5 Things You Never Knew About Voice Actors & A Special Clip From Disney’s Planes

For a gal who loves Disney movies even more than chocolate (and that says a lot) a day spent behind the scenes at DisneyToon Studios meeting a handful of the talented artists, directors and actors behind the upcoming Disney movie Planes is just plain awesome. I have already shared my experience learning about the animation process and story boarding, and now I want to tell you about how the characters get their voices. 

5 Things You Never Knew About Voice Actors

1. Actors typically record their lines alone. Sometimes actors don’t even meet their co-stars until the red carpet.
2. Each line is recorded at least three times with different inflections and tones so the best track can be selected in post-production (and manipulated as need to blend the voices into a conversation). 
3. While some actors record at the DisneyToon Studios, the studio is also set up for actors to record remotely from a sound booth anywhere in the world — at any time of day.
4. Actors can be “done” for months and then be called back in to redo a single line.
5. Vocals are created before the film is animated so that animation can be created to fit the vocal track, not the other way around. (A very important point to remember when you watch my clip below. I filmed my clip backward, trying to fit my vocals to the animation.)

After meeting with casting director Jason Henkel and sound engineer George Thompson, it was my turn to step inside the recording booth. This was actually my second time in a sound studio having made my debut in Wreck-It Ralph, but that didn’t mean I was any better this time around. 

I felt confident walking into the booth, and then I totally messed up my first take. After that I was a bundle of nerves. I finally accepted my third take, and Jason promised they could “make it work” in post-production. That made me feel like a real actor.

For my Planes performance, I took on the role of Dottie who is normally voiced by Teri Hatcher. Since this is as close as I will ever come to having Teri Hatcher’s job, it was pretty cool to “be” Dottie.

And now, The Suburban Mom recording for Dottie:

Now see how the clip came together:

See Disney’s Planes in theaters August 9, 2013.