The Unsung History of Great Voice Acting

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Mel Blanc paved the way for voice acting as a true art, though it’s a skill that often goes unrecognized when praise is heaped on movies and TV.

2Since the creation of animated motion pictures, the use of actors supplying voices has been invaluable. Behind every famous cartoon character’s personality is the actor standing in the recording booth and stretching their manner of speaking in unrecognizable1unrecognizable（变化太大而）认不出来的。ways, all for the sake of entertainment.For some of these performers, the voices they’ve provided have far surpassed them as people in both recognizability and adoration.

3When looking at voice acting from the outside, it seems relatively simple when compared to the art of acting on screen. However, like any type of acting, there are those who understand how to bring the most out of their character vocally, and those who do not.These skills have perhaps never been as exceptionally put on display as they have with veteran Looney Tunes voice actor, Mel Blanc.

梅尔·布兰克为配音成为一门真正的艺术铺平了道路，尽管当影视作品备受赞誉时，这门技艺往往未能得到认可。

2自动画电影诞生以来，配音演员的作用不可估量。每个著名的卡通人物背后都有一个站在录音棚里的演员，他们把说话方式演绎到极致，发出的很多声音都与本音相差甚远，而这一切都是为了娱乐观众。对于其中一些表演者而言，他们的配音在辨识度和人气度方面都远远超过了他们本人。

3表面上看，与银幕上的表演艺术相比，配音表演似乎相对简单。然而，就像任何类型的表演一样，有的演员懂得用配音将人物诠释得惟妙惟肖，有的则不然。《乐一通》资深配音演员梅尔·布兰克在这部动画中展现了超凡的配音技艺，成就空前。

The Man of 1,000 Voices

4For over 60 years, Mel Blanc’s voice was heard by the world either on radio,or in the massively popular series of animated shorts,The Looney Tunes. Right up until his death in 1989, Mel was happily voicing nearly every single majorLooney Tunescharacter (except for Elmer Fudd, up until the original voice actor Arthur Q. Bryan died, after which Blanc took over the role) and became the all-too rare example of a voice actor being famously recognized for his work.Never before had his kind of vocal range been seen in animated pictures, and arguably never has been since.

5Being labeled as “The Man of 1,000 Voices, ” Mel Blanc became legendary among voice actors as a grandfather figure of sorts, inspiring a new generation to take up the craft and help to entertain people for years to come.

Big hitters of the VO booth

6After Mel Blanc’s wildly notable career, there have been numerous successful and beloved voice actors to follow suit. Those of which have provided their voice to so many projects that astute fans can point them out once they hear them, or in some cases, be thrilled to learn a character was voiced by someone they know, yet didn’t recognize when hearing.

一人千声

460 多年来，梅尔·布兰克的声音或通过广播电台，或通过大受欢迎的动画系列短片《乐一通》让全世界听到。直到1989 年去世，梅尔都在欣然地为几乎每一个《乐一通》的主角配音（除了爱发先生，在原配音演员亚瑟·Q.布赖恩去世之后，布兰克才接手了这个角色），并且极其罕见地成为作品备受认可的配音演员。在动画电影配音界中，他的音域可谓前无古人，后无来者。

5梅尔·布兰克有了“一人千声”的名号，成为配音演员中的传奇，是配音行业祖师爷级别的人物，激励着新生代加入这个行当，在未来的若干年里给人们带去欢乐。

配音室里的大人物

6梅尔·布兰克功成名就之后，还有很多配音演员像他一样获得成功且受人喜爱。他们给太多影视角色配过音，以至于机敏的粉丝一听到他们的声音就能辨认出来；有时，粉丝自己听的时候没能认出来，但在得知这个角色是由自己所知的演员配音时，便激动不已。

7Popular animated sitcoms owe much of their identity to their voice cast, who not only bring the characters their own unique inflections2inflection 语调的抑扬变化。and sounds, but who can do so naturally and with standout tonalities3tonality（音乐）调性。. From Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh, Tigger) to John Dimaggio(Bender, Jake the Dog), there’s an inimitable charm to getting just the right voice for the job.

Dangers of the job

8Western animation isn’t the only kind that can prove difficult to record for the voice actors. Outside of having to match up timing when dubbing a project that was originally recorded in another language, some actors have the straining, and sometimes dangerous, task of emulating a very intense moment through screaming as hard as they can.A popular example of when the job can go south4go south 变坏，变糟糕。is when fan-favorite Dragon Ball Z5东映动画制作的“龙珠系列”第二部动画TV，改编自著名漫画家鸟山明的同名漫画《龙珠》。voice actor Sean Schemmel fainted in the recording booth while performing a scream during his character’s transformation. Schemmel described the moment at the 2012 London Film & Comic-Con:

7流行动画情景喜剧的特性在很大程度上是其配音演员创造的，他们不仅赋予了角色独特的语调和声音，且十分自然、音色突出。从吉姆·卡明斯（小熊维尼、跳跳虎）到约翰·迪马乔（班德、狗狗杰克），为角色配出恰到好处的声音有一种无与伦比的魅力。

配音工作危险重重

8对于配音演员而言，为西方动画录制配音并非是唯一一类困难的任务。在为原本是以另一种语言录制而成的节目配音时，除了要掌握配音节奏之外，一些演员还需要通过全力呐喊来再现某个非常紧张的时刻，这很耗费体力，有时还会有危险。这项工作可能出现状况，其中一个家喻户晓的案例就是，深受粉丝喜爱的《龙珠Z》配音演员肖恩·谢梅尔在为动画角色变身过程中的呐喊配音时晕倒在录音棚里。谢梅尔在2012 年伦敦电影动漫展上描述了这一时刻：

... it was during the Super Saiyan 4 transformation and I was really tired ...and I had been working, not sleeping well. And I miscalculated the amount of air you need for a Kamehameha6漫画《龙珠》中的攻击型技能，又称“神龟冲击波”，在施展时需要呐喊聚气。, I think—or maybe it was a power up—and I made the voice lower. So, if you get lower when you’re acting, the aperture of your vocal cords gets wider, and I just totally miscalculated.

9Through all the sore throats and damaged vocal cords, the animated characters we all love wouldn’t be where they are in the public eye without those who put a voice to them. From Blanc’s groundbreaking techniques and range, to the modern era of esteemed and talented up-and-coming voice actors making a name for themselves7make a name for oneself 扬名，成名。,it’s clear to see what separates the good from the great, as long as they manage to stay conscious.

……那是在超级赛亚人4的变身过程中，当时我真的筋疲力尽……而且之前我一直不停工作，没睡好觉。我想我估算错了施展龟派气功波时所需的肺活量，也许要聚气提升力量，而我把声音发低了。所以，如果表演时声量变低，声带会变宽，我完全估算错了。

9配音演员有过各种喉咙疼痛和声带受损的经历，如果没有这些赋予角色声音的演员，我们喜爱的动画人物便无法在公众眼中这么受欢迎。从布兰克开创性的口技和音域，到如今受人尊敬、才华横溢的新晋配音演员扬名立万的时代，只要他们努力保持清醒，就能让人清晰地看到优秀与伟大之间的区别。