The Avengers and Marvel films he spoke in an American accent.
So, the next time you hear an interesting voice or sound, you might want to try to imitate it. Who knows you might be the next Mel Blanc or Robin Williams.
- Irina Wilderotter
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