I geuss the Walt Dohrn guy did alright, and he helped with the story, but I'm surprised they didn't get a celeb to voice him. I could hear Danny DeVito as Rumpel. He's a short little creep, just like him!
shareI guess Walt Dohrn was one of the writers and voiced all the characters in the workups, and when they did voice tests none of the tests sounded right compared to the voice he used for Rumplestiltskin, so they kept him. Like the guy who voiced Roz in Monsters Inc. I know it's more correctly explained in the trivia for the movie back on the main IMDB page.
shareStoryboarder Joe Ranft, God rest his soul, did a lot of voices for major characters in the Pixar movies, and he did great. (Lenny from Toy Story, Heimlich from A Bug's Life, Wheezy from Toy Story 2, etc.) Director Brad Bird voiced Edna in The Incredibles, and that worked. I geuss it doesn't really matter who does the voice, just as long as it sounds right. They use screenwriters/storyboarders for a lot of major Pixar and DreamWorks movies. Just surprised they didn't go with a big-name actor for Rumpel. Walt's name even appears in the main ending credits! (I beat that got a lot of "Whaa?'s" and "Who?'s" from audiences! I did, when I first read the online credits.) I think the guy could be a star. He does have a comedian-ish look to him. (wild red hair, and glasses) Also; Danny DeVito (who I think should have voiced Rumpel) is voicing the Lorax, another weirdo midget.
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Why have any famous people voice any of the characters? Does anyone honestly hear Shrek and say, "Oh, that's Mike Myers. I like the movie better now." Does anyone really say, "Oh, Brad Pitt's voicing one of the characters. I'm going to go see that movie [Megamind]."
Studios could save a TON of money if they used non-famous people, and I highly doubt the members of the listening audience would care very much.
(By the way, I do acknowledge that casting Antonio Banderas to play Puss in Boots did add the extra joke of him playing a parody version of his Zorro character. You didn't actually need Banderas to do the voice, though, to do the parody.)
"My name is Paikea Apirana, and I come from a long line of chiefs stretching all the way back to the Whale Rider."
I agree, when it comes to acting sure a good actor is a good actor, but voice, that can be done by many peopel who wont ask couple millions for it just as easily. the only time i acutally care about who voiced a character was in trasnformers the movie (the acutal movie not the parodies we got lately) when the voices were actually awasome.
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"Common sense is not so common."
- Voltaire
Why not hire a voice actor and not someone else who is just a name to stick on the poster?
shareThrough the whole movie I was so sure Rumpel was Jack Black.....totally surprised at the end credits.....
shareI thought it was Paul Reubens until the end credits.
shareI heard the Paul McCartney story also. What happened there?
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My website: www.donclaude.webs.com
"Through the whole movie I was so sure Rumpel was Jack Black.....totally surprised at the end credits....."
Goddamn. Me too man!
Through the whole movie I was so sure Rumpel was Jack Black.....totally surprised at the end credits.....
They usually cast celebrities to voice characters for two reasons. The first, they're used to using their voices to portray characters, so hence, experience. Second, the name itself brings attention to the film "Oh wow, such and such is doing the voice. I'm going to see it just to hear that."
Apparently, they liked Walt's voice for Rumpelstiltskin so much they kept him. Also, Shrek is so well known by now they don't need to pay for a celebrity to bring attention to the film.
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I thought Walt Dohrn was the weakest link in the film, just no depth at all. I kept thinking that Jack Nicholson would have been perfect
shareI guess this just shows differences of opinion.
I came to these forums specifically to check out all the praise I imagined Dohrn would be getting and to be quite honest I'm mildly shocked to find this not to be the case.
In complete contrast to your comment I found Dohrn's performance to be the hilight of this film, and when the OP suggested getting D'vito in to play Rumplestiltskin instead I think I almost threw up a little bit.
Good Lord I thought all i'd hear would be praise for Walt. He was the best thing in the film for me. I watched it because of Walt. I kept seeing previews of Shrek On Demand and I kept thinking how great Walt was doing I had to find out who he was. I watched the film on hbo and Walt was awesome. My favorite character. Danny Devito was brought up because he's short. That's like saying Joe Pesci should have voiced rumple because he's short too. Walt was perfect in my opinion.
Jesus Christ is