Talk To Me

When doing casting for an animated film, it is important to pick who you want to voice your characters.  Lately it seems as though there has been a huge push to cast stars to voice animated characters.  Though a possible way to sell a film, sometimes casting stars in animated features detracts from the overall value of the film.  When I watch an animated film, I enjoy not being able to recognize the voice of an actor, for then I can suspend disbelief entirely and really put myself into the world of the film.  Immersing yourself the world of a film is much harder to do in an animated film.  Characters do not completely resemble real people and the world does not look like our world as we know it.  Stories told in animated films often involve fantastical elements such as magic and talking animals.  It can be hard enough to enter the world of an animated film without a recognizable voice that drags you back to the real world.

One of the best examples of a wonderful choice for a voice actor is Jodi Benson.  Benson voiced Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid.  Her beautiful speaking and singing voice add a lot to her character.  Her voice sounds soft and young which fits the character perfectly.  The Little Mermaid  was Benson’s first time acting in an animated feature.  Her voice was fresh, new, and unrecognizable.  No face could be put to the voice, so it made the role of Ariel seem more realistic.

Lately, Disney has strayed away from using the voices of relatively unknown actors, which has decreased the quality of their films.  The most recent example of this is the use of Idina Menzel to voice Elsa in the film, Frozen.  Idina Menzel has an incredible voice.  She is a wonderful performer and actress on Broadway, but I don’t think that her voice fits the style of a Disney princess movie.  Her voice was too powerful for the role and definitely too recognizable.  Her voice didn’t match the timbre and styles of the other characters in the film which was fairly distracting.  Her voice was also very recognizable.  All I could think as I watched the film was that Elsa should be painted green and wearing a witch hat.  Her strong voice distracted me from the character Elsa, and ensured that all I could think about when Idina Menzel was singing was Wicked.

I’m not saying that studios shouldn’t cast stars as these characters because sometimes stars may have a voice that truly fits the role.  For example, Matthew Broderick voices adult Simba in The Lion King.  I cannot tell that it is Matthew Broderick, however, which allows me to suspend my disbelief and really get into the movie.  It is as if Simba has his own voice with its own tone quality and timbre.

I suggest that studios be very careful when they cast voices in animated movies, for though casting a star may help to sell a film, it can take the audience out of a movie and make it less effective.

Continue to Inspire

Thank God For Movies

For over more than a hundred years, film has taken a very prominent role in our society. It has brought millions of people together all for one thing: to learn a story of another. Each film that is made speaks to each and everyone of us in a different way. Whether it is because we relate to a character, or we are familiar with the story, or merely because it makes us feel a certain way. Film does this for everyone. It is what inspires us to continue onto our dreams. It is what makes us laugh to the point where abs start to grow. It is what makes us cry so hard that we have to bring tissues with us to the theater. It is what makes us mad and gives us drive to make a change in the world. Film does it all and it does it for everyone.

     Growing up, I was immediately drawn to film. Over the course of my life, I have watched several different movies, where not one character was the same. All these stories each had some kind of uniqueness. This uniqueness was brought out through many characters. Many that I wanted and still want to be. Somehow I want to incorporate all of the amazing qualities I have observed, into myself. These qualities are something that I ultimately want to possess for as long as I live. I want to be Ariel, from The Little Mermaid because she can sing. I want to be Cinderella because of the strength she had shown growing up with two evil step sisters. I want to be Rose, from the Titanic, because she would rather die with the one she loved, than to live alone.

I want to be Mrs. Smith because of her daring job, and how bad ass she was. I want to be Marty McFly and travel through time and experience a life changing moment. I want to be Edward Scissorhands because he is so compassionate and empathetic. I want to be Donnie Darko and be able to question certain occurrences in my life. I want to be them all.

 I think most of the time people tend to forget where they came from. My generation, our generation, has come from a time where we were taught it is okay to put yourself first. But in order to do that, you have to know what you want, and what you truly believe is right for you, for who you are. And it is these characters that have helped shaped us as people. And we cannot forget that. My point is that these movies, these characters, are what inspired us to grow up and do what we want to do. They taught us to reach for the moon and to never give up, nothing is impossible. In order to continue on with our dreams, we have to reach back into our past, so we can continue to make these
characters that help children, teens, adults, everywhere to aspire for more. In The Little Mermaid, Ariel learns that she for once has to put herself first, and by doing that she falls inlove with Prince Eric. In Mr. & Mrs. Smith, they both realize that their jobs aren't worth losing each other. All of these movies are teaching us key lessons in life. Without them, what guidance do we have to look up to? These are the ideas that will inspire future generations to come.