Rey Schaffner
Contributing Writer
rls6117@psu.edu

The Oscar’s celebrate the best of the best in the film industry, such as best actor, best supporting actor, but what about the voice actors? It seems that the Oscar’s look at the best actors and actresses, along with supporting actors and actresses. However, voice actors and actresses get no consideration when it comes to getting recognized in the major academy award ceremony. Voice actors and actresses are an essential part when it comes to the animated film industry, as they provide the voices to many fan favorite characters, such as Jack Black as Po from “Kung Fu Panda”. While some can argue that Jack Black is also an actor himself, he still has notable roles in animated films that overlooked his performance.

Voice actors and actresses give just as much or even more passion to their roles as much as the live action actors and actresses do. While it can be argued that they are unable to perform a certain level of emotion unlike live action actors and actresses, they still have to act with their voice to give off a certain feel that they’re physically unable to produce if they were in a live action movie. Such as conveying anger and irritation through the use of inflections and small changes in tone, whereas live action actors and actresses can visibly get angry or irritated through the use of body language and facial expressions.

Not to mention, most, if not all, voice actors and actresses don’t sound like themselves whenever they’re performing different characters. They get into the mentality of being this character and not themselves. Some could argue that actors and actresses do the same thing, but let’s take a look at an actor who some fans argue, cannot voice act at all. Chris Pratt, known for playing Peter Quill AKA Starlord in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies and Owen Grady in the “Jurassic World” trilogy. But his most breakout and well known role was the character Andy Dwyer in “Parks and Recreation”. While he is a good actor in the roles he has portrayed, the same cannot be said about his voice acting roles. Some of his most no-
table roles were Emmett from “The Lego Movie” and Mario from “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”. While his role as Emmett can be justified as he is a generic LEGO figurine, the same cannot be said as Mario. While many “Super Mario” fans can agree that Chris Pratt was not fit for the role, because of Mario having such a distinct voice and how Chris Pratt did not put effort into his voice acting role.

Since Chris Pratt provided little to no effort in the eyes of some fans, there is also the argument that some live action actors and actresses should not act, along with singers should not be put in voice acting positions; possibly due to the fact that they lack the proper training able to change their voices to match certain roles and characters.

Overall, the Oscar’s should include a category to give recognition to these underrated and sometimes overlooked roles in animated films and shows. While they recognize almost everything down to the VFX team, voice actors and actresses should be given the recognition they deserve.