“Star-ization” and Animation VO
June 26th, 2008 Posted in General InfoI keep finding articles about celebrities swallowing up voice over roles in animation features. Some say if the brand (like Pixar or Dreamworks) is good, audiences don’t seem to really care about who voices the characters. So, if it is more about the brand perhaps it’s time to hire regular (and very talented) voice actors. When The Lion King came out, there was no focus on who the voices were. Of course the celebs can be great for marketing. With Kung Fu Panda, celebrity was everything. So who knows? Maybe there’s room for all of us.
-Tracy Pattin
Check out John Anderson’s article in the Washington Post titled “High-budget animated films garner top celebrity voices.”
Here’s a teaser from his article:
“When ‘The Lion King’ came out, there was no big deal made about who was in an animated movie,” says Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media by Numbers, which tracks box-office figures for the industry. “But you see now with ‘Kung Fu Panda’ – it’s all about star power and Jack Black.
Yet they’re not necessarily wowing the critics. It’s curious how many reviewers of “Kung Fu Panda” went out of their way to trash the vocals – by Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and David Cross, who play the movie’s “Furious Five.”
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