2099net wrote:I know that when a "sound-alike" is used for Donkey from Shrek, Eddie Murphy still gets a percentage of the voice actor's salary. Would this be the same if you were to have got the soundalike job for Cars? Would Larry still have gotten money for effectively nothing? If so, how would you feel about this?
Wow, I didn't even know that about Eddie Murphy. He must have had that bit negotiated in with his contract, because that may very well be the first instance I've heard of such a thing, and I pride myself on being informed about voiceover-related stuff.
You have a link to an article or interview that documents that? I'd be very interested to read it.
So, no, I don't believe Larry would've gotten any royalties or even a stipend if someone else voicematched him, unless he had that negotiated as part of his contract like you say Eddie Murphy did.
It's a fairly common trend for the "high-profile" celebrity voice talent to decline being involved in non-film related projects because the pay scale is significantly less. Many celebs even have this uppity, biased mindset that voiceover is somehow "beneath them." And they "don't do television" at all.
blackcauldron85 wrote:I know that you were directing these questions towards Voiceroy, but my $0.02 is that it kind of makes sense, since the original actor created the voice of the character, and the new actor would be imitating the original actor's voice. It's almost like as if the credits were to say:
Mater......Actor X (based on Larry the Cable Guy)
or something...it made more sense in my head.
But it's not as if the new actor would be creating a whole new voice for the character- obviously the new voice will be a little different, but it's supposed to be as similar as possible, so it's not like the new actor has the rights to come up with a whole new sound for the character.
In my case, if I'd gotten the soundalike gig for Dan Whitney (aka Larry the Cable Guy), it would've been an awesome thing for my career, but the pay would've been standard SAG union scale (unless it was specified as a non-union gig, which it wasn't).
If it were a project like a TV series and I was hired for the role of Tow Mater, you would indeed see my name credited as the voice, unless Dan/Larry had a similar contract stipulation as Eddie Murphy allegedly has... in which case I would only have been credited with "Additional Voices."
And I wouldn't have been involved with the actual film at all. The voice recording had wrapped a good year before the audition was sent to me. I did get to preview several clips from the film months before the movie debuted, in order to have a reference for the voice matching, but I guess that was the only perk I got out of it.
I thought I had a really good chance at getting the gig, moreso than I did for many other auditions I've submitted, because my impression of Larry the Cable Guy is one of the most popular ones in my stand-up act. But I guess the client thought otherwise. I don't know who the role eventually went to. I saw a State Farm commercial featuring soundalikes for McQueen and Mater, but I didn't recognize either voice, and both I thought were lousy attempts at voice matching. And whoever voiced Mater in that ad wasn't even close. Go fig.
Anyway, on soundalikes getting screen credit issue, here are some examples:
1) James Arnold Taylor (one of the best soundalikes in the industry) voicematched Michael J. Fox for the direct-to-video
Atlantis: Milo's Return and is indeed credited as the voice of Milo. He voiced Milo in the videogame as well, and is credited accordingly.
2) J.P. Manoux was hired to voice Kuzco in
The Emperor's New School since David Spade either didn't want to reprise the role for TV scale or he wasn't available. And Manoux is credited with that role as well. BTW, notice I didn't say Manoux does a voice match or soundalike, because he doesn't sound much like David Spade at all. In fact, his performance is so irritating to my ears that it ruins my enjoyment of the show. I wish James Arnold Taylor had gotten this role, since he does a spot on David Spade. He must have not been available to do the series due to some other project, because I can't imagine Manoux being selected over Taylor for the role. Manoux is a good comedic actor, but he's a poor choice to replace David Spade.
3) I gave the earlier examples of Pat Fraley and Jim Hanks voicing Buzz and Woody, and then Patrick Warburton (whose a fantastic comedic voice actor) voices Buzz in
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. But Pat still does the talking Buzz toys and other related incidental stuff.
4) When Jim Varney sadly died before production of
Atlantis: The Lost Empire was completed, actor Steven Barr completed Varney's remaining lines, but he received screen credit only by "Additional Voices." In the D2V sequel, Barr also voiced Cookie and was credited for the role. On an interesting side note, I mentioned in the Wall-E thread here that I did a voiceover workshop with Bob Bergen back in March, and Bob told me he was working on an audition for a Jim Varney soundalike for some Disney project he couldn't mention by name. I assumed it was for "Toy Story 3" since Varney voiced Slinky Dog, but when Bob said he was using Varney's work in "Atlantis" for reference, it made me think that perhaps Disney might be considering another D2V sequel or a TV series for "Atlantis". I wouldn't read into that though. Bob unfortunately couldn't give any other details due to professional courtesy.
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