animation
the excellent world of character voice for animated series
Ma in The Crumpets
While working in downtown theatre in New York in the late aughts, I got a call out of the blue from a midtown production company working on the English dubb for a French cartoon called 'The Crumpets.' Two wonderfully chaotic audition sessions, and much channeling of Julie Andrews later, I began my clandestine life as 'Ma,' inventor extraordinaire and mother of 150 children.
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A couple of times a month for the better part of a year, I would make my way to midtown from Brooklyn to spend a few hours dubbing in the english version of Ma, working alongside tireless engineer (and otherwise Spinal Tap-esque rock and roller) Taylor. I would listen to and match the inflections of the original French performer, Emmanuelle Hamet. As Ma's physicality preceeded my performance though, the best way to achieve this synchronisity was often just... to do what Ma was doing. Luckily the recording booth was spacious as this often led to me performing feats such as samurai style battling 100 children simultaneously, mixing an invisibility potion in my science lab, and chasing the children's grandmother through a gravity defying dreamscape.​​​​​​​
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>>> a willingness to samurai battle 100 children simultaneously
All accomplished animated character actors will tell you that the way to realise the heart of the character, is just to be them. Anyone who's watched booth footage of character voice legends like Robin Williams, Chris Rock and Emma Thompson for instance will be left with no doubt that fully realising the character physically as well as vocally is the key to great animation performance.
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>>> Acting training.
I know how to do this. Years of conservatory acting training and two decades in the theatre and TV business on both sides of the director's chair have left me with finely tuned instincts for the vocal and physical heart of a character.​​
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What do I bring as an animated character voice?
casting an animated series?
