0705 – Animal Characterisations

2022.12.06 – 0705 – Animal Characterisations

Animal characterisations

Anthropomorphism is giving animals human-like characteristics and emotions – it’s the basis of many children’s books such as the famous Mickey Mouse or Winnie The Pooh as well as widely used in commercials (think of Martin the Geico Gecko the mascot of the insurance brand).[1]

Of course, giving a voice to an animal is really voice acting, so many of the skills are similar to creating a voice for another human character, but there are specific skills involved. The same research needs to be done to help with your tone and vocal range.

·        Character attributes

·        How they are drawn (literally) – are they hunched over and eyes half shut or standing tall with eyes wide open? You can see how each of these looks would suggest another kind of voice

·        The ‘generic’ character of that particular creature: snakes are seen as slow-moving and sly, monkeys as excitable, so how can you bring those attributes into the way your character talks?

·        When considering how an animal sounds, think where their voice comes from: for a growly bear you will need a lot of chest resonance and maybe a throaty sound, a hound dog may be more jowly and with a sound from the mouth cavity. Smaller animals (including say a terrier) are naturally higher-pitched in tone, a cat’s miaow is quite a nasal sound. A bird sound may be more of a whistle…

·        Think of how the animal moves – and move in a similar way: to help with your ‘monkey-voice’ perhaps be wide-eyed and expressive in your face, maybe talk in short and fast bursts of speech as though jumping from one idea to another as you might jump from one branch to another. Owls are often considered wise, so a slower, more-thoughtful delivery, with a relaxed and confident stance, maybe glasses on the end of your nose and stroking your chin…

·        The situation they are in

·        The context - who are they interacting with and why, as well as their back story (what led them to behave this way?)

[1] https://www.geico.com/living/commercials/gecko-journey-across-america/ and https://www.voices.com/blog/who-is-the-voice-of-the-geico-gecko/

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