I Know That Voice

A look inside the world of voice actors, that gives a face to the voices behind beloved characters.  John DiMaggio, best known as Bender on Futurama (among many other roles), gathers his friends and peers to discuss the voice industry.  They provide a history of the craft, beginning with animated TV shows in the 1930s (like Looney Toons) and the way the industry has changed over time.

The actors talk about their careers and what it takes to have a career in voice work.  They talk about animation and video games, along with Comic Con.


I grew up loving animated shows.  From an early age, we watch Looney Toons and Hanna-Barbera cartoons, along with other animated shows that my parents grew up watching.  We also loved the animated Batman shows (and Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, X-Men, etc).  Watching these shows with my niece and nephews now, I am more aware of the names in the credits.  I also try to pay attention to the names in animated films, and sometimes I recognize names, but I didn't know anything about voice actors.

I discovered this documentary through Netflix and wanted to see what voice acting was really about.  It is a fascinating film, produced by DiMaggio (and Tommy Reid).  It was interesting to see the men and women behind iconic animated characters.  It was also interesting to learn the terminology and see what really goes into crafting the voices (it's more than just having a funny voice or imitating a voice).  The actors interviewed span generations of animated material, and the people that helped get them there.  I enjoyed hearing how actors takeover characters (ex: Looney Toon characters, Batman characters, etc that span decades and have multiple people breathe life into the character).

You can't look at animation (TV or film) or video game voices the same way again.

I Know That Voice (2013) 90 minutes
Director: Lawrence Shapiro
Starring: John DiMaggio as Himself / Narrator