I Know That Voice

"I Know That Voice" is a documentary that just debuted on Netflix. While many of you may have little interest in documentaries, this one probably will interest you as it's all about the faces behind those familiar voices in cartoons, TV voiceovers and videogames. So, unless you hate these sorts of things (and who does?!), you'll likely be interested in meeting these people and seeing what they really look like. It's interesting that RARELY do any of them seem like their characters in the least. For example, many voices of male characters are voiced by women and my favorite recent cartoon characters look amazingly unlike the people who provide their voices (especially the guys who provide the voices for Wacko from "Animaniacs" as well as "Johnny Bravo") . Additionally, these people have some wonderful behind the scenes stories, personal experiences and discuss how they got into this craft--and all of it is very interesting. And, there are also some wonderful surprises (such as Tom Hanks' lookalike brother who occasionally ALSO provides the voice for "Woody" from the Toy Story franchise).

Now the film is not perfect. There is one HUGE problem and that is that the film tries to do way too much. Squeezing so many different voice actors into one picture is tough, as many of them only get to say a tiny bit and many of these voice actors most famous characters aren't even mentioned. I would have either preferred they interview less voice actors and gave them more time to talk or, if possible, make a mini-series about them. I could easily see them make this much, much longer...and I would have really appreciated that. However, considering I thought it was too little...that is an indication that I really enjoyed what I saw.

I've always said that if my plan to become a writer ever failed, I had a plan b: voice acting. And I'm a fan girl who pays attention to the credits to know the names of my favorites--Jim Cummings, Grey DeLisle, Clancy Brown--and I'm happy to say they are all interviewed for this film. Voice actor John DiMaggio takes us behind the scenes of his life interspersed with a history lesson about voice acting. Getting to go behind the scenes with DiMaggio for the final "Penguins of Madagascar" episode was fun and fascinating, as well as his appearance at San Diego's Comic Con. However, I felt the film could have interviewed more actors than they did (Rob Paulsen, for example) rather than spending most of its time devoted to the filmmaker's world. Overall, a great film for fans of the art of voice acting.

Seeing the face behind the voice of my favourite animated characters is something I've always been curious about. It's great fun to YouTube for voice acting in motion. Watching The Simpsons cast appearance on Inside The Actor's Studio when I was younger was pure magic and I've watched my DVDs of Futurama with the commentaries on several times. Fortunately both shows feature heavily in the documentary with Bender's John DiMaggio being a heavyweight presence here. There's two things that I Know That Voice wants to emphasise. A, it's a craft no less than live action acting. And B, it's way more fun. Gathering a great assortment of voice actors with names you'd recognise from the credits of the cartoons if not the faces, the way the film is brought together gives it a wonderful sense of camaraderie.

However, sometimes it can lead to it feeling like they're simply stroking their own and other's egos but the humility of some of the interviewees shines through. It is disappointing that it lacks an enormous amount of archive footage to show the voices in action. They do it often on camera, sometimes to an irritating extent, and you just wish they would provide examples. Oh well, perhaps the rights would cost an extortionate amount. They do great things with their limited budget here but it does suffer from overeager editing with a pacing that so afraid of us being bored that it instead exhausts our attention. I wouldn't say I learned much about voice actors or gained more respect than I already had, but it was fun and interesting.

7/10

This documentary is all about the "secret world" of voice actors. And inside scoop if you will. They don't just make voices, they create characters. In some way, they're better than physical actors.

This flick gathers the best of the best in the business. Billy West, Mark Hamill, Seth Green, Phil LaMarr, Nolan North, Hank Azaria, June Foray, Tara Strong, Jim Cummings, Nancy Cartwright, James Arnold Taylor, Daran Norris, Rachel McFarlene, Bob Bergen, these are just a few names from the industry.

This film really does justice to the real heroes behind animation. Watching this will make you appreciate their job more as an art. I watch it every now and then just to remind me how great this is.

10/10

Voice acting. I've gotta say,great subject matter for a documentary. It's an unsung talent to a lot of people, and I KNOW THAT VOICE seeks to shed some light on who these well-known voices are. I wholeheartedly confess to the thrill of seeing an actor in an interview launch into the voice of a familiar character, bringing the character to life instantly in that very moment. It's why the Simpsons episode of INSIDE THE ACTOR'S STUDIO was my favorite; seeing the cast do those familiar voices fed right into that delight. And there is a lot of that in this movie, but it's about more than just the voices. It spotlights the legitimate acting and even physicality that go into an actor's time in the sound booth. It's not just a guy doing crazy voices - and seeing these people go from one character to another in a split second is pretty impressive.

The list of people that are featured in the movie is astounding. And it's not just side players and unknowns. We're talking Hank Azaria, Nolan North, Rob Paulsen, Fred Tatasciore, Kevin Conroy, Kevin Michael Richardson . . . these are heavy-hitters with intimidating bodies of work. And let's not forget John DiMaggio (Bender himself!) who directed the whole thing. Says a lot about the man's passion for what he does that he went out and made a movie about these anonymous faces behind the household name voices.

It's a great documentary; breezy, fun and often surprising what these guys can create with their vocal cords. There were still some people that I would've liked to hear from (Frank Welker, Jon Benjamin), but that's hardly a complaint. This is good stuff.

8/10