You can watch episode 2 of Voice Over Histories (The First Use of Voice Over in Animation) here! The transcript of the episode is below (without transcription of footage of interviews/clips that feature in the episode).
Transcript of The First use of Voice Over in Animation
Welcome to episode 2 of Voice Over Histories, I’m Katie Aitken and this is a docu-series that shines a light on the people, the projects and the stories from the voice over industry of days gone by.
In this episode, we’re exploring a voice over origins story. So join me to discover the first use of voice over - in animation.
The dawn of voice over is fairly commonly thought to have occurred in the animation industry. However, not only was animation not the first industry to use voice over - but the cartoon thought to take that credit?
It wasn’t even the first cartoon to have voice over. And far less the first to synchronise sound to picture.
So let’s do away with the myth first.
Disney’s Steamboat Willie was not the conception of voice over or the first cartoon to feature voice, despite often being erroneously referred to as such.
'Steamboat Willie' came out in America in 1928 as a black and white short, and was the world’s first introduction to Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
In fact, it was Walt Disney himself who provided the sound effects for Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Peg Leg Pete and the parrot.
The real voice over originator in animation goes to Walt Disney’s rivals - Max Fleischer and his brothers of Fleischer Studios and their cartoon ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ which was released in 1926 - 2 years earlier than ‘Steamboat Willie’.
This short featured the first cartoon character with a line of spoken dialogue which you can see here. [Video clip of My Old Kentucky Home]
In fact, 2 years prior to ‘My Old Kentucky Home’, in 1924, it was Fleischer Studios again who came out with the ‘Ko-Ko Song Car Tunes’. These were a series of three minute animated films, including the likes of “Come Take A Trip In My Airship’ and ‘Oh Mabel’.
This series pioneered the bouncing ball format, to help guide audiences in singing theatre songs. This meant that they featured synchronised sound and music to picture - the precursor to voice over artistry.
With hindsight, of course, being the first in the animation industry to pair sound with animated image was an incredible achievement. However, at the time, it wasn’t quite seen that way. The Fleischer’s early offerings came at a time where the idea of “talking pictures”, albeit a novelty, was considered to be little more than a short term fad.
Bear in mind, the first “part talkie” film was ‘The Jazz Singer’ which came out in 1927 - 3 years after Fleischer Studios started releasing their ‘Ko-Ko Song Car Tunes’ and 1 year after ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ with actual dialogue.
This is important in the history of voice over because it suggests that it took years for Hollywood to come round - years for them to shift their opinions on synchronising sound and spoken dialogue to image. As a result of Hollywood getting on board - there were subsequent developments in audio quality as well as improved public opinion and critical success.
One such audio development - a particular piece of technology - played an essential role in the story of voice over in animation. Interestingly though, it also bears erroneous credits when it comes to remembering who was first?
The technology in question is the Phonofilm.
The Phonofilm allowed for sound on film and was invented in 1919 by Lee de Forest. However, by 1927, de Forest had filed for bankruptcy yet again - he supposedly prided himself on making and then losing 4 fortunes in his lifetime.
At that point, a chap called Pat Powers who owned Celebrity Pictures, swooped in and hired a former technician of de Forest to exactly recreate the Phonofilm sound recording system.
Of course, this was an infringement on de Forest’s patent, but he was already in too weak a financial position to take any legal action.
Powers named the copied device Powers Cinephone and convinced Disney to use this system for Steamboat Willie.
Steamboat Willie was used to open for the "part talkie" main feature, 'Gang War', and was immediately well received by the public and critics alike. A review at the time by Variety read:
“Not the first animated cartoon to be synchronized with sound effects, but the first to attract favorable attention. This one represented a high order of cartoon ingenuity, cleverly combined with sound effects. The union bought laughs galore. Giggles came so fast at the Colony they were stumbling over each other.”
This unprecedented commercial success had huge ramifications for the animation industry. For example, before Steamboat Willie and Mickey Mouse arrived on the scene, Felix the Cat was a hugely successful cartoon.
This character and animation enjoyed the height of its popularity during the silent film era. However, a Felix the Cat animator called Hal Walker is quoted as having said,
“Disney put us out of business with his sound.”
In terms of popularity and sustained preeminence in early animations that featured sound and voice over, that title rightly goes to Disney’s Steamboat Willie.
However, there is a lot of misplaced credit when recalling actual firsts in voice over and sound synchronisation in animation.
And that goes from the animation title and its creator - to the person who actually developed the sound synchronisation system which made it all possible.
Some of the biggest names in voice acting these days specialise in animation such as Frank Welker and Nancy Cartwright. It’s a multi-billion pound global industry with a value that is forecast to grow a whopping 60% over the next decade.
The names of Max Fleischer and Lee de Forest, and the titles of the ‘Ko-Ko Song Car Tunes’ and ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ may not enjoy quite the innovative legacy that they deserve but their contributions were truly pioneering. So the next time you watch an episode of Family Guy or the latest Pixar movie - you can now recall these figures and productions and remember where it all began a century ago.
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