Last month I had the unbelievable opportunity of visiting DisneyToon Studios to get a sneak peek at Disney’s upcoming film Planes. I had the chance to interview a Disney animator and watch and draw a character with a Disney story artist. Then, I actually was able to get into the sound booth and learn how to voice an animated character – and it was so nerve-wracking!
We had the chance to sit down in a very comfortable room filled with couches and Planes toys while we talked with Casting Director Jason Henkel, who first started working on Planes about 4.5 years ago.
Planes has a great international cast and one of the most interesting things he shared with us is that him and his team will usually choose the actors they want to voice the characters, create clips with their previous work and then approach them for working with the film. They can sometimes even find clips from the actor’s previous work saying a similar line that is in the film.
Another fun fact is that the voice actors will record their lines first and then the film is animated. Most of the voice actors came into the studio to record but they are able to record anywhere in the world and they will be able to see and hear them from DisneyToon Studios!
The voice actors always record their lines alone and say each line at least 3 times. Before this experience, I imagined that voice acting was easy. You’d just head into the booth and say your lines! Well, that’s kinda what you do but it was a lot scarier than I imagined! A couple others in the group went before me and it was a lot harder than just going in and spouting off some lines. Plus, you’ve got Casting Director Jason Henkel, Sound Engineer George Thompson and their whole team just staring back at you behind the glass – but of course, they were so nice and encouraging!
I had the chance to get into the sound booth and voice the character of Dottie, who Terri Hatcher voices. Below you can see a video of me doing my recording – I was SO nervous, it was ridiculous!
Then, here is the finished scene with me voicing Dottie opposite Dane Cook’s Dusty. Not too bad! I have to admit, my son is SO impressed with this. He got the biggest grin on his face when he realized it was his Mama on the screen!
Even though I was nervous, this was just another amazing experience to check off my Life list.
Make sure to see Disney’s Planes, in theaters on August 9th!
Fly with Planes Online
Disclosure: Disney provided an all expenses paid trip to Los Angeles including travel, accommodations and activities. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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I always love to hear / read the story behind the movie. This is always so interesting to me–thanks for blogging about it. We are big Disney fans and looking forward to this movie in August 🙂
I love seeing the behind the scenes of Disney movies and these amazing opportunities they give bloggers to share with their readers! It really looks like a fun time and my family is super excited for the movie to come out.
How fun! Disney trips are always such an amazing experience too!
i did this for the winnie the pooh movie and i didn’t realize they were video taping me!! LOL
it’s fun though- and so cool to see how things happen behind the scenes 🙂
you sound fabulous by the way
What a neat experience! I would love to voice a character like that, although I’d be super nervous!!
Way cool! I think it is so cool that Disney lets you go in and try out a casting call like the actors would do! And that they got it on video!
So much fun!! I think you did great 🙂
What a fun experience! That’s definitely not something everyone ever gets to do! Neat!
Three times? Eeks. I would be stressed enough about ONCE!
What an awesome experience!! I can’t wait to see Planes (counting down the days til our screening!)
It is crazy that they started working on this movie so long ago. I guess you never really realize that it takes so long to make a movie.
That’s awesome!! I’ve always wanted to try that out. I’ve heard it is super hard, but think it would be really neat to at least attempt.
You did great! I could totally imagine you as Dottie the plane. 🙂
Thank you for sharing such a cool experience!
~Cheryl
I love hearing all the behind the scenes stuff like this. You did a great job as Dottie!
That sounds like SO much fun, Melissa!! I love the clip 🙂
You did great!! I was so nervous too!
These are the NEATEST videos! So cool!
Being at DisneyToon Studios must have been an incredible experience. I’ve always imagined voice acting would be easy but it really isn’t I suppose. Loved that you were able to get in there and voice a character from the movie and share it for your readers. How fun! Your son must be so proud of his mama 🙂
That is beyond cool!! Love that they let you see the finished product with your voice!!
Awesome! This was so much fun and yours came out great!!
How cool is that?! I would have been totally nervous too. But how amazing that you got to do that–and extra special that they gave you the animated clip with your voice! 🙂 We can’t wait for this movie!
You’re officially the coolest mom on the block. You did great though, thanks for taking us behind the scenes.
How fun! That would be so cool to get in the studio and do the voice acting! I’d be totally nervous too though.
this is so cool!! man,my son would flip out if he heard me doing the voice of a character. such a great experience for you!
That must have been such fun! I love everything Disney and try to go to Disney World at least every other year…never tire of it and neither do my kids.
Thanks for sharing! I like hearing behind-the-scenes facts about animated movies.
How exciting and scary. Another situation I would not be able to do. So cool you got to meet such high up in the Disney family. I’d love to do the drawing part though!