Character Voices - DCML Digest, Vol 8, Issue 1

[CarmenG@aol.com]

    As a some-time actor, one-time musician, and amateur linguist, I find 
this an interesting topic. To tell the truth, I don't think I really ever heard 
ANY voices when I read these comics when I was a kid. But now, if I HAD to pick 
a voice for Donald, I think I'd hear... a voice like my own! I think we tend 
to see ourselves in literary characters, and Donald being an everyduck, I 
don't think we'd be surprised to find our own voices coming from him.
    In fact, long ago I tried starting a related thread where I suggested 
that we may be able to see the duck artists in their characters and stories. As 
an English teacher, I often discuss with my students how artists often leave 
self-portraits in their work, whether they mean to do so or not. (I could insert 
boring literary examples here, but I will be merciful.) For instance, an 
artist specializing in Scrooge might portray himself in real life as crotchety but 
the comics might show him to have a soft heart. But before I got to really 
explore this topic, I was royally chewed out, so maybe we should leave this one 
alone!
    Anyway, back to voices. When I was young & thought I'd be a scriptwriter 
or a producer or a director, I often fantasized what I would do with the ducks 
if I got the opportunity. The movie Donald always rather annoyed me, paling 
in comparison to the rich Barks character. And the voice was always a problem 
for me. But what if the voice could be changed? The Disney company would never 
go for it (though I do seem to understand Tony Anselmo's Donald more than 
Clarence Nash's--or am I just more experienced in translating it?). But is anyone 
old enough to remember Jimmy Weldon's duck voices for MGM and Hanna-Barbera? 
This duck voice was very Donald-like, yet totally comprehensible.
    But then you get into logic questions, such as why Donald and his nephews 
have quacking voices while other ducks do not. Scrooge's Scottish dialect 
doesn't bother me. My parents came to the US from Italy when they were young but 
they still retain strong accents fifty years later.
    I've sure had a lot of jobs, haven't I? Maybe this is why I identify with 
Donald!

C. Geraci
Master Skunk Oil Processor