Vocal Evolution: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Space Ghost:''' Man, Zorak, what was with your voice back then?

 

Actors are only human, which includes voice actors. Voice actors don't have to worry about makeup or costumes, so it can be easy to assume that their job is much easier than that of actors visible on the screen. It may or may not be, but the unique challenge they face is breathing life into an animated character with their voice alone and no other props. And like with [[Art Evolution|new artists]], it can take novice voice actors some time to grow into their character and develop distinctive voices for them.

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'''s English dub has shades of this, where Ash's voice ([[Cross-Dressing Voices|actress]]) is pretty rough and uneven in the first couple episodes. She finds the right balance afterwards...only to become increasingly overly-high pitched during Orange Islands and Johto. However, toward the end of [[Veronica Taylor]]'s tenure as Ash, her voice for him had become noticeably lower, perhaps to give the impression of aging (despite [[Comic Book Time|what the writers will tell you]]). Alternatively, it could have something to do with the fact that following the Johto arc, [[Talking to Himself|she was cast as the new female lead]] and had to distinguish Ash from May by lowering her voice again.

** The voice director told Veronica Taylor to play Ash with a deep voice in the first few episodes because that's how he thought ten-year old boys sounded. Taylor brought in a sound clip of her ten-year old nephew to prove him wrong, and Ash's voice was allowed to go much higher.

 

== Fan Works ==

* Amy's voice on ''[[Sailor Moon Abridged]]'' started as a hoarse whisper. It gradually became more of a warbling voice, which you can begin to hear around episode 12.

* Jaleel White, who played the role of Sonic in [[Sonic Sat AM|three]] [[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog|animated]] [[Sonic Underground|shows]], reprises his role in a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB6oUnS-MFQ Sonic fanfilm], with his voice sounding somewhat more like the modern incarnations.

 

== [[Film]] ==

** [[Daniel Radcliffe]] and [[Rupert Grint]]'s voices broke between the first and second movies.

* [[Al Pacino]] had a youthful, almost nasal, voice from ''[[The Godfather]]'' to ''[[Dog Day Afternoon]]'' to ''[[Scarface]]''. Eventually tobacco started to take its toll. By the time ''[[Donnie Brasco]]'' rolled around, ''wow''. This was one of the reasons he didn't return for ''[[The Godfather]]'' video game.

 

* Compare Tony Anselmo's performance as [[Donald Duck]] in the first episode of ''[[DuckTales (1987)]]'' (1987) to his performance in ''[[Kingdom Hearts (video game)|Kingdom Hearts]] II'' (2006). It was rather rough around the edges when he originally took over from Clarence Nash, but has improved considerably in the past 20 years.

* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''

** Nelson's voice has changed considerably over the years. It used to be higher pitched before becoming low and gruff sounding.

** Police Chief Clancy Wiggum originally had a much deeper, more gruff sounding voice. [[Hank Azaria]] gradually found him slipping into a more high-pitched, whiny sounding voice.

* Danny Cooksey's voice for Montana Max on ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' was noticeably higher in earlier episodes. Not surprisingly, he was the most prominent child voice actor on the staff.

** Also, [[Charlie Adler]]'s voice for Buster is a tiny bit higher in some of the earlier episodes. This is especially noticeable in "Cinemaniacs", one of the first episodes to be recorded; he sounds pitch-shifted.

* In another case of child voice actor equalling changed voice, Nicky Jones started voicing the title character of ''[[Chowder]]'' when he was 11. Come the third season, he sounds noticeably older.

** Panini, too, for that matter. Her voice actress started voicing the character at age 13.