Back in the day, it seemed like big movie stars didn't get anywhere near commercials or TV for that matter. Now we got George Clooney doing Bud ads, Gene Hackman w/ Lowe's, Jeff Bridges for Hyundai but all as voice overs. (By the way, the Nasonex bee is NOT Antonio Banderas)
what's Clooney's take home for reading 20 seconds of copy several times over? Is this really worth it for the company if only a fraction of people recognize the voice? or is vague subliminal familiarity also worth something? and if vague subliminal familiarity is worth something, why not just pay a Clooney impersonator? These are questions only the blog-o-sphere can answer.
While we're on the subject, what's the take home for being a voice in a Pixar movie these days? Those movies have more stars than The Player.
10 comments:
Almost forgot: Don requested a review of Kung Fu Panda....
Great fight scenes and solid writing. Not a completely trite message either. At 90 min, you might wonder where your 10 bucks went so waiting to see it on the home plasma might be the way to go.
I think the deal with animated movies and stars is that it's an easy job for them, so while they may not get paid as much as they do for grown up movies, they also don't have to do costume changes, get in perfect shape, put on makeup or have their photos plastered all over the internet when they do these. I'm sure they are getting a salary that makes it worthwhile, but there are many other perks. Also, it seems to me that a lot of the stars who choose to do animated movies do have kids and I always wonder if part of their motivation is that they want their kids to be able to see a movie that they are in.
but what's the deal w/ commercials and movie stars? Their voice associated with a product of the hoi polloi is OK but not their image?
I don't have any opinion on that. Though I trust that you have correctly identified the voices in question, especially given your recent Dustin Hoffman experience, I have not seen/heard the commercials myself and have thus not thought about this beyond listening to you muse on the topic.
One more comment on stars and animated movies, particularly pixar: Seems to me that this mold was cast with Toy Story, starring Tom Hanks and that other guy who people knew with the show about fixing things. Maybe the producers of that movie attribute its success too much to the fact that there were starring voices, and not enough to the fact that it's just an awesome story. Or maybe it wouldn't have been so great if it weren't well acted, and a voice made famous by great acting fits the part.
It's weird how much opinion this has generated in me.
Or is it just that my blog is loaded w/ thought-provoking content?
Well, it *is* full of thought provoking content, but I don't usually feel compelled to offer so many opinions, Don-Style. : )
hey, the blog is for opinions after all
While I can see how this might have come off as anti Don on some level, I really meant it to be a self-effacing comment about my own inane opinions about celebrities. This is what I've come to? That my only opinions are about the stars? How did this happen?
Will,
I don't know how much the stars take home for the voice-overs, but it generally has to be pretty easy money. I think the major motive of the company is the subliminal familiarity/comfort that watchers may get when they hear the voice of the star. I, for one, get all turned on when I hear the Clooner voice.
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