VOCAL VOCATIONS
Harry Shearer has yet to win an Emmy for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, but his alter ego Derek Smalls, along with the rest of Spinal Tap, have been nominated for a Grammy for their latest album, Back From The Dead. [Twitter.com/letwits]
Harry Shearer has yet to win an Emmy for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, but his alter ego Derek Smalls, along with the rest of Spinal Tap, have been nominated for a Grammy for their latest album, Back From The Dead. [Twitter.com/letwits]
Labels: VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 12/04/2009 | permalink
Harry Shearer Joins Cult
CULT LIFESTYLE
Like fellow cast member Nancy Cartwright, Harry Shearer is also part of a cult - the cult of iPhone. [The Guardian]
Like fellow cast member Nancy Cartwright, Harry Shearer is also part of a cult - the cult of iPhone. [The Guardian]
Labels: CULT LIFESTYLE, VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 9/25/2009 | permalink
Harry Shearer Offered To Write An Episode Once
WOULD-BE WRITER WATCH
Fun factoid: According to his Twitter, Harry Shearer - the most vocal critic of the show amongst the cast - offered to write an episode a long time ago but was never taken up on it. [Twitter.com/letwits]
Fun factoid: According to his Twitter, Harry Shearer - the most vocal critic of the show amongst the cast - offered to write an episode a long time ago but was never taken up on it. [Twitter.com/letwits]
Labels: VOCAL VOCATIONS, WRITER WATCH
posted 9/24/2009 | permalink
Huff Daddy
VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 14 February 2009 source e!
Voice actor Hank Azaria (Comic Book Guy, Moe, Chief Wiggum) and his girlfriend are expecting a child. Imagine that!
posted 14 February 2009 source e!
Voice actor Hank Azaria (Comic Book Guy, Moe, Chief Wiggum) and his girlfriend are expecting a child. Imagine that!
Labels: VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 2/14/2009 | permalink
OTVII Auditer and Proud Of It, Man
CULT LIFESTYLE
posted 30 January 2009 source village voice
Nancy Cartwright, voice of TV's Bart Simpson, has not been especially vocal about her membership in the always-controversial Church of Scientology. Her autobiography makes no reference to it, nor does her website. Although she's done a few advertisements (one ad in the LA Weekly said "Meet the Voice of Bart Simpson At The Scientology Center!"), she has not advocated for the Church in a big way - she didn't preach the virtues of Xenu while doing publicity for The Simpsons Movie, nor has she tried to plug Dianetics while doing DVD audio commentary. Unlike the bigger Scientologist celebrities, she does not lecture Matt Lauer about psychiatry (Tom Cruise), star in movies based on books by L. Ron Hubbard (John Travolta), or leave a show when they make one too many jokes about the religion (Issac Hayes). Last year, she donated $10 million to Scientology - twice her annual Simpsons salary and nearly five times more than that deadbeat Tom Cruise - a story which raised a few eyebrows, but generally flew under the radar.
A couple days ago, audio of Cartwright doing a "robo-call" for some Scientology event was uploaded to the Internet. The story has gotten more than 2,700 "diggs" on Digg, which is apparently a lot in Internet metrics (?). She opens the call with "Hey, man, this is Bart Simpson!" before quickly resorting to her normal voice and saying "Just kidding... this is Nancy Cartwright!" and announces that she is now a "auditing on New OTVII" (???) and wants to share her "many wins" with you (?????). On the surface, this doesn't really seem all that different from getting a robo-call from Hollywood starlet Scarlett Johansson telling about how cool Barack Obama is and how you should probably vote for him, except it's for a religion.
But Cartwright lapses back into her Bart voice several times in the call, laughing and saying, "It's going to be a blast, man!" in the same voice that used to shill for Butterfinger bars. You can hear it for yourself in the headline link, assuming the YouTube of the audio hasn't been taken down. The call blurs the line between Nancy Cartwright, real-life person, and Bart Simpson, fictional cartoon character: does Bart want me to get my thetans checked or just Nancy? When has Bart ever advocated anything other than eating his shorts, anyway? It raises many questions. Legal issues aside - technically, Fox owns the voices of the characters, which came to light when Dan Castelleneta got in trouble for introducing comedian Paul Krassner on his album "Irony Lives!" - is it ethical for voice actors to use an iconic cartoon character in such a way? Should celebrities use their fame to promote their belief system? Can a corporation own your voice? Does Cartwright ever use her Bart voice to prank call bars?
posted 30 January 2009 source village voice
Nancy Cartwright, voice of TV's Bart Simpson, has not been especially vocal about her membership in the always-controversial Church of Scientology. Her autobiography makes no reference to it, nor does her website. Although she's done a few advertisements (one ad in the LA Weekly said "Meet the Voice of Bart Simpson At The Scientology Center!"), she has not advocated for the Church in a big way - she didn't preach the virtues of Xenu while doing publicity for The Simpsons Movie, nor has she tried to plug Dianetics while doing DVD audio commentary. Unlike the bigger Scientologist celebrities, she does not lecture Matt Lauer about psychiatry (Tom Cruise), star in movies based on books by L. Ron Hubbard (John Travolta), or leave a show when they make one too many jokes about the religion (Issac Hayes). Last year, she donated $10 million to Scientology - twice her annual Simpsons salary and nearly five times more than that deadbeat Tom Cruise - a story which raised a few eyebrows, but generally flew under the radar.
A couple days ago, audio of Cartwright doing a "robo-call" for some Scientology event was uploaded to the Internet. The story has gotten more than 2,700 "diggs" on Digg, which is apparently a lot in Internet metrics (?). She opens the call with "Hey, man, this is Bart Simpson!" before quickly resorting to her normal voice and saying "Just kidding... this is Nancy Cartwright!" and announces that she is now a "auditing on New OTVII" (???) and wants to share her "many wins" with you (?????). On the surface, this doesn't really seem all that different from getting a robo-call from Hollywood starlet Scarlett Johansson telling about how cool Barack Obama is and how you should probably vote for him, except it's for a religion.
But Cartwright lapses back into her Bart voice several times in the call, laughing and saying, "It's going to be a blast, man!" in the same voice that used to shill for Butterfinger bars. You can hear it for yourself in the headline link, assuming the YouTube of the audio hasn't been taken down. The call blurs the line between Nancy Cartwright, real-life person, and Bart Simpson, fictional cartoon character: does Bart want me to get my thetans checked or just Nancy? When has Bart ever advocated anything other than eating his shorts, anyway? It raises many questions. Legal issues aside - technically, Fox owns the voices of the characters, which came to light when Dan Castelleneta got in trouble for introducing comedian Paul Krassner on his album "Irony Lives!" - is it ethical for voice actors to use an iconic cartoon character in such a way? Should celebrities use their fame to promote their belief system? Can a corporation own your voice? Does Cartwright ever use her Bart voice to prank call bars?
Labels: CULT LIFESTYLE, VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 1/30/2009 | permalink
Voice Actors' Pay Dispute Settled
VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 23 May 2008 source telegraph.co.uk
The cast of The Simpsons finally got around to renegotiating their contracts, thus putting an end to the pay dispute that threatened to tear apart humanity and resulted in at least thirty artists losing their jobs while production was halted. Dan Castellenta (Homer), Julie Kavner (Marge), Nancy Cartwright (Bart), Yeardley Smith (Lisa), Hank Azaria (Maggie), and Harry Shearer (Mr. Burns) will now each get$500,000 $400,000 per episode, an increase from $360,000, to donate to Scientology. Ironically, this pay increase comes at a time when viewership has dwindled by nearly fifty percent over the past five years. Aye carumba!
posted 23 May 2008 source telegraph.co.uk
The cast of The Simpsons finally got around to renegotiating their contracts, thus putting an end to the pay dispute that threatened to tear apart humanity and resulted in at least thirty artists losing their jobs while production was halted. Dan Castellenta (Homer), Julie Kavner (Marge), Nancy Cartwright (Bart), Yeardley Smith (Lisa), Hank Azaria (Maggie), and Harry Shearer (Mr. Burns) will now each get
Labels: VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 5/23/2008 | permalink
It's Splitsville For Smith
LET'S BEE FRIENDS
posted 23 May 2008 source e! online
E! reports Yeardley Smith, voice of Lisa Simpson, has filed for divorce from husbandRalph Wiggum Daniel Erickson.
posted 23 May 2008 source e! online
E! reports Yeardley Smith, voice of Lisa Simpson, has filed for divorce from husband
Labels: VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 5/23/2008 | permalink
Voice Actors Still In Contract Negotiations
VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 9 April 2008 source TAG blog (via livingfruitvirus)
The voice actors and powers-that-be are in contract talks for like the 30th time over the past 10 years probably because they don't think they're getting enough royalties from bart simpson meat thermometers or something who knows
Ten years ago, Fox was on the brink of replacing all the actors. If contracts aren't renewed this time, maybe they'll just get Seth McFarlane to do all the voices.
posted 9 April 2008 source TAG blog (via livingfruitvirus)
The voice actors and powers-that-be are in contract talks for like the 30th time over the past 10 years probably because they don't think they're getting enough royalties from bart simpson meat thermometers or something who knows
Since I didn't have to be sitting in negotiation this afternoon, I drove over to the Starz Media/Film Roman facility, where I discovered (via the employees) that Fox and the six voice actors on The Simpsons are deep in talks for a renewal of contracts. And that all parties, according to the artists, have imposed a news blackout.
Ten years ago, Fox was on the brink of replacing all the actors. If contracts aren't renewed this time, maybe they'll just get Seth McFarlane to do all the voices.
Labels: VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 4/09/2008 | permalink
Cartwright Gives $10 Million to Scientology
CULT LIFESTYLE
posted 15 February 2008 source sfgate
Nancy Cartwright, voice of Bart Simpson, has donated $10 million dollars - twice her annual salary and twice what Tom Cruise has donated over the past four years - to the controversial Church of Scientology, thus ensuring herself a first-class seat on the spaceship to Blisstonia.
posted 15 February 2008 source sfgate
Nancy Cartwright, voice of Bart Simpson, has donated $10 million dollars - twice her annual salary and twice what Tom Cruise has donated over the past four years - to the controversial Church of Scientology, thus ensuring herself a first-class seat on the spaceship to Blisstonia.
Labels: CULT LIFESTYLE, VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 2/15/2008 | permalink
Harry Shearer Dresses Up In A Fat Suit
VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 1 August 2007 source examiner
Voice actor Harry Shearer (Burns, Flanders, others) endured 3.5 hours of makeup to sing a song as Dick Cheney. Now that's dedication.
posted 1 August 2007 source examiner
Voice actor Harry Shearer (Burns, Flanders, others) endured 3.5 hours of makeup to sing a song as Dick Cheney. Now that's dedication.
Labels: VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 8/01/2007 | permalink
Voice Actor Asks For Raise, Gets Fired
VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 9 July 2007 source kenneth white
"Voice acting god" and Simpsons recurring voice actor Frank Welker revealed in an e-mail to Simpsons fan Kenneth White why he hasn't appeared in The Simpsons since Season 13:
Welker has played Santa's Little Helper, Snowball II, She's The Fastest, Fred from Scooby Doo, Megatron, Milhouse's monkey, Burns' canine executive vice president, Africa's wildlife, Lisa's pony, and a dozen zoos' worth of other animals.
Life is ruff!
posted 9 July 2007 source kenneth white
"Voice acting god" and Simpsons recurring voice actor Frank Welker revealed in an e-mail to Simpsons fan Kenneth White why he hasn't appeared in The Simpsons since Season 13:
A few years back Dan "C" did Santa's Little Helper in a rehearsal and unfortunately for me ... did it a little too good. The producers thought ... "Hmmm, Dan barks pretty good, and we are already paying him and he seems to like doing the dog thing ... why do we need to pay Welker who comes in here, spends less than an hour, eats all the doughnuts, refuses to come to rehearsals ... let's just give the damn dog to Dan!" Bingo ... I'm out. I did do lots of shows that needed sound effects and weird sounds, but Santa is without this little helper.
...
I wanted a raise ... most of what they asked me to do was wild and wacky, but it also almost always hurt my throat. So, I asked for a raise ... that is why you haven't seen me. They are really great people over there, but they have a rule about "top of the show" for guest performers and I fell under that consideration.
Welker has played Santa's Little Helper, Snowball II, She's The Fastest, Fred from Scooby Doo, Megatron, Milhouse's monkey, Burns' canine executive vice president, Africa's wildlife, Lisa's pony, and a dozen zoos' worth of other animals.
Life is ruff!
Labels: VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 7/09/2007 | permalink
Could Phil Hartman Return From The Dead?
HARROWING HARTMAN
posted 3 June 2007 source joystiq
Could Phil Hartman be revived to reprise his characters in an upcoming Simpsons video game? It's possible, says Joystiq.com.
posted 3 June 2007 source joystiq
Could Phil Hartman be revived to reprise his characters in an upcoming Simpsons video game? It's possible, says Joystiq.com.
EA even said that it could go back to old shows to pull dialogue; while the company didn't confirm any specific plans to do so, this method could bring Phil Hartman's old stable of characters into the game.
Labels: VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 6/03/2007 | permalink
Voiceover Actors Threaten To Boycott 'The Simpsons' Movie
THE MARGE REPORT
posted 10 March 2007 source associated press
The Mexican voice actors who dub the show for Latin America, that is.
According to Gabriel Chavez, the Mexican equivalent of Harry Shearer, the voice actors had been told they'd be doing the dubbing for The Simpsons Movie as a condition to end their 2005 strike. If they get passed over, "there will be a boycott across Latin America of the film." Which raises a question you don't really hear asked much: Who will replace the Mexican workers?
posted 10 March 2007 source associated press
The Mexican voice actors who dub the show for Latin America, that is.
According to Gabriel Chavez, the Mexican equivalent of Harry Shearer, the voice actors had been told they'd be doing the dubbing for The Simpsons Movie as a condition to end their 2005 strike. If they get passed over, "there will be a boycott across Latin America of the film." Which raises a question you don't really hear asked much: Who will replace the Mexican workers?
Labels: THE MARGE REPORT, VOCAL VOCATIONS
posted 3/10/2007 | permalink
