It’s fair to say that we don’t always give the credit to the people behind the voices of our favorite cartoons, games, and animated features. But to be honest they’re every bit as famous since they tend to bring those characters to life in a way that people take for granted. Some of the most famous voices that we recognize from TV and movies belong to people that we’ve idolized without even knowing it. Some of them might not be regular film stars but the lot of them have at least been in the public eye, so to speak, for a long time running.
The voices of such icons as Batman, the Joker, Bugs Bunny, Homer Simpson, and countless others have been around for a lot longer than many people seem to think. While a few roles have been taken over due to the passing of notable individuals, like Mel Blanc, the slack has been picked up in such a way that many people couldn’t even tell the difference. Those that don’t know anyway are usually those that grew up after the glory days of such cartoons.
It’s hard to know them all since people tend to pick out the shows and animated features that they want to focus on and then leave all the rest. It’s not a slight towards these people but it’s kind of dismissive to say that since one doesn’t watch them that they don’t matter. These people live by their voices and as a result are bound to the fame or infamy that they produce. For instance I never knew that Mark Hamill was the voice of the Joker until I was older, as I’d always associated him with Star Wars and nothing else. Seeing him in Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back was surreal to be honest, but learning that he’d done so many other things was kind of interesting.
A lot of voice actors don’t just stick behind the scenes lending their voice to the characters. Some of them will act on stage, in films, and on TV shows as well. You might not recognize them unless they perform their signature voices, but their fame isn’t limited to their strictly speaking roles. It is a talent to be able to alter one’s voice and it is something that’s worth making people famous for. If voice acting wasn’t a desired thing among Hollywood then there are a lot, I mean a LOT of movies that would never have gotten off the ground. Think about Disney and where they’d be, think about Fox and how its lineup would have had to change so drastically. Voice acting is something that’s not just desired, it’s needed in order to give some more variety to the audience, something that they can hear while watching something that’s totally outrageous.
Cartoons can obviously do things that we as humans can’t, which is what makes voice acting so great since it can pair with the insanity of animated features perfectly. If not for voice actors Hollywood might have become a very different place.
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