Stars Shoot to the Top of the Animation Game
Jolie's role as the voice of Tigress in the animated flick "Kung Fu Panda," which also features the dulcet tones of Jack Black, is yet another example of the Hollywood Star-ization of the animated voicework industry. Last year brought Jerry Seinfeld and Renee Zellweger in "Bee Movie," this year heard Steve Carell and Jim Carrey in "Horton Hears a Who!" and Friday comes Disney's "Wall E," with the voices of Sigourney Weaver and Fred Willard.
And it's not just the starring roles. Look at the list of voices on the Internet Movie Database for "Panda" or "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" (coming this fall), and you'll find the first 10 or so actors are household names.
"When the 'The Lion King' came out, there was no big deal made about who was in an animated movie," says Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media by Numbers, which tracks box-office figures for the industry. "But you see now with 'Kung Fu Panda' — it's all about star power and Jack Black."
"I think if the brand is good, if it's a Pixar movie or a DreamWorks movie, kids, families, they don't care about who's voicing the characters," Dergarabedian says. "On the other hand, I think DreamWorks has said that 70 percent of the audience for 'Kung Fu Panda' was over 17."
The conclusion: Stars are expanding the reach of animated films.
Yet they're not necessarily wowing the critics. It's curious how many reviewers of "Kung Fu Panda" went out of their way to trash the vocals — by Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and David Cross, who play the movie's "Furious Five."
"It's not her voice that makes Angelina Jolie distinctive," wrote the Newark Star-Ledger's Stephen Whitty, "so it's unclear why she was given the part."
"Despite all that marquee vocal talent, (the characters) have next to no personality," said NPR's Bob Mondello.
"Star names for the Furious Five have relatively few vocal opportunities to shine," wrote Variety's Todd McCarthy.
Blame it all on Robin Williams. Previous to his vocal acrobatics in 1992's "Aladdin," vocalizers were as anonymous as key grips.
There was Mel Blanc, of course, perhaps the most famous voice-over artist of all time, the man who brought Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and Mr. Spacely (of Spacely Sprockets) to audible life. And there was June Foray, the Hanna-Barbera/Looney Tunes stalwart and voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel. But they were the exceptions. Even as late as 1991 with Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" — which remains one of the masterpieces of Disney's so-called second golden age — the studio used a virtually unknown vocal cast, with the exceptions of Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury (who certainly weren't cast to reel in the youth market). Once Williams brought real-life star power to cartoons, however, the putty tat was out of the bag.
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