Nerdy Show Prime: Voice Acting! Part 1
When it comes to animation – voice actors define a character. Sure, there’s the writing and the animation, but it’s the voice that really sells the character. What would the Looney Tunes be without their iconic voices bringing each of those characters to life? What’s the difference between a good anime dub and a bad one? It’s the voices.
As nerds we’ve created something of a fandom surrounding voice actors. Giving these men and women of a thousand faces the celebrity following that they deserve. And they so deserve it – they get all the cool roles. Spastic rodents, ninja turtles, warlords from space, magical ponies. Not even Johnny Depp has been a magical pony. True fact.
In this two-part Nerdy Show Prime episode, we celebrate voice actors, their legacy in animation and other mediums. We discuss the history of voice acting, famous voice actors, defining roles and interview some greats of the field. In this first episode we speak to the legendary Rob Paulsen, whos voice has dominated American animation for the last three decades, as well as Yuri Lowenthal, rising star in all fields of voice work best known for being the Prince of Persia and the voice of Ben 10.
This episode is our first fan-commissioned episode! Our hats are off to Byron McIssac and Ross Butler who donated in our April donation drive to their chosen topic of “Voice Acting” and made this episode a reality. Big thanks to them and all donors since for supporting the show and helping us bring you amazing episodes like this one. We couldn’t do this without you. <3
Tracks:
- Final Fantasy 5 ROBOVoice :: Joe Redifer
- Science is Fun :: Aperture Science Psychoacoustics Laboratory
- Yakko’s Universe :: Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, & Tress MacNeille
- Particle Brain :: Jivemaster
- Stand Out :: Tevin Campbell
- Guilty Gear X ‘Alpha Blade’ :: Beatdrop
- Wasted Space Oddity (Drunken Astronauts) :: Power Salad
- Corneria :: The Super Tett
Voice Actor Links:
- Voice Acting thread on the Nerdy Show Forums
- The rest of the TMNT voice cast is announced!
- The “Fingerprints” joke
- All the risque moments in Animaniacs
- Pinky drops the f-bomb
- Rob Paulsen’s twitter
- Yuri Lowenthal’s twitter
- BUY Voice-Over Voice Actor: What It’s Like Behind the Mic by Yuri Lowenthal and Tara Platt
Other Links:
- Star Trek: Phase 2
- Jaleel White returns to Sonic
- The live action Mega Man fan film
- The Sonic the Hedgehog Bible
- The Portal 2 Soundtrack – free!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (12.5KB)
8 Comments
Big Rob Paulsen fan here, and nerd/fangirl. That Dwarf voice was amazing! XD I’m not sure I’ve heard that voice come out of him before.
I’ve never come across you guys before. I’m a big ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com fan as well, you guys ever try to affiliate with them?
@Takineko
Agreed on the dwarf voice. It’s crazy what that man can do! Those prompts were actually a couple of our characters from, Dungeons & Doritos, our roleplaying podcast. It’s amazing what he was able to do just off the cuff like that.
As for ThatGuyWithTheGlasses, I’m not familiar with their material. Looks like they’ve got a lot going on over there. Maybe? We like being friendsites with people. That could happen.
GAH! Where the heck did you find Steven Blum?
@M. Soldoln
In part 2 of this episode coming later this week? Yes. That’s it.
Holy cow, Is it just me or does Yuri sound so much like Cap and John? First thing to pop into my head when hearing him talk on the episode.
Love this guys, huge VA fan Can’t wait for part 2. .
@Belisknar
Wah- really? That’s cool. Maybe we’re related, or Jon and I are destined for vocal stardom. Either outcome is cool.
Absolutely amazing job, ladies and gentlemen. Such content, just “wow”.
Looking forward to the Part 2 so much (not going to lie, Steve Blum, he’s the one I really know of, and am most excited to hear).
Again, amazing.