Over the past years, a major trend in the American animation industry has been to cast major movie stars to voice their animated characters. Well known performers like Robin Williams in Aladdin, Tom Hanks in Toy Story, Dave Foley in A Bug’s Life, Eddie Murphy in Mulan, and even Woody Allen in Antz, have contributed to this growing trend. Even television has become star-struck, and now many new animated cartoon shows feature stars in the lead roles. Eddie Murphy stars in The PJs; David Spade will star in Sammy next season; Dilbert casts sitcom favorites such as Kathy Griffin, Larry Miller and Chris Elliott. Producers of animated features cast big name movie stars or sitcom actors because they know what is needed to sell their production to the public.
With each passing year, the animation business grows to reach a new and
improved level.Casting voice actors that are unheard of or have very low
recognition can be a threat to a production’s success. Consequently, stars
are taking work away from the core group of voice actors. It may seem unfair
to give voice work to already working celebrities, but business is business!
It is an understandable technique because of the fierce competition and need
to draw a wide audience. Many animation producers do feel remorse for the
"dying" breed of voice artists, but they can only focus on the business
challenges ahead of them in order to keep their company "up" with the times.
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