I Know That Voice

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

I hate to say it but I've never been one who watches documentaries. I mean, yes, I enjoy them, though I don't generally seek them out . In this politically heated world that we live in, to be honest, at then end of a long day I'm not in the mindset to watch one of the (what feels like a million) docs out there about how big business is slowly feeding me genetically modified corn syrup that will make me become a gluten mutant of some kind, or whatever the hot button topic of the week is. Don't get me wrong, there's a need for such films and they are important in educating the masses, but like I said, sometimes it's not what you need at the end of a rough day. Then, ever so often, you find a topic that screams 'watch me.' And I have found that documentary my friends.

I Know That Voice (2013) takes a gander at a subject that many of us never give much credence to. No, it's not about how the auto industry is using the tears killer whales to power inefficient hybrids. This film takes a personal look at what it means to be an actor who is never actually seen on screen. I speak of the voice over artists who use their gift of gab to create and bring to life some of the most iconic characters in the world of entertainment. Produced by John DiMaggio (the alcohol fueled robot Bender from the popular series Futurama), this film feels like a labor of love and what unfolds is wonderful.

The movie explains the history of voice artists from the beginning of talkies until present day, peppering in a slew of interviews from some of the most popular talent out there. Weaving a tale of both the struggles and the love of the business, I Know That Voice keeps you interested from start to finish as the actors known for being silly animated characters, show you a side of the process which makes the viewer appreciate what was once looked at as child's fair. Throughout, you meet everyone from Sponge Bob to Roger Rabbit. And these are truly actors, damn fine ones at that.

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

I have always been a lover of animation and voices. I remember being in the playground and practicing voices from shows. Then one day I realised that somebody actually has to do that as a job. They don't just generate voices from a computer or record random stuff. Someone has to perform a character to bring that character and show to life. That was when I began my fascination with voice actors. This documentary was so lovely to watch. It was wonderful to hear the people behind so many of my childhood heroes, (and villains), talk about their careers and experiences. The film covered some great topics from Daddy of all VO Mel Blanc to how video games are becoming the next big thing in Voice acting. It was so nice to hear how genuine and humble these incredibly talented people are. I suppose I would have liked to have seen more from certain actors, but you can only do so much in one documentary. It would be incredible if this was picked up and turned into a show, similar to Voice Actor Rob Paulson's podcast "Talkin' Toons" which is also excellent. A fantastic watch for anyone interested not only in Voice acting but also acting in general and filmmaking.

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.