Should mainstream animated movies use actual VAs with one celebrity?

I've been thinking about this. I know that mainstream animated movies use celebrity voices to get people in the seats. But I've been wondering, should actual V As (like Tara Strong, Grey Delisle, Dan Castellaneta, Maurice Lamarche, John Di Maggio, Tom Kenny, George Newbern, Mark Hamill, Phil La Marr, etc) be used with only one celebrity voice? Or no celeb voices period?

I want actual V As to be the main characters in a mainstream animated movie, if only because it's their job to voice characters. And with celebs voicing, you can tell (like Eddie Murphy: Donkey sounds EXACTLY like Mushu)

You know, I have to wonder why Pit is obsessed with this site. It’s gonna ruin his life!

No celeb voices for awhile. Then we'll see how butts really get put in seats. I accept such a challenge if it were real.

Even if I had different face, I AM STILL DISGRACED.

Celebrity voice actors have been around since they cast Ed Wynn and Jerry Colonna in Alice In Wonderland - and maybe if you count Cliff Edwards for Pinocchio.

The difference is that they didn't advertise them prominently. Maybe do what they did.

edited 5th May '14 3:27:45 PM by Aldo930

"They say I'm old fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast."

Well, you can often tell either way. Either you're recognizing the voices from other children's cartoons, or you're recognizing them from other movies. And some of those celebrities who get their first voice acting job in a big movie go on to do a lot more voice acting, so you could argue it's adding variety to the talent pool.

Depends on whether they're getting those roles by their ability to perform or by their name.

I don't see why they couldn't use actual VA for mainstream animated movies. I guess it's because most movie goers would be mostly familiar with mainstream movie celebrities than they would with VA who normally voice characters in animated TV series. But, I think one of the examples of using actual VA for mainstream animated movies that actually worked was The Rugrats Movie since they mostly used the VA from the TV series with only a few celebrity VA here and there in the film.

I love animation, TV, movies, YOU NAME IT!

I'm not really counting animated movies based off of shows as they will have actual V As for a reason.

You know, I have to wonder why Pit is obsessed with this site. It’s gonna ruin his life!

I don't really think that mainstream animated films should use celebrity voice actors; in their place, I would cast actual voice actors instead.

"You can run, but you can't hide from the Buzzinator!"

I'm not really liking this distinction between celebrity voice actors and "real" voice actors. They're all actors in the end anyway. The problem with a Celebrity Voice Actor is when it's a matter of Stunt Casting to get butts in seats. So long as the chosen actor fits the part, I don't really care whether or not the VA is a celebrity or not. I'd point to things like Tangled, Frozen, and How to Train Your Dragon, to prove that even established celebrities can do pretty incredible voice-over work.

Of course, the fact that the two tropes I linked exist is an indication that stunt casting is still very much a thing in Hollywood, and can be a detriment at times. Still, I think that the thread's question is conflating two issues or claims, that aren't necessarily related: that mainstream animated films are victims of Stunt Casting to improve audience numbers, and that actors who primarily do voice over are necessarily superior to actors who do not for animated roles. The first is undeniably true, the second is a lot more dubious.

edited 6th May '14 8:17:04 PM by Renewal

My only thing with the Celebrity Voicing is for them to stop the miscasting. When a celebrity is given real direction to work with (like Jack Black in Kung Fu Panda) it really works.

No kidding. Can we not cast adults in child roles? I'm looking at you, Captain Underpants.

I agree with this. To me, it's all about whether or not whatever voice actor is cast can do a good job at voicing the characters. It doesn't really matter if they are celebrity voice actors or not since the audience would care more about the characters anyway. Like, I never would have thought that Mandy Moore's performance as Rapunzel would be so good!

I love animation, TV, movies, YOU NAME IT!

Hell, I never would've thought anyone even remembered who Mandy Moore was.

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I'm not sure if they should limit their cast to one celebrity per movie, but they should definitely hire more voice-over actors!! They work so hard to just get one audition, and most of the time, the job entails ONLY auditions, because they get rejected 95% of their career. Heck, in most cases, voice actors need to work HARDER than celebrities to get good roles!

edited 7th May '14 8:42:37 AM by kyun