From Keyboard to Chalkboard: Stemming the Teacher Shortage

If you think you have the type of voice that lends itself to cartoons, an animation job in cartoon voices could be a rewarding and challenging opportunity. However, in order to land an animation job in cartoons, you'll need proper training, lots of practice, and a little luck. Reason being, the animation voice industry is highly competitive.

Additionally, there is so much more that goes into the making of a cartoon voice than you might initially think. In fact, there are many steps involved just to produce one simple 30-minute show. The following represent the six basic steps:

1. Casting - On a new animated job series, there will be recruiting for recurring roles. Each actor will be brought into the studio to record a copy of a reading. Producers review the tapes and make their selection. For non-recurring roles, animated voice characters are usually cast by the voice director without an audition.
2. Script Read - Actors read from a numbered script that contains all of the animated dialogue but little visual description. The reason for this is that in many cases, a cold read creates "magic" that may not otherwise happen once a visual image is present.
3. Line-up - In this phase, actors are placed at individual microphones in a recording studio. Each actor has a few pages of script spread out before them.
4. Roll Tape - The director will designate a sequence to be recorded. The engineer will roll the tape and then slate (identify the sequence) for editing purposes. Usually, many takes are required at this step.
5. Gang Method - Actors will perform their lines in sequence. The "gang" method is generally preferred to recording each actor separately since many actors like working with other actors to draw energy and inspiration from one another.
6. Editing - Once the director is satisfied he has at least one good take of each line, he will designate which ones to use. Later, the editor will assemble all the lines according to the director's comments.

Cartoon voices are almost always done before the pictures; the animation is done to the voice track. And, it takes more than just a funny voice to be hired in voice animation. In order to obtain your dream animation job in cartoon voices, be prepared with proper animation training from a qualified animation program. Then get started enjoying a great animation career. Who knows, your voice could be the next Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse!