Movie Musings: Animated Movies and Their Celebrity Voices, Part 2
This May in Reel Late Reviews, we discussed the recent phenomenon of using celebrities’ voices in animated films. Delia, fueled by her ardent childhood love of Beauty and the Beast, posed some questions for us:
- Celebs love doing voices in movies, but do we actually even care?
- Does celebrity involvement guarantee a film’s success?
We arrived at no, and no.
The success of the film is and always has been about the story, not the celebs/voices. While it’s thrilling to play Name that Celebrity Voice (italicized because it would be a spectacular game show, so someone get on that), you could argue the same by doing so with any commercial on tv. It doesn’t make the movie. And to a child who rarely knows celebrities in the first place, I have to say, I agree with Delia to that extent. Also, celebrities aren’t a surefire solution to box office successes, and the numbers prove it.
But this is Part Two, so it’s my turn to play devil’s advocate. If celebrities don’t guarantee blockbusters, and audiences value other things over celebrity voices, there must be some other valid reasons why we continue to see big titles featuring well-known actors.
Personal Brands are Powerful
Robin Williams had already reached professional success in 1991 when he was approached to do the voice of Genie in Aladdin. The directors of Aladdin asked their animators to ‘pick a couple of sections from his comedy albums and animate a genie to them’. They wrote the role for him.
Williams’s participation was described as ‘central to the success of the film’, and many in Hollywood attribute his participation as pivotal to the entire genre of voice acting. Voice acting opportunities, once regarded as unglamorous, suddenly had the potential to elevate an actor with regards to both compensation and status.
Expressive and uniquely talented actors who are sought after for voice roles, those with big personalities, are arguably already exceptional brands in their own right. People like Robin Williams and Jack Black are lovable because of their quirks, and audiences are familiar with who they are, what sorts of roles they typically portray, and what to expect.
Familiar Voices Supplement Character Development
In a way, identifying celebrity actors adds another layer of familiarity and helps to further develop a character. Even if that character is a fish — because no one sees Dory and doesn’t think Ellen, and no one sees Ellen and forgets she was the voice of Dory. The two become extensions of one another.
I would argue that part of the fun in guessing celebrity voices is being able to make links between their current character, and whoever else they’ve portrayed in the past. For instance, in the show Archer, Archer’s mother Malory Archer is played by Jessica Walter — aka Lucille Bluth from Arrested Development. Realize this for the first time and suddenly, everything is more enjoyable and entertaining.
Other examples of this approach to typecasting are:
- Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Simba from The Lion King: A young heartthrob who could be a smart ass, but had a heart of gold. Home Improvement, Tom and Huck (~unrelated, shoutout to Brad Renfro)
- Jack Black as Po from Kung Fu Panda: Literally the description from IMBD, is “lazy, irreverent slacker panda, named Po, who is the biggest fan of Kung Fu around”. School of Rock, Tenacious D, and I will even reference The Holiday because it’s cheesy but a personal favorite.
So I think while any experienced actor could portray an animated character sufficiently, celebrities bring enhanced context and depth to their roles. And I think audiences love that.
Audience Matters
Another obvious point to make is that each celebrity brings their base of fans and all the tangential media attention that comes from their personal networks. Each celebrity voice added to the title multiplies the base of loyal followers who turn up at the movie theater.
Animated Films Have Evolved
I got to thinking, maybe we have been witnessing a coming of age for the voice acting genre. And if so, I have more questions.
Producers no longer seek out faceless stars with knockout singing voices, and instead are thinking more strategically about developing characters by allowing inspiration to come from real people — celebrities who already have fans and personalities audiences love. So is this just another tactic to de-risk a film?
Children naturally have fewer opportunities to appreciate a celebrity’s involvement. Could we argue that producers are going this route solely to make children’s movies more attractive to the decision-makers: the parents?
Maybe there will be a Part Three to this Movie Musings after all…
Signing off,
Rebecca
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