Seriously the biggest name in this is Angela Lansbury and all she was known for at the time was a CBS show. A freakin CBS show! She was basically a second rate "celebrity" while everyone else was some yahoo they hired from God knows where. Why the hell didn't Disney bother hiring talent for this movie? π±
shareAngela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach are incredibly famous actors. Apparently, you're just not that familiar with them. Might I ask how old you are?
I'll give some hints: Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Murder, She Wrote, The Manchurian Candidate (awards), The Picture of Dorian Gray (awards), stage work as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Blue Hawaii (Elvis fans keep it alive), Anastasia, etc... and Dirty Dancing, Law & Order, etc...
Lansbury is FAR from just a television actress. Jerry Orbach gave a fantastic supporting performance as the father in Dirty Dancing. Lumière was hardly cast with an unknown and the face is totally a caricature of the actor's own features. And he's widely recognized as that Law & Order guy who died. Angela Lansbury is very much recognized for Bedknobs and MSW. Lansbury has also been playing little old ladies since the '60s (her career dates to the '40s) and is still alive. It's kind of her image that she's been old forever.
It's not a mistake that Lansbury and Orbach are notably the biggest names at the Oscars performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m9vBOngCyc
Funny thing, but Robby Benson, who voiced the Beast, was in the audition tapes for Star Wars way back in the day. You'd never guess that that guy would eventually have such a commanding voice. Robby was a '70s teen idol once upon a time. Not totally an unknown either.
Robby Benson being auditioned by Harrison Ford: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv6jQvzpG0w
Note that it wasn't until Robin Williams a year after this that it became really trendy for big A-listers to do Disney. That's not saying Orbach and Lansbury aren't recognizable on sight and/or household names (they are). They also had the bonus of having experience in musical theater. It helps to be able to sing your own songs in a Disney movie. That Julliard-trained Robin could sing was a happy accident (note that he did sing a little bit on Mork & Mindy and Popeye--his first musical), as Menken was concerned about that. Tom Hulce (most known for Amadeus and Animal House), Nathan Lane and Jeremy Irons are rare major actors outside of VO work or Broadway after him who could handle full-blown musical performances without needing separate singers. This is almost certainly a huge part of why Lansbury and Orbach were cast!
However, celebrity or then well-known stars such as Bobby Driscoll (first child actor ever signed to Disney), Ed Wynn, Eva Gabor, Bob Newhart, Buddy Hackett, John Candy, Mickey Rooney, Bing Crosby, Basil Rathbone, Cheech Marin, Billy Joel, Bette Midler, Dom DeLuise, Kurt Russell, Peggy Lee, etc... all did Disney VO work prior to Beauty and the Beast, much less post-Aladdin. Some of them were even selling points advertised for their status as celebrity voices.
I've actually seen Hans Conried (Hook) in I Love Lucy and Sterling Holloway (Pooh, Cheshire, Kaa, etc...) in an Elvis movie (Love a Little, Love a Little). These people did get around in live action appearances, too. And Thurl Ravenscroft was EVERYWHERE (You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch, Tony the Tiger, Grim Grinning Ghosts, 3 Elvis soundtracks, all over Disneyland and Disney choruses, etc...).
Probably my favorite two celebrity voice actors who voiced Disney and sang their own songs:
Robin Williams (Genie): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLdeITvERxs / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3QTBfXMBHs (Genie with the shower cap and scrub brush when Aladdin is drowning is very reminiscent of a Mork & Mindy scene, the Goofy hat and tourist Hawaiian shirt is a direct reference to Back to Never Land from 1989 and Aladdin and the King of Thieves has a full-on Mrs. Doubtfire sequence)
Tom Hulce (Quasimodo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tIQBBYat2w (Quasimodo is done up in a Mozart wig during A Guy Like You)
Those two have scenes directly referencing the actors' other work. Amadeus is one of my all-time favorite films, so I'm a little biased. And Robin was a childhood icon that I'm still shattered about. I really do love Jerry Orbach, though. He's one of the best things about Dirty Dancing (along with Swayze and Grey, of course).
And this might introduce you to the classic Disney voices and character models:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nm21xZJvF4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4aQbPZy36c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUKaJ81qnyA
And while not... quite... Disney (well, it wasn't when they tossed it on their Touchstone label), The Nightmare Before Christmas has a mixture of the composer (the one and only Danny Elfman) and very well-known actors (Catherine O'Hara a.k.a. Home Alone/Beetlejuice mom and Paul Reubens a.k.a. Pee-Wee Herman) singing. Chris Sarandon, whom you might know as Prince Humperdinck, was Jack's speaking voice, but not singing. Tim Burton was actually a Disney animator who worked on Fox and the Hound, but he was told his animals looked like roadkill. He obviously went in his own direction!
Danny Elfman singing Jack Skellington: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=335XRwP14OI
Damn somebody is so butt hurt they had to go on a rampage and type a giant defense for this movie. Face it, no matter how much you love this movie it's full of a bunch of no names and has beens.
shareThe cast Disney hired is definitely talent, a mixture of those from Hollywood and Broadway, from film and stage. The film itself is very much in the style of a broadway musical, so it makes sense. The same sort of casting is seen for "The Little Mermaid" and, more recently, "Frozen."
Occasionally you'll see animated films cast almost exclusively with big Hollywood names, but singing is not usually required (or they may cast a separate actor for the singing parts altogether.)
Just because the cast aren't celebrities, means they aren't talented? What kind of logic is that? Like another poster said, these are people with a background in Broadway, they can act AND sing, which is necessary for these roles. But this movie actually has more famous people than previous Disney movies. How about Jerry Orbach and David Ogden-Stiers? It wasn't until a few years later that they started hiring more famous actors fron Hollywood in the main roles. Even Aladdin had only one big name.
shareIndeed, The Little Mermaid only really had Buddy Hackett (Scuttle), who is so old now that young people probably only know him for TLM. He was a celebrity at the time, though, and I have vivid memories of being old enough to remember him being advertised as such.
The "new to home video" segments on the old VHS tapes ALWAYS mentioned the celebrities in The Rescuers Down Under. John Candy (the biggest comedian prior to Robin to do Disney), Eva Gabor (of the Gabor sisters), Bob Newhart and George C. Scott were always mentioned to sell that film. Roy E. Disney did the intro. Buddy Hackett likewise got mentioned for TLM's advertisements back then when people knew who that was (he also made a media blip when he died). And the use of comedians hasn't stopped. The use of Eddie Murphy and John Goodman have followed in John Candy and Robin Williams' footsteps in Disney casting.
Aladdin also had Gilbert Gottfried (Iago), who is definitely recognizable and one of the most irritating celebrities of all time. I have vivid memories of him scaring the crap out of me by merely being himself on Are You Afraid of the Dark? Gottfried also went on to do VO in Don Bluth's Thumbelina along with Jodi Benson (Ariel) and Charo. Like with Jodi getting more VO work, Lea Salonga went on to be a huge Broadway star and got to do Mulan all by herself and not just as the singer for Jasmine. Don Bluth also later attracted Angela Lansbury, Kirsten Dunst, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Kelsey Grammer, Bernadette Peters, Meg Ryan and John Cusack for Anastasia. Now that's a celebrity-loaded cast on the part of 20th Century Fox to sell tickets like a Disney movie!
Brad Kane (Aladdin's singing voice) also had a memorable in-person acting job on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the nerd Tucker Wells who raises hellhounds to attack prom and later Jonathan's Superstar singing voice--he was supposed to be one of the Nerd Trio, but Andrew was turned into his brother). And he's married to Sarah Thompson, who played Wolfram & Hart's Eve on Angel: the Series. The Kanes are more than just Aladdin to Whedonites.
It's also hard to miss that some of the talent that might have been super famous that they did hire are people who are known to be able to sing. That's why you get the likes of Donny Osmond (who will forever be half of Donny and Marie) and Mandy Moore ('90s pop princess in another life) getting VO jobs with Disney. And it's the same reason Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach were hired because of their vast backgrounds in musical theater beyond being just a celebrity name. Tom Hulce's mother was a singer and he also acted in/produces theater, so he wasn't cast for having been in just Animal House, Amadeus (Best Actor Oscar nominated), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, etc... either. And although it wasn't known if Robin (his Julliard-taught dancing class skills sure turn up in half his roles) could do musical performances in the style of Fats Waller and Cab Calloway, even he had been in a musical before (admittedly, the singing was all in Popeye character voice). Jeremy Irons, a classically-trained actor, also has vast experience in theater beyond just film roles.
Comedians and actors who can sometimes sing have always made up a huge part of Disney casting (and that predates the '90s--Ed Wynn a.k.a. the Mad Hatter was a famous actor and comedian who also was in Mary Poppins and Babes in Toyland), along with a lot of Broadway and famous singers.
Bing Crosby, Danny Elfman (Oingo Boingo before he became Tim Burton's and a major Hollywood composer), Elton John, Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Bette Midler, Donny Osmond, Peggy Lee and Mandy Moore all had their starts as well-known recording artists.
I don't think there is nothing wrong with that, when they made the movie I don't think it was popular to cast celebrity movie stars like it is today. Or even celebrity tv actors as well like Everybody Loves Raymond's own Ray Romano voiced Manfred in the Ice Age movies, like I am sure you have to be aware of. Whether you liked Frozen or not, or if you haven't seen it most of the voices are ones that are more known for being stage actors or actresses and not doing much movies expect for Kristen Bell was the main celebrity movie actress in the movie. You have to take that up for the casting director for tis movie, but it is why too late to change voices now.
shareSo Frozen is full of nobodies too? Oh well I haven't seen it and now I don't plan to.
shareIt depends on if you are familar with the people that are in the movie, like i had said Kristen Bell is the only major movie star in there, a lot of other cast members have mainly been stage actors. Two of the names that I was familar with are Idina Menzel who was the original Elphaba in Wicked. Josh Gad I remember his name from the tv series Back to You that he played the news director on the show. Not really too familar with the work of Alan Tudyk that voices the Duke, other then the fact is he has become the new David Ogden Steirs. Why should if you are familar or not with the people that do the voices in animated movie stop you from seeing it. Movies are like this are made primary for kids, and do they even know who the people are that movie studios that do animated movies really know who they are celebrity or not?
shareDon't feed this troll. He has no valid argument other than that "famous voices are better!" But how? They don't SOUND better, or ACT better. They're just popular.
shareYou still butt hurt cause I called you out in that other topic grandpa?
shareGrandpa? I'm a 29-year-old female. I just have a high I.Q. and have seen films and television made prior to your birth, which was clearly not long ago given you don't know who any of these VERY FAMOUS people are.
In fact, you should have guessed I was Gen-Y from some of my references. Or you know, my birth year in my screen name.
Go back to watching the Kardashians and listening to Bieber, Bart. You'll be embarrassed about those people you thought are famous enough to be worth watching someday. If they're really famous, current and trendy right in the immediate now, that means they're worth putting in what are supposed to be timeless classic movies, right? I'll enjoy the actual talent in what I choose to entertain myself with.
I see you spend most of your time trolling current Marvel or DC superhero and big budget movies bloated with CGI. Figures with your attention span.
*edit* Because I had a morbid curiosity, I checked out your trolling on other messageboards. You were practically laughed off one board for suggesting Michael Keaton was the worst Batman. Yeah, your age is showing.
Well, if this thread did anything, it treated me to finding that gorgeous clip of Jerry Orbach singing at the Oscars. So much love. <3
Grandpa? I'm a 29-year-old female. I just have a high I.Q.
You were replying to me directly with most of your spew, twatwaffle. You were called out for your stupidity in not knowing who the famous people in the film are and not being able to differentiate between talent and fame. That's plainly clear by the whole conversation. Go troll somewhere else. You get chased off every board you troll and your account is full of it. I provided an example of you getting exposed as a moron on the Batman board. You might grow up someday and get some better taste. Kids are usually embarrassed by their Internet history eventually.
shareYou were replying to me directly with most of your spew, twatwaffle.
Don't feed this troll. He has no valid argument other than that "famous voices are better!" But how? They don't SOUND better, or ACT better. They're just popular.
^
Go back to watching the Kardashians and listening to Bieber, Bart. You'll be embarrassed about those people you thought are famous enough to be worth watching someday. If they're really famous, current and trendy right in the immediate now, that means they're worth putting in what are supposed to be timeless classic movies, right? I'll enjoy the actual talent in what I choose to entertain myself with.
I see you spend most of your time trolling current Marvel or DC superhero and big budget movies bloated with CGI. Figures with your attention span.
^
etc
op is obviously a troll don't feed
BHT RISES myspace.com/blackheart60
Uh oh! Someone is triggered by others opinions! ^
shareAlan Tudyk is one whom every Whedonite (fans of the works of Joss Whedon) knows very well. That's Wash from Firefly/Serenity, plus Alpha from Dollhouse.
As mentioned, the fact that I'm a Buffy/Angel fan is the reason I can easily put a face to Brad Kane and recognize him on sight (singing voice of Aladdin).
I knew who Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel and Alan Tudyk were well before seeing Frozen (which I only watched because it was about to invade Once Upon a Time). Hell, I even knew Christophe Beck, who did some of the instrumental scoring on Frozen, as he used to score Buffy!
Kirsten Bell was very famous for Veronica Mars and also had a stint on Heroes. If you've watched television at all in the last decade and a bit, you know who that is.
I had a college friend utterly obsessed with Broadway musicals, so I ended up hearing a sh!t ton of Idina Menzel Broadway cast recordings. Wicked got totally overexposed to me, she played it so much. I was sick of it. Menzel was also in the Rent and Enchanted films, so she wasn't an unseen face in films either. She wasn't even new to Disney given that she was in Enchanted. Idina Menzel and Lea Salonga are probably the most famous Broadway stars of recent decades, to the point that they have mainstream name recognition. Idina certainly became a household name after Travolta mangled her name at the Oscars.
And on no planet are Angela Lansbury and Jerry Orbach "unknowns". You've been living under a rock for 70 years if you don't know Lansbury. She's been in everything. I knew who she was when I was a child (Lansbury and Williams were the ones whose voices I could label with an actor's name even when I was a tiny child). Take that for name recognition. And Orbach has been in major Hollywood films, television shows and stage productions all. Dirty Dancing and Law & Order weren't exactly sleepers. LOL. Saying you don't know who Angela Lansbury is is like saying Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke weren't famous enough for Disney. LMAO. Because Lansbury is on that level.
Such a moronic TROLL who clearly hasn't been conscious of pop-culture for decades or is possibly too young to have an account on this site if he doesn't recognize these people.
I'll take old school, quality LEGENDS (not necessarily new faces) with the appropriate talents and even relatively unknown stage actors (some from the stage are hardly unknowns!) over stupidly casting people who are only current in the moment and will be considered forgotten talentless trash in a decade or considered a fad choice. And who is actually famous to this young baby troll of ours? Kim, Kanye and Bieber? No thanks. The ones we do talk about as being names (such as the many I listed) are often people who already had a few decades of being legends long before Disney and are still legends long after that, even if they're not faces of the moment to the young and hip.
Still butt hurt and crying a paragraph? Sad part is all that whining and still no valid point.
shareGood choice on not planning to watch frozen :P
Guys stop we gotta talk this through
I'm just gonna do it one fell swoop:
RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU ARE TIRED OF THIS 'STUNT CASTING' TREND THAT'S (HERE TO STAY) IN ANIMATED MOVIES????
======> ME!!!
Seriously. That's the whole other take on this frankly frivolous thread. Once upon a time, Disney and (other animated studios) were not so set on hiring "name" actors (i.e. mainstream household name actors)βand it bore no effect on the quality of their films. In fact: it could be argued that it actually HELPED increase the quality of their work, because they weren't hiring some less-suited but more-famous actor for the sake of the guaranteed publicity they would add to the film! Instead, they hired solely based on vocal and acting talent! Gee whiz, what a concept, huh???!!!
On a personal note, it's often so obnoxious and simply jarring to hear celebrity voices in roles in animated films that they are simply not suited for. Ahem, Dreamworks' "Prince of Egypt", I'm looking at you. Sandra Bullock, Steve Martin, and Martin Short are "characters" in biblical Egypt???? Are you effin' kidding me? Check it out sometime; it's hilarious, and not intentionally.
Jerry Orbach was pretty well known.
KISS, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Ozzy Osbourne and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fan
Celebrity equals voice acting talent?
With that logic, if you want a talented chef in your kitchen you hire Michael Jordan, no?
Disney cast professional voice actors because these guys are the best at what they trained for. Other actors often stand out because their voice work pales in comparison to their screen roles.
After having the same signature for, what, ten years? I'm not sure what to put here now.
Ha ha, you people make any excuses to defend a damn movie. These are second rate voices and you know it. If they'd have hired REAL celebrities the movie and voices would have been much better.
shareIf they'd have hired REAL celebrities the movie and voices would have been much better.Obvious troll is obvious. ξ© share
Let me guess: you were born after the movie was released...
shareProbably older than you, beef stick.
shareI hope IΒ΄m not the only one in this thread that has realized that this dimwit is not worth having an adult discussion with...for one thing he is incapable of it.
Butt hurt? I donΒ΄t even consider myself a fan per sΓ© of this film. Want to talk about nobodies? I can name one.
Cheers.
After having the same signature for, what, ten years? I'm not sure what to put here now.
I know. Tell-tale sign of a moron: they only respond with insultsβnot actual fully realized arguments (to counter your own fully realized arguments). I didn't even respond to his last direct four-letter worded response to me on this thread for that very reason. I mean, if you think you're all that: back it up (with knowledge). Duh! Lol.
shareSo these two punks get shut down then attempt to "insult" me cause they know I'm right and they basically admit they ran away. Ha ha, you sure showed me.
.