How Do I Break Into Cartoon Voice Work? - By Mark Evanier.
An informative overview of the business of voice acting: its history, how it works and how to get in.
In the last four days, I've received three letters and two phone calls from people who want to get into the field of doing cartoon voices. One of the calls almost stunned me with its nonchalant assumption that this is an easy-entrance business; this lady seemed to think it was like signing up to earn frequent-flyer mileage. I imagine her deciding she wants to be in the movies, then calling up Martin Scorsese and saying, "Hi. I'm a clerk-typist here in Dayton, Ohio. Is it okay if I star opposite Robert DeNiro in your next movie?"
It would be wrong to tell these aspiring voice artists that what they want is impossible. In show business, nothing is impossible, except an honest accounting of profits. Not that long ago, Conan O'Brien was a writer and bit-part performer. If he'd told me he wanted to take over for David Letterman on NBC, I'd have gone, "Uh-huh, well, I wouldn't bet on that ever happening."
Still, when folks ask me about something like getting into cartoon-voicing, I feel I'd be doing them a disservice not to clue them in that it might not be all that easy to attain. Is it possible? Of course. But then so is winning the lottery.
The first cartoon voice artist was probably Walt Disney. He made the first sound cartoons and he cast himself, altogether appropriately, as Mickey Mouse. Many of the early makers of animated talkies looked no further than their own staffs, conscripting artists and secretaries to stand, often trembling, before the microphones.
Which is not to say they were all bad. Walt was fine as Mickey -- a task he kept for himself until he became too busy with studio matters. Jack Mercer, the long-time voice of Popeye and other characters, was discovered in the Fleischer Studios art department. And one of the all-time great voice artists, Bill Scott (voice of Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right and umpteen others) was first and foremost a writer and producer.
The first actor to make a living primarily doing cartoon voices was probably Clarence "Ducky" Nash, voice of Donald Duck. Disney heard him on a radio show in 1934 and quickly signed him to what turned out to be a lifetime gig. When "Ducky" wasn't speaking for The Duck, he was the studio's goodwill ambassador, making personal appearances with a ventriloquist figure of Donald.
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