The Animaniacs Voice Cast Returns, Tripadvisor, Tesla and TIDAL

Hi there and welcome to Vox Talk, your weekly review from the world of voice over. I’m your host, Stephanie Ciccarelli from Voices. In today’s show, meet the faces behind the voices of the original Animaniacs voice cast, Tripadvisor delivers their first North American immersive audio experience with Visit Orlando, Tesla cars will now have the TIDAL app, a look at the Manitoba government’s movie trailer-esque press briefings voice, the newly launched Tennessee Voice Over Studios is now open for business and a Vox Talk Community Spotlight that encourages you to keep your dreams alive.

News 1: Animaniacs Season 2 Cast Guide: What The Actors Look Like

Did you watch Animaniacs in the 1990s?

The original voice cast is back in an Animaniacs revamp now entering its second season on Hulu. Screen Rant reports that the revamp has proven to be just as high in quality, winning over a new generation of fans and earning more social media mentions than any Hulu Original series to date.

The original Animaniacs, which ran from 1993 to 1998, was produced by legendary director Steven Spielberg as a tribute to the Looney Tunes cartoons he grew up watching. Animaniacs featured a large ensemble of strange original characters, ranging from the Warner Siblings (who were presented as 1930s ink-blot animals whose meta cartoons made no sense) to the mousy, would-be world conquerors Pinky and the Brain. The series was a true family-friendly production, with slapstick humor and smart satire that both children and their parents could enjoy.

Animaniacs boasted an impressive ensemble, featuring some of the most acclaimed voice actors in the business. When Hulu revived the series in 2020, they were quick to recruit the original cast and sign them on for one more tour of duty. The same actors have returned for Animaniacs season 2 and will presumably be returning for Animaniacs season 3.

Have you ever wondered who the voice actors on Animaniacs are and what they look like? In the same Screen Rant article, get to know the voice cast, including:

Rob Paulsen as Yakko Warner, Pinky and Various
Jess Harnell as Wakko Warner and Various
Tress MacNeille as Dot Warner and Various
Maurice LaMarche as The Brain and Various
Frank Welker as Ralph the Dog and Various
Stephanie Escajeda as Nora Rita Norita and Various

The supporting cast is rounded out by John DiMaggio, Danny Jacobs and Kari Wahlgren.

Find the link in this show notes for this week’s episode.

Screen Rant

News 2: Tripadvisor Creates its First Immersive Audio Experience via Amazon Alexa

Yahoo! Finance reports that Tripadvisor, the world's largest travel guidance platform, has created its first immersive audio experience in North America via Amazon Alexa, in partnership with Visit Orlando, the Official Tourism Association for Orlando.

Tripadvisor and Visit Orlando came together to create a fully immersive audio tourism experience using Amazon's Alexa voice technology. As travel returns post-pandemic and reaches new highs, the new Alexa skill utilizes Tripadvisor's community-powered content to inspire and drive tourism demand for Orlando. The experience highlights undiscovered activities throughout the destination's neighborhoods, such as ecotourism attractions from hiking to airboat rides, celebrity-chef dining, and local arts and culture from museums to live performances.

To access the Tripadvisor-powered Orlando experience on your Alexa device or app, audio ads will prompt travel planners to simply say:

"Alexa, launch Visit Orlando."

The activation is currently running in the United States as part of the Orlando Noteworthy Neighborhoods program.

To learn more, visit TripAdvisor.com/VisitOrlando

News 3: Tesla Adds TIDAL to its Cars

Do you stream music in your car?

Mashable reports that Tesla vehicles now support the streaming service TIDAL in addition to Spotify.

The app should become available with Tesla's 2021.40 vehicle firmware update, out now in the United States. Per Tesla's release notes (via Electrek.co): "TIDAL streaming is now available from the Media menu with a TIDAL account. You can listen to TIDAL playlists or albums in high-quality audio by connecting to Wi-Fi and pressing Download on the selected content."

Mashable goes on to say that TIDAL is more than just an alternative to Spotify. The Square-owned music service offers music in far better quality than Spotify. Besides the Normal tier which is a 320 Kbps AAC stream, Tidal also offers music in the 1,411 Kbps, lossless quality Hifi tier, as well as Master, which offers streaming quality with the bit rate as high as 9,216 Kbps.

As for Spotify, the company has announced its own HiFi streaming tier back in February, but it hasn't launched yet. Apple Music and Amazon Music aren't available in Tesla cars.

News 4: The Man Who Runs Manitoba Press Briefings has a Movie Trailer voice

Does your voice make people stop in their tracks?

The Canadian province of Manitoba may be home to the liveliest press briefings in the nation if not the world thanks to one man.

The CBC’s As It Happens recently interviewed Paul White, a government media manager who uses his baritone voice to call on reporters during virtual press conferences with all the style and panache of a game show host inviting contestants to "come on down!"

Instead of narrating trailers for epic action movies Paul White chooses to use his "big, boomy voice" to moderate Manitoba government press conferences.

White's smooth, movie trailer tones have been the subject of social media commentary in Manitoba — and even earned him the "Best Voice of 2020" shout-out last year from Winnipeg Virgin Radio, which noted his "incredible, deep, stop-you-in-your-tracks kind of voice."

To hear Paul White’s voice and the full interview with Carol Off, visit the link in our show notes.

News 5: Christi Bowen Opens TNVO Studios

Have you been working on a pandemic project? How about a production studio?

Tennessee Voice Over Studios is a training and production studio that opened on November 8th in the Film House Building in Nashville’s MetroCenter. With more than 30 years of experience, its founder Christi Bowen brings a unique approach to voice over acting and teaching to Nashville’s acting and film production community.

With so many people switching careers and exploring new paths now seemed like the perfect time for Christi to provide a more formal setting for training, coaching and production. The demand for her studio is there, and from more than just new people entering the business. According to the news release, upwards of 90 voice actors participate in the local meet up group for voice actors in Nashville and more than 800 people are members of that Facebook group.

Tennessee Voice Over Studios, also called TNVO Studios, picked a great location in the Film House Building. Some of their neighbours include Nashville Acting Studios, Women In Film and Television, NPALL Audio, a film studio and various production companies.

For more information about TNVO Studios, you can visit TNVoiceOverStudios.com

Vox Talk Community Spotlight: Mohamed Abdel Rahman Shares Inspiration from John Wooden

Stephanie: Welcome to the Vox Talk Community Spotlight! What do you do to keep your dreams alive? In this week’s edition of our Community Spotlight, we welcome voice artist Mohamed Abdel Rahman from Cairo, Egypt. Thanks for joining us, Mohamed!

Mohamed: Thanks, Stephanie. My name is Mohamed Abdel Rahman. I’m a professional Arabic voice over artist. Since I was a kid, I had a big passion towards vocals, voices, TV commercials and radio commercials but back then I didn’t know the name of the industry. After many years, I attended workshops, seminars, and am also a member of Gravy for the Brain Arabia. Now I have TV commercials, games dubbing and audiobooks published with my voice already. One of the best John Wooden quotes says, “Don’t give up on your dreams, or your dreams will give up on you.” I always keep my dreams going by learning more and more and trying to capitalize my network and enhance my auditions to get more work. Despite all obstacles, challenges and pitfalls that I face, and am still facing. Finally, I never stop believing in myself.

Stephanie: That’s a great quote. Thank you so much Mohamed for sharing that with us and also for sharing about the realization of your dream to be a voice over artist!
Wrap Up

And that’s how we saw the world through the lens of voice over this week. Thank you so much joining us and for tuning in again. We love to spend with you each and every week. If you enjoyed the show, be sure to send it to your friends! I’m also inviting you to give Vox Talk a feedback rating and review on your favorite podcast platform so that others can find the show and enjoy it as well. And just a little hint here, it’s also how we at Voices know that you enjoy the show and how we hear about that, too. I’m Stephanie Ciccarelli, would love to hear from you and how you are enjoying Vox Talk. We are so grateful to have this time with you each and every week. We want to thank you for joining us on Vox Talk. Be sure to stay subscribed. See you next week!