Animation has always been a part of modern culture. It pushes the limits of film and story telling with thousands of hand drawn images falling in perfect secession in front of a camera and capturing the imagination of both young and old. The world wouldn’t be the same without animation, and animation wouldn’t be the same without some of the greatest actors that no one has seen.
Thankfully due to I Know That Voice! the voices of the world’s favorite cartoon characters can be matched to a face and their talent can be admired. Caught often in their natural habitat, the documentary explores the history and the hard work that voice actors have put into their craft.
Every child’s favorite character makes an appearance in I Know That Voice! Cartoon king John DiMaggio assembles the talents of Rob Paulsen (Yako), Corey Burton (Count Dooku), Maurice LaMarche (The Brain), Nolan North (Nathan Drake), Mark Hamill (The Joker), and every other major voice actor of the last 60 years. Each actor gets to tell their own story and experiences through the documentary as it’s broken up into particular subjects about the voice acting industry.
The film, directed by Lawrence Sharpio, plays most like an intro into the voice acting world, which is much enjoyed, but a longer look into the history would have been more appreciated. A well deserved portion of the early film is dedicated to Mel Blanc, actors like June Foray (Rocket J. Squirrel), and son Noel Blanc tell heart warming stories about one of the greatest actors who ever lived.
From behind the scenes footage to candid interviews, several different aspects of the industry are examined by the inside, giving an insightful and hilarious look at the hard work involved. The process of getting work and what it takes to stay working is explained by being versatile and by being more than someone who can do funny voices. The emphasis of being an actor is hit home as the need for the ability to be anyone is repeated, and that even the separation of being called a “voice”-actor isn’t fair.
Some of the prize gems of the film are when the actors go back and forth with their best impressions. The best is the Walk-off when several of the super star cast do their best Christopher Walken impressions. They also read verses of the Bible and Shakespeare as some of the most notable cartoon characters in modern animation. Maruice LaMarche’s Peter Faulk impression is also another great as you can finally see how physicality can make all the difference in a role. Even if no one’s seeing it.
I Know That Voice! is a rare opportunity for fans to get to know the actors that they have become diehard fans of, and to see the faces behind the voices that have affected them since their childhood and beyond. It’s also a great film to see for anyone with aspirations of becoming an actor for animated films and TV.
You can find I Know That Voice! digitally on iTunes and Amazon Prime. Do it!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiSPvsTP02A[/youtube]