Will Characters Talk in the Near Future?

[seashoreCM]

Has anyone heard any rumor or plan where characters would talk to guests?

Using the same technology as used for Push the Trashcan, someone in a remote location would actually do the talking although the character would still sign the autographs books.

 

[bradk]

no. I'm still waiting for Cinderella to just give me one hello.

i did see Mickey wiggling his nose a lot.

 

[WVParkfan]

Even from a remote location, I can't see how this would work out. I mean, there just aren't that many people who actually sound exactly like Mickey, or Mr. Incredible, or Stitch, or whoever. So, until they can come up with technology that can make any voice sound exactly like Mickey Mouse, then I can't see how they would ever let them talk.

 

[mouseman41]

Why? I think the magic of the characters is not having them talk. I love the way they communicate without being able to talk. I do not see this happening. And Brad, I got a hello and a birthday kiss on the cheek from Cinderella last month!!!

 

[disneymyway]

I would imagine that it would be Mickey's voice, right? Cool idea!

 

[WDSearcher]

Not to mention the different languages. Right now, Mickey and Pluto and all the rest can "talk" to just about anyone, since it's all sign language. While I know that the princesses and villains and such DO speak -- and speak English -- there's something inclusive about the rest of the characters not being able to actually speak.

Not to mention the royalty and licensing problems. With all of the stars voicing characters these days, they'd all need to approve voices and dialogue, etc. It would be a nightmare.

And bradk, you know that Cinderella has spoken for years now, right? And if you meet her in any of the parks, she will talk to you. Of course, you have to stand in line like the rest of the kids .....

 

[RllngRckBrw]

Even from a remote location, I can't see how this would work out. I mean, there just aren't that many people who actually sound exactly like Mickey, or Mr. Incredible, or Stitch, or whoever. So, until they can come up with technology that can make any voice sound exactly like Mickey Mouse, then I can't see how they would ever let them talk.

At some point I immagine there will be some type of voice module that coud emulate the character voices, however I doubt that will come around any time soon.

 

[disneymyway]

Not to mention the different languages. Right now, Mickey and Pluto and all the rest can "talk" to just about anyone, since it's all sign language. While I know that the princesses and villains and such DO speak -- and speak English -- there's something inclusive about the rest of the characters not being able to actually speak.

Not to mention the royalty and licensing problems. With all of the stars voicing characters these days, they'd all need to approve voices and dialogue, etc. It would be a nightmare.

And bradk, you know that Cinderella has spoken for years now, right? And if you meet her in any of the parks, she will talk to you. Of course, you have to stand in line like the rest of the kids .....

I don't understand why these things would be any more of a problem than they are now with audio in the parks.

 

[WDSearcher]

I don't understand why these things would be any more of a problem than they are now with audio in the parks.

In the parks now, when the characters talk, they are on stage and the sound is eminating from a speaker. It sounds fine and looks normal because the characters are on stage and amplified like all the "human" performers. The voices are recorded in a studio in California by the "official" character voices and used for the shows.

If Mickey is right in front of you, you need someone doing the voice who is an exact match (and you need to have several of them for each character, because the one guy who does "Goofy" can't work seven days a week). That's a huge casting challenge to start. For characters like Genie -- where Robin Williams must approve anyone doing Genie's voice in shows, TV animation, etc -- it's even more of a challenge.

You've got to have an audio speaker that doesn't sound like a speaker (because it needs to sound like a real voice) and it needs to be built into the character costume, preferably in the mouth of the character, because that's where you want the sound to come from. But in the case of many characters, their mouth is actually what they see through, so that's a challenge.

Then you've got a person standing at a remote location speaking, while the character is right in front of you, interacting with your kids. Now, the character performer has no idea what the person doing his "voice" is going to say next. So ... how does that character know what to do? How to move his head or mouth or hands? He has no idea what "he" is about to say. you don't have that problem with Push the Trashcan or the DAK Talking Tree because they don't animate. They just talk.

The guy doing the voice isn't close enough to see if the child is wearing a birthday button or a "1st Visit" button or holding an autograph book or not, so how do they know what to say? Even something as simple as "Happy Birthday" -- how does it get communicated from one to the other that Mickey is about to wish a child Happy Birthday because they're wearing a birthday button?

There are all kinds of things that have to be considered when thinking about having meet & greet characters talk. It's not just about audio.

 

[disneymyway]

In the parks now, when the characters talk, they are on stage and the sound is eminating from a speaker. It sounds fine and looks normal because the characters are on stage and amplified like all the "human" performers. The voices are recorded in a studio in California by the "official" character voices and used for the shows.

If Mickey is right in front of you, you need someone doing the voice who is an exact match (and you need to have several of them for each character, because the one guy who does "Goofy" can't work seven days a week). That's a huge casting challenge to start. For characters like Genie -- where Robin Williams must approve anyone doing Genie's voice in shows, TV animation, etc -- it's even more of a challenge.

You've got to have an audio speaker that doesn't sound like a speaker (because it needs to sound like a real voice) and it needs to be built into the character costume, preferably in the mouth of the character, because that's where you want the sound to come from. But in the case of many characters, their mouth is actually what they see through, so that's a challenge.

Then you've got a person standing at a remote location speaking, while the character is right in front of you, interacting with your kids. Now, the character performer has no idea what the person doing his "voice" is going to say next. So ... how does that character know what to do? How to move his head or mouth or hands? He has no idea what "he" is about to say. you don't have that problem with Push the Trashcan or the DAK Talking Tree because they don't animate. They just talk.

The guy doing the voice isn't close enough to see if the child is wearing a birthday button or a "1st Visit" button or holding an autograph book or not, so how do they know what to say? Even something as simple as "Happy Birthday" -- how does it get communicated from one to the other that Mickey is about to wish a child Happy Birthday because they're wearing a birthday button?

There are all kinds of things that have to be considered when thinking about having meet & greet characters talk. It's not just about audio.

I doubt if they would have a "guy doing a voice". It would probably be somewhere along the same lines as the technology at the new monsters comedy club. Even simpler, because I don't think the mouths have to necessarily move.

And I was referring to the the issues with English, royalties, and licensing - I don't see anything really new here from things that already exist in the parks.

 

[WDSearcher]

I doubt if they would have a "guy doing a voice". It would probably be somewhere along the same lines as the technology at the new monsters comedy club. Even simpler, because I don't think the mouths have to necessarily move.

And I was referring to the the issues with English, royalties, and licensing - I don't see anything really new here from things that already exist in the parks.

The technology at the monsters comedy club is a "guy doing a voice." Crush is the same way. The benefit they have is that they're providing voices for animated characters, not live characters. There's more leeway because animated characters aren't expected to get every syllable right. "Live" characters are more difficult.

I have no doubt that Disney will eventually come up with a technology that will work, but there are a lot of things that come into play.

(And I think the mouths would have to move, if you were face-to-face with a speaking character. If a voice was coming from a character but his mouth wasn't moving, wouldn't that clue kids into the fact that the character isn't real?)

 

[disneymyway]

The technology at the monsters comedy club is a "guy doing a voice." Crush is the same way. The benefit they have is that they're providing voices for animated characters, not live characters. There's more leeway because animated characters aren't expected to get every syllable right. "Live" characters are more difficult.

I have no doubt that Disney will eventually come up with a technology that will work, but there are a lot of things that come into play.

(And I think the mouths would have to move, if you were face-to-face with a speaking character. If a voice was coming from a character but his mouth wasn't moving, wouldn't that clue kids into the fact that the character isn't real?)

So you think that the voices are just regular voices with no technology to enhance or keep a certain continuity with a change of actors?

I'd be very surprised, but maybe you know something I don't.

 

[WDSearcher]

So you think that the voices are just regular voices with no technology to enhance or keep a certain continuity with a change of actors?

I'd be very surprised, but maybe you know something I don't.

Well ... Crush's voices are the actor's voices. I know this because I know several of the actors. They were all cast specifically because they could all do that cool "Duuuuuuude" voice so well.

The Monster comedians are real actors who have their voices altered via a sound board. They speak normally, and their voices are enhanced to match their monsters.

However, meet & greet characters wouldn't have the luxury of having a sound board to run their voices through. I mean, I suppose they COULD, but it would mean having an audio set-up near every meet & greet location, plus a technician. So instead of just a character and a character "handler", you also need an audio tech plus the equipment. That would have a pretty big monetary impact, even if the only characters you have talking are Mickey and Minnie.

You've also got the performer wearing a mic, which adds another piece of equipment that has to fit somewhere "inside". The character then has to worry about what s/he can and can't say and will have to learn lines and proper responses that match their character. Certainly, this can be done, since the "face" characters (Snow White, Cinderella, Mary Poppins, etc) do it every day. But it does make it harder for Disney to cast people.

Say you're casting Minnie Mouse. Initially, you had to find someone who was the right size and who could animate (move, dance, gesture, etc) and learn to sign autographs. Now you're looking for someone who is the right size, can animate and sign autographs, but they must also have a voice that is adaptable (no strong accent or drawl, no speech impediments, etc). They need to be able to memorize lines, and they have to be able to act. And if Disney decides that the mouths will move when the character talks, then that performer also needs to have some puppetry skills. It just narrows down your field when you're trying to keep the Character department staffed. Training and cross training also take a lot more time (and money).

Again ... I'm sure it CAN happen. I just don't think it's ready to happen any time soon.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

I'm hoping that they don't. I think its part of the magic. Plus, my son is fine with the characters that don't talk, if they did speak to him, he'd probably freak out!

 

[WDSearcher]

I'm hoping that they don't. I think its part of the magic. Plus, my son is fine with the characters that don't talk, if they did speak to him, he'd probably freak out!

And of course THAT is a consideration as well!

 

[disneymyway]

The Monster comedians are real actors who have their voices altered via a sound board. They speak normally, and their voices are enhanced to match their monsters.

That's what I was getting at.

 

[WeatherbySwann]

Someone mentioned Mickey wiggling his nose . . . I had totally forgotten he did that! The last time I had seen him do that was during the DAK parade in 2004, so I'm glad to hear he still indeed does it.

As for the characters talking . . . they do have that new Mr. Potato Head audio-animatronic being set up at Toy Story Mania that will allow the character to talk to guests, but in a different way that Turtle Talk or Laugh Floor . . . Don Rickles was in the recording studio all day, and his lines will be chosen by an offstage controller to make Potato Head talk to guests. So I guess something like that could potentially work for actual characters that aren't animatronic, but even then a lot of extra work would have to go into getting EVERY character's voice actor into the studio for a full day of recording.

 

[WDSearcher]

That's what I was getting at.

OK ... that's not likely to work for meet & greet characters, though, as I explained in the rest of that post.

 

[Mr.Bubbles]

As for the characters talking . . . they do have that new Mr. Potato Head audio-animatronic being set up at Toy Story Mania that will allow the character to talk to guests, but in a different way that Turtle Talk or Laugh Floor . . . Don Rickles was in the recording studio all day, and his lines will be chosen by an offstage controller to make Potato Head talk to guests. So I guess something like that could potentially work for actual characters that aren't animatronic, but even then a lot of extra work would have to go into getting EVERY character's voice actor into the studio for a full day of recording.

I had read an article about this as well. As I understand it Mr. Potato Head will be able to point out specifics as to child, adult, color/style of clothing and other general attributes of guests in the crowd. While this is not a character that interacts on a one to one level it is an advancement.

This is the beauty of Disney. Things at the parks seem to remain the same yet change and grow all of the time. I would imagine that these ideas are kicked around quite a bit, and not just voices, but possibly more facial movements than a nose wiggle such as blinking eyes, smiles, opening mouths, etc. Almost a combination of audioanimatronics and costumes that can be worn. Is this technologically impossible? I don't know, maybe for now, but I don't think it would stop anyone from pushing the envelope and taking some small steps... such as what they are doing with Mr. Potato Head.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Someone mentioned Mickey wiggling his nose . . . I had totally forgotten he did that! The last time I had seen him do that was during the DAK parade in 2004, so I'm glad to hear he still indeed does it.

Don't worry, Mickey won't stop wiggling his nose! There's nothing high tech about that!

As far as the characters talking, I doubt it will happen any time soon...there's WAY too much that would need to go into it. Plus, think about how much extra time would be added waiting in line if they did talk. Kids would talk and talk and talk! When I was going through character greeting training, we were taught that the characters (face characters not included) don't talk because if they started talking to one family, they would spend the whole day with them and not be able to see any other guests. Telling the kids that worked most of the time!