Forgive me if this topic is old-hat, but my search in Google didn't reveal any pertinent threads about this.
In short, I've been reading at SNPP.com about the "Simpsons" staff that have passed away. (http://www.snpp.com/guides/departed.html) I'm curious: what if one of the main actors dies? Of course, we hope that it won't happen -- on a professional AND on a personal level -- but if they do, does Fox already have replacements in the works? Or would they have to scramble to find somebody?
In alt.tv.simpsons, on the "Back-up actors" thread, Digital Online Philomath wrote:
Fox doesn't have a backup plan, nor can they. The actors are literally irreplacable. Think about what happened when Maggie Roswell left the show. A new actress, Marcia Mitzman-Gaven, was brought in to give voice to Maude Flanders, one of Roswell's characters. Everyone -- and I am not exaggerating here, I mean everyone -- noticed. Ms. Mitzman-Gaven wasn't really bad at the role, but she was noticably different, and most people didn't like the switch.
Now, Maude Flanders was a relatively minor character who, when she appeared at all, generally had four or five lines in an episode. Imagine the reaction if the producers were forced to find a new Homer or Bart (and remember that the actors who voice them voice several other characters, as well). *Now* you know why Fox doesn't have back-up actors.
----- Benjamin Robinson (Sun, 23 Jun 2002 05:25:56 GMT) -----
So are you saying that if one of the Big Six dies, the show will end just like that? On another note, do you think it's part of their contracts that they can't do anything extreme that puts their lives at high risk?
I don't know, they let Yeardley Smith do "Herman's Head"...
He said "life" not "career"
Brett
----- Brett Buck (Mon, 24 Jun 2002 16:47:17 GMT) -----
Man . . . I forgot all about that show.
Digital Online Philomath wrote:
If one of them *dies*, I think the show would be cancelled; the show has a habit, if not a policy, of replacing the voices of its "regular" characters if they die - for example, Tress MacNeille can voice Lunch Lady Doris (and did a voice that sounded exactly like her, in "A Milhouse Divided"), but they didn't replace Doris Grau even though Lunch Lady Doris herself is (presumably) still alive.
Ironically, both Dan Castellaneta and Nancy Cartwright have recently taken over roles on other shows - Dan as Dodie's father on "As Told by Ginger" (replacing John Astin - I think he left to concentrate on other things, including being a lecturer at Johns Hopkins), and Nancy as Chuckie on "Rugrats" (replacing Christine Cavanaugh, who has retired from cartoon voiceovers).
In alt.tv.simpsons, on the "Re: Back-up actors" thread, Don Del Grande wrote:
Cartoon voiceover jobs are rather like the Mafia: "I enter alive into this organization and leave it dead."
So much to respond to in this thread...
The policy of the show regarding a regular actor's death would depend on which one died. Julie Kavner already has Tress MacNeille as an official back-up, and she's quite good from what I've heard (anyone remember the Aspen performance?). Nancy Cartwright and Pamela Hayden have similar voices and could replace eachother (not to mention the fact that Maggie Roswell could probably step in for either and that she's on good terms again). Remember how many times each _has_ stood in for eachother in the past (and let's not forget Russi Taylor). Dan, Hank and Harry could probably take each other's place if the situation were to demand it.
Let's also not forget how completely recasting an actor's roles _has_ been successful. South Park lost ALL of its female voices upon the death of Mary Kay Bergman, but the show found replacements without losing a beat. Marcia Mitzman Gaven, given enough time to rehearse, _could have_ been an adequate replacement for Roswell ("Little Girl in the Big Ten" had a nearly flawless Miss Hoover appearance). If one of the more major actors died, there would be quite a shuffle, but I doubt that would show on camera (or mic, as it were). The talent search could very likely yield adequate replacements. Remember the fact that Moe and Mr. Burns are replacements as it is!
And if anything, Robin Williams could take over as Homer, just to get Dan back over that whole Aladdin thing. ^_^
-- An XPeeple Production -- "As a child, I always wanted to bite his head off. This is my way of doing that... creatively." -Andy Dick as Marylin Manson "Most critics want to be authors, screenwriters and novelists, [but] they just suck." -Joe Rogan
Hmmm?
Austin
On 30 Jun 2002 22:41:14 GMT, [email] (ALewis525) wrote:
For the first two Disney's "Aladdin" videos and the TV series, Dan played the Genie. Robin returned for the third video. Dan was actually pretty good once he stopped trying to do Robin Williams, and was just his own funny self.
First two videos?
-- An XPeeple Production -- "As a child, I always wanted to bite his head off. This is my way of doing that... creatively." -Andy Dick as Marylin Manson "Most critics want to be authors, screenwriters and novelists, [but] they just suck." -Joe Rogan
He probably means "second two"...
Austin
But even then he's wrong because Dan's footage for the third movie was redone to accomodate for Robin's return. And there were only two direct-to-video releases anyway..
-- An XPeeple Production -- "As a child, I always wanted to bite his head off. This is my way of doing that... creatively." -Andy Dick as Marylin Manson "Most critics want to be authors, screenwriters and novelists, [but] they just suck." -Joe Rogan
On 01 Jul 2002 01:13:15 GMT, [email] (ALewis525) wrote:
For some reason I thought there was a second direct-to-video release before the TV series. Anyway, it breaks down as:
Aladdin (1992) Robin Return of Jafar (1993) Dan Aladdin TV series (1994-6) Dan Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) Robin Aladdin in Nasira's Revenge (2001) Dan
Digital Online Philomath <digital.online.philomath> wrote in message news:[email]...
Do any of you old dudes remember when Fred Flintstone's voice was replaced?
Yikes!!!
-Bob
"R H Menzel" wrote in message news:3d1a33da$[email]...
replaced?
I remember that, and I'm not that old. Alan Reed, the original Fred, died in the late 1970s, and Henry Corden (who used to do Fred's singing voice occasionally) replaced him. Corden's Fred shouts every line and sounds really horrible. Corden himself has said that he tried to imitate Reed initially, but gradually changed Fred to sound more like himself. Yeah, Henry, great idea.
Cartoon Network recently did a "Flintstones" special, and Fred was played by Jeff Bergman (Mel Blanc's first successor), who did a near flawless imitation of Reed. It was great to hear Fred sound like himself again. Now if only Bergman would do the Cocoa and Fruity Pebbles commercials...
Old dudes...?
Yeah! Old dudes! I'm asking the older dudes to recall a bygone era. One which we lived through. If I were referring to, let's say, J-Lo, I'd call upon the teen population. See how that works?
-Bob
Jason Saslow wrote in message news:[email]...
replaced?
Not really. I vividly remember the Flintsone years. I would hate to think that people in their 20's are now considered old...
The Flintstones came out in the '60's!
Stop trying to have a war of wits with me. You are clearing out of ammo!
-Bob
Jason Saslow wrote in message news:[email]...
call
I was thinking about that myself a while ago...of course, the curt reply would be that they could replace the actors and "nobody can tell the diddily-ifference!" but here's my guess: if one of the Also Starrings (tress macneille, pamela hayden, frank welker, karl wiedergott, russi taylor, etc) died, they could probably get someone else - it would be awkward, especially for their more major characters like milhouse and anges skinner, but that's probably what they'd do. If one of the main 6 died...well, if one of them got terminally sick, they could prepare - perhaps they'd immediately start work on a premature finale (I think I read somewhere that MG already has a script or outline written for the finale and it's locked away in a drawer)...but for sudden death, they might consider hiring someone else (either permanently or again for a premature finale) - if they do, i'd guess the voice actor community would once again say "no," but I suppose they could take a stab at splicing together individual words and phrases from previous eps for (once again) a premature finale. That's my take on it...and if the last case I mentioned is true, then at some appropriate point afterward it will give the people like me who like to determine what every little clip is from something to do.
Digital Online Philomath wrote:
Matt Garvey wrote in message news:[email]...
would
finale (I
the
might
say
some
reveal
it
I think if they were going to (had to) end the show prematurely, they could work it in so the person only said a few words and then fell suddenly ill. A sick whisper could probably be masked by somebody other than the main characters. It would be difficult, but I think they could pull it off.
MB
"Digital Online Philomath" <digital.online.philomath> wrote in message news:[email]...
I think I'm in the minority here, but I think the show would definitely go on even if one of the main cast members left or passed away. If Warner Bros. can replace Mel Blanc, then Fox can replace "The Simpsons" actors. I'm not saying that it would be good, but the show is too much of a cash cow to let it die if someone was unable to perform their role.
Losing one of the female cast members, like Julie Kavner, would be worse than losing one of the males, though. Female voices are more difficult to imitate.
----- SJB (Sun, 23 Jun 2002 22:22:54 GMT) -----
Yes, it's yet to become "unprofitable." :-)
SJB wrote in message news:[email]...
reveal
it
Bros.
And remember Kermit the Frog! Showbiz is full of replaced "irreplaceable" people. -Bob
"R H Menzel" wrote in message news:[email]...
that
they
have
go
What? Kermit's voice has changed? I never noticed!
Billy Hicks wrote in message news:afdk79$8pb$[email]...
news:[email]...
that
definitely
"irreplaceable"
Are you being fececious?
Are you?
Facetiously, Al
Al Tama wrote in message news:affspg$i6n$[email]...
Three observations:
1) I gotta stop writing when I'm tired. 2) Can't believe spellcheck let that slide. 3) Kermit was voiced by Henson. When he died, there was a big to-do over the new voice. I thought it was bad.
-Bob
Believe me, you are NOT in the minority. Most people on this group are probably thinking about this in relation to losing Phil Hartman, or when Maggie Roswell was attempted to be replaced. But as you said, the show is too popular to die out on one death. It may mean having to hire more than one actor to fulfill every voice and probably having to limit characters, but the main family is nothing as small as Troy McClure or Lionel Hutz, if you want things to continue, some things just have to be done. In fact, they could even do open auditions to the public.
True. But it also depends, Yeardley Smith, I think would be the easiest to replace simply because she only plays one voice, Lisa. As long as they get someone with a soprano voice similar to Yeardley's, they'll be fine. Julie Kavier already has Tress MacNeille (if I'm right) backing her up on Marge at times. Now Nancy Cartwright would be the deep throat. Her variations of voices from higher pitches like Ralph to her main voice Bart would create a need for more than one person. Of course, if any voice sounds different because of a different person, well, what can you say? It's better than not having the Simpsons at all.
I think the biggest blow would be the loss of Homer's voice. Virtually everything Homer says makes me laugh--the voice itself is somehow just magically hilarious. With a different Homer, it might very well lose a big part of the magic.
----- Jack Of Spades (Sat, 29 Jun 2002 01:41:17 GMT) -----
Well said. In the end, that's all you can really say.