On the Simpsons, there seems to be a situation which has evolved to a point where the main background characters who are female, such as the ‘advertising exec’ or ‘scientist’ or ‘lawyer’ are all voiced by the same voice actress, it would be ok if there was some range, however, I’ve noticed this on Futurama as well where they use the same person for a multitude of background characters. Does it annoy anyone else?
This isn’t an attack on voice actors doing multiple characters, it’s fine if they have some vocal range and it sounds like a different person, but Tress MacNeille just sounds the same in every.single.character.
It’s gotten to a point where I can’t watch some of the new episodes because I’m saying to myself ‘Oh there’s Tress doing another awful voice act’
The voices are the same because they ask her to use a specific voice for them. MacNeille voices a lot of characters on those shows (Dolph and Brandine, for example) and she has plenty of range, so it’s not like she can’t do anything else.
I seriously didn’t notice that Dr. Hartman and Mr. Pewterschmidt had the exact same voice until Family Guy busted through the fourth wall to point it out.
Not the same thing, but Mary Kay Bergman did most female voices on South Park, and they did a good job changing them when she died. Granted, some are voiced by Trey in falsetto.
When I had my courier job, there were a number of office buildings that I frequented where Tress MacNeille did the elevators.
I don’t have a cite, I’ve no proof that she’s ever done elevators- but it has GOT to be her. It came to me gradually, these were buildings I visited repeatedly. At first, the voice was just comfortingly familiar, then one day it clicked- it was Tress MacNeille! Once I became certain it was her in one building, I then noticed she also did the elevators in other buildings I was going to frequently.
Fourth Floor.
Just once, I wanted to hear her say Fourth Floor . . . You BASTARDS!!!
Patrick Warburton shows up everywhere. Billy West or someone can hide his voice, but Warburton gets typecast as the tough guy. And define “toned down,” what with the screaming outbursts.
Voice Actors can generally do up to 3 characters for a general “day rate” of pay plus a certain percentage for each subsequent character. So it’s cost effective to use your VO actors for 2 to 3 characters per recording session rather than hire a new actor for each character.
I might agree with you, if I didn’t think Tress had the most awesome voice ever. Does any other actress sound like her? It’ll be a sad, sad day when she’s lost to the world.
if i might notice it for a second then no problem. the show is multilayed with sight gags and clever script there is always something(s) to pay attention to. oh look, a butterfly.
