The life of a voice over artist. It’s an elusive life — mythical even.
What do you do for a living? Oh, I say other people’s words.
Sure, sounds great. But it’s great the way that Peter Parker’s secret skills are great. With great power, comes great responsibility, and this burden — this unbelievable talent that nobody even knows you possess when looking you from head to toe! — weighs heavily on the minds of those who possess it.
We’re exaggerating of course. And to be honest, we always thought that Peter Parker came off a little soft with his self-pity. But still, voice artists have a unique ability to really mess with people.
Take Tom Kane, for example.
What’s that? You don’t recognize him? Maybe you know him better by his other names: Yoda from Star Wars: Clone Wars, Darwin from The Wild Thornberrys, Woodhouse from Archer, Professor Utonium from Powerpuff Girls, Magneto from Wolverine and the X-Men, and a host of other cartoons.
How does this affect me? I’m not a 10-year old.
Good question, however, though Tom Kane does mostly current cartoon voices, he’s got a few more in his arsenal that any generation would recognize. Mr. Kane took part in a Reddit AMA a few days ago, and one Redditor asked him if he ever has trouble separating the voices in his head. His response was particularly entertaining:
Kane: LOL! Not usually. The voices in my head are still under my control, fortunately!
Kane: I DO still find myself walking thru the grocery store and repeating the TV commercials as I pass the products. The Lucky Charms guy, Tony the Tiger… People sometimes pull their kids into a different aisle.
Tom Kane: Terrorizing kids and their parents all across America.
Let’s break this down:
Parent: Just a routine trip to your local grocery store. Can’t forget the cereal, seeing as how it’s all kids will eat. God forbid your meal not be coated in sugar. Doesn’t help to have these kid-friendly enablers all over the TV. Tigers, Leprechauns, Dogs, Vampires. Diabetes. Just get in and out. Grab the cereal and go, don’t let the kid ruminate too long over these colorful boxes...
And then, you hear it. Tony the Tiger. Lucky the Leprechaun. They’re in the fucking aisle.
But really, it’s just Tom Kane.
Meanwhile, that kid just got the biggest thrill of their life. Not only will they now be eternally committed to these sugar bombs, but they’ll go around telling anybody who will listen how they went shopping with Tony and Lucky. When are we going to see Tony and Lucky again? This kid just got living proof of Santa and the Easter Bunny’s existence. What now? Their life from that point forward will be chasing the high they got in the cereal aisle on that seemingly benign day.
As you can see, it’s a mess. All because one man had too much power, and not enough responsibility.
About Kyle Ottenheimer