The Voices We Love

I'm very excited to be discussing this next topic with you. Why? A few years ago I had a strong interest with voice actors and what they do. Hardly anyone stops to think and wonder about the effort put into voice acting. It may seem like an easy job (and I'm sure in some ways it is), but it does take a lot of hard work. This man pictured above is someone that every single professional voice actor or actress would know. He is the epitome of voice acting and also known as the Man Of 1,000 Voices. He makes up ninety percent (if not a hundred) of all the voices you've ever heard in a Loony Tunes cartoon. This man is Mel Blanc. This guy seriously made voice acting a thing. For real, watch him in an interview and you'll see why. He is the idol for a lot of voice actors and actresses out there and an inspiration for cartoon figures.
Mel isn't with us anymore unfortunately, but more talented voice artists have made their way in and are now becoming more recognizable. There's a documentary on Netflix titled I Know That Voice. If you love the idea of these guys then this film is something you should see. Very entertaining and fascinating by how many voices can come out of a pair of vocal chords. I know more than a dozen voice actors because I have a habit of looking up the voices behind the characters and knowing what other characters they've done.
In the world of animation, the characters are often drawn up first before a voice is added. Auditions are set up and several are gone through before one is selected for that character. There are other times in movies or TV shows where there is already a voice actor/actress in mind and they are asked to voice the character. I think it's always interesting when they model the character to look like the said voice actor/actress. For example, in the movie Monsters vs. Aliens, the President of the U.S. was designed to look like Stephen Colbert who voiced him.
Before I knew anything about this profession, I thought that the script was read in order from start to finish. This is not the case at all. Different scenes are recorded variously and it really is up to the director for which scenes to work on first. There are multiple ways these voices are recorded. Some have the voice actors/actresses voice alone in a booth with only the director and producers to feed them lines. Other studios prefer to have multiple voice artists read lines together in a room so as to feed off of one another. Either way is successful and their voices do the job wonderfully.  
I can honestly go on and on about this subject, but the main thing to know is that these guys are really important to the industry. I mean, these guys are so great at what they do. They have to portray their emotions through their voice. A lot of them act out while recording their voice since it helps, but it's still a difficult process. I'm really hoping to voice my own character one day.
Shout out to Billy West, Roger Bumpass, Dee Bradley Baker, Tara Strong, Grey Delisle, Tom Kenny, Jim Cummings, John DiMaggio, Rob Paulsen, Nancy Cartwright, Mel Blanc, and all of those amazing voice actors and actresses out there. You guys are awesome.  
Next topic: Screenwriting!