Voice actor discussion, Anything to do with the VAs of the series! Options

[Matenshi]

I thought it would be cool to have a topic about the VAs, since they're part of what makes the show so great. We can learn things about them we might not have known, keep up with their work, or whatever!

Personally I'm only really acquainted with Tara Strong (Twilight Sparkle). She's one of my favorite VAs, and has done quite a bit of great work. Here's the things I know her best for:

Batgirl/Barbara Gordon (The New Batman Adventures, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (young), Gotham Girls, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman)
-Tara was actually the third person to voice Barbara in the DCAU Batman continuity. Melissa Gilbert voiced her in Batman: The Animated Series, with Mary Kay Bergman stepping in for the film Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero. The elderly Barbara in Batman Beyond was voiced first by Stockard Channing and later by Angie Harmon.
-Unfortunately, Barbara only got to appear in very brief, non-speaking roles in the Justice League cartoon series, due to a stupid "bat embargo" on important Batman characters for the new, separate-continuity series The Batman, which was airing concurrently. The episode "Double Date" was supposed to feature her getting hurt and becoming Oracle.

Bubbles (The Powerpuff Girls)
-Being "the joy and the laughter" of the Powerpuff Girls is probably the first thing she became really known for. Her cuteness level was over 9000.

Raven (Teen Titans)
-A very stark contrast to Bubbles. This brooding goth character easily became my favorite in a cast where I really liked everyone, due in no small part to Tara's performance.

Sari Sumdac (Transformers Animated)
-A central human character in a Transformers series... that I actually like? Impressive.
-This is her role that's the least important for me on this list, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

X-23/Laura Kinney (Wolverine and the X-Men, Marvel vs. Capcom 3)
-X is one of my favorite comic book characters to come out in recent years, and Tara does a pretty good job portraying her. This is the only role of hers where I feel there could be a better "fit", though; I think she should sound a little harder/colder.
-Fun fact: Andrea Libman (Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy) voiced Laura in her first appearance in the series X-Men: Evolution, which is actually where the character originated. The incarnation in the comics and the one Tara voices is very different from her original portrayal, however.

Rikku (Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2, Kingdom Hearts II)
-One of my favorite FFX characters (although I liked the cast in general). I'm really glad she was a central character in the sequel, which I think is criminally underrated.

Twilight Sparkle (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
-Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned that having friends, even if you don't really know them, allows you to have discussions about shared interests. You don't always need to be in person to appreciate another person, and what they have to offer. I've also learned that it doesn't matter if you're talking to a group that would know about a specific piece of information; it's still fun and necessary to put it in a list.

Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle

[Adam G]

Yeah Tara Strong is one of the only people I was very familiar with.

I also know Andrea Libman, voice of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, from Reboot, though she has done a lot of other stuff.

I met Cathy Weseluck, voice of Spike, at an anime convention. I got her to sign an Inuyasha DVD I had because she did the voice of Kagome's mom and one of her friends.

Speaking of actors... Ashleigh Ball, voice of Rainbow Dash and Applejack, is in a band "Hey Ocean!". They'll be in Ottawa in November so I plan on getting out to see them.

Anyways... does anyone know any twitter, facebook or web sites that belong to voice actors from the show? I was putting together a list. Here's what I have so far:

Twitter:
Tara Strong, voice of Twilight Sparkle
Hey Ocean!, Ashleigh Ball, voice of Applejack and Rainbow Dash's band
Emilie Barlow, voice of Cheerilee
Lee Tockar, voice of Snips
John de Lancie, voice of Discord

I also made this twitter list of actors in the show that I try to keep up to date.

Facebook:
Hey Ocean!, Ashleigh Ball, voice of Applejack and Rainbow Dash's band

Official sites:
Emilie Barlow, voice of Cheerilee
Lee Tockar, voice of Snips
Hey Ocean!, Ashleigh Ball, voice of Applejack and Rainbow Dash's band

When I feel it's pretty thorough, I will be putting this up on The Ponyville Gazette.

This post has been edited by Adam: Oct 1 2011, 08:33 AM

[LoomX]

I only found out today that Tabitha St. Germain, voice of Rarity, was also Alexis in Transformers Armada. I never would've guessed just from listening to them.

Andrea Libman is going to be at FushiCon 2011 here in the UK (Northampton, which sadly is a bit far for me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-screamer.gif) ).

Hey Ocean! have another Facebook page where you can download their latest song for free

Hey Ocean! Band Page

Finally, Tabitha St Germain has an official website Here.

[Matenshi]

I'd love to hang out with Tabitha St. Germain; she seems like a riot.

Her website says she's going to appear on an upcoming episode of Supernatural, which is freaking awesome. I love that series. I can't wait to see what her role is. I kinda hope she's a somewhat-silly character (like Gabriel).

[TM2-Megatron]

Speaking of actors... Ashleigh Ball, voice of Rainbow Dash and Applejack, is in a band "Hey Ocean!". They'll be in Ottawa in November so I plan on getting out to see them.

Yeah, they'll be in Toronto in November as well, on the fourth. I'm planning to go check it out. Odd that it'll be something somewhat pony-related that draws me out to a nightclub for the first time in around a year or so (usually I prefer a pub, but beggars can't be choosers). I wonder how many other pony fans will be there. I should probably find someone to go with, as I hate waiting around to get into a club alone. And I really hate drinking alone, lol.

This post has been edited by TM2-Megatron: Oct 1 2011, 12:44 PM

[DrSpengler]

Aside from Tara Strong, the only actress I was familiar with was Tabith St. Germaine. She's really good, though her talents are all too often wasted on a lot of really, really bad Canadian Flash cartoons (Jimmy Two-Shoes comes to mind) and insipid anime.

I still wonder if Tara Strong voices her lines in LA, apart from the rest of the cast. If so, she does a really good job of creating chemistry with the other actresses even though she isn't present at the group recording sessions!

[Creature SH]

I still wonder if Tara Strong voices her lines in LA, apart from the rest of the cast. If so, she does a really good job of creating chemistry with the other actresses even though she isn't present at the group recording sessions!

I'm pretty sure that's the case. There was a piece of behind-the-scenes mid-season-1 footage where somebody else did Twilight's voice, presumably as a stand-in.

[Matenshi]

Yeah, Tabitha St. Germain was reading Twilight's lines in the behind-the-scenes footage of some voiceover recording of "Bridle Gossip". Unless that just happened to be an exception, it makes it seem like Tara Strong doesn't record with the others.

EDIT: On the other hand, I could see that being something where they did it solely for the DVD extra, and thus it would be silly to get Tara to come in, so I wouldn't say it's definitive proof. Someone should probably ask sometime what the case is.

This post has been edited by Matenshi: Oct 2 2011, 01:25 AM

[Sobana]

With their 'shoestring' budget I'm surprised they could hire so many talented voice actors.

[Adam G]

Yeah, they'll be in Toronto in November as well, on the fourth. I'm planning to go check it out. Odd that it'll be something somewhat pony-related that draws me out to a nightclub for the first time in around a year or so (usually I prefer a pub, but beggars can't be choosers). I wonder how many other pony fans will be there. I should probably find someone to go with, as I hate waiting around to get into a club alone. And I really hate drinking alone, lol.

I got myself some Pony shirts for the occasion. Since Rainbow Dash and Applejack are my favourite, it was easy enough to get some with her characters on them...

With their 'shoestring' budget I'm surprised they could hire so many talented voice actors.

It doesn't cost a lot to get good actors. It costs a lot to get popular actors. Many very expensive shows and movies are full of very expensive very untalented casts. They obviously did some work to make sure they got some good people for this.

[Sobana]

With their 'shoestring' budget I'm surprised they could hire so many talented voice actors.

It doesn't cost a lot to get good actors. It costs a lot to get popular actors. Many very expensive shows and movies are full of very expensive very untalented casts. They obviously did some work to make sure they got some good people for this.

Lol, true, but I'm sure after this their popularity will go up.

It was like the difference between an actor and a movie star, an actor studies the part and tries to become the character, whereas the movie star just plays them selves. John Wayne only plays John Wayne.

[LoomX]

Somepony's made some images showing some of the other characters the VAs have voiced in the past

Pony Voice Actor Charts

[Scavgraphics]

Somepony's made some images showing some of the other characters the VAs have voiced in the past

Pony Voice Actor Charts

Hmm..got the wrong Ben 10 on Tara's chart...but she did the voice of MagiK in X-Men.

[Matenshi]

Illyana didn't even do anything in X-Men: The Animated Series, though; she was just a plot device for Colossus. She never even became Magik.

Interestingly, Tara was supposed to voice Magik again in Wolverine and the X-Men. Too bad morons cancelled the show before she could appear.

[Scavgraphics]

^ah ...didn't watch the X-Men animated much. It wasn't very..what's the word....good.

[Pocket]

Wait, Tabitha St. Germain is also Zecora? ... Yeah, I guess she does sound like Nightmare Moon with an accent.

[Sobana]

Why would they pair up one voice actor to five different parts, is that common or a budget issue?

[Nayuki]

Why would they pair up one voice actor to five different parts, is that common or a budget issue?

Something like 3/4's of the citizens of Springfield from Simpsons is voiced by 2 people. It is very common in animation for voice actors to do multiple roles. I think it's more convenience (and the fact that they are talented) than budget related. It's SO much easier for payroll to write one check than 5, and easier to coordinate recording times and several other things.

[Creature SH]

Why would they pair up one voice actor to five different parts, is that common or a budget issue?

To answer that question, go to imdb.com and look up what people like Billy West, Tress MacNeille or Frank Welker usually do on a show.

[Sobana]

That sounds like effort! =O