Celebrity Voices in Animated Movies

I mentioned that I was going to write about this and it had to be today. Why? Because I finally got around to seeing Coraline, a movie I enjoyed but stirred up the age-old question: why do we care if there is famous voice talent in an animated film? There are so many incredibly talented voice actors available who can create ten to twenty characters without blinking an eye and would save studios a lot of money if only they were given a chance. Just look at what Hank Azaria, Dan Castellaneta, and Harry Shearer do for The Simpsons.

In Coraline’s case, the cast features Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Keith David, and Ian McShane (speaking in a Russian accent). How many of those voices do you think you could identify? Even with my love of John Hodgman, the only reason I could tell it was him was because I saw his name and he didn’t sound like any other male characters. The only casting I can justify is of the roommates Miss Spink and Miss Forcible because they are played by Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French, the duo from Absolutely Fabulous. At least that’s a call back to something else. And what particularly perturbs me about Coraline is that the character design of the father looks remarkably like Tom Kenny, famously the voice of Spongebob Squarepants.

Of course, casting celebrities in animated movies is hardly a new thing. If I had to place when celebrity began to outshine the animation, it would have to be with The Lion King. Sure, Aladdin featured the over-the-top performance of Robin Williams, but that character was designed for his comic stylings. The next biggest name in the cast is Gilbert Gottfried. I don’t think I need to extend my argument against Aladdin beyond that. Before that, you had the likes of Eva Gabor or Vincent Price popping up, but the appearances were limited.

However, The Lion King was a veritable cavalcade of recognizable voices. Jonathan Taylor Thomas at the height of his Home Improvement days. Matthew Broderick. Jeremy Irons. James Earl Jones. Robert Guillaume. Whoopi Goldberg. Cheech Marin. This would be the case with Disney hand-drawn films until it was shut down. Pixar came along and continued this trend.

Right off the bat, Pixar utilized one of the world’s biggest stars, Tom Hanks, and another Home Improvement alum, Tim Allen. But like the Disney trend (and yes, I know Pixar and Disney are in bed together), Pixar largely cast television or character actors. In a bit of hypocrisy, I can justify this because character actors rarely get their time to shine, either, relegated to “that guy” status. Conveniently, this allows nearly the entire catalogue of Pixar films to fly beneath my frustration (with the possible exception of Cars, which I don’t particularly care for anyway).

So, who gets the brunt of my wrath? Why, it must be Dreamworks. As if you didn’t see that coming. From humble beginnings with Shrek, featuring the voices of only three A-listers to Monsters. Vs. Aliens, with no less than ten big names filling the bill. Which brings me back to my original question: do we care about the famous voices?

I’m inclined to say no. I can see casting two leads with major stars, or a funny sidekick. Someone the audience has prior experience with. But do we really care if a character that has ten minutes of screen time is played Samuel L. Jackson? I acknowledge that there is a certain baggage that comes along with certain actors, but what’s the harm in letting some lesser-known people try to establish their names on the big screen. What bugs me the most is that a lot of small roles are going to big names (usually people I really like) instead of helping the smaller guys. As silly as Comic Book: The Movie is, I like that Mark Hamill cast many voice actors in the live action roles (and also has a special feature on the DVD about voice actors and their trade).

This turned into an unfocused essay, but essentially my point is give voice actors some big-time gigs. They deserve it. They’ve worked very hard to be versatile and celebrities are just waltzing in so they can make movies for their kids. With the possible exception of comedians, do big-name actors bring much to the table? I don’t think so. Of course, nothing will change because animated movies seem to uniformly make a lot of money. However, Pixar showed that you barely need any dialogue if your product is good enough. So maybe that’s it. People try to cover up lack of quality with a wealth of stars. I think I’ve busted this case wide open.

And for those with the time, the great Mel Blanc: